In front of these, two inclined planes of the
same material as the walls of the house led up to the several parts of
the roof. The court was divided by broad concrete paths into four
gardens. In the centre of each was a basin of water and a fountain,
above which was a square opening of some twenty feet in the roof. Each
garden was, so to speak, turfed with minute plants, smaller than daisy
roots, and even more closely covering the soil than English lawn
grass. These were of different colours--emerald, gold, and
purple--arranged in bands. This turf was broken by a number of beds of
all shapes, the crescent, circle, and six-rayed star being apparently
the chief favourites. The smaller of these were severally filled with
one or two flowers; in the larger, flowers of different colours were
set in patterns, generally rising from the outside to the centre, and
never allowing the soil to be seen through a single interval. The
contrast of colours and tints was admirably ordered; the size, form,
and structure of the flowers wonderfully various and always
exquisitely beautiful.
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