ageratums, white and yellow daisies, and sweet-smelling gilly-flowers, 

 pinks and roses. About the beds, planted on no set principle, are 

 orange-trees, lilac and oleander bushes. The principal paths are edged 

 with low walls interrupted at frequent intervals by pedestals with vases. 



At one end of the terrace, overhanging the valley, is a pergola 

 covered with vines and white and pink cluster roses ; at the other is a simple 

 orangery, and, uniting the two along the terrace front, runs a balustrade 

 with ball finials, which is almost lost amidst a confused tangle of wistaria 

 and roses, virginian creeper and ivy, the architectural features peeping 

 through only here and there. 



A peculiarity of this garden is, that it does not centre with the casino 

 but with a fountain, set against the low wing that connects the older casino 

 with the more modern part of the house. Perhaps the most delightful 

 feature of the villa is this Fountain of Venus. Within a charming frame- 

 work of rococo ornament is a niche in which stands a reproduction in 

 terra-cotta of the Venus di Medici. The framework is wrought partly 

 in stucco painted a pale blue, and partly in a mosaic of various stones 

 and sea-shells. The materials are simple enough, yet in clever hands 

 what a work of art is the result, and what an exquisite harmony of 

 colour is produced by the delicate turquoise blue, the pearly grey of the 

 shell-work, and the warm, faded pink of the adjacent wall. 



To a narrow slip of terrace below graceful trefoil stairways lead, 

 guarded by tall gate piers above and by rude garden deities below, 

 which superior people consider in shocking taste. A grotto occupies 

 the centre of the terrace, with a fountain and seats within, and niches 

 and fountains without, decorated with mosaic and shell-work grotteschi 

 similar to that used in the Fountain of Venus and elsewhere in the 

 gardens. Its open roof was doubtless once covered with a trellis for 

 roses or vines. To-day the architecture bids fair to disappear entirely 

 beneath the heavy mantle of coarse ivy, which might with advantage be 

 replaced by some climbing rose or lighter creeper that would veil 

 without hiding the architectural detail. 



Shady walks are formed at each end of the terrace by berceaux ot 

 Banksian rose, in April covered with masses of exquisite bloom, pale 

 saffron or pearly white, which rambles away over the statues and 



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