23 



For the same reason that induced as to recommend that expendi- 

 ture to the Commissioners of the Central Park, we feel dissatisfied 

 with the limits of the space we arc now regarding. It is evident at 



a glance, however, thai it' we do not restrict ourselves tO the arti- 

 er " 



ficial boundary formerly fixed upon for the park, this space may 



readily be more than doubled in extent without encroaching upon 

 any considerable natural elevation, and at a very moderate expense 

 Thus our second requirement would be met. 



In addition to the special artistic advantage which the acqui- 

 sition of this ground would secure, there are two other very im- 

 portant considerations in favor of obtaining it : First, such an 

 addition is almost indispensable to a proper provision of playing 

 grounds, there being no space of moderately level ground, not occu- 

 pied by groves of trees of much value, sufficient for this purpose, 

 upon the territory now controlled by your Commission; second, its 

 acquisition will enable us to make a very great improvement upon 

 any general plan of drives, rides and walks, which would otherwise 

 be practicable, and in these and other ways, to which we shall 

 hereafter allude, it will greatly lessen the danger of overcrowding 

 the park. 



Next to groves and greensward, a sheet of water is the most 

 important element in the character of the scenery which we desire 

 to realize. We find no place suited to the formation of such a 

 feature of sufficient extent within the limits of the site now held by 

 your Commission. At a short distance beyond them, there is, how- 

 ever, a broad plain, overlooked on the park side by the highest 

 ground in the vicinity, from the top of which there is a prospect to 

 the southward, which includes a large sweep of the ocean, the Fligh- 

 lands of Navesink, Sandy Hook, and all the outer harbor of New 

 York. The formation of a lake on the low ground referred to, in 

 such a manner that this elevation would be reflected upon its sur- 

 face, would add such an unquestionable advantage to the landscape 

 attractions of the park, that we should feel obliged to take the same 

 course witli reference to it as w r e have done in regard to the previ- 

 ously proposed extension of the limits of the site, even if no other 

 considerations favored it. The great value of a park lake in this 

 climate, however, for skating, and the attractiveness of the spectacle 

 which crowds of skaters aiford to others, added to its value for the 

 recreation of row T ing, afford additional inducements of no small 

 consequence in favor of this course. With the further addition, which 



