green caves, with charming little taz%e supported on tall fluted stems ; 

 the water, falling from the mouths of grotesque masks set in the fronts 

 of the taxze, is caught in trefoil basins beneath. 



From the rear of the casino the hill rises somewhat abruptly, though 

 to a great extent it is left at its natural slope, only one other narrow 

 terrace being excavated from the lower edge, just above the house. To 

 this a wide easy flight of grass-grown steps ascends, opposite the middle 

 of the casmo, and here, at the top of the first flight, is one of the most 

 notable features of the villa — the fountain at the foot of the cascade. 

 This cascade does not take the usual form of " water steps," or a series of 

 basins with water falling from one to another, like those in Rome and 

 its vicinity. It is rather in the nature of a water slide, the stream 

 descending a steep channel between long flights of stairs, closely hemmed 

 in by magnificent old cypresses. Reaching the foot, the water overflows 

 into a handsome basin raised on great claw-feet, and having a grotesque 

 head in the centre of its deeply moulded front. Curving stairways are 

 brought down either side of this basin, and raised above them, upon the 

 flanking walls, are recumbent water nymphs, half lost amidst a tangle of 

 wild creeper. The constant splashing of the cascatella has covered all 

 around with a mantle of fern and moss and rich purple and orange stain, 

 by which wall and fountain, with the pavement and stairway below, are 

 brought into delightful harmony. Ranged along this same terrace are 

 to be seen the best of the flowers, the extra shade and moisture being 

 specially favourable to them ; even the phlox, a plant not often seen to 

 advantage in Italy, flowers well here. But the terrace is never more 

 beautiful than in springtime, when wistaria is in blossom, for then the 

 retaining walls are hung with garlands of its most lovely bloom, and the 

 water nymphs lie nearly buried beneath billows of that exquisite blue 

 that so well harmonises with warm grey stone and the delicate spring 

 tints. 



At the summit of the cascade, the centre of a group of dark cypresses, 

 stands a gazebo ; a small square building with arches opening on every 

 side, from which green shady paths radiate. Not far away, on the skirts 

 of the bosco, the aqueduct, which supplies the fountains, enters the 

 garden. Advantage was taken of a sudden drop in the ground to 



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