House & Garden 
THE FOUNTAIN OF APOLLO 
IN THE GARDEN OF THE PRINCE, ARANJUEZ 
out and explored, each certain to reveal 
another lovely spot on which to pause and 
while away a moment alone with the trees and 
the shrubbery to the soothing accompaniment 
of the birds and the distant waters. 
The reputed neglect of this Isla is one of 
its chief charms, rather than a cause for con¬ 
cern and discouragement, as the guide-books 
would have us believe. It is the charm that 
comes after man has done his work and de¬ 
parted, when nature steps in again to reclaim 
her own, the same charm that is found to-day 
in the Villa d’Este, and the other apparently 
abandoned Italian gardens. What better 
could be done here than to leave this shrubbery 
to follow its own course, with now and then 
a judicious trimming, lest it become a mere 
tangled thicket? The paths are well cared 
for, and formed of large pebbles, bounded 
by flat oblong blocks of stone, they have the 
advantage of always remaining free from mud 
in situations where at the driest season of the 
year, moisture must necessarily collect. 
Leaving at last this quiet spot and retrac¬ 
ing our steps through the rose garden, we 
are again in the open parterre with its foun¬ 
tains and converging avenues. That we are 
in royal domains is indicated by the names of 
the roads — Calle de las Infantas — Calle 
del Principe—Calle de la Reina. Follow¬ 
ing the latter along its shady paths for 
some distance we reach La Casa del Labra¬ 
dor or the Labourers’ Cottage, the Petit 
Trianon of Aranjuez, again reminding us of 
the French ideas developed at Versailles, and 
here imitated by the Spanish Court. Phis 
royal plaything of the light Monarch Charles 
IV is situated in a portion of the vast estate, 
separated from the palace gardens by the 
winding river, and known as the Jardin del 
Principe , or the Garden of the Prince. It is 
far more interesting—architecturally than the 
more extensive palace. It is richly fitted up 
with marble, tapestries, china, and platina- 
inlaid walls and doors. 
The immediate grounds are laid out as a 
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