LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
331 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
LETTER FIFTEEN. 
Dear Sir, —As we proceeded over the park of-Court, we 
met with a much greater variety of scenery than on our first entrance 
we were led to expect. At a considerable distance beyond the man¬ 
sion, and in the direction in which we were riding, we came suddenly 
to the top of a valley which opened to the eastward, admitting at its 
mouth a noble bend of the river S-. The brows of the valley 
are clothed with magnificent oaks, like the rest of the park; and the 
open expanse of turf between keeps up those ideas of ample grandeur 
which is the principal characteristic of the place. 
We rode down the centre of the valley to the bank of the river, 
which is palisaded, and forms the boundary of the park on that side. 
Within the palisade there is a raised terrace, from which there is a fine 
view of the country beyond the river. The latter is very much widened 
in this place by a branch of it flowing round a considerable islet in the 
middle, forming a secure resort for aquatic birds, particularly the herons, 
which are seen wading round the shallow margins, and, whether on the 
wing or seeking their food, are highly ornamental. 
Scenes of still life, however beautiful or picturesque, receive addi¬ 
tional interest by animated figures, of whatever kind they may be. 
Herds and flocks of domesticated animals enliven every open space, 
which would otherwise be insipid ; and when wild ones are intermixed, or 
cross our path, or are seen winging their way over head, or heard sweetly 
carolling in the woods and brakes, yield increased amusement and 
pleasure to the lover of nature. 
The value of garden scenery is greatly enhanced by the presence of 
the objects of the ornithologist, and even those of the ichthyologist. 
Aviaries and piscatories, wherever they can be introduced, may very 
properly be associated with flowers; and when beautiful fish may be 
taught to feed from the hand like birds, it is a pleasant exercise to the 
benevolent mind to possess and make happy such captives; even from 
the terrace whence we were surveying the expanse of water, the frequent 
rising of the trout was enviously amusing. 
On the brink of the river, and under a grove of evergreen trees and 
weeping willows, we approached a very elegant and, from its interior 
arrangement, commodious bathing-house, containing baths for either 
cold or tepid filtered water, with comfortable dressing-rooms, &c. &c. 
The exterior is a modern stone building, somewhat in the Italian style, 
