ON WATER, 



167 



" most admired for their beauty, and if the 

 " manner in which those islands produce 

 " that beauty be by dividing, concealing, and 

 " diversifying what is too open and uniform, 

 " the same cause must produce the same 

 " effect in all water, however the scale may 

 " be diminished ; the same in a pool or a 

 " gravel pit as in an ocean. 



" Islands, though very common in many 

 " rivers, yet seem (if I may be allowed to say 

 " so) more perfectly suited to the character 

 " of lakes ; and, as far as there is any truth 

 " in this idea, it is in favour of making the 

 " latter our chief models for imitation. In 

 " artificial water, the most difficult parts are 

 " the two extremities, and particularly that 

 " where the dam is placed ; which, from 

 " being a mere ridge between two levels, is 

 " less capable of being varied to any degree 

 " by bays and projections, or by difference 

 " of height. The head, therefore, must, in 

 " general, be the most formal and uninterest- 

 " ing part, and that to which a break, or a 

 " disguise of some kind, is most necessary ; 

 66 but as it is likewise the place where the 

 " water is commonly the deepest, neither a 

 " projection from the land, nor an island, can 



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