Paris. 373 



hundreds of specimens of Pelargonium inquinans and zo- 

 nale are yearly planted in these borders, and add consider- 

 ably to their ornament. We may remark, that the " la- 

 byrinth of cypress, and hedges of pomegranate," mention- 

 ed by Evelyn in his Memoirs, have disappeared ; but a 

 boulingrin, in no very favourable plight, and the traces of 

 a rustic theatre, still remain. The grass-turf is regularly 

 watered, and was now of a lively green ; but it does not 

 form nearly so compact a sward as we are accustomed to 

 see in Scotland. In dry weather, all the principal flower- 

 borders are likewise daily watered, by means of long flex- 

 ible tubes, in the manner described when speaking of the 

 flower-plots in the court of the Palais Royal, (p. 345.) 



Notwithstanding the immediate proximity of a vast city, 

 all the trees, shrubs, and plants in this garden, even those 

 of delicate foliage, appeared healthy and with unimpaired 

 verdure. The atmosphere is here incomparably more pure 

 than in the vicinity of London, where the smoke from in- 

 numerable coal-fires, very generally rests over the city like 

 a cloud. In Paris there are comparatively few fire-places, 

 and in them wood and charcoal are chiefly used. Many 

 families have almost no cooking in their*own houses during 

 the summer months, the whole family dining at a restaura- 

 teur's. 



During the republican period, when " Liberte, egalite, 1 ' 

 was the cry of the day, the parterres of the Tuileries were 

 planted with potatoes, and our countryman Blaikie was 

 actually called upon to furnish the seed-stock or tubers, 

 and direct the planting. To this happy expedient (sug- 

 gested, it is understood, by some of the scavans of Paris) 

 of converting these pleasure-grounds for a time to a pur- 

 pose which seemed useful and national in the eyes of the 

 citizens, the safety of the whole may be ascribed. At pre- 



