THE CENTRAL PARK. ll ijll 'I' ts- ^ A D E S C R I 1' ^IM O N C OF TIIK NEW Y O R K CENTEAL PARK. UocK^ Cli^re-mce. vlVi5iih-5^-v-vv H NEW YORK: F, J. HUNTINGTON AND CO., 4 5 9 BROOMK STREET. J8t)9. Ill till' Clcik--. Olli ncr.prdiiiL.' to Ac't of ('iiiii:n-ss in tlu' yvuT Ist'iS. i;\ F. .1. lir.NTlN(;T()N and (.'O., )l' the Hisliict roiiil ol' thv United States. For ilie S.)iilli,Tn Di-tnet of Xeu Yorli, Alvokii. I'imntki; PUJ3LlSIlEirS ^OTE. If is hoped that this woi-k will ])lease the ])ul)lie to whom it lias heeii so loii^- promised. Tt was j)i-ojt'('t('d three years ago, hut its a])[)earaiR'e has l)eeii delayed l)y causes that will he understood hy every one who, in America, has undertak<'n to pi'ochu-e a costl\', ilhisti'ate(l volume. Yet, this delay is not \\ithout a comjx'nsatinL;" achantaLLV, t'oi- it has enal»l('(l the pul>lisliers to t'nniish an account of the Park in a state much neai'er eomple- tioii than it was when the Ijook was fii-st announced. vi PUBLISHERS' NOTE. Wliilc this l)()(>k has l)eeii desiiiiied, rather as a ])h'asur<'-l)(»()k toi* tlie eye and the iiiiiijeetion, l)y the tidness of its details, and the acfuraey of its faets. One of our most ])o]»uhii- ai'tists, Mr. A. F. Helh)\vs, lias s])('iit maii\ months in making the drawings which add so much to the value of the ^v'ork ; our l)est eno\(M's of beautiful j>rinting will easily recognize in the ])ress-\\ork the hand of Alvord. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. TiiK writer of the toll()\\ing pa2;es cainiot tliiiik Ills work c-oin|)l('te \vitlioiit an ex])ivssioii of tliaiiks to those iji-eiitleiiien offieuilly connected ^vitll tlie Central Park, to \vlioin lie is so niucli in(h'l)te(l for tlie means of secnrinu' NX'liatescr accuracy niay l)e aHowed to he- h)nu' to liis |)(M-fonnanc(». Altliouu'h the (r(>vernin(Mit of tlie Park is not in any way res])onsil»l(' for any statennMit containe(l in tliese ])au'es otliei' tljan sucli as ai'(^ f>nn(hMl on its vi ii A U T 1 [( J R ' S P R !•; f a C E . Aiiiiii;il lvi']K)rts, yet every facility ]ias Ijeeii coi'dially i:-i\eii to tlic writer tu make ITuiiself acqiiaiiitcMl \vitli tlie t()j)()Lira])liy of tlie Park, and \vitli so miieli of its inaiiau'emeiit as it Avas desirable or ])ro])er to eoiuiiuiiii- cate. And it certainly is not ont of any desire to tlattei- tlie Commissioners that the helief is here ex- ])resse(l, that the more closely the manajxement of tliis im])oi'tant nndertaking is stndinl)lic trusts with true economx', with unim])eachal>le honesty, and with a simple, constant eye to the ]>\d)lic good. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. View i.ookixg North \K\n Mr 8ECM . . . FiaJNTiai'lECE Plan of tiik Park -. . . . Pnue l.'-)3 The Lake .vear Fifth Avenue a.vd u'Vrii Stkket. 32 The Arsexai . . 33 BuiiifiE OVER THE Bi;iple Path, XEAR Arsexai. . 35 The Mali,, tookixg ti>. . . . ... :i6 The Foot path cy Wiei ows. .Sorrn- E.vsT of Mali.. . 3tS L)R1XKIXG FOIXTAIX -40, The Terrace from the Xmnii. .. 42| The Mcsic .9 CURLIXG 10 Balcoxy Bridge 71 Balcoxy Bridge from the Beach 72 The Tigress 74 Bust of Schiller 76 Statue of CoMME«rE . . 7.s Bird-Cage S'2 Drixkixg Fouxtaix S3 The Casixo from thf Kast 83 ViXERY NEAR CaSINO OVERLOOKING THE Mall S9 SUMMER-ITOUSE XEAR HaMII.TOX Square 00 Oaks near Arsexai 91 Summer-House Southeast or the (.'asixo 92 Westebx half of Terrace from THE Music Stand. . . 97 •Skatixg West of Bow Brid(,e. ... 08 The Dovecote 100 Oaks xeau Sevexty xixth Street Extra.vce 102 LIST OF I L Ll'STK AT J ONS Mowing Lawn neak Seventy-ninth Street Page 1 (•.'! Terrace from Kock in Ramble... 105 Nook in Ramble 108 Rustic Bridge in Ramble 109 Fall in Ramble. 110 Rustic Bridge Ill Rustic Summfr-House in Ramble. 112 Nook in Ramble 114 Entrance to Cave 115 Cave from Lake IIG Interior OF Cave 117 Arm of Lake fko.m Cave 118 Rtsnc Stone Arch in R.amble ... 119 Rustic Stone Arch in Rami-.le— Another View 12ii Lake from Top of Sione Arch. . 121 The Belvedere 122 Vu.w FROM Belvedere, looklxg South 124 View from Belvedere, looking southe.\st 125 Summer-LIoi ^e in Ramble, near the Belvedere. . . 126 SrMMER-HousE .near Artist.s' Gate. 12s Ramble 129 Interior of Marble .\Rcn i:^>n Bridge of Red and Yellow Brick near the Seventh Avenue... 138 Si'RiNG NEAR Eighth Avenue i:!9 BeeITive in Ramble 141 Bird-House IN Ramble 142 Lawn in Ramble, wiih Pea Fowl. 144 Lawn in Ramble, avith Guinea Fowl 141 Frederick Law Olmsted 148 Calvert Vaux 149 Pond near the Scholars' Gate.. 15S Museum and Restaurant from Harlem Meer ItiS Harlem Meei: Page 17 Harlem Meer and Old Fortifica- tions, with Restaurant 171 Block-House— War 1812 17 3 View near Block-House, looking East i'74 Rocky Bridge in Ravine 176 Cascade above the Rocky Arch- way 177 Cascade at Head of Loch 178 Bridge over the Cascade 179 Sakrina's Pool near the Ravine. ISO Ar(H over Foot-path near Ra- vine 182 Bridge for Carriage Road over Ha vine 183 Rustic Bridge and Cascade in Ravine 185 Thk Pool 186 On the Pool, looking Northwest. 187 Old House by Reservoir 188 Sleighing by the 'Willows 189 Balcony Bridge, West Side 190 Rustic Bridge, near Balcony Bridge, looking West 191 Rustic Bridge, near Balcony Bridge, looking East 192 Oak Bridge 193 Oak Bridge, Second View 194 The Shepherd 195 PlAT-G BOUND 196 View near Boys' Gate, looking West 198 View near the Pond, Fifty-ninth Street 203 Children's Shelter, Southwest of Mall, from Lower Lake, look- ing East 205 The Oval Bridge near .Seventh A venue 206 PLAX OF THE CENTRAL PARK PLAN F T 11 E PARK. THE sorxn end. T 11 !■; N (J K T II END 1 1 j ! 1 ji 1 '"' -■r- ^■•*^' 1 1 ' 1 1 L_ i ..J 1 1 i i „ 1 -"Vr f^^^'^^^^^i^^"^^^"^^ i ! ^.^-^F'-'^^-M-^^ ' ^•■€'.'., ' ' ,*•' |t\^^ '^ii"'^'''<^''« -^H-li PLAN OF TOE PAIIK NoTK. — The top of the plan on the preceding left-hand page connects with the foot of the riglit hand page. THE NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK. A GLANCE AT ITS HISTORY Thiuty or forty years ao-o, Xcnv York City must have liad an almost rural aspect. Tliis is especially true of what Avas then the upper l)art, — the regiou which lies betweeu Canal Street ami Prhico Street ; — hut it will also ap])ly to the extreme southern ])ortion, the neio-hborliood of the InitttTy and l.owling-Green. For, even so late as 1840, the Inittery was still a pleasant place, with grass and trees, and surrounded hy a semicircle of handsome private lioiises, no longer li\ed ill liv fis]ii()naV)le people, jx'rhaps, hut rather by good, substan- tial iblk \\]\o had residecl in that neighborhood Avlieu it was in the hifhest fishion, and were loatli to (piit what was still a highly res})ect- al)le (piarter. No shops nor business houses had as yet intruded tlieir unwelcome presence, Imt it was not long after the date we have mentioiu'd, that the first symptoms of change began to appear in the transformation of one or two of the larger dwellings into l)oarding- houses of the better sort; and tlu; ni'ighborhood soon lost (Mitirely its domestic cliaracter, and was abandoned to hotels, warehouses, and oifices. Of course, in this changi', the Jiattery and the J>owling- Green suffered equally with the iiouses. People gradually deserted them. The Battery, especially, wliidi liad oikh' been tfie ])rincipal lounging place and pi-omenade of fishionable New ^ ork, was abandoned for Broad wa v. In the earlier pcrioil, l>etbie these changes began to take ])lace, the inhabitants of the city did not want for ])laces o[' j-ecreation. The city proper covered but a small i)ortion of the island, the line IQ HISTORY OF THE of tlu' jircsciit Cinial Strt'ct marking llio iiortlu'ni boundary, ami beyoiul this were larue iarins stretching up toward llarlem. To tliosc Avho lived in the city itself, and wlio were not able to in(bdge in the iuxurv of a horse and chaise, the IJatterv and tlie JJowling- (Treen Avere sutiiciently ])leasant suumier resorts, surrounded as tliey ■were by the resideiu-es of the gentry ; but a walk in tlie fields was always easy to get; even IV'arl Street and >[aid(.'n Lane were cheerful strolling-places ; the boys skated on the canal, or swam in it, or made expeditions for nuts and apples to the large outlying farms. Later, as the city grew, and the ()[)en country al)Ove the canal Avas in\aded by houses and traversed by rudimentary streets, while, at the opposite end, the ]>attery anowei-y," so called irom its beautiful over-arching ti-ees, the jirettiest ]>art of the lower island; and "Contoits," a name that still thrills matronly t)osoms, with a sigh for its remembered delights. " Xiblo's" came later; we, ourselves, renu'mber Avheii it Avas really a garden, and occupied nearly the whole block of A\hich it is now but an insi<>-nifi- cant fragment. lu the neighborhood of Twenty-first Street and X E W Y R K C K X T H A L P A UK. U r>ro;ul\v;iv tlicrc V\\rt\ at this lime a good inniiy Knglisli jx'dplc, nearly all of them well-to-flo mereliauts, having large gardens about their houses. These gent lenieu were fond of Howers, ami the t ulip was a lml)l>v with nianv of them. Everv spring the splendor of these tuli[)-l)eds in full hloom would draw great numht'rs of people fi-oin tlie eitv to set' tht'in. In oi'der to ])roteet the tlowei's from the s>nt, they were shiel(h'd. Tlieiv was lloboken foi- a delightfid walk or for active games, ball- ])laying, boating, bowling, and (pioits. Stateu Island, too, Mhich, thirty years ago, was neai-ly covi'ixmI with hue Avoods, and which is still one of the richest fields ibr the botanist that can l)e ibund within any reasonable distance of New York, was becoming a favorite resort tor ])ic-nic ])arties and for boys on Saturday atlernoons. Then there was the Uloomingdale Koad, the delight of eipiesti'ians, for as yet it Inid 12 HISTORY OF TIIK not passed exclusively into the hands of rowdies and the horse-racing gentry ; while now that large and handsome steamboats Avere making the journey to Albany both swift and sure, tlie beauties of the Hud- son liiver were gradually discovered, and the iidiabitants of the already crowded city li'urned what a treasure of romantic scenery lay "witliiu easy reach. TIu' growth of tlu' city was ahnost without precedent for sudden- ness, and tlie deuuuid for building-ground became so great that it was Avilh ditKculty even the public slaces for ])ublic exercise, not to sav amuse- ment, by the establishment of great cemetei'ies in the vicinities of the larger cities. In 18;!I,]\rt. Aul)ui-n, near r>oston,Avas consecrated and the example set in the laying-out and in the adornment of that N K W YORK < ' K N T H A F. P A Tl K . 1 5 bciiutiful |)1:UH' was soon i'ollowed by the peopU' of Pliilanrpost' of burving-gronnd and ]»leasure-ground. In 1S4S, Avlieii Mv. Downing wrote the " Talk about Public Parks and (har- dens " which we ha\'e mentioned, these cemeteries were all the rage, and so deeply was the want felt which they supplied, and so truly beautiful were they in themselves, that it is not to be Avondered at if people were slow to ]>erceive that there was a certain incongiaiity be- tween a graveyard and a ](lace of recreation. The truth is, people wei-e glad to get fresh air, and a siglit of grass, and trees, and flowers, with, now and then, a j)retty ]»iece of sculpture, to say nothing of the drive to all this beauty, and back again, without con- sidi'ring too deejily whether it might not be better to have it all witliont the gra\es, and the funeral processions. Of course, at first, the sadder purpose of tliese places was not so conspicuous as it soon became. For sevi-ral years after they were first laid out they weri' in reality })arks and pleasure-grounds, with, here and there, a monument or tombstone half seen among tlie trees. But this could not last for long. The dead increase as the living (b> — " Every minute dies a man, Every minute one is born," and soon the small white tents gri'W Unrk along the paths and lanes, and the statelier houses of the I'ich and iiotable dead rose shining in the more conspicuons ])laccs, and the dark line of hearse and carriages was met at every tnrn, so that it was not easy even for the lightest hearted or the most indiflerent to get much cheer out of a landscape set so thick with sad suggestions. And then the tide turned, and fashion and pleasure looki'd about for a garden where death was not so frequent a visitor. Tn July, 1S40, ^Ir. Downing published in the '• Horticulturist '' an essay on "Public Cemeteries and Pul)lic Ciardeiis," which is maiidy IQ HISTORY OF T II K :iii c'lilai-iii'iiK'iit t)f :i panignipli iii tlic ''Talk about Public Parks uud (4ai-(k'iis," and tlic ol^ject of wliicli was to coiiviucc tlie public that a lai-Lic public })ai-k in the vicinity of any one of the great .Ulautic cities would not oidy be a great luxury, but a great material benefit to the inhabitants, and that it would pay its own expenses beside. ''That sucli a projei-t, carefully planned and liberally and judiciously carriecl out would not oidy ])at/ in money, but largely civilize and i-etine the national character, foster the love of rural beauty, and in- crease the knowledge of, and taste for, rare and beautiful trees and iilants, wo cannot entertain a reasonable doubt. It is only necessary tor one of the thi'ee cities which hrst opened cemeteries to set the example, and, the thing once fairly seen, it l)ecomes uuivei-sal. The true policy of republics is to foster the taste for great puldic lil)raries, parks, and gardens, which all may enjoy, since our institutions wisely forliid the growth of private fortunes sufficient to achieve these de- sirable results in any other way." In 1850 ^Ir. Downing took a summer trip to England, leaving home in June and returning in October. He Avent, not merely for i)leasure, but to see what had been done and what was then being done in the old world in architecture and landscape-gardening, that he might gather hints and suggestions for improvement in those arts among Ids countrymen at home. Naturally enough, he was more taken with the English exploits in landscai)e-gardening — with the Chatsworths and Woburn Abbeys — tluin with the modern architecture. But, ^^-reatlv as he admired. the si)lendid country-seats of the hereditary nobility of England, he perceived that the great wealth it required to support these enormous establishments raised these houses and orounds so far above ours that they are not directly or practically instructive to Americans. More interesting to him were the great ])ublic parks. In September, 1850, he wrote to the "Horticulturist" a letter from England on the Lon(h)n parks, in which, after a chai-m- inglv vivid description of those remarkable places, he coiu-ludes as follows : " We fancy, not without reason, in New York, that we have a ureat city, and that the inti-oduction of Croton water is so mar\el- lous a luxury in the way of health, that nothing more need be done tor the comfort of half a million of people. In crossing the Atlantic, a voung New Yorker who was ral)idlv patriotic, and who boasted \ E W" Y () \l Iv (' I-: X T II A L r A R K . J 7 daily <»f tlic superiority of our beloNcil couiuicrciul metropolis over every city on the g'lol)e, was our most ;unusiii<^ eonipaiiiou. I chanced to meet him oiu' afternoon, a lew da_\'s after we landed, in oiu' of the U'reat parks in T.oiidoiK in the midst of all tlie sylvan l)eauty and human enjoyment I haxc attempt(.'(l to describe to vou. II(^ threw up his arms as he recoy'nizeil me, and exclaimed : 'Good heaxxuis ! what a sceiu' I and I ttiok some Londoners to the ste])S of the Citv Hall last sunnner, to show them tlu' l*ark of New York!' I consoled him with the advice to In- less c-onc-eited thereafter in his cockneyism, and to show foreigners the Hudson and Niagara, instead of the Citv Hall and liowling-Green. But the question may well he asked, ' Ts Xew York really not rich enough, or is there absolutelv not land enotigh in America, to give our citizens public parks of more than ten acres?'" IJy this time, indeed, the question "was getting quite generallv aske(h In all societies there was a demand for a place within the city limits, where ])eople could walk, and drive, and ride, auckney returning to Xew York, and telling his little circle at home of the astonishment and mortification he had felt on comparing the generous pi-ovision which the government of a monarchy had made tor the enjoyment of its sul)jects, with the wretclied wav in which tlu' free citizens of a great I'epublic had stinted themselves. Every intelligent Xew Yorker that went abroad must have made the same comparison, and must have given e.\[)ression to tlie same astonishment and mortification. And now that this wide- si)read public feeling hail found a voice in ]Mr. Downing, there needed nothing but that some ])erson in authority, mayor, governor, or legis- lator, should recommend that the ])ublic need be ])rovided for, to secure that something elfcctual should be done. And at-cordinii'ly, in ]i-;.j1, Mr. A. C Kingsland, who was then flavor of Xew York, sent a Message to the Common Council, in which the whole (piestion was stated so clearlv and succinctly, and the necessitv for prompt and efficient action Avas so forcibly nrged, that there is no wonder it took hold of the jiublic attention, and became the leading topic of dis- cussion in social cii'clo and m the newspapers. As this MessacTf is 18 11 r STORY OF T II K (tf importance in tlie history of the Central Park, and as it is buried in the not often e.\;))k)red storehouse of official documents of the city H()\('rnment, the ivaik'r will perha[»s not think it out of place in a foot-note.* The Message of ]\[ayor Kingsland was sent to the Common Council on. the iifth dav of April, 185 1, and was at once referred to the Com- * To ilie Honordhle tlic Common Council: — (iENTLEMEN — Tliu lapicl iiugmeiitation of our population, and the great increase in the value of ])roperty iu the lower part of the cit.y, justify me in ealliuu,- the atten- tion of your honorable body to the necessity of niakinj^ some suitable i)rovisiou for the wants of our citizeub. who arj thronging into the tipper wards which, but a few years since, were considered as entirely out of the city. It seems obvious to mc that the entire tongue of land south of the line drawn across the Park is destined to be devoted, entirely and solely, to commercial purposes ; and the Park and Battery, which were formerly favorite places of resort for pleasure and recreation for citizens whose j'csidcnees were below that lino, are now deserted. The tide of population is rai)idly flowing to the northern section of the island, and it is hci'e that jirovisioii should be made for the thousands Mdiose dwellings will, ere long, fill up the vacant streets and avenues north of Union Park. The ])ublic places of New Turk are not in keei)ing vi ith the charactei- of mir city; nor do llicy in any wise subserve the purpose for which such places should be set apart. I^arh year will witness a certain increase in the value of real estate, out of the city , pr(jpcr, and I do not know that any period will be more suirable than the present one for the purchase and laying out of a pai-lc on a scale which will be worthy of the city. There are places on the island easily accessilile, and possessing all the advantages of wood, lawn, and water, which might, at a comjiaratively small expense, be con- verted into a jiark which would be at once the ])ride and ornament of the city. Such a park, well laid out, would become the favorite resort of all classes. There are thousands who ])ass the day of rest among the idle and di-solute, iu porter-houses or in i)laces more objectionable, who would rejoice in being enaljlcd to breatlic the jnire an- insucli a place, Avlule the ride and drive through its avenues, free from the noise, dust, and confusion inseparal)le from all thoroughfares, would hold out strong induce- ments for the atlluent to make it a place of resort. There is no park on the island deserving the name, and while I cannot believe that any one can be found to advance an objection against the expediency of having such a one in our midst, I think that the expenditure of a sum necessary to procure and lay out a park of suflicicnt magnitude to answer the purposes al)ove mentioned would he well and wisely appropriated, and would be returned to us fourfold in the health, hapiii- ness, and comfort of those whose interests are specially intrusted to our keeping— the jioorcr classes. T,ie cstalilishment of such a i>ark would prove a lasting monument to the wisdom, sagacity, and 1on'th(iui;-ht of its founders, and would sccuri.' tiie gratitude of thousands yet unborn for the blessings of pure air, and the opportunity for innocent, healthful enjoyment. I commend this subject to your consideration, in the (■onvi<-tion that its im- portance will insure your careful attention and prompt action. A. C. KiNGSi.AM>, ^Mavor. N E \V Y O R K (' !•: N T 11 A I- P A 11 K. 19 mittee on J^aiitls uinl I'hiccs. This coimiiitfcc soon uftt'i- ret iinicil a report favorable to the ^L.-ivor's views, ami recoiiiiiieiidiii'j; that ajipli- catioii shoulil he iiiaiU' to the LeL^'islature to appropriate that ]iortion ot New ^'l^rk Islaiul known as J.nies's Wood to the uses of a. pulilic park, this seeming to the eoiiiiiiittee Let ter atlapted t'oi- t he pui-pose than any other situation. .lont's's Wood is a. ti'aet of undnlatinix ij:ronnd l^'ini,^ alon^;" the shore of the East lvi\er, and was at that tiuu' tor the most ])art un- occupied by buildings, thouuh here andtliere were still standini;- a few of those old-tashione(l "mansions,"' as they wei'e somewliat ii-ran(lilo(]Uentlv called, wdiieli, in I'ornier times, had bet-n the country- seats of wealthy Xew York merchants retired imm business, but nu)st of wdiicli liave of late years l)een abandoned ami are fast .^'oing to decav. The laiul whicli it was ])roposed to take Ibr a, ))ark ex- tended from tlie East lJi\er to the Third A^•emle, and from Sixty- sixth Street, on the south, to Seventy-fifth Street, on the north, and contained abt)ut one hundi'ed and litty aeres. The advantau'es it offered for the ]iurposes of a ]iark were, the ii-reLi'ularity of its surface, its nearness to the East Ivivt't-, always an aniinatecl scene, Avith its steamboats, shipping", the islands, and the neighboring- shore; and tliere was, Ijeside, wliat, by most people, was thought woidd i)rove a great gain in time and expense, a thick growth of trees over nearly tlie whole region. The Legislature, at an extra session, held in 1 s.") 1, following the recommendation ot" the Common Council, ])asse possession of the tract in ([Ues- tiou. liut liardly liad this .\ct been ])ublished than there arose sucli a strenuous opposition to the proposed site, that the IJoard of Alder- men ai)poiiited (August -"ith, 1S51) a, special committee to look into the matter and re[)ort upon the ad\aiitages and disadvantages of the ground designated in the Act of the Legislature, and also to examine wlietlier tliere were not some locality within the city limits ln'tter suited to the purpose of a publie ]iark. Thi< eommittee, consisting of Messrs. Daniel Dod'^-e and Jo>eph i>i-it ton, made a very full repoi't, strouulv recotnmeudiii'j,- a tract, in the centre of the island foi- the 0(j HISTORY OF THE site of tlie Park in prcl'freiK-e to Jones's AVood, on eonsiderations of its o;reater extent ami convenience of access, its g-eneral availability, and its })roi)Oi'tionally far less cost. Among the influences that worked to secure the ])resent site to the city, this aV)lc report Avas doubtless (ine of the strongest. It [)Ut the whole case clearly before the public, stating the argument at length, yet Avithout waste words, and ga\e vill, had I'cfused to app«iint commissionei'S ; but the owners of that propertv, not willinu' to lose tlie (.)])portunitv of selling their land to so good a customer as the city, again bestirred themselves in the mattei-, and to such good pur})Ose, that they actually persuaoard, and the })reUiniuaries were t^ettled for carrying out tlie objects of tlie commission. At suhsequent meetings Aarious 2»hins lor the improve- ment of tire Park were presented to tiiem, but, on tlie whole, little was accomplished until the design sent in by Mr. Egbert L. Viele, the engineer of the Park, and strongly backed by Mayor Wood, was adopted. This seemed to be an important point gained, but, foi'tu- nately for the city, it resulted in uothing. No money was ajipro- j)riated I'or the use of the connnissioners, and we were thus sa\ed the mortitication of seeing all the labor that had been expended in secur- ing the Park thrown away, and all the herpes that had l)eeu held of its beauty disappointed l)y the adojjtiou of a commonplace and tasteless design. The tirst anruuil report of the engineer of the Central Park Avas sent to the commissioners, January 1st, 1857. It forms Document No. 5 of the Proceedings of tlie l^oard of Aldermen f)r that year, and be- side a history of the J*ark up to the lime when the ivport was sent in, it contained a lithograph of ]\Ir. N'iele's jilau and a full description of it. This ]^lau would hardly be worth speaking of to-day, if there had not been at one time a }>ersistent effort nuule to convince the ])ublic that the plan afterward adopted — the t>ne designed l)y Olmsted and Vau\, was a i)lagiarism, in, at least, two essential })oiuts, from that of .Air. A'iele. It is very much to be regretted that such a charge as this should e\'er have 1)eeu permitted to be uiade ; for while any one, who ielt sutticieut interest in the matter, to investigate it, could easily have satisfied liimself tliat the accusation had no foundation in fact, it was by no means easy Ibi- the i)ul)lic to know on which side the ]-ight lay. As the first re[)ort of the engineer to the then Connuissioners of the Park (Messrs. Woo the Fifth A\emii', anh', considering the situation of the I^irk, and the shape of the city. Take them away; prevent carts, wagons, oinnil)Uses, from crossing the Park anywhere between the streets that bound it on the nortli and south, and you niaki» two st'p- arate cities, one on either si(h'. To put transverse I'oads into the plan, if, indeiMl, they had not been c\[)ri'ssly calletl tor l>y the inst ructions of the ( 'onimissioners to the competitors, was a natural notion enough; it might ha\e occuri'ed to anybody. Put anybody, oiu; would hax'e thought, could also ha\ e seen that unless some way were de\ ised, at the same time, of lia\ ing, and not ha\in'_^' them: of ii,etting the good, and a\<)iding the e\il of them, the I'ai'k would lie seriously injuri'd. 2(i HT STORY OF THE No other wav occurivd to Mr. \'it'le, iior, indeed, to any of the com- petitors l)ut the successful ones, but just t<> lay transverse roads across liis ]»lan on a le\el A\if]i the surface like all the other roads in tlie Park. It must be ])lain at a glance tluit tliis arrangement wouhl ha^e destroyed the ]>leasure of dri\ing or walking in the Park, to say noth- ing of its Avant of elegance. As AVe sliall see, the authors of the suc- cessful ])lan, by a method as simple as it Avas ingenious, ;;ecured e\- ery thing that was needed for the accommodation of traffic, while, at the same time, thev secured tin' ])ri\acv and comfort of A'isitors. Their ])lan in no wav impaired the beauty of the Park nor interfered with its utility. It was soon foiuid that tmless either th(> Legislature or the city authorities took more active measures for the government and im- jirovement of the Park, the enterprise must fail of Ix'ing carried out in a creditable inannei'; and, ac-cordingly, on the 17th of April, liSoT, the Legislature appointt'd a new Commission, consisting of eleven members, who were to hold office for live years, and who were eni- ])Owered to exjjend a sum of money the interest of which should not exceed thirty thousand dollars. To raise this money the Common Council of thecitv issued stock having thirty years to run,Avhich was inmu'diately taken u[) by the ])ublic. ()ne of the first acts of the new Commission was, to lay aside tlie plan of j\L'. Yiele, and to ad\n'rtise for lU'W plans, to be sent in, in competition. The tinu' at iii'st tixt'd upcui uj) to Avhich ])lans could be sent in was the 1st of March, but it Avas afterwanls extended, at the re(juest of immerous ])ersons intending to eom|)ete, to the 1st of April, at Avhicli time thirty-three plans had been sent in. These ])lans Avere placed in a I'oom on Jiroadway that had been hired for the \>\iv- pose, and from that time until the L'lst of April the Poard freoa rd en dea\(>red to <4-et I'id of it 1»\ ingenious stratagems. Oik- ]ir()lesled against its heinn" e\en considered, on the ground that- in his opinion the plan was not rect'ix t'iith and training, wlio eanie to this country, and adopted it for his permanent home, in 1852. He left England on the invitation of Mr. Downing, to whom he had l)een highly recommended as the person best fitted to assist him in ]>is profession of architt'ct and landscape-gardener. He establishey education, by experience, an, a bold blulT on the eastern side answers to the rocks on the west; lun'c a broad grassy slope de- scends to the verv edgt; of th(! water, and on the southern side a sandv beach cnal)k\s the chikb'cn to watch, the ducks and swans. In the skating season this Pond makes a capital cliapel-of-ease to the larger Terrace Lake, and hundreds of skaters stop here at the entrance to the Park in preference to taking the additional walk, and joining the larger crowd. As we })ass the Pond we st'c the pass l)etbi-(^ getting so liir, and as we are not conlined to a literal \-eliicle in this imaginary visit ol' ours we can stop and look alioiit ns at our leisure. At a short distance from tlu^ soutlu.'i'n enlain that it would be necessarv to wait a con- siderable time before any very striking or satisfactory result could be looked for from young plantations, it was decided tt) take the barren tract — the sheet of wdntc paper, and write the future Park pioem npon that. The })opular desire, verv loudly and imjiatiently expressed, for large trees, drove the Conmiissioners into planting tlu' Mall with elms too far advanced in growth to be moved with safety. This was done by contract with a ])erson who agreed to (hunand pay ioronlv such trees as lived, and the result of the lirst velar's ])]ant- 40 DESCRIPTKJX OF TllK ing was that a large number of the trees not only on tlic Mall but in otlier parts of the Park died, though the most eonsiderable plant- ing had been along the Mall. Sinee that time the experiment of moving large trees has been abandoned, and tlie public has ceased worrying the Commissioners into trying to circumvent nature. The bridge by the willows, which we have just passed over, is very prettily constructed within, having seats in niches at the sides, which give grateful cooling rest on a sultry day, and in one of these niches is a fountain basin, where a draught of cold water can at all times be procured. As we near Seventy-second Street our carriage-road divides, or, rather, sends oft' two branches. One of these is a mere outlet to Seventy-second Street ; the other leads to the " Terrace," the central object of interest in tlie lower park. It will Ije discovered, liow- ever, T>y looking at the Plan, that the roads at this point are so ar- ranged as to secure an almost direct communication across the Park from the Fifth to the Eighth Ave- ^ - -— -ti,-= ^^^^- ^ similar arrangement ex- "^ ists at One Hundred and Second Street, but it is not made as eas}^ to cross here as at the lower trans- verse, because tlie neighborhood of the Park at tliat point does not make it desii-able to establish this sort of communication as yet. But it is evident that, as the city grows, it will become necessary to increase the flicilities fn- crossing the Park, either on foot, or in vehicles, whether for pleasure or from neces- Dl'.l.NKINU FOUNTAIN. . y-, , . sity. I' or mere business communi- cation between the two sides of the city, divided as it will be lor a distance of more than two miles and a half by the Park — X K W YORK r K X T R A I, P A R K 41 i\\() four trafTu'-ronds nlVonl all the liicilities that will i)r(il)al)ly l)c needed. These aiv lor earts and wagons of all descrip- tions, for tire-engines, for lunerals— no i'nneral procession is allowed to enter lla^ Park ])i'o})er — and lor all vehicles that are not suit(>(l to a place of tin; character which onght, to l)e maintained in a large ])nlilic pleasnve-ground. Yet, it will easily he seen that, for nianv piii-poses, it may V)e highly (h'sirahle to have easy access from one side ol the city to the otlier without heing ol)liged to use the traffic- roads, lor, these roads, Ixang below the sur- face of the ground, thougli open to the light and air, are not as pleasant as tliey would l)cif they were not soconhned. A lady in her carriage, or a gentleman on horseback or on loot, making calls in the side of the city opposite to where they live; a physician called suddenly to visit a patient; a patient needing suddenly to snnnnon his physician ; boys and girls going to school or to college ; — it will l)e allowed that in such cases as these a better means of communication than tliat afforded by the traffic-road ought to be provided, but, it seems to us, that these are not the only cases which need to l)c considered. We dare say that men of the large humanity of the designers of this Park did not forget the equal claim of those who have humbler errands. The washerwoman going home with her basket of snow after a hard day's work over tub or ironing-ta- ])le; the sewing-girl shut up since early morning in a crowded room with the click of her sewing-machine in her car for the oriole's song ; the teacher fagged with disciplining those boys whom Plato declared to be the most ferocious of wild beasts; — all these, and moi'e besitle, need affer their lal)ors the rest of a quiet walk with grass and tn>es and sky, to make np for something of what has been lost in the wear and tear of the day. For such as tliese the easy communication b)^ flowing diagonals fi-oi:i the Eighth Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street to Seventy-second and Seventy-ninth streets on the Fifth Avenue; from the entrance at the Fifth Avenne and Fifty-ninth Street to Seventy-second Street ; and the more direct roads that we have al- 42 1» KSCll I I'T 1 OX <»F T H ready mentioned at Seventy-second. Ninety-sixth, and One Hun- dred and Second streets — were surely designed, and offer a most useful preparation for the day's labor, and a most welcome rest af- ter it is over. As we have reached the neighborhood of the Terrace, we may as well visit it now as leave it till our return. Yet the Terrace can only be thoroughly seen and enjoyed by those who are on foot, and as it is useless for us to attempt a regular and uninterrupted prog- ress through the Park in this imaginary visit of ours, w^e will ]jlace ourselves again at the southern end of the Mall and approacli the Terrace through this overarching green alley, of which it is the care- fully designed terminus. The two divisions of the Park which we have called " the up- per " and the " lower," although artificially separated by the great THE TERR.^CE FROM THE NORTH. Reservoirs of the Croton Aqueduct, are, nevertheless, clearly defined by their natural differences. That portion of the ground north of N K W V ( » R K C 1'] N T U A L T A R K . 43 the Reservoirs is distinguished by tlie freer sweep and greater va- riety of its horizon hnes, and by the mueh more beautiful and in- teresting character of th(^ hmdscape, not merely in the ]'ark itscll', but oi' the surrounding country, which can 1)e commanded from its most elevated points. This upper park is much better suited to be dealt witli by the landscape gardener, who produces his most legiti- mate effects with trees and grass and llowers, with rocks and water, and who relies as little as possible upon l)uildings of any kind. The lower park, on the contrary, is almost entirely artificial in its construction, and de})ends greatly for its attractiveness on artificial beauties. Not to trouble the reader with a too scientific statement, we will say in a word that the rocky ridge, on the edge of which New York island lies, comes to the surflice at about Thirtieth Street, and is to be met with, chiefly on the western side, from that })oint to Manhattanville. From this ridge to the Hudson is three-cpiarters of a mile, and to the East River nearly a mile. On the eastern slope the Central Park is placed, and all the water, therefore, that either falls in rain, or flows from springs, finds its way naturally in- to the East River. The tract, however, is by no means a uniform slope ; it is divided transversely by four irregular ridges, with their corresponding valleys, the chief of these ridges crossing the Park somewdiat diagonally, and thus making the greatest elevation in the central, westerly, and northwesterly portions. But there are very few places in the whole extent of the Park where rock is not to be met with ; with the exception of two tracts — partly boggy and part- ly meadow — of ten acres, or thereabouts, each, the report tells us that there is not an acre in the lower park, and nearly the same may be said of the upper park, wdiere a crowbar could, originallj', have been thrust its length into the ground without striking rock ; ;md even where the gneiss was not visible to the eye (and for the most part it lay bare to the sun with neither niould, nor weeds, nor even moss upon it), it w\as found to be v/ithin from two inches to three feet of the surface for lonsr distances together. This w^as the condi- 44 I) KSC R 1 ]'T I ON () F THE tioii oltlic Piiik when Mcs.-rs. (Jliusted and Vuiix bcgtin operations, a nil it may well Ix' imagined that it was no easy task to ])repare this barren waste ior beauty. Let us glauee for a moment at the topog- raphy ol' this lower park. We iind in it two lateral valleys, one riimiing from about Sixty-lburth Street to the Fifth Avenue angle ; the waters that drained this depression liave been gathered into the I'ond, whieh we have already (leseril>ed. The seeond valley ex- tended from Seventy-seventh Street and Eighth Avenue to Seventy- fourth Street and Fifth Avenue. The division between these two valleys was a rocky plateau covered with a moderately thick soil, but the remainder of the lower park was made up of low hills and hillocks, the i-ock of which they were composed everywhere ero[)- }>ing out boldly in large, smooth, flatfish masses, washed bare of soil. Of this second valley, the northern side was an irregular rocky hill-side, crowned most inartistieally by the walls of the old Keser- voir, and this was easily in sight from every eminence in the lower ])ark. As nature had refused to do any thing whatever for this re- gion, had, indeed, d(jne every thing to make it a sheet of white i)aper Ibr man to write what he could u})on, there was absolutely nothing to be done, but to Ijring in all the aids of art and create the attrac- tions which nature had failed to furnish out of her own treasury. The plan was a simple one, but it was well calculated to produce the maximum of effect. The walk we have already described — the Mall — crosses the central plateau between the two depressions, di- agouidly, but in a direction nearly north and south. It is phuited along its whole length with a double row of American elms, set so as to leave entirely clear the walk pro}»er, of thirty-live lectin width. In the original design there was no entrance to the Mall from the sides, but at present two walks cross it, connecting the foot-paths that run ])arallel with it on either side. Near the upper end we come to the Music-stand, a renuirkably prettv structure, where, twice a week, a iirst-rate band perl(;rms. and makes an attraction whieh, oM a tine dav, draws inunense crowds. The Music-stand it- N i<; w \ ( ) R K r; e n t tj a r. r a k k -If) sell' is (icconitcil with coloiv ;iinl 'iildiiii:' iil'tiT ;i ilcsin'ii hy Ml', .la- col) Wi\;y Moukl, a L;ciitleiii;ui to wlioiu, as wc shall })rescully «<-'<->, THK MUalU-BTAND. the public is iii(lcl)tc(l I'or almost all tlio decorative work in the Park, and without whose help the Terrace, especially, could hardly have Ijecoine the attraction it has proved. Just beyond the Music- stand we reach the end of the Mall, which opens upon an ample rectangle of o:ra\-el, ornaniented with two fountains, with uildcd bird-eap:es, and with tvvo extremely pretty driukingd)asins. On mii- sic-davs when the sun is o])pressive, this square is covered with a li,L;iit awnini;-. and set with benches, where ladies and childreu gatli- ('!■ and eat creams and ices to the ''Minuet" in Don .luan, or '' Lc saJ)re de nion peiv. On the opposite sidt^ of this pi-etty pJuza an elegaut screen of Albert iVcestone se[iai-ates it IVom the carriage-road. 1o which ac- cess is given, howexer, b\- two openings, one at each side, so that persons can either lca\c ihcii- carriages to walk in the Mall and lis- ten to the music, or i-an take them auaiii alter the entertainment is 46 D K S C R I r T I () N V T II K over. This carriuge-road, as will Ijc seen bv tlie Plan, runs along the edge of the second of the two valleys wLicli we liave mentioned ^- 1 5^1f' TERRACE— LOOKING SOUTH. as dividing the lower park ; and the lake whicli lies at the bottom of this depression — for "valley," perliaps, is too high-sounding a name — is at present the chief ]ioint of interest in the whole Park, though it was originally intended only as a centre of attraction for the southern portion. As on music-days, and it is hoped that, be- fore long, every day will he a music-day, a great number of peo])le asseml)le at this point, in the Mall and on the plaza, on foot, and, in the broad drive, in carriages and on horseback — it was found necessary to provide a means of reaching the lower level of the lake without the necessity of crossing the road, which, especially for timid women and for children, would almost always be dangerous. Between the two openings in the stone-screen a wide flight of steps leads down i'roin the plaza to a broad and well-lighted passage giv- ing upon the Terrace and the Lake. We have already spoken of the theory on which the drives, rides, and w^alks in the Park are arranged — the. theorv that every N E AV Y () R K (' K X T R A L P A R K . 47 person who comes lierc shall be enabled to enjoy his visit in his own way ; that those in carriages shall not be obliged to look out STAinS LEADING TO THE LAKE— TEKRACE. for the safety of persons on foot; that horsemen shall be free to canter, to galloj^, or to trot, without the fear of meeting either carriages or pedestrians; and that those who come for a walk, whether it be a meditative stroll or a brisk "constitutional,"' shall not be run over by Jehus, or knocked down by any fiery Pegasus.* Horsemen may, if they choose, ride upon the carriage- roads, but pedestrians who take either the drives or the rides do so at their own risk. Children, however, are not peraiitted to leave the walks, and, by keeping to these, a muscular in Hint might toddle from one end of the Park to the other, and run no danijer whatever. * There is no law of the Park tliat forbids to turn aiul wind the fiery Peuasus. anS(' iiiaiiy [laiicls ai'c alike, Imt their heaulv and iiiupil, and author of a well-known work on Greek Ornament. Mr. Vulliamy being an excellent construc- tionist, his new assistant had now the opportunity he had so long desired, to su])plement his knowledge of decorative art with skill in more purely ai-chitectural studies. And lie was soon brought into the thick of a most searching practical experience. Mr. Vulliamv received tlie commission from Mr. Holford. an English .V I', W ^' n I! K C !•: N T 1^. A L PA 1! K . .'.l geiitleiiKiu. 1<> liuild :i HKiiisioii lor him on tlie t^ite ol' J)()ix'lic'st('r House. This was one of \\\r most s[)]eii(li(l commissions that lias l)cen o-i\(Mi l>v a pi-ivatt^ ])erson to any architect of onrlimc But, scarcclv had work Ween beii'un on the |)hins, when Mr. A'ul- linmv, at tlic age of seventy, slipped on th(^ ice at Iligligate, and sustained a severe injurv that coniine(l liim to liis lioiise foi" lour years. During that time Mr. AEould had entire^ control of the office, and built Ilolford House. Its splendor may be imagine(l from one single item. Two grand staircases were designcMl for it bv Mr. Mould, of which, one was estimated at .£82,000, and the other at £5().»»00. Mr. Ilolibrd chose tlie more costly, which was built, and stands to-day the most beautiful W'Ork of its kind in Europe. Mr. Mould came to tliis country in 1852. Shortly after his arrival in New York, and after he had proved his ability in the erection of several important structures, he was invited to assist Mr. Yaux in the architectural department of the Pai'k', where he has ever since been fully employed. His graceiul and unwearied hand is seen in many places, and, we hope, will be seen in many more: but his princijKil performance in the Park has, thus lar, been the Terrace, the general design of wdiich is l)y Mr. A^aux, but all the details have been left to Mr. Mould. His work is remark- al:)le for its variety and its suggestiveness. He cond)ines a strong feeling for color with an equal enjoyment of form, and he has such delight in his art that it is far easier for him to make every fresh design an entirely new one, than to copy something lie has made before. It w\as a fortunate day for the public when Mr. Yaux made his acquaintance, and with that quick appreciation of excellence which distinguishes hhn, called him to his assist- ance. Descending the stairs that lead from the Plaza to tlu^ lower terrace we find ourselves in a large and deliglitiully cool hall whicli has been constructed under the carriage-road. Its decora- tion is not yet completed, but enough is finished to show how o2 ricli, are D E S C? R I P T T X ( ) F T II !•: iiiul yet liow elegant, will he the final effect. The walls of Albert freestone, with large circular- headed niches, ,'^^^';^T<-'7 STONE SIKEEN DIVIDING PLAZA FROM CARRIAGE EOAP. designed to l>e filled in with elaborate arabesque patterns in encaustic tiles. Tlie whole floor is laid with Minton's tiles, and the ceiling is composed of richly gilded ij'(_»n beams, enclosing large squares of colored tiles, this being the first time, we be- lieve, tlsat tiles have been used here for ceiling decoration. It was f()r a long time a problem how to fix them securel}^ beyond the ])cradventure of a fall, perhaps upon some luckless pate. By a very ingenious, but ^-ery simple, device, the desired safety has been secured, and the whole ceilinti: is being covered in the fol- lowing manner : — In the first place all the tiles nsed in the Terrace were first designed l;)y Mr. Mould, and tlie drawings sent over and executed at Minton's works in England. As ordinarilv man- ufactured, the tiles have a number of holes sunk in the under side and certain ilattisli depressions beside crossing the surface X i<: \y V () R K r, !•: x t i ; a i. p a ii k . 53 in squares, tlicse' holes and depressions beinu for llie jiurpose of Lintlijig tlie till* to tlie eenient wliicli is foreed into the body of tht' tile by pressure, and, when (h'y. liolds it very seenrely. In tliis way all the til<'s used in tlie Terrace flooring and wall work- are constructed, but something more was needed in the tiles made for tlie ceiling. In the middle of the back of each of these a narrow slot is sunk, into which a brass key with a pi-ojecting end fits, and is secured by a turn. Tlie hole is then filled up with cement, and the removal of the key is impossible, except by using considerable force. The tiles having been all prepared in tins way, a plate of wrought iron, fitted in.to a frame, is elevated by a screw-jack to the top of an iron scafiblding, placed under one of the squares formed by the intersection of the iron beams of the ceiling. This plate is exactl}^ the size of the square under which it now lies. It is pierced with as many holes as there are tiles to be laid upon it, and the projecting ends of the brass keys we have mentioned fit easily into these holes, and are secured by lirass nuts screwed upon the opposite side. When the pattern is complete, and each tile firmly fixed in its place, the great iron plate is reversed by a simple macliinery and elevated to its place in the ceiling, where it is held fast to tlie beams bv strong screws. So neatly is the work done, that, to all appearances, the tiles are laid upon the ceiling as thev are laid u|)on the floor. All the stone-work of this interior is lieautifully carved, though nowhere in excess, but to one who enjoys such things it is a pleasure to study the variety of design, no two caps or pilasters being alike. And here let it be said that it is not the artist nor the lover of art alone, to whose pleasure and instruction it has been sought to minister in the construction of the Terrace, and, indeed of every material construction in the Park. It certainly has not been from any mere desire to spend money, or to make a dis- play, that the Commissioners have seconded the architects in 54 DESt'RIPTIOX OF THE their (Ictenninatiou to have all tlie mechanical work required on tlic Pai-k done in tlie veiy best possible way without stinting, though bv n<_) means Avithout counting the cost. But it lias been felt that, even if every great public work were not most chea})lv done when it is done most thoroughly well, here was, beside, an opportunity to teach many lessons to American me- chanics in a quiet and unpretending way. On the Park our people have had the advantage of seeing the whole operation of building these admirable roads, which have never thus far been even approached in tlioroughness of construction and fitness for their sevend purposes, on this side of the water, and, probably, 'i . A ^ l-^l'"P ill ^ ^^^ !' l",''! •^1 STAIRS FROM rAREIAGE-noAII TO LOWER TERRACE. have ni^ver been surpassed anywhere. Here, also, has been to study from the beginning the best masonry that the skill of our own and of foreign workmen can produce: and all over the Park, by the ingenious management and prudent forethought of the superintendent, engineers, and architects, backed bv tlie unfailino- zeal and constant watchfulness of the Comptroller and Treasurer, X ]■: w Y o n K ( ' I-; x t ji a l i' a i: k . ,-,0 Andrew II. Green, .1^S([.. the lesson has been taiiiz-lit wlial admir- able resnlts flow I'roni laithrul work. IVom a large eeoiiomy, and from striet adherence to ])lans elaboratcil with eare, and proved wise by every ycai-'s adiled experience. On leaving the Hall we conic out npon the lower terrace between the two great stairs that descend to it Ironi the carriage- road. These staircases have l)een designed with a view to re- ceive a great deal of ornamented sculptnre, and nmch of it has ali'ctidv l)een exeented. There are, of course, two balustrades with their posts and ramps to each of the two staircases, and the four have been made enddematic of the seasons. On the newel })osts of the balustrades are carved on three sides the animals and fruits that belong; to the several seasons — bees, birds, butterflies, gra])es, and berries. The balustrades themselves are formed of panels with open borders, each panel being tilled with a flower or li-uit in the balustrades belonging to Spring, Summer, and Autunm, while those of Winter are prettily designetl with the leaves and cones of evergreen, and in one of them is a pair of skates. All these panels are designed with the idea of kee|)- ing as close to nature as possible, conventionalizing the objects no more than has been necessai'v to bring them into the squares of the panels. The freest and most elal:)orate scul})ture has been reserved lor the ramps which take the place of balustrailes be- tween the iirst landing and the posts at the head of the stairs. The designs for these ramps are composed of flowing scrolls, formed bv the branches of flowerino; plants, amon<>' which birds hover, alight, an!' llaiiil;)ui-gli tlirougli its consul to :?->- BOAT norSF, NEAR RAMBLE. America, the late George Kunliardt, P]sq., presented to the Board of Commissioners twelve of the beautiful swans for which that city has long been famous, offering at the same time to send them to this port free of all expense of transportation. Mr. E. M. Blatchford, at that time President of the Board, acce})te, and for a time seemed to thrive, but in a few weeks nine of them had died, 60 DESCRIPTION or THE I'rom a])0]»lexy as was afterward pi'oved, tliongli at first it was suspected tliey had been poisoned. The City of Hand)urgh, as soon as it was informed through its consul of the deatli of the swans, presented tlie Commissioners with ten more ; and R AV. Kennard, Esq., M. P., an esteemed Englishman, at that time living in New York, having infoi'med the Worshipful Company of Vintners, and the Worshipful Company of Dyers, in the City oi' London, of the loss the citizens of New York had sustained, the former of these companies sent over twelve pairs, and the latter thirteen pairs, which reached America in safety and were placed upon the Lake. In the report for 1862, it was announced that out of the original seventy-two twenty-eight had died, but since that time no additional deaths have been reported. Li the report for 18G6 the number living is stated to be fifty-one, and in the last report, for 1807, the fomily counts sixty-four, showing an increase of twenty in five years, from which we may be encouraged to hope that these beautiful aristocrats have learned to accommodate them- selves to our trving climate and to our democratic institu- tions. Beside the white swans there are two trumpeter swans, who also have bred during the past year. There is hardly a prettier sight to be seen than that of the female swan sail- ing about with her cygnets. The mother-bird assists the little blue-gray youngsters to SWAN-EEST ON LAKE. O ^' . O iiiount her back, either bv sinking so low in the w^ater that they can climb up without diffi- X I-; A\' Y () R K C K N T R A L PARK. 61 cultv, or else ])uts out one of her legs and makes a step for tlieiii. She then raises her wings, and arclies Lack her neck, and thus makes a most comfortable slielter, impervious to tlie wind, in wliicli the l)al)y swans sit at tlieir ease, or sleep, or look out i\pon the landscape, and, no doubt, tliink the most sweet and innocent thoughts. The Park swans are very tame, and will come to the shore at a call to feed from any hand, although we believe the Com- missioners do not like to have them led in tins way. As is well known, the\' are a greedy bird, and in tlieir native habi-. tat, or in })onds and rivers where they are domesticated, they BOAT HOUSE NEAR OAK liKIPOE. prey upon fish, and upon the eggs of fish, to such an extent as to make themselves the terror and the pest of enthusiastic anglers. 62 DESCRIPTION OF THE Wood, in liis Natural History, quotes one of this class as burst- ing into an agonj of depreciation and throwing grammar to the winds : — " There never was no manner of doubt about the dread- ful mischief the swans do ! The}- eats up the spawn of every kind of iish till they have filled out their bai>:s, and then on to shore they goes, to sleep off their tuck out, and then at it again!" As will be seen by the Plan, the Lake is of considerable size, and extends very nearly across tlie Pork. It is divided into two parts, quite distinct in their character, by the Bow Bridge, as it is called, a gracelul structure of iron crossing tlie Lake at its narrowest point by a span of eighty-seven feet and a third, and at a lieiglit aboye the surfoce of nine feet and a half With the exception of the floor, which is, of course, of wood, it is made entirely of wrought iron, resting on two abutments of stone, one of the ends being placed upon cannon-balls, in order to allow for the necessary expansion and contraction with heat and cold. BOW BRinilE FROM LAKE. At the ends of the lu'idge, over the abutments, are placed iron vases, which, in summer, are kept filled with floweiing plants, and it is not without reason that this is generally considered as N 1'; W Y ( ) R K (J 1<: N THAI- I ' A li K . 63 tlie luindsonu'st of all tlic hridgcvs in the Park. J'last of it tlu^ Lake is, |»ei'liaps, the more attraetive. On one side is the Terrace, with its beautii'ul architecture, and gay crowds of liappy, well-dressed people, its stream of carriages passing o\'er the Terrace bridge, or stopping there to listen to the l)and, and' along the shore the painted boats taking and discharging tlieir loads. On the other is the kill-side called the Ramble, witk its cheerful scenery in summer-time, and its blaze of colors in tke autumn season. Tke portion of the Lake that lies beyond the Bow Bridge, to the west, is muck larger, and presents less variety, but, to many, it will be more ])leasing on tkat account. Here boys may fancy themselves at sea, and hope, by some lucky accident, to taste tke terrors of skipwreck. Here tliere are some- times waves, and tkere is certainly an actual beack, wdiere snck waves as tkere may kappen to be may dask tkemselves in break- ers. One of the main drives that starts from the gate-way at tke corner of the Eigktk Avenue and Fifty-nintk Street, skirts tke VIEW OF LAKE LOOKING SOFTH. Lake on its western side, and, as it necessarily passes very near tke boundary of tke Park at tliis point, the aim in planting has been to slmt otf the P'ighth Avenue and open up the Lake, ami (J_l. DESCKIPTIOX OF THE when the trees and shrubs are fully grown it will be found that this has been accomplished as far as it is possible to do it. The visitor will then find himself shut in, on one side by a belt of verdure, while on the other, his eye will be irresistibly attracted to the shining levels of the Lake, where, in the summer-time, the darting boats, and gliding swans, and groups of children on the shore, will make a bright and cheerful picture ; and no less gay in Avinter will be the thronging crowds of skaters, from early morning till late at night, under the Ijrilliant moon or the more brilliant calcium light. The Lake is the principal field for skatei's in the Park, al- though the Pond near Fifty-ninth Street is much used, and, in course of time, Harlem Lake, at the northern end, will become an equally favorite resort for citizens living in its neighborhood.* The teachings of Dr. Dio Lew^s, and other earnest advocates of physical education, about ten years ago, had given a great im- petus to open-air sj^orts and athletic games in Boston and its vicinity, and a similar interest had been awakened in Philadel- phia. In New York, Mrs. Plumb had established her excellent gymnasium for women, but our city was far less advantageously situated than Boston for sports and exercises that required ample out-of-door space for their full enjoyment. The exercise was good, but it failed of its full effect in restoring or maintaining health when it had to be taken in the house. Both Boston and Phila- delphia had the great advantage over New York, of possessing, * The miinber of days in which there was skating iu 18G1-G2. . . .50 " '• " 1864-65 50 1866-67. . . .39 1859-60.. . .36 1865-66. . . .28 1860-61. . . .27 1863-64.. ..24 1858-59. . . .19 1862-63.. . . 6 N E AV Y O R K C K N T R A i. 1^ A 1! Iv Go either witliiu tlicir l)()iiii(laries, or in tlicii' imiiuHliato vicinity, abundant room lor any exercise that might be in fashion. Bos- ton Common liad, for many years, given tlie city boys a central and convenient place Ibi' ]>hiy with sh^ls, and the Frog-]^)lld, with the excellent ponds within easy access of the city, had enabled everj'body who wished it to get a taste of skating dnr- BOW DRIDGE FI'.dM BEA( II. ing the season ; while, in Philadelphia, the Schnylkill afforded an incom])arable field for this latter exercise, of which hundreds liad availeut there was nowhere to be found ice tliat was kept in good condition for skating the whole season through, LAKE VTEW. N E W Y 11 K C K X T R A L P A R K . 67 that was cleared of new- {'alien snow, and Hooded after a thaw, or after the feet of liundreds had destroyed its sni-face. No pri- vate person or company had yet been f()Uiid wilHng to risk the money whieli such an enterprise would call for, and, indeed, no one had even suggested that such an enterjirise was called for, or was even possible. But no sooner had the first winter's trial at the Central Park proved the perfect feasibility of tlic under- taking than pi'ivate subscription ponds were formed in every direction. In the city they were mostly in the neighborliood of the Park, and were made Ijy flooding the sunken lots whicli so abound in that region. These were then boarded np in order to prevent indiscriminate access, and rougli Inuldings were put np near the entrance, to accommodate the visitors, who were all cither subscribers for the season, or paid a fee for each, admis- sion. At night these private jionds, like those of the Central Park, were illuminated by calcium lights, and they were some- times supplied with music, which the Park was not. They drew off, of course, a great many visitors from the Park skating grounds, then chiefly of the wealthy, and many ladies and young children; but this was by no means undesirable, since the skat- ing grounds of the Park have always been, from the beginning, overcrowded. Nor were these small city ponds the only ones that were established to meet the new-lbund want. In Brook- lyn, in IToboken, along the line of the Harlem and New Haven Railroads, ponds were advertised, and vied with one another ia the attractions tljey held out to skaters. Masquerades were held upon the ice ; concerts were given ; fireworks were displayed ; and for a time there was an active competition. But, as will be seen by the table, our changeable climate makes the specula- tion a too uncertain one to be relied upon l()r making money. In nine years it will be seen that the numlxn- of skating days has varied all the way from six to hit}', and there were only two years in the nine when there have been so many as lift}*. 68 DESCRIPTION OF THE Of course this luicertaintv makes the risk too great to be run witli impunitv, and onl}^ persons owning, or having riglit in, large natural pontis can afford to continue these enterprises. Beside, the sunken lots are ra})idly being built up, and it will not be long before they will disappear altogether. With the Park skating grounds it is quite different. It requires no ad- ditional staff of workmen to keep the ice in condition through the season, nor any addition to the police force to maintain order. The ponds are there, and the arrangements for flooding them are simple and always on hand, and whatever expense — never very great — is incurred to provide skating, is for the public service, and makes an item in the annual budget. Nor can the pleasure that is given to so many thousands, and the health and strength they gain, be reckoned in money. While we are npon this subject it maj- be worth wdiile to notice the fact, that with the increased opportunities for skating has come a steady improvement in the skates that are yearly offered for sale. Skaters are now as much exercised over the shape and material of their instrument as horseback riders are over their saddles, and cricket-players over their bats and balls. If a countryman should appear to-day upon the ground, proud in the possession of a pair of fine old skates, inherited from his grandfather, with their double-gutters, multiplied straps, and ends curling up over the instep like the proboscis of some gigantic butterfly, we shudder to think of the persecution of inquisitive commentary to which he would subject himself The little boys who officiate as skate-strappers would sit in awful judgment upon him. The ladies would pierce him througli and through with glances of playful scorn, and he would learn by sad experience how soon the fashion of this world passeth away. The northern end of the western division of the Lake is reserved for the use of ladies who come to skate, although they are free to go anywhere they may please. But it was thought NEW YORK (MONTR A L PARK. 09 best to reserve a place for the more timid and delicate ones, and lor those, also, who are Just hegiiining to })ractise. The :M LADIES SKATINO POND. Ladies' Pond is much frequented, but the men are bj no means on that account left to the enjoyment of the rest of the Lake in selfish exclusiveness. Ilere, as in so mauA' departments of our modern social life, woman competes with man on ground in which he had indulged the absurd fancy that he was without a rival, and, in spite of all his efforts, either carries off the palm or fairly divides the victory. Our Scotch fellow-citizens too have found a use for tlu^ Lake in winter, and the curling club have introduced here their manly and graceful national game. Some of our readers may remem- ber Mr. J. G. Brown's capital })ortrait picture of the mend)ers of this club, called "Curling, Central Park," in the Academy exhibition of 1863. '0 D 1-: .S C H I P T I N F T H E The carriage-road tliat skirts tlie western side of tlie Lake crosses, near Seventy-seventh Street, a narrow strait leading from the main water into a small pond close to the Eighth Avenue. The bridge hy whicli the drive is curried over this connecting stream is called the Balcony Bridge, li'om the two projecting Ijalconies with stone seats, formed by corbelling out the piers. These are pleasant places in which to sit and overlook the Lake, and, architecturally, this bridge is one of the handsomest in the Park. One of our cuts shows the view looking toward Balcony Bridge Ji'om the beach; the one a little farther on shows the bridge from tlie western side, wliich has no balconies, since the view^ on that side is so Imiited as to make them hardly necessary. Betarning to the Terrace for a fresh start, we ascend the steps at the right hand from tlie lower plaza to the upper, and stop for a moment to look at the bi'onze statue of the tigress which has been recently presented to the Park by a few American gentlemen temporarily residing in Europe. Tlie statue will be found on a little slo])e west of the Terrace and very near it. N K W Y O 1^, K C E X T R A L PARK. 71 111 ascending to it we may notice at the right hand the two specimens of the ''Great Tree" of California {mjuoi purpose \\\c nrcliitccls Imvc Imd in \i('\\' in tlic coii- structiou of tlie Terrace it would not have been possible, with- out inconsistency, to give this statue a conspicuous place in rela- tion to the Terrace, and indec^l it is not easy to see Avhereabouts ill the Park it can be conspicuously placed at all. Tt has, thei'C- Idre, been set up in a secluded spot, sliut oil" from rr(>niM'al observation by a screen of trees, and while j)lace(l so that who- ever chooses to seek it can sec thoroughly well all that there is of it, it does not in the least interfere wdth the artistic arrange- ment of the Terrace and its surroundings. But its proper place is not here at all ; it is, as we have said, in the Zoological Garden, of which it would make a very attractive and a])pro])riate orna- ment. It will l)e seen, then, that the whole subject of sculpture in the Park is beset with clifiiculties, and that the Commissioners have more than any mere personal interests, whether of their own or of other people, to consult. For, apart from the question of gootl or bad sculpture, is the problem how to limit its introduction to such a point that it shall not detract from the a})parent size of the Park ; a most serious consideration. Man}^ of our readers must have had the op]3ortunity of observing how quickly the apparent size of a garden is reduced by the introduction of statu- ary, which it was at one time the fashion to use much more freely than has been done since the ''natural style'' of gardening came into vogue. Not only is the area of the garden or lawn so orna- mented diminished to the eye, but walks and roads along which statuary is placed are visibly shortened. Both these ficts ai"e no less facts for being optical delusions, which are the result of a well-known natural law. They are delusions eonstantly taken into account in decorati\e design, and cannot safely be n(\2"- leeted. Their l)earing on the ([uestion ol' tlie Park is ]>hiiu. The area of the Park, however large it may sound when stated to the ear, or however it may seem on paper, is in proportion 80 D E S C R I P T I N F T II K to tlie population that is to use it, bv no means so large as it seems to the superiicial observer. And this process must con- tinue ; the Park growing sensibly smaller ami smaller with every conspicuous object that is placed in it giving the eje a means of measurement, until, at length, its real dimensions cannot any longer be concealed. Any visitor to the Park who chooses to ob- serve, can see this process going on everywhere within its limits. Every summer-house that is built on rising ground, the new Spa, the ugly gate-houses of the Reservoir — another feat in ornamental archite(;ture of our friends, the engineers — the Children's Shelter, the Belvidere that is to be — each of these structures draws the eye to itself from a distance, and suggests a limit, a bound. This would be all very well if the distances in tlie Park were really grand, if calling attention to a limit was equivalent to sayin.g, "see, how far!" But when the unfortunate shape of the Park is considered, its narrowness, which no amount of ])lanting, how- ever judiciously done, can ever hope to make entirely forgotten; its pronounced division into two parts, a defect only to be made the best of, not to be got rid of; it will be seen that the one thing to be avoided, is the calling attention to limits which can only mean, " see, how near !"' And when we have thoroughly under- stood the serious nature of the problem thus presented to the Commissioners, we shall appreciate the force of their objection to nndti})lying statues, and not merely statues, but objects of any kind tliat do not serve some necessary purpose, oi' tliat do not tend to assist, l)ut rather interfere with, their plans for the deco- ration of the Park on the highest artistic principles. We imagine that under any circumstances, even if the l^ark were a great deal larger tlian it is, the truest taste would dictate that there should be as few artificial oljijects in it as possible. Tlie charm of the Park ought to consist cliiefly in its broad stretches of green grass, its lakes, and pools, and streams, its fine trees, its shrubs and abundant i]ow(^rs. and the skv that over- N I'] W Y O R K C E X T R A L 1' A R K . 81 arclies and encloses all. Those who are all the week "in popu- lous eity pent,"' see in their daily walks enouii'h architecture and enough statuary; enough, and more than enough, of all that is artiticial, and lar too little of natural beauty. The best archi- tecture and, indeed, the best art of what''\(M' kind, can lu'ver l)e fully aj)prcciated or enjoyed by those who have no lamiliarity with nature. The Park is only a blessing and a means of educa- tion, in proportion as it gives an opportunity to irien, women, and children to become unconsciously familiar with the large ti'aits of earth and sky. And no substantial good is done by crowding the prospect with what are called works of art. For if it be true, as our ])oet has sung, — — ''no mountain e;in Measure with a perfect man." it is also true that no material work of man can measure with a mountain ; nature gives us the scale by which to gauge every creation of art. And we are sure that a great deal of the petty and narrow criticism of the day would be enlarged, grow higher and broader, if it were written under the sky rather than under a roof And our art would grow also, if both those who pro- duce it, and those for whom it is produced, lived in greater familiarity with nature. The great danger is, lest the Park should come to be looked n])on merely as a place wherein are collected a large number of curious and rai'e, or pretty things, which would, it is true, be a recommendation to a museum, or to a garden of plants or animals, but is not proper to a ])ark. A park is a place of rest and recreation for mind and body ; and while nature soothes and tranquillizes the mind, and thus gives the body that repose it needs, a number of petty objects, merely curious or pleasing, distracts the thoughts and frets the nerves. Of course, in a large public place, many tastes must be consid- ered, and many wants ministered to. and we make no objections 82 DESCRIPTION OF THE to a riclily adorned centre, sucli as is proposed in the Terrace, where ample room is provided for all the really worthy works of art that are likely to be produced here in a hundred ' years ; but we plead for the preservation, as far as possible, of largeness BIKD CAGE. and simplicity, for the greatest amount of unobstructed lawn, for trees, and shridjbery, and flowers ; for lakes and streams ; in short, for as much of nature as we can get for money, and for a very little art, and that only of the choicest and best. But, lest the reader should think we have brought him up X ]-: A\' Y R K C E N T R A L PA R K 83 this pretty hillock, not so uiuch to see the statue of the Tigress as to hear a lecture, we oti'er him our convoy down again and across the plaza to the Casino, or Ladies' Refreshment House, where, as that intended for gentlemen is not yet built, we must . .Jix^rVVvV -^ T^ T imiXKISG FOUNTAIN'. content ourselves with whatever airy food is provided for the gentler sex. On our way thither we stop for a moment to watch the play of the two fountains, or of the birds in their gilded cages, or to drink from one of these elegant basins of bronze and polished granite, whose never-fiiiling streams of iced water arc in such constant demand through the long summer days. But wc may all drink our (ill, for the great reservoirs 1^4 1^ KSCRI PT lOX OF T 11 K voiidcr iirc our iuexliaustible fisterns, and beneatli our feet are deep pits tilled with blocks of ice, over wliicli tlie water flows before it tails into these cool basins. The fountains on the plaza are extremely pretty, and curious beside. There has been no attempt to show us large streams ol water rising to a great height. Such jets would not l^e suitable to this situation, for one reason among others, that the area of the plaza is not very large, and, as it is often filled with people, the wind blowing the spray about, woidd produce a good deal of discomfort. These lighter and more graceful fountains liave therefore been introduced, and they are found to be equally in- teresting to grown philosophers as to children. They are in Ihct philosophical toys, and one of them, at least, ]iresents a prol)lem that has never A'et been satisfactorily solved. A little hollow ball of metal, perforated here and there over its whole surface with small holes, is seen to dance the whole day long u})on the end of a slender ])crpendicular jet of water. Nothing can be more graceful than the light balancing of this ball, and much debate does the lancy trifle give rise to among bearded men who are quite above all suspicion of being amused with the toy at which the merry circle of eager children clap their hands and laugh with unrestrained delight. The other fountains are on a different principle, allied, perhaps, to that which gives motion to the funiliar fl rework-wheels and serpents. Small jets are made of pieces of brass tubing variously curved, and radiating from a common centre with which they all communicate. One of these is set upon the end of the upright fountain pipe, and as soon as the water is let on it sets the wheel to spinning, and once in motion it continues to move until the water is drawn off. The principle once discovered is ca[)able of a great variety of applications, and a good deal of ingenuity has been shown in tlie devising of new jets. Lord Bacon, in his essay. "Of Crardens," speaks of these toy X V. \v Y o 11 K ( ' ]■: X T 1 { .\ r. i • .v i ; k . 85 louiitaius as il' tliev were not mieonimoii in Ids time: — "xVnd ll)r line Devices, of Arching Water without Spilling, and Making it rise in severall Formes (of Feathers, Drinking Glasses, Cano- pies, and the Yikv) they be pretty things to lookc on, hut Nothing to Health and Sweetnesse." Tennyson, too, in his "Princess," published in 1S4S, thus sings of these toys: — '• For all tiie sloping pasture uiurruured sown "With happ\' faces and with holiday. Thero moved the multitude, a thousand heads : The patient leaders of their Institute Tauglit them with tacts. One reared a font of stone And drew, from l)Utts of water on the slope. The fountain of the moment, playing- now A twisted snake, and now a rain of pearls, Or steep-up spout whereon the gilded ball P:nieed like a wisp." At one end of the }>laza we see a number of light iron chairs piled up, and in charge of them a man who informs us that they are to be hired for a trifling sum by any one who wishes a seat. This is the system pursued al)road, as many of our readers will rememl)er, bvtt the admirable ])olice regulations of the Central Park do not permit the entrapping of unwary visitors that is practised in the London })arks— in the St. James', as we know b}" experience, and as we heard in others. In the St. James' Park the enterprising lessee sets seats about at various points removed from his main stand, and taking good care not to affix any sign or mark by which the stranger may know that they are ])rivate property, he tlien retires to his stand, and assuming a nonchalant or pre-occuj^ied air, watches with unremitting A-igi- lance the approach of his unconscious victim. That person being a rural Englishman or a tra\'elling American, seeing a chair agreeably |)lanted under a shady tree, seats himself carelessly in it, and draws out of his pocket a book to beguile the honr. No sooner has he become absorbed in his readino; than h(> is roused gg - P K S (" R 1 P T I X OF T H K by tlie presence of an unattractive man, wlio, grinning nialiciousl}", draws open liis coat in an ostentatious manner and displays a large l)adge on wbicli is inscribed the information that he is the owner of the chair on which the stranger is seated, and that he expects to be paid, then and thei'e, ibr the use of the same. The English or Continental visitor l;)eing used to varied and perpetual pay- ments exacted for any thing and every thing, at once complies with the demand and gets rid of the bore; but the annoyed Ameri- can, disgusted with the smallness of the sixpenny-extorting de- vice, is Quixotic enough to resist and argue. The infuriated spider, who has never before met with a remonstrating fly, coaxes, wheedles, blusters, swears, and threatens, l:»ut, being met with that serenity which always marks the demeanor of those who Vv'age war for 2:)rinciple, and finding that the penny for which he had so elaborately plotted shows no intention of emerging from the seclusion of its owner's pocket, he begins a warlike dance accompanied with the snapping of his fingers by way of casta- nets, iind, foaming Avith rage, proceeds to deny to that owner any right to the sacred name of gentleman. The last seen of him by the American as he quietly walks away, having given the sixpence to one of the million beggars who are always on the qui vice in London, and who are by no means always dressed in rags, he is dancing a series of pirouettes in front of the empty seat, that for the first time, perhaps, in his ex- perience, has failed to catch the expected prey. The Commissioners of the Central Park have wisely prevented the possibility of any such small but irritating annoyances as this within the limits of their jurisdiction. They would, doubtless, prefer that e^'crv thing in the Park should be freely enjoyed bj the yisitors ; but, since the means at their disposal do not permit this in all cases, they ha\'e done all that can be done to prevent any misunderstanding as to fees, and to make them so small that hardly any one need feel himself deprived of a simple X E Av Y II K ( ; i<; X t p. a l r a r k . 87 pleasure l)y its cost. Vic suppose tliey Avonld he ,a;la(l to ex- ercise more coiiti'ol tliau is ])eniiitte(l thcni o\-ei' llie hacks that eai'i-y strangers roiiiul the Park, and this niav come in time; meauwhik^ they prevent the rapacity of llie drivers to tlu; ex- tent allowed them, and the stranger may he sure oi' hospitakle treatment Ircjm every one within tlie gates. A small cliargc is made for the nse of the boats on the Lake, and for the chairs — althongh these are an experiment, hardly adojited as yet for a jiermanence. Beside these and the ctuTiages, which do not be- l(jng to the Park, there is nothing except refreshments that the visitor may not freely enjoy. No shows of any kind are allowed on the Park grounds; no jugglers, gamljlers — except those dis- guised as gentlemen — pu})pet-shows, jiedlers of flowers, ])layers upon so-called^musical instruments, ballad-singers, nor hand-organ men; in fact none of the great army of small persecutors who tor- ment the outside W(n'ld, can enter into this pleasant ])lace to make us miserable in it. Nor is there to be found a guide in the whole Park. If you want to be directed, you can ask your way of a policeman, who would lose his place if he were known to take a fee. If you like to Ijc lost vou are at lil)ertv tc) do so, and every year a hundred or so little children exercise that precious privilege, and are returned to their tranquil parents without h)ss of time, and without expense to anybody. No one \v]\o has not been in England or on the Continent can know how gi'eat a l)less- ing it is to have got rid of that ubiquitous nuisance, a guide ; to l)e able to go where one wills; to see, or not to see; to sit and muse, to sit and read, without having superfluous advice thrust upon one, or being obliged to receive information ior which he has no natural apj^etite, and to hear questions answered that he has never asked. The Casino is a pretty domestic-looking little cottage, planled upon the rising ground east of the plaza, and d(>signed as a Ladies' House of Refreshment. There are two large rooms. 88 1) K S C 11 1 P T T X () F Til K one at eacli end, connected l>y a long a])artnient opening upon a central ]>iazza. Here one can procure almost any kind ot light refreshment, every tiling ])ro^-ided, as in ordinary restau- " '^rr ^ At ' ,| \ ■ i^J , _ ^ jsf^'^iir-^ THE CASINO FROM THE EAST. rants, being at a fixed price clearly stated in the bill of fare. The visitor will, we dare say, Ije ])leased to. find that what has been judged most likelv to suit the delicate appetites of ladies is astonishingly like the sort of things the sterner sex delight in, and if he be a reasonable man, content with a very little provender for a good deal of money, he will easily be able to make a comfortable meal. Of course, the proprietor of this es- tablishment, as well as the head of the larger and more hotel- like restaurant of Mount St. Vincent, has mainly in view the making of money, and this is quite right, but the Commission- ers care only, as in duty l)ound. for the welfare and enjoyment of the public, and tliev li:i\'e therefore made it a c(Midition in X ]-; W Y (") R K C E X 'I' U AT, 1' A R K , 89 leasiuji' tlicsr placrs. lli;it llicy sluiil be at all times suLjcct to tlieir exaniiiiatiim ;iii of tl.'e V-Avk inanagenient, beside tlie more jKirticnlar conditions imposed in tlie lease. Thus, e\"erv episode of tlie Park is under the eoiiti'ol of one authority — that of the Commissioners — and no coiilliet is pos- sible betwetMi those a}>j)oiiitfd b\- the people to rule and regulate the Park, and the ])ersons who are, in elleet, employed by them U) assist in carrying out particuhir ]xarts of their general scheme. VIXEUY XKAR C'ASIXO, OVEIII.OOKIXG TIIF. MALI,. Th(^ Casino is immediattdy surrounded b}' trees and shrub- bery, except on one side where it looks out upon tlie Carriage Concourse, as it is called, a large rectangle of gravel, ajiproaehed by a short arm leading from the main eastern drive nearlv op- posite Seventieth Street. Here on everv musi<'-da\' will be found a circle of carriages, whose owners either sit in them listening lo the music in the ^[all that runs just l)elo\v t\)o hill, or eat 90 I) l>;S('lir]^T lOX OF THK creiiuis ;;ii(l ii-es in the Casiuo, or eiijov the pleasant shade oi the Yiiierv with its cheerful outlook upon the crowd tliat throngs the Mall, and roams or rests upon the broad stretches of the close-clipt lawns. This Vinerv, when the wisterias, honey- suckles, and roses that already make a liglit curtain over it. are fully grown, will he one of the pleasantest resting-places in tlie 'vf,.' . ,^■^? Sl'ilMEIl IlnrsK NEAK II AM ILTliN Hyl'ARF. Park. When the light western breezes that refresh our summer twilight begin to spring up from the near-flowing river, no won- der that hither come- — ■' iiKuiy a ]iMir of Iriunds. \\'lio, arm in ai'in. rnjciy lliu warm Moun-liirll',;^ and lln' Ioiil;' (.'\'i'iiiiiii'-(.'iiils.'' for few cities anv where ha\'e such a c'larming i)romenade. N E W A' R K (' l'] N T R A L P A R K . 91 Southeast ol' the (Casino, on a r()ck\- knoll very near the Fit'tli Avenue, is one of the many |)relt\- laistie snnnner-l.ouses that tempt the visitor to stoj) and rest in his walk. Tliis belongs to the elass of shelters rather than 1o that of the snnnuer-houscs propel", for the walk passes direetly throngh it and down the hill on the other side. A nnmber of well-grown oaks and willows, relies of the original \egetation. grow near it; and on the ground at the toot of the knoll, and, wherever it has l)een possible, in the shallow earth, that ecn'ers the knoll itself in ])laces, evergreens have been elosely planted, and have alreadv attained a con- siderable growth. B\' the tune the eitv fairlv reaehes this point in its mareh toward Harlem, this summer-house will be so shut off i'rom the view of j)assers in the street, alcove whieh. beside, it is elevated more than twenty feet, that ()ne can lind here almost as complete a seclusion, lor an hour's readnig or meditation, as « t OAKS NEAR ARSENAT., he could obtain in the centre of the Park itself, so judicious has been the planting, l)egun at the very earliest possible moment, and so |)romising the growth up to the ])resent time. Directly o))posite the knoll on which this sheltei- is placed. 92 DKSCRIPTIOX OF THE 1)11 tlie opposite or east side of the Filili Avenue, is Hamilton Square, an open spaee belonging to the eity, and extending fri^ni the Fifth to tlie Fourth Avenue, lietween Sixtv-sixth and Sixty-eighth streets. It contains tifteen aci'es, and is thus of considerable size, having six niore acres than Washington Square, and live more than the Battery, the City Hall Park, or Tom})kins Scptare. Like all the squares belonging to the city, this is under the con- trol, not of the Central Park Commissioners, but of the Street Commissioner. anl' additioinil sijiiai'cs lie no louu-cr possible — c\c\\ \\\\('vo o]\o is so iiiiich needed as it is l)('tw(HMi Ei^ii'htv-iil'tli and Ninetv-S('\'('iil li streets, o])])osit(> \\\c. new Res- ervoir — ownei's ol' pro])ertv in that and in otliei' ([nailers \voidi'iate places lor the erection of the museuiiis of History, Art, Science, and Natural History that we inav not unreasonahly hope will one day redeem Kew York from the charge of being the worst provided city in this respect in the world in proportion to her size, and, we may add. in ])ro- portion to her municipal pretensions. Until she have them she can never be a great city in any true sense of the term. Want- ing these, she may be an overgrown Hamburg or Frankfort, but she can ne\-er be a London or a Paris. And, small as is the l»rog- ress that has been made at the present time in supplying the need of these things, there can be no doubt that we shall have them in time, or that, when they come, they will be worthy of the citv. It is too early to look for the establishment of insti- tutions of this kind, which spring up naturally only when certain material conditions of growth and wealth have been fullilled, and the culture that is the fruit of these has made considerable progress. But it will not do to wait too hmg before planting at least the seeds of these institutions in places favorable to their growth. The Astor Library, the Historical Society, the Academy of Design, the Society of Natural History, ought all to secure land near the Park, and to hold it for a term of years, even if this can be done in no other way than l)v putting up temporary dwellingdiou.ses, and leasing them until thev them- selves are in a condition to erect buildings suitable for their col- lections. Then if the idea of squares, similar to Hamilton Scjuare, opening upon the Park, here and there along its side, can be carried out, what admi]-al)le situations will thus be provided for the future institutions of literature, art, and science. For such societies do n(_)t need to have their homes on crowded and fashionable streets, but are best placed when, without being out of the wav, or diffi- cult of access, they are removed from noise and bustle, and the distraction of the outside world, and, Ijeside, can receive al)un- dant supplies of light and air from everv side. ,f>r':/ ■i)i^.- K^ '4^ff&^. 98 D E S C R I P T I X F T n E We liave already called attention to tlie fact that the carriage drive, which crosses the Terrace, forms a nearly direct communication between the Fifth and the Eighth avenues at Seventy-second Street. Tliese are the first points north of Fifty-ninth Street on either avenue where the Park can be entered. On the Eighth Avenue opposite Seventy-second Street is the Women's Gate, and on the Fifth Avenue opposite the same street is the Children's Gate. Entering then, at either of these gates, the visitor wdll find himself, after a short walk, or a few turns of the wheels, at a point where he strikes the main road running north and south, while the road by which he entered keeps due east or west. We have now reached this point, descending from the Casino, and as we have already seen SKATING WEST OF BOW BRIDGE. the Terrace, and neither wish to leave the Park at Seventy- second Street, nor to retrace our steps to the south, we will con- NEW YORK C E X T R A L 1' A R K . 99 tinuc our drive toward the iiortli, and seek the rural beauty of the Ramble. The road at lir.st strikes inland, and sli(»rtlv skirts the east- ern end of the Lake. On our right the ground sinks sensibly in a shallov/ hollow, the bottom of whieh is some twelve feet below the level of the Lake itself. Here is a pretty piece of ornamental water, consisting of a large symmetrical basin with a border of cut stone, and with a fountain in the centre. This basin is tilled by the overflow of the Lake, and by whatever additional water is supplied from the drainage of the hollow in which it lies. This hollow, as will easily be seen by reference to the plan, is a contin notion of the second of the two de})res- sions which mark the lower half of the Park, and of \vhicli we have already spoken. Originally this was all a marsh, extend- ing completely across the entire tract of the Park land ; and in Mr. Yieles design tlie drainage was collected into three small and insignilicant pools connected by a running stream, two of them being on the site of the present Lake, and the other be- tween this ornamental water and the road leading from Seventy- second Street. No one can fail to sec that much more has been gained for the Park, both in beauty and utility, by the treat- ment of Messrs. Yaux and Olmsted. The drive at the east end of the Lake — where the readcn* is su|)posed to be at present — passes from one side of tliis hollow to the other, over a solid bridge of stone with a railing of gilded iron, and }>ierced with a trefoil-shaped archway for the accommodation of a foot-path leading to the ornamental water with its surrounding flower- beds. Thus the drive, at this point looks down upon two very different views. On the one side is the Lake, with the pretty verdure of the Pamblc on its north shore, the lower })laza of the Terrace on its south, the Bow Bridge far to the west, and its shining surface glinting with the flash of oars, or traced with silver furrows bv the slow-gliding swans; or, in the IQQ DESCRIPTION OF THE winter, gav with tlie merry grouj^s of skaters who stream from one division of tlie ]k)ii!1 to the other under the graceful arch of the Bow Bridge. On the other side we see the meadowdiollow, dotted witli trees and flowering slirnbs, and in the inidst tiie orntunental writer with its formal architectural l)order, in direct contrast to tlie irregular Lake witli its rocky and wooded juttings in and out, and this f(jrmality further empliasized by the par- THE DOVECOTE. terre, witli its set walks, and flowers in masses of color enclosed in geometric figures. On the extreme eastern edge of this gardendiollow it was once intended to place a conservatory of two stories lieight, to be entered from the Parle and from the Fifth Avenue, and the contract for building it was actually taken bv Messrs. Parsons & Co., of Flushini>\ Lonu: Island. But, just then, the war broke out, and this enterprise, with many others, was brought to a stand, and has never since been revived. This is much to be regretted, for the })lan was an excellent one, and the character of the gentlemen who })roposed to take charge of it was such as to be an ample guaranty that the undertaking would be in all respects well managed. The plan of the budd- ing was double, embracing two stories, and the elevation showed the heights of these stories in its double curve of ijlass, the lower NKW YORK (n<:NTRAL PARK. 101 one i)r()jec'tiiig far beyond \\ic npper, and tlu; nppei- one to])[)ed bv a ventilating clear-storv also of glass. The lower lloor, entered from a eentral door on the eastern side of tlio ornamental water, and also by an am])le stair-wav from the nitpci- di\isioii. contained two large rooms, one at eithei" end — the I^^n-nery and the ('aniellia Room, eaeh having its own external door. (_)n either hand, as the visitor entered the hall from below, and lacing west, were the Flowe]' Kooms, where ent ilowers and bon(|nets were to l)e k'e|)t for sale. On the opposite side, nearly against the wall of the Park, were the fnrnaees and offices, and tlins the centre of the hall, with its light ])illars snpporting the tloor above, was left, free for the movcnnent of visitors. Up-stairs was the conserva- tory, fnlly lighted on all sides, and on a level with the Fifth Avenne, from which it conld be entered, as well as from Ix'low. It was intended tt) make this conservatory useful as well as l)eau- titiil bv atlopting a more natural arrangement than can easil}^ be contrived in smaller buildings. It was designed to give each plant, so far as possible, an o})]:)ortunity to grow in its own way, and to develo}) all its propensities without the restraint of the eti- quette usually enforced in these [)laces. Thus, while all the ordinary etfects of growth and bloom would be obtained here in full measure, we should have had, beside, the added pleasure of seeing how these pretty })risoners grow when free; how they sprea(], and climb or creep; and thus making a sort of useful acquaintance with them. As the plans of the Commissioners were so fully develo})ed with regard to this conservatory, and as Mr. Vaux's design was so carefully studied, and so well con- ceived, we will hope the idea is not wholly aljandoned, and that before a great while we may see the sparkle of these glass roofs answering the far-otf sparkle of the Lake. To the north of the ornamental water, and in the tract be- tween the main drive and the Fifth Avenue, there are several points of nimor interest, although this part of the Park is but 102 DESCRIPTION OF THE little frequented yet, owing, perhaps to its immediate vieinity to the Ramble. The tract is divided into two distinct parts by a branch of the main carriage-drive, leading in a diagonal to the Miners' Gate, at Seventy-ninth Street ; and the bridle-path also ■^i„ tmf .^(<' OAKS NEAR SEVENTY-NINTH STREET ENTRANCE. crosses it in a direction nearly north and south. This bridle- path runs on each side of an irregular oval where grow some picturesque young oaks that have already attained a consider- able size, and whose shade is A^ery welcome in the heat of summer, as we know by experience, having passed many an hour under them with our book. Just beyond these oaks, as will be seen by the cut, the bridle-path passes under the branch carriage-road above mentioned, by an arch in a substantial viaduct of light- colored stone, with a railing composed of stone balusters and piers. Looking up from our book or newspaper, we see across the lawn, the Dovecotes under their high-arched prison of wire, of which we have already given an illustration. And still further NEW Y R K C E N T R A L PARK. 103 on we shall find the ])retty '' Evergreen Walk,"" tir.st laid out in 1862, and promising before long to beeome a delightful place of resort on sunny days in winter. It consists of an encircling wall of trained and trinuned evergreens, the general outline of whicii is an elongated quatre-foil. On the outside of this wall evergreens are planted as thickly as they will grow healthily, and retain their natural form, and these are to be allowed to reach their natural height. Through the centre of this enclosed space there runs a double row of evergreens, clipped and trinuned like the outside wall, and presenting on all four sides a smooth wall of verdure, with cosy projecting and retreating ins and outs, each bay provided with a scat, so that six seats on the inside face the central walk, and six on the outside face the walk that MOWING LAWN NEAR SEVENTY-NINTH STREET. runs round the whole. Such an evergreen shelter needs, at least, ten years of growth and care before it will aj^pear all tliat its designers meant to make it: but this onc^ bids fair to be com- 104 DRSCRIPTIOX OF TIFK pletclv surcH^Pslul luider tlio hands of the excellent gardener who has already performed such wonders here with his obedient trees and flowers. The laro-e triangular i)lot bounded l)y the main drive, the second traiHc-road, and the l)ranch carriage-road to Seventy- ninth St]-eet, is nnl)roken save by the bridle-path which, j^fiss- ino- under tlie branch carriage-road, ascends and crosses the traf- fic-road by a concealed bridge, and then, shar]ilv .turning to the left, makes for the Reservoir. The triangular plot we have just left is lightly set wdth trees, which crowd together into a close boscage along the trafhc-road, leaving the greater part of the slope in lawn, over which wc hear the rattle of the lawn- mowers' wheels that here, as on everv well-reo'ulated estate, have taken the place of the scythe with its cheerful whistle. In tlieir report lor 1S66, the Commissioners say: — "The appear- ance of those portions of the lawn cut by the lawn-mowers is remarkably superior to that of tlu^se cut l:)y the scythe. The sod is firmer, and the grass much more dense and even, and seems to maintain its freshness for a longer period." On the west side of the main drive we find a turnout, directly opposite this lawn, by which we enter, and, alighting upon a broad carriage-step of cut stone, find ourselves in the Ramble at its northeast angle. Tliis pleasant spot, to many tlie greatest attraction the Park contains, lies upon the southern slope of the rocky ledge that occupies the middle of the Park, sloping grad- ually toward the east. The Rand)le is shut in between the two main di-i\-es on the east and west, and between the Lake and the old Rest>rvoir on the south and n()rth. It is estimates, ducks, of the choicer and rari'r sorts, j)elicans, ami lu^rons. In at least three places this slender thread oi' w:iter is allowed to spread into shallow jionds, where, besides the flowers wc have named, the visitor mav lind the waterdily, a shy guest, which has, how^- ever, under gentle hands, consented to bloom in these quiet and home-like waters. nUSTIO DniROE in nAMBLE. Near the western boundarv of the Rambk> the lirook falls o\'er the slo])e that rises abruptly irom a narrow creek in the 110 D E S C R 1 P T r () N O V T H E Lake — a cleft in fact in the rock — in a very pretty cascade, which makes a cheerful music in this quiet spot; while, just below, it is crossed by this Rustic Bridge, leaning oyer whose side we look up the stream, where, on the slip of sandy beach, we see the birds preening their feathers for another plunge, or, turning, we look on the other hand upon the shining levels of the Lake. Further up the stream is still another Rustic Bridge in a more secluded spot, where the runnel spreads into a reedy pool, where the two })retty wood-ducks, which used to have their haunt here- ^,-_ abouts, but which are long ^^'i^ since dead, we believe, were often to be found, in company with the distinguisheddook- ing grey cranes, wdiich have also yielded to fate, and whose places have not yet been su})plied. AVe miss the stately creatures with their meditative ways, and wish them back again. A good deal of their apparent wisdom was, we suspect, imaginary. We doubt if all their profound cogitations had any other object than to decide what would be the best place to put their other loot down u[)on, in case they should conclude to put it down at all. Mr. Horace Greeley is said to have remarked when he went over the Park for the first time, " AVell, they have let it alone a srood deal more than I thought they would !" and while there KALL IN RAllULE. X K W y < ) H K ( " ]-; X 'IM! A I, I* A R K . 11 was truth in iho i-ciii;irk it yet sliowcnl a certain niisappreliension which our shrewd tcnvnsiiiau shares in connnon witli a great many intelligent people. But, in general, much lal)()r must be expended before any piece of ground in a natural state can be made into a })ark suitable for a great city. Nor are })eople agreed as to RUSTIC BRIDGE. what the character of such a park sliould be. ]\[any think that witli good roads and walks, brc»ad lawns and well-grown trees, all that is necessary, and all that is desirable will have been jM-ovided. Others would prefer something much more arti- ficial, more regular walks, a crowd of statues, water- works like LI 2 L) K SO HI FT J ON OF THE tliose at Versailles, iu short auotiier Versailles if possible, and as iiiuch drearier and grander as money could make it. We liad a fearfid warning of what these people would make of a publico park, in the gateways that were designed for ours a few A^ears ago, and wliich we so narrowly escaped seeing erected. And still a third party are for a union of nature and art, with as much nature and as little art as can be contrived: and this would seem to l:a\'(^ been the aim of our Central Park Com- missioners. We dare say, if tliey had had put into their hands a broad and beautiful piece of ground, pleasantly undulating, with enouoh of rising hill and answer- ing hollow, and broad reaches of 1 a w n - 1 i k e m e a d o w , with perhaps a wunding stream, that tliey would have felt it bc'^t to look well to the drain- airc, stcuie walks and roads a"-, ne ir ])eifection as modern skill (. m make })l.mt trees wherever n ituio h id iiK lilt to set them, but hid loi_;ottcii iimI then to hold then hand-. l>ut ])topk an mistaken wdio thmiv there are, anywhere, many suck ])laces as this in the world, for there are not many acres -,l->* m-.II SIMMUMI ISI IN KWrih X K W V o l; i; I'KXTIIAI. 1' A I! K . Hg ill liny our spot lluit would nol, need iiKirc skill iiimI (■U2;iiie(.'r- iii<^- to produce tlic iTsiill the •• l()\-crs nf ii;i1iiiv" delight in. than ihey tliiiik necessary. .Viid, l)eside, it is lo Iv i'(Mnenil)ered tliat. e\'en it' we liad once secnrt'd such a spot, its dail\- use l)y the swarming nndtitndes of a gi-rat cit\- wonM render it impossible to ]-:eep its rni'al Ix-antv long unspoiled. The grass can never ho used I'reely i'or games, l()r lounging. Idi- rom])ing, and Idr walking, without being desti'o\-e(l. as is plaiid\' seen in the Loiidou parks, which, in spite of their size, pres(Mit in mid- snnnuer a very shabby a[)pearanee. 'I^he beautiful "•coinmou" in our neighbor city of Boston aiU'ords an illustration nearer home. The lower p)art has long been used bv Ijovs lor ])laving l)all and other games, and In* the militia lor drill. It has becMi found utterly inip)ossible to keep the grass growing undersucli conditions, and the attem})t has been abandoned. The consequence is, that this part of tlie common is at present a dreary waste of sand, most unsightly to look upon, and the citizens are beginning to discuss the advisability of taking awav the ancient pre- rogatives of the boys and the soldiery. People who will consider the expense of ke(^ping the Central Park roads in cr)nditioiL even when such care is taken tliat they be not misused, can understand wdiat this expense would be if the restrictions were removed, altogether; and those wlio have enjoyed the comfoi-t of walking in our Park undisturbed bv the p)resence of carriages or horseback-riders on the same paths, will admit that their pleasure Avould be seriously interfered wdth if they had to shai'e tlie common road with vehicles and lioi'stMuen. or to takt'. loi- refuge, to an improm])tii foot-]iatli throUL!'h llie damp or dust\' grass. For our part wo are convincecl that e\-eii if a piu-el\- rural ])ark could be made, and kept up (this last a condition almost im})Ossible to I'ulhf), in lhe heart of a great citw il would not meet, we will not sa\- the tastes, but lhe ahsolule re( piil-emeiils 114 DKSC'R r I'TTOX OF THK of \\\v majoi'itv. In tlie case of oar J^irk it must be remem- bered tliat i'or the site on which it was decided to plant it, nature had hardly expended the slightest effort. We might quote here the descrijrtion given of it in the earlier reports by the arcliitect-in-chiel' but it is unnecessary. Many of our read- ers can well remember the squalor and l)arrenness of the im- 'V? W NOOK IN RAMBLE. sightly spot. And those who did not see it before it was re- deemed, can at any time know wliat it was like to nose, and eye, and ear. In' visiting some of those portions of our city, a.loug its upper eastern and western shoivs, wliere the shanties N K W ^■ ( ) lUv (' I-: X T II A L 1' A 1! K 115 aiid })lggerie^^ of tlj(' Irish i-rown ihc rock'v litML;;lits, and llii' iiiarkot-gardciis and (:abl)a!4"e-])I()ts lill the lowei* <^;i' K.vr«A.v.-,.: xu c.wk. Ramble is, in almost cvt-rv sipiare foot of it, a piuvly artiiicial piece of landscape gardening. Yet the art of concealinu" art was hardl\- e\-er better illustrated. IIB I) KSC i: I PT I \ OF T II E .Viul cx'crv rear's growth oi' trees and slirubl)erv makes the nature more, and the art less, so that, in time, it will ordy be the nature that will attraet attention, and tlie art will be lost sight of. Al- rea(l\' it is a delightfully retired place to which to bring one's la\'orite book, or to come to in tke summer heats that make our citv houses so unendurable, and do our thinking under the shadow of green leaves. Here a man mav sit for hours and hear no sound l)ut the chirp and twitter of the birds, the rustle of the light breeze overhead, or the iar-off murmur of the town. Sometimes a nurse with her charge passes, sauntering by, sometimes a band oi' chil- dren, or a solitary like ourselves : l)ut we are far from the crowd \VK KltllXl ],AKE. whicli, except on music-days and Sundays, does not tind in the Randjle's peace and still seclusion, the excitement it comes to the Park to seek. X K W Y () i; K C KXT 1! AL V Ml K 117 On tin.' cxtrenic wcsloni bonier of the HainWlc will be Ibiiiid the Olive, a great attractiou to Ijoys and girls, and hardlv less to many children of a larger growth. A stivj) path skirting a bank thickly set with rliododendi-ons, laurels, ami azaleas, which make a splendid dis])lay of coh)r in the time ol' l)looni, leads to the foot of a large mass of rock, where a, sharp turn to the left brings us to the Cav'C. At tirst, the entrance is \-eiT dark, and causes many a palpitation in tender breasts, but a few steps l)rnig INTF.TilOl! (IK lAVE. US to the light, and in a moment we tind oui'selves looking' out upon a peacei'ul cove, an arm of the Lake, as will he seen 1)V the plan, where the ducks pei'haps are at plaw or the swans, with lis D K S (J R I P T I N F T FI I-: their \()Uiiu-, ;ire preening tlieir snow-wliite ieatbers with their hhtek hills. <>n the shore. Keeping close to the rocks at the riuht, \ve come to the foot of a rough stair-way of rude stone, :in(l climbing up we reacli the summit of the great nxtk out of which the cave is hewn. From this point we get a verv pretty view of the Lake at its western end, and ])assersd3v in the Ix.tats can also look up the narrow cove at our ieet. and catch a glimjise of the mouth of the Cave. ll'. instead of turninu' into tlie Cave on reacliinu- the loot of the rock, we had kept straight on, we should have come to tla^ stone arcli l)y wliich one of thf many foot-])aths hereabouts leads X K W YORK (' K \ T 1! A I, 1' A i; K . { [i\ Up to the sjiiiu; siiiiiuiit we y a foot-path from the north that leads directly over it, or, on eliml)ing out of the Cave, by keeping on the path that leads to the right. From the top of _ the arch a })rctty view of the Lake at its en- closed western end may be had; and on leaving it one can either descend into the Cave, or, by keep- ing ])ast the rocky stair- wav, make his wav, by a })ath thick s( t \Mth e\cr greens, into the Ramble ag-im As will be seen b\ tlu pi m thi^ western side of the Rambh (onipmd with the eastern, is the mou iruirulai Itcontains much the gieatcr (plantlt^ of apparent rock, and as it would b" almost impossible toco\ii tlu^e (.\ })Osed slopes and ledger \\\t\\ ( at his ieet. This point, of rock is, \vc believe, tlu; higliest in the Park, being owe hun tide- water. An elevation in the n[)per park, "(ireat Hill,"' as it is .: >^> rV^^ ^^^ LAKE FUOM TOP OF STOXE ARCH. called, near One Hundred and Filth Street, is as high within live feet, but it does not play so important a |»ai-t in the land- scape of the Park as the one on which we are at present standing. A structure called the Belvedere is in ])rocess of erec-tion here, which is intended not merely to make a pictur- esque object seen from many points in the lower parl<. but to serve a useful pur])ose as well, being a spacious ])ost for rest and obrier^-ation. For a long time this rock has b(>en a source of anxietv to the C'oiiunissioners, a sort of elephant on their hands that tlu'y did not know veiy well how to dispose of. If the reader will glance at the plan he will s(^e that the rock is ir, 122 D 1<: S C R I P T I () N F THE something crescent-sliaped, and that it cuts into one angle of the Reservoir, preventing it from mailing a perfect square. To ^l-V^^- ^M_, THE EELVEPERE. so much of the elephant in rpiestion, tlie Croton Board laid N K W YORK (! E N T R A L P A R K . 123 claim, ami as they \rvy uatui-ally Irarcd what luiulit ha|i}H'ii to tlu'ij' iiescrvoir in ciisc this aii^iilc of it wcvc taiiiptTCil witli, they lor a long tinu; h('sitat('(l ahont the (■x[)('(rK'nc\' of L;i\iii,ir np thoii- title to it. Jjong aftci- tlu' sonthcrn half of \\\c i'ark hail n';u.'hr-»'i, j^t^. EI.VKllKKK, I.OOKINI. As the Ranil)le lias no central avenue or walk, and no central point of interest, indeed, unless it be the Belvedere and the view from its tow^er, it is not easy to describe it, if it were necessary or desirable to do so, alter any methodical i)lan. It is a place to ram- ble about in. not to w^alk through — a place to sit and rest in, to chat with a friend, or to read such books as one can I'ead in the open air, where nature does not wish us to read, but to enjo\- her \-aried and incessant j)lay. For the matter of n^st, all sorts of seats, shelters, arbors, sunnuer-houses, abound in this beauti- ful retreat. A sudden turn in the ])ath brings us to the pretty bower of wdiicli Mr. Bellows has giv(Mi us a cut c^n ]iage 112, where seats on either side enable the aged to rest a bit after what, to some, may be a tatiguing climb, or give excuse to a pair of lovers to ])ause awhile in their })leasant stroll, and debate 126 DESCRIPTION OF THE \Yhether tliev sliall continue their walk, or sit lor the rest of the (lay under this canopy of vine. — •• sheltered (Voiu day's garish eye, While tiie liGO witli houeyed thigli. Tliat at her Huwery woik dotli sing. Aud the waters nmrinnriiig." — if thev do not entice the dewy-feathered sleep of Milton, at least nitdce possible many an hour of quiet enjoyment and rest in the iL'MMER-nillsE JN- UAMULE NEAlt THE liELVEIlEKE. midst of the noisy city. On the summits of many of the lesser eminences in the lianible, shelters like this have been erected, some of them with seats both within and without, others with oidy a central pillar surrounded by a circular bench, and suppoit- iul;- a broad uuibrelladike eoverinc-. From these seats an unin- X I'] \A' ^■ ( ) 1! K (' R N T R A L 1' A R K . 127 tL'iTiipted VK'W iii;i\- l>c ohtaiiK'd on all sides, no posts nor lattice- work sliuttini;: oil' tlio landscape: Init, while several ol' them are constructed on tliis pi-inciple, no one ol' tlu-ni is an exact copy ol' anv other. Not only is a pleasant variety sccuriMl in this wav, l)nt visitors, whose l)Uin[) of locality is small, are moi'c easilv able to tix their whereabouts, and to iind their way about tlian they would i)c it' they came, every now and then, upon a summcrdiouse or seat exactly like the , one tliey had restcil on a hali'diour earlier in their walk. Yet in all this variety tiiere is nothing merely curious or I'antastic: use and beauty are iu every case deliglitfully condjincd, and there are few seats iu the Park, we should think, upon which the oldest and feeblest person, or the most dclieate convalescent would not Iind it eas}^ to get the rest which, when it can be had at the nee(led moment, will often make a much longer walk possible than would be in the real country, almost anyvrhere. Sometimes these rests are not sheltered at all except l)y the trees and shrubs about them; or thcv are ])laced against the bi-oad, steep side of some mossy and lichened rock: or by the border of a brook or pool, where, while we sit, the birds will alight to driid\ or bathe, or perhaps the l)rowu rabbit will come hopping by. his long ears all alert with suspicious fear, and his startled eyes cpuck to catch sight of the intruder U})on his [^reserve, but, with a contkleuce in the power of the Commissioners to protect him that is beautii'ul to see, soon making up his mind to eat his dinner in defiance of strangers. Others, again, are lai'ge and ample structiires, capable of giving sufficient shelter to scores of people flying distractedly from the sudden shower. Tlie summer- house near the Artists' Gate is one of the very earliest erected in the Park. Those first built were designed by a certain Hungarian, who showed a great aptitude I'or this kind of archi- tecture at least, and wdio was ably seconde(l by the workmen the Commissioners employed to assist him. llai-dly any thing 128 D ]•: SCRIP T I X Tn of the sort bad tner been seen bcfoiv in this eountrv, but since that (lav a great nianv, abnost as good in design, have been put u|) in \'ari()us ]iarts of the Park by otlier hands. The niatei'iai fiu[)l()yed is the eonnuon cedar, which so abounds in SrMMKRIIOrSK NKAI! AFiTISTS the vicinity i>f Xcw York. The ]ind)s and truidcs are stripped of their bark, and thev ai'e then p\it together in a sohd and workmanlike i'ashion, very uvdike the frail and flimsy structures which we connnonly meet with under the name of summer- houses. Nor is it merely the workmanship that makes them noticeable, the design is always artistic and agreeable, and they are no less an ornament to the Park than useful and convenient buildings, without which the place would lose one of its chief attractions. Nearly all of them are now covered with vines which, in many cases, almo.st conceal the frame-work, giving us, instead of artitici;d decoration, a profuse tracery of the mo.st graceful vines. Over some, the Chinese honeysuckle spreads a fragrant sliade; over others the wisteria, with its parti-colored X !■: W V () 1! K (' V. X T 1{ A I, I' A I{ K rj!) leaves of tfiidercst brown and lii'i'di. ami its ilrlicatc |>iir[)!c flowers: oi- tlic rampant trunqx't-ci-ci'pci-. that witli the hiiyei', and that witli the sruallei' and lincf tiowers ; or the wileoj)le, it can hold its own by tlie side of many plants with far tiner names and a much prouder lineage. Some of our readers may remend)er having seen the money-wort growing m olddashioned gardens in ])ots and boxes, sometimes standing by the borders of the walks, sometimes planted on the gate-posts, the long trailing stems regularly set with their roundish, op})o- site leaves and flowers. But we never before saw it growing as freely and in such masses as in the spot we speak of in the Park ; it seems to have found its hah'itdt here, a place exactly suited to its needs, where it may show tlie world all its ca})a- bilities. Then, in another part of the Park, the soil in the long clefts of a mass of the gneiss rock is tilled with the native cactus, commonly called the j)ri('klv-pear, which grows so thicklv over the rocks and cliffs in New Jersey, along the Hudson River shore. It has thick, fleshy leaves, a l)lunt oval in shape, set all over with small bunches of very fine sharp thorns, so easily detached that it is impossible to touch the leaf without getting some of them into the llesli. The flowei\s, which, in the season, are verv numerous, are extremely delicate and })retty, being of a bright canary yellow, and having a sort of outlandish tro|)ical a[ipear- ance that increases the pleasure of coming upon them in one's walk. Wliether they were found growing wild on these rocks when the Park was first taken in hand, we d(^ not know, but here they are to-dav, mingling their large, gauze-like, vellow^ stars with the pi'ofuse bloom of the portulacca, and, no doubt, deceiving many with the belief that they are some rare species of cactus from foreign parts, set out here to l)looni for a sunnner and to be tenderly nursed and housed during the coming winter. In the same wav. the Park uardener has introduced manv of N E W Y R K C I<; N T R A L P A l! K 131 onr native ])l;nits lnllicrto dcspiscMl, or httlc known, and 1)V sccnr- in,u lor tliem .'ondilions lax-orahic to their urowtli lias (Mial)U'd iis to become familiar with soiiie that we slioidd otherwise have lonir continued slran'jeis to. We Jia\c ali'cad\- >]ioken of the swamp- magnolia. l>etore the Park was ])lante(| it w;is rare in our North- ern States, and eoidined as it was to two spots, and those of small extent, there was a ]>robability that before long it might disappear from our soil altogethei'. l)ut sj)eeimens were earlv ])lanted in the Hamltle, and lia\e thi'iven so well, and ai'c in sucb profusion, that the Jersey swamps and Massachusetts (ilou- cester can no longer claim a monopoly of this delightful shrub. We regard it as one of the chief advantages of the Park, oni> ot the ways in whieh it can most usebdlv serve the [)ul)li^^ tliis fostering of our native plants, setting them Ijefore the ])ublic in such a way as to make us all acquainted with their good jjoints and with tlieir beauties, whieh, bnt li)r this introdnetion, we might have long remained ignorant of This is in some re- spects, for praetieal purposes, the Ijest sort of botanical garden. Of course it is not the sort that a scieiititie man will desire, l)nt it prol)ably teaches the general pid)lie more than a more formal scientihe arrangement would, perhaps lor the very reason that it makes.no pretence of teaching us at all. We make the ac- qnaintance of many trees, shrubs, vines, and llowers liere in a familiar, easv wav, as we wouhl of {)eop]e in their homes. They are not on their dignitv here, they grow as tlu\v like Ix'st, and the gardener is one of those rare members of his (;lass who knows enough to let his subjects have their own way, or think thev are hax'ing it. Who ever knew, unless he had travelled in England, where gardening is understood as nowhere else in the world, what the lionevsuckl(> can do when it can follow its own inelmation, and is not urged to climb a trellis it has no mmd fir? What a sight for t\]o oyc. what a feast to the nose, this u'reat rock covered with a catai'act of bloom, tln^ t(Midnl-.-prav 132 D 1^: S C R I P T I O N OF T H E tossed into the air as it |)()urs down u[)oii tlit^ ji'rass, and tlic Ix.^cs ahoiit it ill a linmuiiii.u' cdoud. Here is another rocky slope eov- vwd with the tninipet-ereepei-, the h)ng l)i'anclies h)viiig the warmth creep down anionu' the grass, and the flowers peejiing np sui'pi'i.-(^ lis with unknown blooms among the homes})un daiK.lelions and eloverdieads. In a, large estate like the CvMitral Park, the gardener can oi'ten give us the opportunitv of study- ing tlie effects jiroduced by ])laiits growing in large masses, and in a soil, and under ci:)nditions, exactly suited to their needs, an o[)portunity whicli we can seldom enjoy in any private gar- den. Even in wild nature, in the case ot tives and slirubs, and of the large class of jilants which we call weeds, it is oidv now and then that we come u[)on iiuely grown s])eciinens enjoying the soil, and siti", and air, precisely suited to their various .needs. ( )ne ma\' li\'e in a. region wher(.\ walking li\'e miles in any direc- tion, and making the closest search, he can ordy hud on tlie border of a bit of woodland, amoiiL;; the brush between it and the edge of a late-cleart'd licld. a few score ])lants of the Fringed (fentian pusliina' up their prrttv blue (lowers, in the early autumn, through the tanaie ; and he may tkitter himself that he kmnvs somethino: of its habits. P)Ut let him lind himself among the meadows of Berkshire, near .Stockbridge or Iamiox, and come l»y chance U|.)on one of the many sites in wliich the (rentian delights, aial he will hardlv go back to his own starx'clings again. For, as he stands up(_)n the l>('rksliire hillside, he will see below him tlie wide Held all blue with the multitude of these flowers lu> has been taught to think so shy, set thicker than tlie dandelions in early spring, and the plants no pigmies either, such as he lias been accustomed to, witii sometimes oidy one flower, and, at the most with live or six, but grants three feet high, and with thirty, iilty, sixty flowers apiece, counting them in all stage's, I'rom the half- opened buds to those fully open, and with all the fringed cur- tains of their eves advanced. Now he may well think he knows N K W V ( ) 1! K (■ !•: X 1 U A L V A R K . 133 wliat llic l^'i'iliL!('(l (iciiti:iii rcjilK' is; lie li;is seen it growiiiu ;i> it was iiicaiit \<^ l^'I'ow. Who ran sav t'.iat \\c lias lairl\' ^I'cii tiu' Canliiial-llowcr. initil lie liiids it iiiisoiiLilit, tlii'owii down l>v a iiiarsli\- hrooksidc. Iik'c a splendid scarlet earjx't, whereon, onlv a iiiinute aii'o. OIktoii and all his eoiift wei'o seated in nieiTX' ]ihiv, ])iit \anished at the sound of a human Foot! ( )r t^oldeii ro(i. or iK),L;-t()()th \'iolet, or the wild iris, or niichaehnas daisv, or aiiN' oi' the sweet wildiiiL!; brood; who knows them, till he linds them where thc\' are ol their own will, in a |>laee in hai'moin' with their ,ueiiius? 'Jdie hotanist hunts far ami wid(,', and ([uestioiis every traveller, till he limls the real habitat ol' the plant he is studyiitL;; not the ])hiee wdiere it can be made to grow, by tor- cing or coaxing, but the place it loves to grow in, the place it will crawl to, climl) to, send out runners, roots, tendrils, winged seeds, to seek, and wdiere. when it has once arrived, it will grow in all the glory it is ca})able of ibr a liundreut. for the most ])art, rich j)eople who have "].)laces," and who lia\'e, what Job didiid have, a head-gardener; and people not rich, who hax'e gartlens that must, they think, be k't'j)t in order, rareh' ever see aii\' plant growing as it has a mind. Trees are pruned and cut l)ack, grajje-vines are duly pinched, strawfjcrries are torbid to run. tomatoes are ])ut in 134 D E S C H 1 P T 1 () X K T 11 K sti'aiglit-wiii.-'tcoats and kept down, and the wliole garden, doubt- less i'oi- its own uo(jd, is trained to walk in the nari'ow I'oad oi' dutv. ]>ut, ouee let the head-gai" lie sure, hut it is ciioiigli like it to ixwc pleasure to those who know the eouutrv best, au'.l the lo\'er of llowei's will lind here nian\' cxainples of the sort of cultur*.' we ha\'e been s[)eakinr will he li;)iiiid under the niarl)le arehwav. a sti'ueture near the southern (Mid of the Mall, which, from l)eini;" a little oft' oui' road, we haA'e not before s|)ok(Mi of! This is one of the pleasantest and most ele<2;antly huilt of all these eool places for rest and refreshment. It is entered at one end on a level with the i'ootpath ; at the other a douhle stairway to left au;lit leads to the level of the Mall and to the cai'riage-road which this arehwav is desi^iriied to cari'v. It is called the nnirlih- (ircliird 1/ to distinguish it, all the other structures of this sort in the Park being built either of stone, or brick, or of brick and stone combined. The niarl)le eni- ))loyed is the coarse limestone fi-om the Westchester rpiai'ries. which has been so largely used of late for building in New York City. The archway proi)er runs under the main car- riage drive that nearly crosses the Park at this })oint and con- nects the two drives at either side running north and south. A marble bench runs ahmg each side, and at the end, as is shown by our cut, a semicircular niche accommodates those who ])refer the I'ullcr light that reaches it IVom the stairwav. In this niche there is to be placed a suitable marble Ijasin with drinking-cups, but. at present, water is obtaineil from a common hydrant. The interior of this archway is jicculiarly light and atti'active, and lar more cheerful than the other structiu'es of a similar sort in the Park. Here, on a warm daw tlu^ children and their nurses gather with tlieii' luncheon-baskets, or tlu^ nnider comes with his book and a sandwich, and whiles awav a sultry hour at noon. ( )\('r the railing of the bridge abovt' W(^ well j'iMucnibi'r IcaiiiiiL;' one F0U11I1 of ,lul\' exeniuL:. watchini^' the 138 I> K S C R 1 P T 1 N F T II E slow sunset lade, and alter, i'ar into the night, ak)ng the wide horizon — '• bieak The rt>ckt't molten into flakes Oi crimson or m emeralil ram." The elevation here is just sufficient to enal)l(^ one to know that he is surrounded by a city, without looking down upon it. A little beyond the marble arch, and near the Seventh Avenue, is the bridge shown in our next cut. where, as in all the passages of this kind in the Park, tliere are seats along the walls and a drinking fountain. This bridge is built of red Philadelphia brick and a yellow brick, })robal)ly from Milwaukee, arranged BRIPGE OF 11E1> AND YELLOW BRICK NEAR THE SEVEXTH AVENUE. in alternate stripes, the red bricks, l)esidt\ being set at an angle instead of flush, a disposition wliich proves quite decorative in effect, giving shadow, taking oft' from the bald appearance of mere stTi])es, and making the contrast of color more value. The arch of this bridge is supported externally at the ends by cut granite (pioins and keystones, and the red and yellow bands of the outside are continued within. XKW YORK CKXTIJAL I'AP.K lai) l.)Ut the lu-cdi'il rctrrsliiuciiL <>|' wutor is not. ;il\v:iys supplied in these ;irtiliei;il Avays. In iiiaiiy places in llie Park, not only in the ]vainl)l(,' hut in llu^. uppei- })ai-k, in the Ravine, and liere and there lower down alon^i!,- the westei'u side, we eonie upon prettv natural s])rings like this in our cut, wdierc the Avuter .Sl'lUNU NEAR EKiUTU AVENt'K. wells out from the livini;- rock and is set in a (Vanie oC leafage as ev(M-v spring- sliould he hv rights. ^Vfauy a time in our walks liavc we come upon some little hird taking his hath in the pool that receives the falling water, nor has he always thought it necessarv to i\y away at our approach. Near the restaurant 140 DKSC 1! I PT I OX OF Til K at Mount Si. A'iiieciit tlicre lias latt-lv l)oeii eoiistrnr'ted an ex- tremelv pretty s[)ring. Tlie water ll(_)\vs aenth- down over tlie ihee of a nearly perpendienlai' I'oek, keeping it always moist, but not flowing witli too full a stream to Ibrljid tlie growth oi' mosses and ferns in tlie slight ledges along its face, and is re- ceived at the liottom in a dee}) tank. This spring has been arranged expressly for horses, and is on the horseback-ride near the prettv cedarn arbor, seen from the road just before reaching the restaui'ant. In the npper })art of the Park, where rocks of this description are quite connnon, other rustic sj)rings similar to the one wliich we have just described, are tv be constructed Iroin time to time, so that when the laying ont of the grounds is completed there will be, in every })art, al»nndant provision of water for man and beast. And it is |)leasaiit to remember that, thus far at least, all the water that is in the Park, excepting, of course, the two Croton Reservoirs, whether it be in the form of lakes or pools, brooks, lountains, or springs, is the natural product of the ground, not borrowed from the outside country. The water that used to 'stagnate in these marshes, or to ci'eep la/ilv along in slender streams, half choked with duckweed and cress, has been thus transformed bv tlie skill of the engineers and landscape gardeners, an;nid)le. then. \v(> ean oidv stnd\- tlic habits in fV(M'(loin ol' eei-t;un birds, unless il be those of tlie rabbits, wild and lame, but the eonipanv oh these we e;in really enjo\', Ibi' they are exidently at honu', and ha\-(> learned, by this time, to be qinte tearless in the j)resenee ofyisitors. Amontrtlie 'v-t^^-^Ll^ v'^- •^'c/,.- •'! ibwls, too, the _i>'ood old ■• ^~ ' ^v-.v'' '.'l ') y were not almost as fearful wild-lbwl as Bottom's lion, l)eing not only constitutionally ii'i-itable, but wliimsical, which is worse: apt to lly into a p)assion at an ill smell, prone to fall out with people not sulliciently giyen to bathing, and, on tiie otlu^r hand, like eiioiigh to ])ersecute any lady carrying a seente(l liandk(^rehief, or ^yith ])erfnmed hair, to her })ei'il : — it would be a yery pleasant addition to the at- r.EE-inVF. IX liAMP.I.E. 142 D E S ( ' R I r T I X ( » F T H E tractions oC the l\irk to liave an o|)|i()rtunity of studying tlie o|)erations of bees in tiieir hives. Many a deligbtful hour might l)e passed, surveying ■•'riie ;iiiiji-in. that a great deal of this ti'ceilom li'oni what, in many })arts of our- city, had grown to 1k> a real nuisance, is owing to the ii'ccdom that birds of all kinds enjoy here. They pay for all the care that is taken to protect their li\"es. antl make them comiortable. The pea-fowd are the most attractive residents of the Hand)le, and they seem to find life there xevy agreeable. They may often be seen on the lawns on sunny days: the cocks ste])})ing majes- tically about, with their magniiicent trains, and the meek hens following them, their (piiet-colored plumage serving as a f(>il to the splendid hues in which their lords are arrayed Now and then, apparently from no other motive than ))ure whim, the male will vouchsafe the world a sight of his out.^pread tail, and if he succeeds in attracting a sufficiently large crowd of children v.'itli their nurses, and is greeted by enough tlattei'ing "ohs!" and "alls!"' he will coin])lacently turn himself about to the right and left for twenty minutes or so, ap[)arently under the im])re.s- sion that the entire Park, and th(^ whole world, ibr that matter, was created expressly as a platloi-m and background foi- the dis- play of his splendor. It is, bv no means, unconnnon eithei', for him to be so carried away l)y the extreme admiration bestowed upon him, as to fancy that he can ad* •»** ■*'<„■ L.iWN IN KAMBLE WITH I'EA-FOWL, perceived, but ])resently, all at once, the eye catches the un- wonted gleam oi' tlie neck Avitli its indesci-ibalde green-blue, such as nothing in nature can rival, except the hues and lights of certain precious stones. Other birds, indeed, and some of tlu> South American butterflies and beetles, have colors as splendid, but they are distributed in much smaller masses, or on smaller bodies. No other bird, we belie\e, is at once so large as the ]»cacock and so gorgeously arraved. His bcautv is })r(_)vcrbial. ])ai'ticularly among the Eastern nations, and beside making use N K \V Y O R K C K X T R A L V A 1! K . 145 of his }i1uiii;i,l;'(' in \ari()us (loco r;i live; manulacturc, tlicv ol'ten ciiiplov its markings and colors in tiicir designs, imitating its hues with staini'd iiiother-of-]')(\ai'I. and with lapis, (Mnorald, and turcpioise. He plavs an ini[M)rtant part too in the Mohammedan leii'ends. and, perha])S, the reailer niav not object to lieariiig how tiie .Vi'al) pr(.)phet iiiti'odiice(l him among the personages concerned in the great drama of the Fall of Man. Allah himsell' said to .Vdam and Eve, "1 ha\e ap[)oiuted this garden for vour abode, it will shelter you from c(dd and heat, from hunger and thii-st. Take, at your discretion, of every thing that it contains; only one of its fi'uits shall be denied you. Be- ware that ye transgress not this one command, and watch against tlie wily rancor of Iblis ! He is your enemy, because he was overthrown on your account: his cuiming is iniinite, and he aims at your destruction." The newdy-created pair attended to Allah's w^ords, and lived a long time, some say live hundred years, in Paradise without approaching the forbidden tree. But Iblis also had listened to Allah, and resolving to lead man into sin, wandered constantly in the outskirts of heaven, seeking to glide unobserved into Paradise. But its gates were shut, and guarded by the angel Eidwhan. One day the peacock came out of the garden. He Avas the linest of the birds of Paradise, for his. plumage shone like the pearl and emerald, and his voice was so melodious that he was appointed to sing the }iraises of Allah daily in the main street of heaven. Iblis, on seenig him, said to himself, •'Doubtless this l)eauti- fnl liird is very vain ; ])ei'haps I may be able to induce him, by flatter}', to brmg me secretly into the garden." When the peacock had gone so far from the gate that he could no longer be oA'erheard by liidwhan. iblis said to him: — "Most wonderfid and beautiful bird! art thou of tlu' birds of Paradise? " i:) J_46 I) ESC R I PT I O.N OF THE - "I am: Init who art tlioii. who seemest frightened, as it' some one did pursue thee?" "I am one of those cherubim who are a])pointed to sing, without ceasing, the praises of Allah, but have glided away for an instant to visit the Paradise which He lias i)repared for the fiuthful. Wilt thou conceal me under thy beautiful wings?' '"Whv should I do an act which must bring the displeasure of Allali upon me?"' "Take me with thee, charming bird, and I will teach thee three mysterious words, which shall preserve thee from sick- ness, age, and death." ''Must, then, tlie inhabitants of Paradise die?'" " All, without exception, who know not tlie three words which I possess.'' "Speakest thou the truth?" "By Allah, the Almighty!" The peacock believed him, for he did not even dream that any creature woidd swear falsely liy its maker; yet, fearing lest Ridwhan might search him too closely on his return, he steadily refused to take Il)lis along with him, but promised to send out the serpent, who might more easilv discover the means of intro- ducing him unol)servedly into the garden. Now the serpent was at first the rpieen of all beasts. Her head was like rul)ies, and her e\'es like emerald. Her skin shone like a mirror of various hues. Her hair was soft like that of a noble virgin; and her form resembled the stately camel ; Ucv breath was sweet like musk and amber, and all her words were sonus of praise. She fed on saffron, and her resting-places were on the blooming borders of the beautiful river Cantharus. She was created a thousand years before Adam, and destined to be the plavmate of Eve. Tlie rest oi' the legend ncod not be given. The peacock so X ]•: W Y O K K C K X T R A L PA II K . Ui frightens the beautiriil and liixurions serpent Avitli the idea of death, that she sti'aightway runs out of the wl, but less striking in appearanc(\ are the guinea-fowl, of whieh the Park possesses one hundred and tifty-lbur specimens. The majoi-itv of these are of the well-knowu gray variety, there l»eing onlv two of the far less common, white. The guinea-lbwl is much sliver than his moiv showy relative, and will not remain so ([uietlv to be watched, but it is ]irettv it' one can eome unawares upon the parents, leading almut their tinv speckled brood. ![' thev 148 T> K R R I P T I C) X ( ) F T H F. sj)_v US. ]iowe\-(M-, tliev (jiiickly take themselves t(> cover. One wonders if tlie Arahs lia\'e a fable readv to account for the hai-sli \<)i('e which these birds share wdth their cousins, the pea- fowl: |)rol)ably it was only thought necessary to account for tlie discrepancy between the elegant shape and brilliant color- ing of the largei' bii-d, and his horrible \-oice, while contrast be- tween the sober gray and rather clumsy shape of the guinea- fowl, and his rough cry, was so much less striking as to pass KnEDEItlrK LAW OLMSTED. with little notice. Mr. l^ellows was so fortunate as to find a party of these birds so intent upon inaking havoc among the grasshoppers on tlie lawn as t(j be entirely unconscious of the fact, that "a chiel was amaug 'em takiu' notes," until he had them sately down, in their native gray and white. Less familiar than these birds, ])ut liardly less interesting, are several strangers, from far-away pai-ts of our own countrv X !•: w ^■ ( ) II !v (' I-: N T I! A L I" .V n k 149 or Iroiu ovcr-.-^i-as. wliicli we shall nu'i't in aiiv of oiir strolls thnnig-li the llaiiil)lc. and oT wliieli wo liavc already spoken. Many of our readers will liaxc iiuide the awiuaintaiiee long ago of the Heron who wanders about lor the present witliout a mate, but wlio will doubtless find his Kve advaneing toward him out of the rushes some line morning, when some philanthropie person shall have presented her to the Connuissioners. The same good L'ALVEKT VAUX. service will also lia\-e to be done for tlie Stork, who, in the absence of his wife, has foi-sworn all society, and dexotes him- self exclusiveh' to sohing the problem, how long he eaii stand on one leg, wdtli his bill buried in his l)reast-feathei's. so that lie presents the appearance of a ladv's sununer parasol stuck on end in the sod. and waiting for an owner. The two 'J'igtn- ]>it- terns are ruoi'e sociable, and seem to have some business in the lf,( ) PES ( " R I 1' T I ( ) X F T 1 1 K world, but tlu'ir iiiauiiers are t(,)0 stately, tlieir steps t(x) meas- ured, aud tlieir \va\' of looking at lis out of the side of tlieir eve too chilling and eritieal that we should feel any lively in- terest in them. The company of the lively little sparrows is a vast deal more entertaining. ]>eside the living animals that eitlier wander at will in the Park, and eiijov liie alter their several iashions, or are shnt np in the tem|)orary cages that have been provided Jbr them until the grouiids and l)uildings oi' the Zoological Gardens shall be ready, the Commissioners have laid the tbundation of a collec- tion of stutted animals, and liave already placed a considerable nund)ei' ol' specimens in the halls of the .Vrsenal. Since we be- gan t(_) write the j)resent account this building has been almost entirely remodeled, and already presents a xcvy different a])|:)ear- ance externally ii-oni that which it has in the earlier sketches by A[i'. Bellows. The centi'al part of the building has been I'aised a story, and the eight towers have been covered Avith low- })itched, eight-sided roofs. Any slight suggestion ()f a militarv purpose which the ediiice may have had a year ago, has thus been ol)literated, and the interior has, beside, been fitted np to serve better than it used to do the })urposes of a mnseum, and to gi\e better accommodation to the oftices of the Commission. In passing, we may mention that on one of the floors a large room at the north end of the building has been appropriated to meteorological observations and investigations, under the innne- diate direction of a gentleman whr), if appearances go for anv thing, is, undoul)te(llv, the original Clerk of the Weather. It really gives one a romantic shock, so to speak, to leave the gay di-ives and walks of the Park, all alive with stylish teams, and turn-outs of the latest rig, with crowds of people dressed in the very lieight of the iashi()n of to-day, and to climb to this lofty room, wli(>se windows command, not onlv all this festive show, a round of gala-davs, but miles and miles, beside, of mod- X I-: W YORK r E X T It A r, I> A R K . 1 5 L ern wealth ami s|)k'iir, mid to tiiui lirrc^ this \\\\\c old-tiuic geiith'iiiaii just st<'|)|H'(l out, of the Wavcrly Novels — a very Dominic Sampson — V)ejjuin,u" his pardon, witli his (jueer little queue, his powdeivd hair, Ins knce-hreeehcs, and worsted stoelc- iiifjCs, and low-ent. silver-l)iiele found in a cit\' of the size of New York, and Vi'ould be, if our I'ellow-citizens were not so wholly, so fatally, absorbed m the one pursuit of monev-g-^tting and money-spend- ing, this niay serve as a valual)le adjunct to institutions much more pretending. Here has been established a system of regu- lar meteorological observations, comprising barometrical, ther- moinetrical, and hygrometrical observations, as also those show- ing the force and direction of the winds, and otlier atmospheric phenomena. The report of tlie Commission lor tlu^ vear 1867, contained a series of tables showing the results obtainc(l In' these observations, on such points as — ^'•The heights of the barometer, monthly, during the year ISGT." "The state of the thermometer, monthly." " IMie durations and depths of rain and snow, monthly." ''The number of igneous meteors obscuwed, monthlv." ''The num- ber of luminous meteors, monthlv;" and, lasll\-. "The number of thunder storms, monthlv, " and the da\s on which thev (x-eurred. ][ -9 P E S n R I P T I U N I ) F T 11 E These observiitious are made useful to the general public by being i)ublisluNl at certain regular intervals in the principal city journals and scientific periodicals, as well as in the annual Reports of th<^ Connnission. In the other stories of the Arsenal are the few stufted ani- mals which have thus iar l)een presented to the Park, and those of the liviug animals in cages which cannot well bear the ex- ])osure to the open air. The stronger animals, the various foxes, the black bears, the prairie-dogs, and the eagles, are in the yard (Ml the east side of the Ijuilding. Within, we lind a collection already e.xtremely interesting, and sure to become more so when jiroper })rovision shall have been made for the reception of animals that will hereafter V)e presented. New York, after talking the mtitter over for nearly tilty years, has, at last, taken the first steps toward the formation of a proper Zoological Gar- den, and there is every reason to hope that the next Rei)ort of the Connnission may assure us that it is no longer a dn-am l)nt an accomplished fact. And it will be interesting to note that when we get it, it will prove to be owing directly to the stimu- lus given bv the Park authorities to the public desire and curi- osity to see and study the animal world— a curiosity as old as the oldest man — for Adam was hardly more than created before he began to study the animals about him, and give them names! From the time when a few cages and enclosed slips of lawn near the Mall were a])[)i'0])riated to the score or two of birds, moidvcys, and deer, then owned by the Park, it has been (widient that nothing could be shown to the people more sun- to gratify them, than a fine collection of animals, domestic and foi-eiLin. This was the beo'lnning of the new enthusiasm for a Zoological Garden, and l)v the securing of Manhattan Sjpiare, on the western side of the Eighth Avenue, between Seventy-seventh and Eighty-first streets, the only real obstacle, namely, want of room, lias been removed, to our having what NEW YORK CENTRAL R ARK. I53 so uumv other great cities have long eiijoved. a e()iii|)lete gard(Mi of animals. Nor do we despair of seeing set up in the Ai-sciiul, or in some place more suitalilc, a scries oi' atpiarial ca-es, t^alt water and fresh, as line as ihat which used to i-edeem Barn urn's Museum from the reproaeli of total vulgarity, and elevated it. indeed, to tlu^ rank, in that regard, of a real scientific institu- tion. After all, tt) establish a collection of a(piaria even more complete than that, would be bv no means a difficult undei'- taking for the Commissioners, and there would be no reason for its not l)eing made a source of revenue to the Park bv the sale of small cases containing collections suited to beginners, or of the surplus of specimens that might be on hand at the end of the year. The Park sells the sheep, the hay, the white mice that it does not want; why should it not be allowable to (piote the income derived from stickledjacks. sea-anemones, and hermit- crabs ? These sea-gardens are. however, things of the ihtui-e; mean- while, the Commissioners are al)Out to take advantage of a rare opportunity to enrich the Park with a collection of models of the extinct Fauna, more ])articidarly of those that once inhabited this Continent. No doubt, some of our readers have visited in England the gardens of the Sydenham Crystal Palace, and have been surprised, delighted, it may be frightened, on com- ing, entirely unprepared, u})on the models of extinct animals, which were constructed, perhaps ten years ago, ibr the pi-o- prietors of that wonderful museum, by Mr. Waterhous* Haw- kins, a gentleman well known, now in New York, by his i-e- niarkal)le lectures on geologv and the antediluvians, deli\-crcd in this city during the winter of 1867-S. '•Who that has seen them can ever forget the leelinus with -which, on eominu' out from the narrow, tunnel-lil. first with one ami tlien with ;inotlier. of the gigantic reptiles and quadrujteds that made the aneit^it woi'hl 20 \ -,4 D E S C' R I P T 1 X V T 1 1 E hideous. Perhaps lie liad read of these inousters with eager ciiriositv ill Cuvier, or Lvell, or Mantell, or had seen in the British Museum, or elsewhere, tlieir I'ossil remains, wouderiul to look at, however crushed or dislocated or incomplete. But here, at Sydenham, he stood in their very presence, and received for the first time, a living impression of what these creatures really were. .And if he stayed long enough to study them, he must have come away with a new interest in geology, and with a feeling of indebtedness to the clever and learned man \vlio had re-created these extinct beings for him, out of the scattered re- mains that are left of them.""* Mr. Hawkins, as we have said, has been enmia-ed to perform the same sfood office for us that he has already jjcrformed for England, and it will not be long before we shall have the pleasure of looking at the express images of the Mastadon,- Megatherium, Plesiosaurus, and Iguanodon, as they lived, and moved, and had their mighty beings, in the far av/ay dusk of the |)rimeval ages. Just where tliey are to be placed we do not know; perhaps the Commission has not yet fully decided where they can be most advantageously built up — ay, "built up," that is the word, lor these are to be structures, edihces, l)uildings! Nothing less than brick, mortar, stones, and timbers can l)e employed to construct creatures beside whom the largest of living quadrupeds, reptiles, or birds would have looked pigmy and starved. But whatever place may be fixed upon, we ho|)e that it will Ite one, as nearly as possible, resembling that in the Sydenham flardens, where the surroundings may assist the imau'ination of the spectator in takinu' in the idea of these monsters and their relations to the actual earth. They will not. we trust, be put under cover, or placed on pedestals, or in any way made a formal show of Half their efi'ect, we may almost say half their usefulness will be destroyed if they are not given a * I'liliiam's >[i)ntlih-. ./'///e. IsdS. \ 1'". W V ( ) p. K (• K S T UAL 1' A \i K . I5,-) lidhihil. ;is iicai' ;is iii:i\' he. like the one tlit'V ciijoved while iu the llcsli. When Mr. ll:i\vki)is has lirou^ii'ht us into i1k' \'eiy presence wheiv — '• Belieinoth, biggest Lorn nf curth, upheaves His vastnoss," surrounded by all the giant brood that, happily for maTi, are long since \anished from his world; and when the long prom- ised Zoological Gardens, and the hoped-for Aquaria shall have 1)een completed, we shall bave in our own New York a worthy rival to the famous institutions of London and Paris, the Zoo- logical (tardens and the Jardin des J^lantes, and it will Ije our owu tault if they do not, iu time, become as lamous as their models. As we liave several times alluded to the gates of the Park, perhaps this will be as good an opportunity as we shall lind, to speak of this important subject. U]) to this time, owing to the condition of the grades of the two avenues, the p]ighth and the Fifth, it lias been considered advisal)le by the Commissioners that as little as possible should be done in the matter of the en- closing walls of the Park, and that the whole subject of the gates giving access to the interior should be postponed until those grades slmll liave been irrevocably fixed, and the walls them- selves in an advanced state of completion. But, even if we did not know the fact to have been so, it would not requii'e anv very profound knowleflge of human nature to predictt that a general impatience wouhl be li'lt at the prolonged postponement ol' the gateways, or that a strong effort would be made to force the juiblic, to accept the design of some ambitious indixidual. No doubt the patience of the Connnissionei's has been severelv tried in the elfoii to I'esist both ijublic and i)rivate iniportunitv, and 2- (J DESCRIPTIOX OF THE thanks an' due tliem l()r this evidence, as for so many others, of their determination to refuse their consent to an_y proposition that, in tlieir judo'ment, would not serve tlie real interests of tlic pul)- lic in the Park. "In the month of June, 1803, tlie Board, bv advertisements in the newspapers, olferelav of oniaiiK'iits and decorative I'eatures with iiotliiiig behind, or l)eneatli them, C)i' use. There ouo'ht, in our ()})inion, to l)e two principal gates on the southern boundarv- line : one at tlie soutlieast angle — Fifth Avenue and Fifty-ninth Street; the otliei' at the southwest angle — Fiftv-ninth Street and Eighth Avenue. Th.e hrst of them is the one to which the Commissioners have given the name of the Scholars' Gate: the second is to l)e kncnvn as the ^Mei'chants' Gate. The point chosen tdi- the Scholars" Gate is distinctly marked by its neigh- l)orhood to the pretty "'Pond," as it is called, to distinguish it FUND KEAll THE SCHOLARS' GATE.' from the larger sheet of water near the Terrace named the Lake. The Merchants' Gate is at present indicated by tlie bronze statue of Commerce, of which we have already spoken. At both these points the ground lias been so shaped and s:raded as to afford most favoraliU' positions idr gates as dignified, and as richly decorated, as the city can afford. But this cannot be said of the greater number of the entrances, nor is it desirable that the gates should all be equally magnificent or ex[)ensive. For our ])art, we confess that we have an objection to the expending of X !■: \v ^' ( ) i; K (' i<; x i' u a i, i* a k k . 159 a H'lvat (leal of 1 Ik jiisilit. or ;i ^Tcat deal nf nioiicv. iijjoii mriv impression of grandeur or beauty, than to call ibr a stay in one's walk or drive sufficiently lon_g to study, and understand, and enjoy, the minute beauties of its design. There is always, perhaps, a certain pleasure in passing under a lofty arch of beautifid Ibrm, and gateways of this description admit of great variety of design, with the addition of whatever statuary may be tlaMight suitable. But, after all, the gateway itself ought to be the important thing; it should be both effective and useful, should have evidently something more than a merely (M'uameutal part to |)lay, and should especially avoid any thing looking like an encouragement to loafers, and idle people generally, to linger abou.t it, staring and gazing in listless curiosity. The one use of a gate is to afford ingress and egress. It may be ni;ide, to a c(n"tain degree, commemorative or nionumental, but, so sure as we attempt to make it either of these first, and nan-ely useful, last, we shall have a result that will be less and less satislactory to the ])ul)lie, as good taste becomes more and more extended and confirmed. We can eithei' leave the HandtU' on the east 1)V descending the ste])S cut in the Beh'cih'i-e I'oc'k, and k(M>])iiig to the U>lt, bv H'^i ) I) E 8 c R I PT r ( ) X o F T n ?: (l()iii,u" wliieli we shall comt' out at the stone earriage-step where we entered; or by taking the path that runs along the wry edge of the lieservoir. l)etween it and the trallie-road that tunnels the hill at this ixtint. Reaehinu' the southeastern an^le of the Res- er\'oir. we deseend ra|)idly, and Mud ourselves passing across a wide and littledji'oken tract lying between the Reservoir and the Fitth Avenue. This lawndike expanse is crossed only by the eari'iage-road and the bridle-jiath, wdiich, at one point, ].)asses under the drive l)y a very pretty archway, lined with buff and red l)ricks, and with picturesque entrances of brown stone. Up to wdthin a year or two of the present time tlie Reservoir on this side has l)een particularly unsightly, there being nothing to hide its bare and roughly constructed H^all wdth the plain picket-fence running along the top. But the trees that were early planted against it are now well grown, and, in 1866, the Croton Board, relaxing a little in their love of the stiff', good-naturedly con- sente(l to cut the picket-fence down to a less awkw\ardly con- s})icuous height, and even if the Board should not think well of the notion of putting a stone railing of agreeable iorni in place of the picket-fence, we may hope that nature will soon sho\v her entire want of sympathy with these matter-of-fact peo- ple by running a l)eautiful Gothic sky-line of tree-tops just above the monotonous pickets. This is the only device that can be i-elie(, on for esca])e Irom these eyesores, for it is too much to hope that the Reservoir itself will ever be done awav with, and, so long as it stands, it is, of course, a thing only to be endured, and, as much as possible, to he hid. Near the northeast angle of the Reservoir, in a triangular })lot formed by its wall with the foot-path and tlie third traffic-road, is to be placed "The Maze." which will, no doubt, be a very popular amusement for children, for whose use it has Inxm es- pecially conti'ived. Yet, after all. there was a time, and that a very pleasant one, loo, when grown-up jieople enjoyed being puz- N J*; W Y R K (J 1<: X T R A I, I' A R K . ]()[ zled by ;i Maze, and wlicii no place of aii\' })reteijsi(jns to size and grandeiii' was without one. This was in Anne's time and those of the lirst (jeorges , and, indeed, the lasliion continued down to the beginning of the centurv. Cowper, wdio wrote upon any thing and eveiy thing, and whose verse enshrines so many of the fashionable follies of the day, like flies in aml)er, made this trifle, probably at the call of some one of his many friends: — Tin-: MAZi<:. From right to left, and to and fro. Caught in a labyrinth, you go. And turn, and turn, and turn again To solve the inysut 1(^2 DESCRIPTION OF THE a foot-path lias been carrietl rouiul the entire circuit of this in- land sea, and the bridle-road also runs round it. though at a somewhat lower level than the foot-path, in places. It will be seen, on referring to the Plan, that the l)ridle-road, after striking directly across the Park at a ]Mnnt nearly opposite the Arsenal, and passing three times under the main drive, continues in a winding course up tlie western side of the Park, between the main di'ive and the Eighth Avenue, until it reaches the north- western angle of the smaller Keservoir. Here it divides to right and left, completely encircling the new Reservoir, as we have said, and. excepting in one or two places where it dips, com- numding a view of the water all the way. On the northern side of the Reservoir there are three points where this circuit can be lett tor the lower level, and it can also be left or entered, directly, at the Engineers' Grate — Fifth Avenue and Ninetieth Street. At either end of the Reservoir — if a structure so irregu- lar in outline may be said to have ends at all — we come upon the two water-gates by which the in flow and out-flow of the stream is regulated. These gates are very conspicuous, and, also, Aery ugly. If they were jjlain. four-square structures with ordinary pitched roofs, and mere unornamented openings for windows and doors, there would have been no particular fault t() And with them, and if we could not, in that case more than this, call them handsome, at least we could not call them ugly. Ugliness is never a mere negation, it is always positive; and these gate-houses are ugly because they };>retend to be decora- tive; they olfend by what they have, not by what they want Up to this time, engineers all the world over have practically insisted on the necessity of a complete divorce between useful- ness and beauty. Brought up on the geometry of the schools, the geometry of rule and compass, the}" are not aware, that is, they act as if they were not aware, that there is any other sort of geometry in existence. Yet it may safely be asserted that while N 1'] W y () R K E M T 11 A I. P A J! K . ■[ (53 there is no such thing as a sti'aiuht line iu nature, tlic edg-es of crystals «lone exee])te(l. th^TC is also no such tiling on tli(^ suj-- face of the earth as an object hounded oi- marked with accurate geometric curves; the nearest upprojich to an exception \vith which we are accpiainted being tlie in\'olutions of certain shells. Scientiti(,'ally, this may be reckoned a loosc> statement, because, of course, every curve whatsoever is capable of being reduced to geometric laws, but we mt^n to say that all natural curves are with great dilliculty reducible to geometric rules, and that nature, to S])eak with familiarity, draws with eye and hand, not with line and compass. And, again, it is a universal law, that nature's beauty is never extraneous, that her ornamentation is always structural : and it is capal)le of })roof upon proof; that all enduring beauty in human work, and all the best ornament in that w^ork, of wdiatever age, has ibllowetl nature's law in this. and been structural, not applied; in the nature of the thing, not in any outside and removable sliell or coveriiig. Now the engineer has not bwn educated to think it nece.-^- sary to consider ''l)eauty" in designing his laiiklings. and if, in a moment of weakness, he is seized with a desire to rival the artist, and -consents to try what he can do to make his work- decorative, he is sure to produce some such result as we see in these new Reservoir g-atediouses, wdiere the stumpy corner-tur- rets are meant to be purely 'decorative, serving m) useful purpose whatever. Now^, tintil engineers can l)e brought, l)y education. to see that there is n(^ antagonism between use and /'cul beauty, we, for our jiai't, would much prefer that they shouhl hold closely to their utilitarian theory, and continu-c to swear bv straight lines, circles, and arcs of -circles, and even, if they like, to denv the existence of beauty altogether. But we caimot helj) tin idling that the day must come when engineers, architects, and artists everywliere, will strike hands, and works of great public ntiliu will no longer necessarily contlict with the higher utility of biing I ( ;4 I) K S (; U I r T I ( ) N OF THE at ono^ with nature, and liclpin^u', not tliwarting, the spiritual needs of mail. We think there is o-ood reason for complaint when a l)eautiful landscape is seriously marred hy the erection of some useful buildinu'. or other structure, whose engineer has consiil- ered the landscape as a matter of no concern whatever. The tubular bridge over the Menai Strait, although not a work of absolute necessity, may be admitted a useful work, l)ut all trav- ellers of taste and feeling are agreed tliat it is one of the ugliest structures in existence, and bv its size and conspicuous position, a great deformitv in the landscape. We maintain that there was no need of this, that if the engineers who contrived it had been educated as engineers some day will l)e, they would have thought out the problem with an instinct for beauty as strong in them as the instinct l()r science, and made the Menai Bridge as lovely as Salisburv Spire. Indeed, the greatest engineers the world has ever seen w'ere the Gothic arcliitects of the thirteenth and four- teentli centuries; thev solved the ]iroblem of coml)ining use and beauty perfectly, and their Ijuildings are equally wonderful, whether we studv their construction or their ornamentation. This talk of ours, the reader will j)lease remember, is taking ])lace in front of the Engineers' Gate, and therefore cannot be objected to as i/K/Iapropo.'^. Nor would we be thought ungrateful to the engineers of the Central Park who have done here a vast deal of thorough and intelligent work, much of which is hid from the jiublic eye, and can only be valued at its worth by those who look dee])er than the surface. The road that runs along the eastern side of the new Res- ervoir is })lanted on each side with a double row of trees, wdiich have already made a tine growth, and, in time, this part of the main drive will pleasantly match the Mall, which it even now reseml)les. The Commissioners had, here, a real difficulty to sur- mount, and they have done it cleverly, as we liave already seen them do many things in other ])arts of the Park. The problem N K W Y () II K E X T R A I, 1' A K K . 1 05 was. io use to the best inlvaiitaiie the ext]-eiiiely narrow and elongated soaee between the new lieservoii- ami the Filth Ave- nne. The whole widtli Itrtween the eastern edge of the lieservoir eo|)ing and the Park wall, is two hundred feet, and the length of road running along tlie Ivesvrxoir on tliis side is, as near as we can make it, two thousand feet. The space is, thus, by no means well projiortioned, yet, in it, the Commissioners have se- cured a foot-path, a l)ridle-road, and tlie extremely i)retty car- riage-dri\e over which we are now trotting leisurely l)ehind our imaginary team. The Ibot-patli we have already alluded to; it runs close around the edge of the water, only se})arated irom it by the coping of cut stone with its iron railing. The round of this Reservoir makes an admirable '"constitutional:"' the walk is in good order in almost all weather, and a tine l)reeze is pretty sure to be stirring up liere, no matter how calm it may be below. So large a bodv of water may generally be reckoned on I'or waves of its own, and occasionally we have had the |)leasure of being well dashed WMth s])ray. The wind lias to be high, however, to acconijdish this. From all points, the view^ is line, and it is a glorious place from which to see sunsets. Many a time have we taken this walk for no other end but to enjoy the evening sky, and we must always have clieerlul memories of a place that, after wearv days spent in the dirty city, has so often lifted us into an atmosphei-e where all unpleasant ex[)eriences were, for a time, forgotten. Next to the foot-])atli but not, like it, always on one level, runs the bridle-])ath, also encircling the Reservoir. Mie suited. Tlie grass and ilowers are beautiful, and well cared for, the fountains till the air with coolness and pleas- ant sound, and, beibre long, a band equal to tliat in the lower .-H^ ^'^ park will discourse as eloquent music, and divide with that, the suffrages of the crowed. Just beyond tlie Restaurant- Museum the road makes a sharp double turn, keeping inside the line of the old fortifications, and skh'ting the edge of the Ilarlem Meer. yet not so closely but that a foot-path ■ leaving the kitchen- gai'dcii has room to run to the earth-woi-ks. and to pass between It and thi' shorr. of the Meer. Ilavina" crossed the slender arm MARI.EM MEER. N K w Y R K r; i<: n t h a l i- a i; k 17J of water that connects the Loch and the ^Iccr, 1)\- a liridoc, the road keeps on. nearly straight, to the end of the J*;irk. and alter two turn-outs for the gates at tlie Sixth and Seventli avenues continues to the Eighth Avcmuu^ JH'gh-, and tlicn JKHrins its re- turn to the h_)wer park. The body ol' water co\ei-ing an area of ]icai-]\- tliirteen acres, and appropriately called the llarlem Meer, thus retaining a name connected with tlie early historv of the island, is lornied, like the Vv^ ,. IIAKI.KM MEEI! AND "I.P H il; | 1 1- IrATrn n'i[ i;KsiAri!ANr. Terrace Lake, hy collecting the (h'ainage oi' one of the valleys that cross the Pai-k. \Yv have alnwlv ])asse(l two of thes(> in our drive, and this one is the third and Inst. The valley ex- tends in a diagonal, quite from one side of the Pai'k to tlie other, and the water collected liv springs and suriace (h-ainage is made to do duty here, as in tlie other vallevs. in ornamentation, t=o as to unite heauty and use. The water first ;i])])(\irs on th(> IJO I) E S (' K I P T 1 ( ) N F T 11 E westei'Ji side of tlu^ Park opposite Oiie-IIuiidred-;nid-Fir.st Street, and so near tlie Louudary as only to admit a loot patli between it and the wall ; liere it is spread ont into a small expanse, wliicli lias been called the Pool. A small rnmiel connects this with another expanse, longer in shape tlian the Pool, and with steeper sides, to which the name of the Loch has been given, a little ambitiously, as it seems to tis. But, to get names for these places, which are entirely appropriate, is by no means eas}^, and we are not disposed to fault-finding. Another stream, somewhat longer than the former, connects the picturesque little Loch with the large and spreading Meer, the surplus water of which is cari'ied off by the city sewers. The eastern end of the ILirlem Meer extends from One-IInndred-and-Sixtli Street to within a few feet of One-nundred-and-Tenth Street, the limit of the Park on the north. A foot-path runs round the whole water, and at two points there are small beaches. This makes, in winter, a fine skatmg ])ond, accommodating nearly as many skaters as the Teri'ace Lake. Owing to its gi-eater distance from the city |)ropei-, it has not been so much frequ.ented as the lower water, but, in time, there will be but little difterence in the number of peo])le who will seek both of them, thronging in from either end of the island. Along a portion of the southern border of the JMeer the shore rises quite abruptly, and the summit is crowned by the remains of the earth-works erected during the war of 1812. These have been neatly turfed, and the surface retained, as nearly as possible, in its original sliape, so that this makes a pretty station from which to survey the spreading water at our feet. The di'ive in this upper portion of the Park is much more winding and irregular than in the lower part : it is particularly circuitous in the northwestern cpiarter, Avhere. at times, it be- comes mildly })icturesqne. and has really a great deal of beauty and vai'ietx'. On a ri)ck\' summit ncai' the northern boundary N E W Y K K C K N 1' R A L 1' A 1! K . 178 Still stands a stone Block-House — called so, we presume, Ironi its rectangular shape — used either as a magazine or as a ibrtili- cation, probably tlie lattei", iu the waj' of 1S12. It made a point in the line of defences that crossed the island here, and of which abundant other traces i-emain at points farther west. It had be- come a rcce|)tacle for rubbish, but the Conjmissioners caused it to be cleared out, aiul a simple stairs put up o:i the inside in BLOCK-HOtlSE. oid( 1 lo ( nabk tlu \ \^\^- or to mount to a ])1 it- foim nt the top hom whence a beautiful view is obtained, east, west, and north and south. The Hudson River and East River, with their opposite shores; the Harlem plain or flats, crossed by the new avenues and Boulevards ; Mount Morris, the new square which was put under the charge of the Commissioners, and then, for no reason that can be got at, taken away from them; the slopes of the south(>rn sides of the valley in which Manhattanville lies, and on which the much- talked-of Morning-side Park is to be laid out: oii the east, the arches of the Viaduct for the New IIa\en Railroad, seen in one we lelt. along the border of the Loch, but not so near its shore. Taking either of these paths, and they both meet again at the head of the Loch, we get a view of this pretty piece of water which should liave a colony of wild ducks of its own to V)e in keeping with its name. It is a longish stretch of water, with its steep sides in a way to be well wooded before many N 1^: W Y 11 K ( ; E N T R A L P A U K . 179 years, and tbougli it is calm and tranquil riionuli I'T nearly all its length, reflecting the trees that hang about it, and the hlue of the overarching sky, \vhil(> the snow-white swans, whose home it is. ■'Flout- lioiiMc, swan and sliadow.'' But, towai'd the IJirther end, where it receives the water of the running stream that (lows from the Pool, the smooth suriace f .^^ ■,y>[V^ i;kii)G£ oveu the caw of the Loch is i-uftled l)y the tumble of two cascades, one of which is made by the main stream seeking a lower level, and the other by a small runnel that flows into the Loch from the wooded hillside at the left. The visitor sliould not fail to leave the walk he has been following, at this point, and trace the smaller of the two streams to its source, not very remote. The path leads up the bushy slope almost at right angles to the walk that follows the margin of the Loch, and the visitor 180 DESCRIPTION OF THE lias hardly gone nianv steps beyond the first cascade before he hears the low thunder of another, and evidently a larger one. Pushing on, he hnds himself, aftei- a sliort walk, in one of the prettiest of the many ])rettj nooks, of which there are so many -'...^\ SABRINA S POOL, NEAR THE RAVINE. in the Park; yet, charming as is the place, Ave had passed many a day in the Pavine, and had often sat with book or luncheon within a few hundred feet of it, l>efore av(^ discovered its ex- istence. After once or twice crossing the stream that bubbles so pleasantly, half hidden by the leaves, the })ath widens, and we see, at the left hand, an ample seat of rustic-work, whose cozy ins-and-outs answer to the irregularities of the large rock against which it is placed, and wliich is almost entirely covered N !•: W YORK C E N T R A L I' A R K . 181 from siglit by a caiiopv ol' wild vine. Diivctly opposite this, the pretty cascade sliowii in our cut tails into a. circular basin over a rocky wall, the clefts and crannies in wdiich are set thick with mosses and branching- ferns, while the side of the basin next the path is bordered with a bright cii'cle of the ilowcrs that love the neighborhood of water. Here, in tlie spring, we come to find the iris and the dog-tooth violet; and, later, the cardinal-flower lightens up the shade with its splendid bloom. The place is so re- moved from observation by being oft' the accustomed walk, that one might easily sit here for hours together, and read or sketch without seeing any other visitor, unless it were the grey rabbit, who lives hereabouts, and who sometimes comes hopping along the path ; or the rol^in, who has Ijuilt her nest in this hazle-brake, and wdio, if we are very quiet, will even pick up our crumljs lor her chil- dren's dinner; or the dark butterflies, who hover over these beds like flowers over flowers : or, best of all, the hunnning-bird, who darts suddenly out of space at the rosy blossoms of this great Weigela-bush twenty times in an hour, and if he happens to find another of his i'amily here before him, will treat us to as pretty a figlft, as fierce and determined as if he and the other little ball of green and gold lire were human beings contending tor a con- tinent. With such sights we can amuse ourselves in this shaded retreat ; and if it were not tor the occasional rumble of a carriage ovei- the road near at hand, we might easily forget the neighl)or- hood of the noisy citv. If we follow the path a little farther on, we come to this archway of cut-stone, wdiich leads us under the drive that crosses the Park uearly on a line with One-Hundred- and-Second Street, connecting the two main drives ruiming north and south on either side of the Park, and issuing upon the two bounding avenues l)y the '"Girls"" and "'Poys''' gates. This archway is very low, and by no means cheerful ; but its want of height gives it a quaint look that is in keeping with the sur- rounding objects. Foi- this nook has an asp(>ct ditferent from IS'^ D K S ( J R I r T I N F T H J*] ;i!iv tluii<>' else ill the Park, and pleases bv its unexpectedness lis well as by its picturesquenass. The darkness of the archway too makes tlie sunlighted landscape seen from either end more bright; we look out upon the world as from a cavern. And, in time, it will be still more like a cavern, tor it is fast being- overgrown with the trailing vines |)lanted above its mouth, and the tives and shrubs overhead, and al)(jut its sides, already con- ceal a large part of the stone- work. On entering the archway ARCH IIVE.'S FOOT-PATH NEAR RAVINE. we hardly lose the sound ()f the lirst cascade before we hear the i-iniibliiig of a second, and presently come upon it at the farther end of the tunnel, on the left hand side of the entrance. This cascade falls over rocks into a rocky basin, and is at present less attractive than the one at the other end, because the vines and shrubs and water-plants, the fenis and mosses, have not had time to grow, and solten the rude outlines of the stones. The water from this basin, after passing under the foot-path, and also under the bridle-jiath and carriage-drive, reissues at the northern end N 1-; W V () R K C K N T R A L 1' A R K . 183 of tlie tunnel, and, lalling over the hunk, makes the eascade be- fore whieh we sat so lonu;, watching the bntterthes ;nid huiuuiing- l)irds. The wav in whieli this hijnid pi'ohK'ni is soKcd, does not, at lirst, apjiear to the iiiiinitiatech to whom the two cascades appear to tidl iVom nearly the same level, and many will lind it Wiv more interesting and instructive to spend a lazy hour in makinu' out how the inu'cnious euGfiueers have conti'i\-e(l this S-=tf-=S'^- ' BRinOK KOIi rARRIAGK-ROAD OVER RAVINE. puzzle, than in feeding i-abbits and robins, or following the victories of quarrelsome hunnningd)irds. As this path, if f()llowed fiu'thei-, will oidy \ow\ us away from the Ravine, and as there arc no objects of peculiar interest in tins neighborhood beyond the dell with its twin cascades, we will retrace our steps, and seek again the head of the Loch. The foot-|)ath, after passing a turn-ont leading over the rustic bridge which spans the small cascade, of which we gave a picture on page 134 DESCRIPTIOX OF THK 178, continues hj the side of a narrow runnel connecting the Loch with the much larger Pool. Near the upper end of this runnel, and just before it widens into the Pool, we come to a singular bridge crossing both the foot-path and -the water, a combination of rustic wood-work and stone-masonry that seems to us by no means in good taste. It is ugly in its design, the lines being neither beautiful nor strong; and, although we have no doubt it is thoroughly well luiilt, and capable of bearing all the pressure that it will ever be called upon to bear, it does not look strong, and this apparent weakness is fatal to ;uiy claims that may be made for it on the score of design. As the abutments are very solid, we hope the Commissioners will before long throw an arch vi' stone over this foot-path, and the stream of water that runs beside it. Apart from any cpiestion oi' taste, tliis bridge is an object of considerable curiosity. On the left hand side of the foot-path, in a recess of the abutment of the bridge, is a large and comfortal)le seat made of cedar branches and twigs, from which the bark has been removed, and in the opposite abutment an airiple arched recess contains a huge boulder, whose smooth face is kept continually black and moist with the drip of water from springs in the l)ank above. Water-loving plants are gradually making a lodgment in the clefts and crannies of this rough masonry, and it is likely that before long the whole interior of the archway will l>e transformed into a cool green grotto, a place into which the summer heats will be afraid to come, for fear of taking cold. It is pretty, too, sitting on this comfortable sola, to look out upon tlie waterflill that, in a succession of plunges from the higher waters of the Pool, gains the seclusion of the basin on tlie other side of the archway. When an abundance of rain has fallen, and the Pool is full, this fall is perhaps the finest in the Park, but it is rarely too low to be unattractive. Indeed, the natural drainage of the ground, with the husbanding of the springs, secures to all X !•; \V V <> I! K (• K X T i; A L 1' A ?> ISo tlio wat(>rlalls, as ti> all the slicrts ol' watci', larg(^ ami small, tliroiiiiiioiit tlic Parle, an ahiiiulaiit sii[)|)l\' cN'eri in seasons of drought, Bv crossing the l)i'i(lge that spans this cascade, we c;in continue our walk on the other side ol' the l*ool. or we can kec]) to that on which we began, if we pi'eler. A glance at the niap will show nUSTIU ClilKGE AXr> rASl'ADE IS UAVINE. that the walks are so an-anged as to pei-niit the visitor to make the circuit of all the three pieces of water, the Pool, the Loch, and the Meer. which drain this northernmost ol" the trans\-ei-se valleys of the Park. Not that the path eontinnally keeps to the verv 1.S6 r> E S C lU P T I X 1'' T II K border of the water; soinetinies it leads us to a considerable distance Irom it, but rarel_y so far that we are not in sight of it, and, even then, only for a moment. Xor are we ever long; without coming to one of the six l)ridges that enable us to cross from one side to the other, and thus perpetually to vary our walk. It must be remcm])ercd, too, that at the time we are writing the whole northern hnlf of tlie l^irk is fav Irom being finished, and that every year, foi' some years to eome, the Commissioners will be addino- to tlie attractions and to the variety of this neia:hborhood. THE ronr.. Naturally, it is a region much more capable of picturesque treat- ment than the lower i)ark, or than that jtortion of the u|)per park that lies near the Great Reservoir. In the northwestern cjuarter, for example, there is a profusion of scattered boulders beside a great quantity of iixed rock, and this gives opportunity to the Commissioners to open new paths, almost everj^ season, in and out between these clefts and among these craggy irregularities. THK NKW" VOHK CllNTRAL J' A I! K 18- Sucli a walk has been opiMicil, siiicA' llic truth r('j)()rt wa^: issued, across the space thickly strewn with Koiihlcrs, which lies alon^u" the western end of the Meer and the stream that eonneets it with the Loch. It is an extremely pretty rural path, and reseinljles some of tliose we find in the Ramble, exee})t that it is much wilder. The Po(_)l is a larger sheet of water than the JjOt-h. and much more irregular iu its shape. A hu'gc house, probabK' ueeu^ned ilN THE rOOl, I.dUKIXIi NclliTHWERT. by some of tlic people employed iu the Park, stands at some distance from it, but on rising ground, so that it is easily seen ii-om the walk at fre([uent points. Indeed, it app'nirs nuieh nearer to tlie Pool than the map shows it to be. and the northern side of the Lake looks, in i)laces. lilce the lawn stretehing down from the 1S8 PESC R r PTI () N OF T II E lu)iisc to tlie water. Tlieiv is a small rockv island in one place, and ])ortioiis of the shore arc sonicwliat rockv. while at tlie eastern end there is a niiniatnrc l)each, where one may always be pretty sure of lindinsi' the ducks and some (jucer geese or other, oiling their plumage ibi' anotlier plunge into this water, of which they have the monopoly, as against all the little boys in the world longing to (Miiulate them in swimming. The paths on either side the Pool are united by a cross ]»ath at the western end, and are both led to the ''Boys' Grate," opposite One Hundredth Street. v^^ OLD HOUSE BY RESERVOIR. Another walk, liowever, leads us farther south, and enables us to continue our ramble within the limits of the Park. The road now runs on the western side of the Park, skirting the wide tract of open ground called the Meadows, then crossing the fourth traffic-road for the second time, and winding in and out among the thickly planted trees of the open space between the old Reservoir and the Eighth Avenue. This portion of the road the Conunissionei's intend for a winter drive, and they have aceonhngly planted a great nund^er (_tf evergreens on either side. T u K X i<: w V () i: ic c i: x t r a l p a r 189 not luoiiotoiioiislw l)iit willi piciitv of a!ii'i'(.':il)lc, opi'ii space, clustering tlieni thickest on the lam I that slopes Iroiu the Reser- voir. Near the Reser\-(»ir, in tli(> northeast coiMicr ol' tliis par- allelograni. Conncrh' stood an old honse of considerable size, surrounded 1)\- large willows. Tliis has lately heen removed, the Croton A<[uednet Txtard. which owned it and used it as a dwelling I'or some ol' the persons em[)loyed in its ser\ice in connection with the two lieservoirs, having erected a ntnv dwell- inL;'-h(.)Use of stone i-in the i^-round between the ohl Kes(U-\'oir and SLEICHIN'C UV 'I'lIK WILLOWS. the fourth trallic-road. The old Avilh)ws that surrounded the iormer house have been allowed to stand, and. witli theii- irregular forms and drooping foliage, make a ]>ietures(pie contrast with the evergreens that surround them. The portions of the Park on either side of tiie old Reservoir are arranged with a good deal oi' skill, to make that structure as littU^ of an *'ve-ut. witli skilful planting, the two sides will no doul)t l)efore long Ijeconie very nearly equal, though it will hardly ever be })ossible to make the existence of the Reservoir Ibrgxjtten altogether. The plan shows that the space on the west is much more cut u}) with walks and drives than the eastern ; the carriage-ride and the horse-path run quite apart, and the foot-paths are almost as winding here as in the E-amble near by. >^ji»i(" HALCOKY BRIDGE, WEST SIIIK. As the drne passes along the western snle of the Lake, it crosses the Balcony Bridge, of which we spoke in our earlier pages, while to the right hand, between this bridge and the Eighth Avenue, the foot-patli crosses the pretty rustic bridge seen in our cut, and just before reaching the B;dcony Bridge, the foot-path at the left crosses the elegant bridge of (\ak and iron, and enters the Raml)le near the Cave. Southwest of the Lake, the drive, after dividing and [)assing round the oblong piece of ground on which the Restaurant for gen- tlemen more ])arti('ular]y is to be erected, unites again to divide immediatelv, and turns to left and right. The road to the right N E W ^■ O I'. K ( ; K N T K A L V A 1{ K . 191 keeps ou in ;i lino as direct as may lie, lirst sweeping ,L;;t'iilly into a point where it crosses the lirst irallic-road. in eonimoii with the liorse-path and two foot-patlis, so that the traitic-road is not seen at alh and the four roads are hid ironi eac^h other by shrubbery. From this point the road trends slightly outward, crossing the horse-path once, and, a Httle larther on, the foot-path, l)y l)ridges, and so(~)n reaches the Merchants" (rate, at the southwestern angle of the Park, Fifty-ninth Street and Eightli Avenue. i^ nUSTII' BRIIIGK, NKAi: IIAMOXT BRIPflE, I.OOKrNf} WEST. The turn to the left, at the point we just started from, is a more interesting way of leaving the Park. It strilces at once for the middle of tlie Park, I'uns along nearly parallel to the Mall, though not in a straight line, and at its southern end gives the visitor the clioice of passing in to tlie Bast Drive, and so out by the Fifth Avenue : or, by keeping due south, and then turning west, to reach the Eighth Avenue gate. In the very beginninor of the seventeenth centurv. Lord Bacon 11)2 DKSCK r PTIO-X OF T II K wrote ill his Advaiiceuieut of Learning: — '"Iii preixiration of medi- cines, I do lind sti'ange, especially considering how minei'al medi- cines have been extolled, and that they are safei" for the outward than inward paits, that no man hath sought to make an imitation by art of natural baths and medicinalde iduntaius :"' and he counts such methods of cure among the things in whicli our knowledge III'STK' UnlDGE, NEAR EALrOXT URIUGE, I.OOKINC, is defic.ient. J^ut the reader of these pages does not need to be told that this want has long been sujiplied, and that he may drink in his own house, or at more than one counter, to-day, a perfect imitation of any one of the notable mineral springs either of this country or of Euro})e. A iii'm in our city haye obtained per- mission from the Board to erect in the Park a buildins; ior the N E W YORK C E N T R A L P A R K . m sale of tliese iniiu'ml waters, and we shall liiid it nearly com- pleted on the load we iii'e now I'ollowing, west of the Terraec and on a rising ground. The huildiug is to he a very elegant one; it was designed by the Messrs. Vaux and Withers, and will cost $30,000. As we pass the Mall, especially if it ha])p(Mi to he on a nnisic- dav, the contrast between tlie views on either side is quite striking. "TjCs^/ i«Ri<(M-4.V OAK BRIDGE. On our left hand, if we are leaving the Park, the long walk, with its crowds of gavly-dressed people clustered thick as bees about the o'raceful flower-like music stand, makes a bright and cheerful picture, suggestive of the city ami of eitv lile: while on the i-iglit is the broad, lawn-like ex|)anse of the green, with its llock of one 104 DESCRIPTION OF T li K hundred and sixtv-three Sonthdown sheep, with their keeper, pre- senting an appearance of pastoral simplicity as he wanders, crook in hand, after his nibbling charge, and carrying the mind far enough away from the siglits and sounds of the environing citv. If we are of a too practical turn to let this pretty scene lead us in imasination to those l>AK nniPGE, SECOND VIEW. "Russet lawns and fallows srey, Where the iiihhliug flocks do stray, t: ^ ^ ♦ ^ Meadows trim, with daisies pi<'d. Shallow lirooks and rivers wide," tliat are to l)e found in the true countiy, we may please ourselves with the prudent reflection that these sheep make most excellent NEW YORK CENTRAL PARK. 19o luutton, uiid j)r()(luce the lu'st ol' wool, so tliat tlirir utility lairl)- balances their good looks; lu^side which, they keep the lawn in the best condition by constant cropping and manuring. TIIK SllEPIlEED. As we cross the traffic-road, we come in sight of the Play- Ground, an open tract of ten acres, exclusively devoted to boys' games. The Controller and Treasurer of the Park, Mr, ^Vndi'cw 19B DESCRIPTION OF THE 11. Green, to whose watclilul eve and constant supervision we are indebted, and not less to his ingenious suggestions, for much that makes tlie Park attractive to the masses of the people, has always stronglv svmpathized with Messrs. Vaux and Olmsted in their de- sire to make the Park a ])lace of ])o|)ular education as well as one of mere enjovment. At the same time, it has been evident that, considering tlie limits of the Park, and the great variety of tastes to be consulted, it cannot be conceded that the lawns and open spaces oi" the city's only pleasure-ground shall be open at all times freelv to those who wish to use them for athletic s-ames. Nothing PLAY-GROUND. is more easily injured than fine turf — nothing harder to keep in repaii'. And tlnu'c^ are manv wlio do not see why ii should be used and treated so carefully. They do not agree with Bacon, who says: — "Nothing is moi-e Pleasant to tlie Eye than Greene Grasse kept tinely sliorne," but think it is intended solely to walk or romj) upon. To permit any numl)er of people, whetber it were the majority or the minority, to deal with the chief orna- ment of a ])leasure-ground, in which both the majority and the minority have equal rights, is plainly impossible, and lunv to manage the matter without injury to the Park, and yet with due concession to tin- popular feelino', has been a difficult problem. X i<: w Y II K r<: \ t r a l p a \i k . 197 But, at last, it has Ixhmi settled this \v;iy : ( )ii eertaiu (lavs, music da^'s or general holidays, the ])ul)lic is allowed I'rec use ol' par- tienlar pieces of grass or lawn Jdr walking, and tor the little children to play u])on. It may he said hen; that the damage done to the grass on all sneh (X'casions always takes several days to repair! Ix^side this pai'tieidai- pei-mission, the ten-acre tract, along which we are just now dri\'ing, has been set a})art as a l)oys' })lay-ground, and it is used three days in each week by such boys attending the public or the larg(>r private schools as are thought l)y their teachers to have earned the })rivilege by good conduct. This is a reward of merit that tlie boys appreciate, and it has thus far proved a great incentive to study and to good conduct. Thousands of our schoolboys have used the Play-Ground on these terms since Mr. Green Hrst established the system. Nor are the girls to be foi'gotten. They are to have a play -ground of their own south of the Children's Gate, near the Fifth Avenue and Seventy-second Street, and a ])retty house has been erected lor their accommodation, wdiere they mav make simple changes in their dress, lay aside hats and cloaks, overshoes and umbrellas, and where they may hnd croquet balls, rings, and mallets, hoops, skip])ing-ropes, and even bats and balls, if they have got as far. The increased demands upon the area of the Play Gi-ound by the boys of the public schools, have made It necessary to have a building ibr their accommodation also, at a point near then- place of ])lay. The foundations of an extremely simple, but v(My j)retty, house of brick and stone have been laid at the north end of tlu^ Plav-Ground, to serve as a place of deposit and distribution of the bats and balls and other ])arapherualia of the game of base-l)all, and also for toilet arrangements. The ca})acity of the Play- Ground is oiten found insufficient to acconnnodate all wlio come to play. When the bases, into wliicli the gnnmd is di\'ided, ai'c tilled, as is often the case, arrangements are made f)r the n^sl on the UfMahborinii; (rreen. The (\)mmissionei-s of the I'ark are thus 198 DESCRIPTION OF THE developing, year after vear, their intention to make the Park useful to the children of the city, and an aid in its l^eneficent system of common-school education. The whole Park is looked upon by thein as an aut their selection of names leaves little to be desired, and is to b(> commended as both sensil)le and appropriate. Every one of them admits of interesting sculpture and striking symbolism nj)on the gate- way that will l)e built i'or it m the future: nor is it bv any means imi)ossible that the several trades, professions, and classes of men represented by these names mav be moved themselves to erect, or, at any rate, to ornameiit, the gate-wavs that belong to them with the statues of their famous members, or with svm- bolic decorations of such elegance or rieliness as thev can afford. Tlu^ original report sup))lie(l names Ibr tweiit\' gates." and * These were as follows;— The Arti-sau. Tlio Artist, The Merchant, The Scholar, Tlie Cultivator, The Warrior, The Mariner. Tlio Engineer. The Hunter, The Fisher- man, Tlie WdoJmau, Tlie Miner. The Explorer. The Inventor. The Foreigner. The 200 D K S f " R I r T I X ( > F T H i<: it is more than likely tliat iii time this number of entrances will be needed, bvit at present there are not so many. Although the report was printe(l. as we have said, in ls()'2, and ordered to be accepted in the same year, it was not until 1865 that its suggestions would seem t() luu'c been formally adopted by the Commissioners. The convenient "Park Guide" with tlie accom- panying " Reference," which now ap})ears regularly in the annual reports, was first contained in that for 1S(>4; in it the names of the gates are printed in the " Reference," but are not engraved upon the map itself In this list of 1864 there were only six- teen names of gates given, instead of the twenty originally pro- loosed. The Fisherman, The Inventor, and The Explorer are onntted, and the Eny^ineer and Miner are both included in one. We observe, too, that the name " Stranger " has been adopted in ])reference to Foreigner, where the report suggests either, and that "Farmer" has been })referred to "Cultivator," probably as being more iamiliar. In the next report, tliat lor 18^5, we iind the arrangement adopted which has since continued in force. There are now eighteen gates instead of sixteen ; the names of the Fisherman and the Inventor are still omitted, the Engineers' and the Miners' gates are again separated as was at first pro- posed, and the Explorer of the original report is restored, under the name of The Pioneer, a change for the better, since, while it does honor to all sncli men as Columbvis and Hudson, it also includes the pioneer oi' our western country, and the brave fellows who have scaled the Rocky Mountains and laid the foundations of a new empire lor us on the Pacitic shore. Of course, if it is Ibund desirable or necessary, new gates can l)e added at any time, and in case the number should be increased to the original twenty, the names " Fisherman " and "Inventor" well deserve to be given to the new ones. The Boys, The Girls, The Women, Tlie Ohildreu, -dwl All Saints.— Report for 1862, p;i;ae Kl-"). N K W Y ( ) i; K (' !•; X T it A I, I> A li K . 2l »! Fislienneii, no less tlinii the IIiiiittM's, ;irc a i-aci* apart, ami the cral't has j)hiye(l a more ('ous|»icii()iis part in the historv of our relations with Ibrci^z'n powei's. We lia\'e bi'eii readv to go to war two or three times loi- their rights, and arc quite ready to go to war tor them whene\-er it shall l)e necessary. Socially, too, they are a wry important class, as nian\- Aillages. and eyen large towns are almost entireh' made m[) of lisiuM-men's (iimilies, and, what is more, their eralt is not nua-eh' a temporai'\' jtur- suit, disappearing before ciydization like that ol' the huntei-. l)iit a steady business, as well recognized as that oC the farmer, and while quite as ancient as his, likely to last as long. So, by all means, let us haye a gate for the Fisherman: it will be easy to decorate it. The Inyentor, too, ought to be honored, es})ecially lu-re in America, where he has played such a notable })art. What with statues of Franklui, Fulton, Morse, ILjc, Whitney, Howe, and Morton, the gate would be a trophy more splendid than eould Ije raised by any other country to her own citizens as l)ene- factors of the whole world. As we leaye tlic Park by whiche\er road, we catch glinn)ses of pretty, rural scenery between the clustering trees. We look across the broad Flay -Ground with its delightful swee})s of yer- dant lawn unbroken by the smallest shrub or tree, to where, on the opposite side there rises aboye the thick enclosing wall of foliage, the rocky knoll Irom which the s})ectat(jr can watch a dozen games of base-ball at once, it he haye C;osar's pc^wer of diyided concentration. ^Vnd what a, scene it is on this sun- bright 0(;tober day, with its merry, noisy, hubbub crowd of young barbarians all at [)lav. and the gay girdle ol their smil- ing friends and sist(M-s looking on at this essentially American tournament! Is there a j»lcasanter sight on (\ulh than to see a gathering ol l)oys like this, eycry one ol' whom has earned his rioht to his arternoon's s|)oi-t b\- goocl condnet and diligence 202 DESCKIPTION" OF THE ill school, neither letting his full obedience to duty and his thorough periijrnuujce of his task (juell his aninial spirits, nor his inborn love of })lay get the mastery over his ambition. Sncli a sight as this makes the heart hopeful, it is one of the bright sides of our American life, which has its dark sides, as we all know, but even a })oet like Gray might have looked on this bright spectacle without tlie gloomy foreboding that saddens his famous Ode. The new house that has just been hnished f )r the accommo- dation of the little children, near their Play-Ground, is not so ornamental a structure as the Boys' Plouse, but it is an exceed- ingly cozv, comfortable nest, and tempts one to inrpiire within for permanent lodgings. Here the little ones, with their imrses or sisters, can take shelter from a sutlden shower, or ])rocnre some light refreshment suited to their tender years. Near this pretty cottage, too, the Aldernev cows are to be tethered, as in some of the Ibrcign parks, and will sup|:)ly an abundance of milk, whose origin wdll l)e aljove suspicion, as its excellence IS pretty sure to be above compai'C. \Yhether city people will like it is another matter: of course those who have been bronght u}) ou milkmaifs milk will not recognize the taste of nature's product, and may pronounce it msipid, but if fashion should onee take a liking to it, woe to the luckless milkmen! Their occupation would be gone. In spite of tlie near neighborhood of the citv, wdiicli cannot be com])letely shut out by any thing but a ^■ery loftv growth of trees, we are sometimes surprised, even in this southernmost })ortion of the l*ark, b\' a view like that which one gets by keeping on in a direction east of the Children's Shelter and l(X)king down upon tlie Pond. We have already given several \-iews of tliis pretty v\'ater, but they are all very different Irom this, Aviiich, except at one point, and tliat not impossif-'Ie to be ])lanted out in time, has a quiet beauty that strikes one the N ]<: W Y (I 1{ K C I-: N T li A L I' A 1{ K . 203 more ])leasaiitly iVoni the siirjirisc ol' liiuliii^ii' it so neai" the must noisy entrance of the J'ark. And near the gate-way at the Seventh Avenue, il' we are on horseback, we |)ass under the graceful iron ai-ch-way. wh.ose lines ai-e almost hid l)y the thick veil of American Ivy that runs rani|)ant o\er it. The walk it ^'^W'^. w VIEW NEAR THE POND— HKTVNI.NTll STliKET carries runs along the side of the Play-Ground, and leads us directly to the Mall through the Marble Arch, We sometimes li(\'ir (hspai-aging remarks aimed at the Cen- tral Park because it is inferior in size to a few of the great parks of the world. But, for ourselves, oui- pride in it lias never been 204 L) I-: 8 (J H I 1' T 1 U X U 1^' THE ill its size, nor, indeed, in any thing that lias as yet been put in it by way of ornament. We are |:)roud of it beeause it is the first undertaking of tlie kind in our own country, and because its entire management, from the tirst day until now, lias been such as to recommend enterprises of this nature to the wdiole country. In no other city in the world is there a park better cared ibr or managed with greater skill and efficiency than our own. When we are brought to shame by the vile and dishonest goyernment of the City of New York, and reju'oached witli tlint dishonor as if it were an argument against Republicanism, we point to the perfect order and cpiiet of the Central Park as a proof that we liave the remedy in our hands when we choose to ap|)ly it. Little now remains to say, but as we near the Artists' Gate we see troops upon troops of merry children with their nurses, com- ing in frc^nn tlie cars, laughing, chatting, crowing, all on their way to the Children's Shelter and the Children's Play-Ground. This is a new institution in the Park, and it ought to be called the Mothers' Blessing, for surely it is a pleasant spot to fly to out of the dust and heat of the city. Here under this ample shelter with its fragrance of cedar and cool withdrawal from the sun, the little ones may play all day without the possibility of dan- ger, or may, even, sleep, with mother or nurse to watch tliem, on these ample benches. Here are a multitude of rustic tables of various sizes for smaller or larger parties, where the simple luncheon may be eaten, and in time sleek-coated cows upon the lawn will give the jnirest, sweetest milk to this bevy of little ones. It was a haj^py thought to provide so generously and beautifully for the yonngest children, and wlio can tell what a difference it may make in the health and beauty of the com- ing generations, the having such a ]:)lace and opportunities for play and exercise. The frequent contact with grass and flowers and trees, the mere seeing of the sky, is something bracing and X K W Y II H K (' E X T K A L I' A !! K 2 05 lic;iltli-i!'i\-iiiLr'. and tlif Vnvk iiii^tilit well lia\f Ix'cii made tor this alone. And so we leave tlie Park with niingU'd feelings of pride and thankfulness, ])roniising ourselves many pleasant days in r^S^gr »jP=ijg^^i:'liT^ ^m^w^^i^^m :/er its cheerful sun- light, becoming better and better acquainted with all that is V)eau- tiful in it, and learning better and better to CIIILDIIKN's SMKI.TKH, SIH-THWEST nh- MAI.T., FUCiJI UIWKU LAKE LOOKING KAST. profit l)y ail the wise care and ti'ained thought that have made it what It is. But we who aiv in middle life can never know all its beauty. That is reserved for those f()r whom we have planted these shrnl^s and trees, and s])read these level lawns. 206 T H K X ]<: W Y i: K ( ' !•; X T R A L P A R K . These trees will aivli over main' Liapp\" generations, ami tliousantls \\\\o ai'e not yet Lorn, will en)o\' the sweet green of the grass; the wood llowers will have learned to bloom amid the hum of the city as regularly and as profusely as in their wilding native plaees, when those who made this great hequest shall have long passed on to other scenes. But, if it l)e ],)leasant to man to know that THE OVAL BRIIIGE XEAB SEVEXTH AVENUE. he will not he wholly forgotten, let those who conceived the idea of this pleasure-ground, tlnxse who designed its beauties, and those whose |)ublie spirit and nntired zeal have brought it to jKn'l'ection, l)e sure that their memory will not pass away, but will renew itself year by year with the waving trees and blos- soming fl(jwers. '' Corti, Keep tljcir uiciuorjj circml^' ¥"