414 HORTICULTURAL TOUR. 



We had now nearly exhausted the day, without being 

 able to view the interior of the Palace, the scene of the roy- 

 al revels of Louis XIV. But this we much less regretted 

 than our inability to overtake an examination of the Javelin 

 potagcr, of 30 acres, planned by Quintynie, and restored 

 about thirty years ago, by an Englishman of the name 

 of Brown, who died some years ago, in France. The 

 flower-garden, at Port de Dragon, of Mr Fcburier, one 

 of the most distinguished French florists, is a place well 

 deserving of a deliberate visit. Close by its gate, the 

 first tulip-tree ever planted in France may still be seen. 

 Versailles has long been noted for its gardeners. The 

 " Confreres de St Fiacre 11 of this city are to France, what 

 " Adam's Lodge 11 of Aberdeen is to Scotland, — the oldest 

 gardeners 1 society in the country. The confreres have, 

 within these few years, erected, in the church of Sym- 

 phorien here, a white marble figure of Fiaker, the tute- 

 lar saint of horticulturists. The inhabitants of Versailles 

 seem to have imbibed from Le Notre and Quintynie a taste 

 for horticulture and botany. Even in the midst of the fer- 

 ment of the revolution, in 1792, they applied to the Na- 

 tional Assembly for the establishment of a botanical gar- 

 den. Their request was granted, and our countryman 

 Blaikie named commissaire for that purpose ; but he de- 

 clined the employment. 



We dined at an excellent restaurateur's, close by the 

 chateau, and reached Paris late in the evening. 



Luxembourg- Gardens. 

 Sept. 24. — To-day we visited the gardens of the cele- 

 brated palace of Mary de Mcdicis. They are much in the 

 general style of tin; Tuileries ; being adorned with many 

 fine orange-trees, statuary ornaments, and a circular piece 

 ol* water. The pond is large, and baa an enlivening effect, 



