pinks predominating, which seem to overflow into the narrow box- 

 bordered bed beneath. On the other side, the path is flanked by orange- 

 trees, each in its own small bed and surrounded by pansies and wall- 

 flower, ixia and snapdragon, or Bocchi di Leone as the gardener calls it. 



The fountain is a favourite play-place for the youngsters, who come 

 at all hours to sail their paper boats and dabble in the clear water, or 

 make feeble attempts to catch the basking gold-fish, who are more wide 

 awake than they seem. The bright-eyed darting lizards, on the other 

 hand, fall an easy prey to the idle lads, who angle for them with loops of 

 grass. 



The terrace above is largely given up to shrubby trees and some beds 

 of poppies, larkspurs, and other annuals, its most interesting feature 

 being certain delicately proportioned fountain ta%%e raised upon tall, 

 fluted pedestals. M. P. Gautier, who published a book early in the 

 nineteenth century on Genoese villas, placed these at the corners of a 

 great fountain pool, which he represents as occupying about one-third 

 of the terrace, A delightful feature this, if it ever existed ; for reflected 

 in its surface would be the higher terrace with its balustraded stair- 

 ways and statues, the dark masses of trees above, and the yet darker 

 arches of the grotto beneath. If Gautier were always correct in his 

 details, we might accept his pool without demur ; unfortunately, like 

 Percier and Fontaine, he occasionally allows his imagination to run 

 away with him. In the case of this pool, the lie of the ground renders 

 his representation highly improbable, though not absolutely impossible. 



Above the grotto, stairs ascend to the higher terrace, where once 

 more we find ourselves at the foot of a gentle slope. From the pleasant 

 resting-place provided at this point, the central path, which leads 

 upwards, is lined with statues and most fantastic fountains, backed by an 

 unkempt hedge of pittosporum, with here and there a bush of monthly 

 rose. 



These fountains are of such an unusual type that they deserve more 

 than a passing word. At the rear of a circular basin stands a pedestal, 

 the stiffness of which is taken away by certain roll ornaments. Above 

 this is an amorino riding a strange water-beast — " loves of monsters," as 

 the old ladies used to term their fashionable china grotesques. From the 



137 s 



