WATER. 



The other forts of ereftions which have been ufually em- 

 ployed for the purpofe of ornamait'mg water, it is contend- 

 ed, have rarely either pifturefque efFeft, or any ufe ; fuch, 

 for inftance, as thofe of aquatic temples, ilatues, river-gods, 

 and other fimilar abfiirdities, or what may be called falfe de- 

 corations. Boat-houfes, however, of fimple couflruftions, 

 and for the moft part all ufeful forts of eredions, may oc- 

 caiionally be introduced with propriety and good efFeft. 

 The Perfian -wheel, the forcing-wheel, the corn-mill, and 

 fome others of fimilar kinds, are had recourfe to with ex- 

 cellent effedls in different places. " The water-wheel and 

 corn-mill at Warwick-caftle, it is faid, is perhaps the grandeft 

 appendage to that noble building ; whether in refpett to 

 the train of ideas which it awakens in the mind refpefting its 

 former compared with its prefent ufe, &c., or its effeft in 

 connexion with the cafcade, for which it forms an excellent 

 apology. And though cafcades of this kind be formal of 

 themfelves, yet the idea of their utility, it is fuppofed, 

 compenfates, in a confiderable degree, for the want of 

 pifturefque grandeur ; and ftill the roar meets the ear 

 through woods, or diftance, with the fame force as in thofe 

 which are natural." 



Mr. London further fuppofes, that the pidlurefque im- 

 provement of the pieces of water which already exift will 

 be attended to by all thofe who at prefent have artificial 

 waters, in imitation of rivers, lakes, ponds, or brooks, 

 and who are in the habit of making improvements of this 

 kind upon their grounds. Such proprietors may, he 

 thinks, be affured that no part can ftand in greater 

 need of alterations than fucli waters ; and fhould they 

 go on with others, except planting, to the negleft of 

 this, they will not certainly merit the approbation of men 

 of tafte, as tafte always prefers excellence to quantity. 

 " If, it is faid, any proprietor (hould hefitate to alter a 

 piece of water which he has long been accullomed to fee 

 without being fenfible perhaps of any great deformity, in 

 confequence of habit, if he looks from his windows to a 

 ferpentine river, winding among fmooth naked turf, with 

 only here and there a few clumps placed at fome diftance 

 from its margin ; if the water prefents one uniform glare of 

 light, clear blue, or dull green, and feldom varied by any 

 fliadows or refleftions but thofe of clumps and /ley, let him, 

 before he decides in favour of the tame river, imagine that 

 in place of this a broad irregular lake, forming bays and 

 receffes, retiring among thick woods, and with its margin 

 in fome places abrupt, broken, and varied by Hones, plants, 

 and creepers ; in one place fmooth, fioping, and covered 

 with grafs ; and in another clothed with fhrubs, trees, and 

 low growths ; then let him imagine that he fees thefe trees, 

 woods, and the different coloured earths and ftones of the 

 banks, refledled upon the ftill furface of the water, which, in 

 fome places, was covered with dark fhadows from the wood, 

 and in others was bright and clear as the heavens : let him 

 confider how interefting this would appear, even at a dif- 

 tance, and how long he might be employed in tracing with 

 the eye the various receffes, dark places, and refleftions, 

 whrle ftill much remained indiftintt or unfeen, and therefore 

 either employed the imagination in completing it according 

 to its own ideas, or awakened curiofity to wr\lk down and ex- 

 amine it minutely, by tracing, as far as could be done without 

 the interruption of thickets and briars, the various windings 

 and intricate margin of the whole. Let him only contrail 

 this with the effedl of the piece of water already there, 

 which he can fee and know as completely by a fingle glance 

 as if he viewed it an hour ; and could examine the two ex- 

 treniities, which are all that could be difcovered by walking 

 down to it, as completely in a few minutes as if he were to 



encompafs it a whole day. If the contraft does not ftrike 

 him, he certainly, it is contended, as far as regards his 6wn 

 tafte, is juftified in preferving his water as it is ; but if 

 otherwife, he ought to commence improvement immediately, 

 not only in gratification of his own fentiments, but alfo in 

 juftice to every attempt to promote and introduce good tafte 

 in a country where he is a proprietor, and among a people 

 upon whom he is dependent for hi« rank and affluence. 

 Different ftyles of improvement may, it is obferved, be or- 

 namental, and admired while they are in fafliion ; but it is 

 only fuch as this, which are pifturefque, or natural, that 

 can ftand the teft of time." 



The firft thing to be confidered in the alteration of artifi- 

 cial pieces of water, is the charafter which ought to be 

 adopted ; and the next, the execution of that charafter in 

 the beft manner pofiible, and with the leaft expence of 

 labour and money. The former has been already fully no- 

 ticed, and the latter will be particularly confidered below. 

 In many cafes, however, the alterations required are fo very 

 fimple, as to ftand in need of little art, either in the defigns or 

 the pradlical parts, as has happened in altering the waters of 

 different fine country-feats. 



In (hort, the management of natural pieces of water, 

 where they come within the province of pifturefque im« 

 provement, moftly confifts in rendering them more charaAer- 

 iftic, and by the occafional introduftion oi particular effeSs. 

 The leading principles in effefting the firft of thefe im- 

 provements have been made fufficiently obvious already ; and 

 the latter are derived from what takes place in nature ; as 

 in the cafes of waterfalls, cafcades, fprings, and droop- 

 ing banks or rocks, on the margins of large brooks or 

 rivers, all of which may, it is fuppofed, be imitated in parti- 

 cular inftances. Alfo, in rills and fmaller ftreams there 

 are dank-pools, ponds, and little lakes, which often occur 

 in their courfes, that are highly worthy of imitation for 

 their intrinfic beauty, their contraft with the narrow rills, 

 and tlieir ufe in landfcape. Belides, it is fuggefted that a 

 great advantage of fuch pools, or httle lakes, is, that they 

 may be made to appear natural where no other variety of 

 ftill water could poffibly be attempted. And that, in nature, 

 they are found on the fides of declivities, where they are, 

 for the moft part, covered by wood, and feen only on a 

 near view. In level places or fituations, or fuch furfaces as 

 are not ftrikingly inchned, they are or may be opened in 

 fome parts, for the purpofe of being feen from diftant 

 places in the grounds, as is admirably done in fome 

 cafes. 



Another fort of occafional appearance or effeft is 

 ijlands, and they are particularly deferving of imitation, 

 efpecially in lakes and ponds ; nay, even in large rivers or 

 brooks they have often a good effeft. In large rivers they 

 are moiUy long and narrow ; and in brooks frequently fo 

 large as to be wholly out of proportion to the ftream, 

 containing much extent of furface ; but fometimes th ey ar 

 extremely fmall, and only contain a fingle bufti, a few 

 buflies, trees, or ftones and plants ; each of which cafes 

 may be feen in almoft every brook, and they deferve imita- 

 tion. Iflands in ponds, it is fuppofed, ftiould rather be nu- 

 merous and near together, than large and diftant, and be 

 fituated rather approaching the fides than the middle parts : 

 the apparent magnitude of a piece of water may, it is fug- 

 gefted, be greatly heightened from the main point of view, 

 by placing moft of the largeft iflands next the eye, as well 

 as by the mode of planting them. In regard to planting 

 iflands in general they ffiould be wooded, but not wholly, 

 and never in fuch a way as to exclude the appearance of 

 furface, broken ground, rocks, roots, and ftones, which 



S 2 are 



