May 16, 1865. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOKTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GAEDEISTIE. 



383 



vards, there can be no doubt but those on gardening are of 

 English extraction, as may be traced in Ms first grand design 



Bois de Boulogne, the moat extensive, beautiful, and best 



designed of all the fashionable promenades of Paris : though 

 without the fortified boundary between Auteuil and Neuilly 

 it is certain, at no distant day, to be included within the 

 limits of Paris. 



Passing the Tmleries, crossing the Place de la Concorde, 

 where we must not stop to contemplate its inimitable beau- 

 ties, nor dwell too long on the different phases in which 

 history will represent it to us, and quickly going along the 

 grand avenue of Champs Elysees, every step of which pre- 

 sents some fresh beauties, we find some well-designed plots 

 filled with rare plants in out-door culture, such as Erythrina 

 ruberrima, Ficus elastica, Wigandia urens and caracasana, 

 Nicotiana wigandioides. Begonia fuchsiodes, Aralia papyri- 

 fera, Caladium odoratum and esculentum, Musa rosacea, 

 Coleus marmoratus, Andropogon formosus and halepensis, 

 Canna zebrina, hybrida, Solanum marginatum, robustum, 

 and capsicastrum, &.c. On arriving at the Ai-c de Triomphe, 

 that masterpiece of art, we stand in the centre of a 

 circle which terminates the avenue, and from which 

 radiate twelve avenues, such as are only to be found here. 

 From here, ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes will suffice to con- 

 duct us to the following entrances of Bois de Boulogne : — 

 Portes JlaiUot, Sablons, Dauphine, and Grille de la Muette. 

 Arc de Triomphe once passed, we see, opening in &ont, a 

 little to the right, three broad avenues ; to the left the 

 Avenue of St. Cloud, formerly Avenue of Charles X. ; be- 

 tween this and the route to Neuilly lies the Avenue de I'lm- 

 peratrice, atti-acting the attention by its grandeur and ani- 

 mation, and by the beautiful landscape with which it is 

 surrounded and terminated. This avenue, which is the 

 most direct from the Tuileries, was opened in 1855 ; its 

 length L3 nearly a mUe, width about 110 yards, comprising a 

 central road for cai-riages of 171 yards wide, an alley on either 

 side of 13 yards, one for pedestrians, and the other for horse- 

 men, with two belts of grass of about 30 yards each, in which 

 have been planted some fine groups of Conifers, &c., also 

 some beds filled in the summer months with the choicest 

 plants ; finally there are two lateral roads of nearly 9 yards 

 each for the service of the neighbouring proprietors : these 

 are enclosed by a very rich raiUng of one uniform model. No 

 habitation can be constructed at a distance of less than 

 12 yards firom the railing. On passing along this avenue we 

 perceive, towering sternly above the Bois de Boulogne, Mont 

 Talerien, one of those formidable forts which were con- 

 structed by Louis Philippe, while a little to the left may also 

 be seen the ridge of St. Cloud, Bellevue, and Meudon. 



We now enter Porte Dauphine, which, although not so 

 large as the Grille de la Meutte, and deformed a Little by the 

 appearance of the fortifications, though hidden as much as 

 possible by trees and shrubs, is, nevertheless, a most elegant 

 and richly ornamented entrance. This once passed, we find 

 ourselves in the Bois de Boulogne, surrounded as it is by 

 villages and castles, most of which recall a great number of 

 historic events and literary anecdotes. In the early times 

 of the French monarchy this formed part of the ancient 

 forest of Eouvray, taking its name from the Quercus robur, 

 which at that time was the predominant wood here. 



It also appears that at that period Passy, Auteuil, St. 

 Cloud, and Meudon, were comprised in this forest of sessile- 

 fruited Oaks, which seems to have been inhabited for the 

 first time towards the end of the sixth century, a few huts 

 having been erected by the peasants along the sunny banks 

 of the Seine j and they afterwards succeeded in clearing some 

 of those virgin wastes, and there planted the Vine. The name 

 given to this small assemblage of cabins was Nijou (in Latin 

 Nimeo). At a later period the extensive wilds which sur- 

 rounded the village of Nijou were enclosed, and keepers were 

 placed there to feed and protect the game. At this time 

 the modern Bois de Boulogne received the name of Eemise 

 du Eoi. About the fourteenth century this wood became the 

 resort of robbers and adventurers. So infested had it been 

 that the convoy sent by Charles V., with the baggage of 

 Duguesolin, was here attacked and pillaged in open day. 



Louis II. gave the forest of Eouvray to, and therein 

 erected a mansion for, his physician, James Cottier, but 

 of this the parliament stripped him on the decease of the 

 king. It was about this time that the .name Bois de 



Boulogne seems to have been given to a portion of it. After- 

 wards Francis I., passionately fond of sport, appropriated it 

 to game, and built the castle of Madrid, where Heni-y II. 

 gave brilliant fetes. Charles IX. constructed, in his turn, a 

 residence, which has since received the name of Castle de la 

 Muette, in which he used to reside in the hunting season ; 

 it was afterwards frequented by Louis XIII., but Louis XIV. 

 abandoned it for Versailles. It became again the haunt of 

 the profligate Louis XV., who greatly improved it, In the 

 beginning of the eighteenth century the Eegent embellished 

 La Muette, which became the favourite resort of his sister, 

 the Duchesse de Berri. In this castle Marie Antoinette slept 

 on her arrival at Paris, in awaiting the preparation of the 

 Tuileries. It was at this place, also, towards the end of 

 the eighteenth century, that the first horserace v.'as run in 

 France ; and it was here the first balloon experiments were 

 made by Pilatre du Eosier, who made an ascent accompanied 

 by the Marquis d" Ailand. But the revolution dispersed the 

 aristocracy and literati, which then peopled the environs 

 of the Bois de Boulogne. 



Napoleon I., wishing to develope its natural beauties, com- 

 menced a grand project, but his intentions were frustrated 

 by the belligerent visit of English, Russian, and Prussian 

 armies. At the second invasion the EngKsh army encamped 

 here, and cut down, burned, and buUt then- tents with Oaks 

 which Francis I. had planted. Their camp extended from 

 Eanelagh to Porte Maillot. The Russians and Prussians did 

 the same at different other poiuts, so that when the allies 

 retired the Bois de Boulogne presented a sort of waste, 

 covered with debris and ashes. A few trees near the cross 

 of Catelan and Porte Maillot alone escaped the destroying 

 hand of these unwelcome visitors. Louis XVIIl. did all he 

 could to efface the too glaring traces of these lamentable 

 disasters, and replanted it, and Napoleon III., for reasons 

 already cited, and from his long sojourn in England, 

 knowing the importance of public gardens, determined, in 

 the beginning of 1852, on giving to Paris one of those public 

 promenades which are the pleasure and pride of London. 



From 184S to 1852 Bois de Boulogne formed part of the 

 State demesnes. By an Imperial decree of the 2nd June, 1852, 

 it was ceded to the city on the following conditions : — ■ 

 1st. To defray all expenses. 



2nd. To expend within four years iESO,000 in its embellish- 

 ment, and to submit to the Government the plan before 

 executing it. 



3rdly. To preserve for the pui'pose intended the lands 

 conceded. 



Hardly was this decree made known when the city took 

 possession, and commenced the work. The laying out was 

 given to an able landscape gardener, M. Vare, who, acting 

 on the indications and ideas given him by the Emperor, 

 traced out a plan which was adopted without any modifica- 

 tions, and at the completion of the work meritoriously 

 received the " ribbon " from the hands of the Emperor. 

 M. Vare has siuce been replaced by an engineer, M. 

 j Alphand, and a head gardener, M. BariUet, to whom are en- 

 j trusted the management and formation of all the public 

 ' gai-dens of the city of Paris, and by whom have been formed 

 the numerous minor gardens which adorn this capital, none 

 of which, however beautiful, as yet make any aj^proach to 

 the Bois de Boulogne. 



There is at this moment in course of formation the vast 



Forest of Vincennes, which, though in extent, fertility of 



soil, and magnificence of its trees, far surpassing Bois de 



Boulogne, still is, owing to its position, never likely to be- 



i come a favourite place for the fashionable aristocracy. 



I Chaxenton and Butte de Montmartre are undergoing similar 



I transformations. Bois de Boulogne has cost many thousands 



I and many years, but it is a lasting monument, and will 



long stand at the head of works of this sort. 

 I The principle said to have been applied here was to take 

 1 a little from all, without destroying any. Wherever ex- 

 isting obstructions worth preserving came in the way, the 

 I visitor has been sent gracefully round. In this way many 

 I fine old trees have been spared from the woodman's axe, 

 I while no one will contest the charms given to this picturesque 

 place by the preservation of the tower of the ancient and 

 famous monastery of Longchamp and its neighbouring 

 windmill. The Cross of Catelan, associated with dark tragical 

 remembrances, stands facing one of the entrances to the 



