All the other fountains had commenced their playing with humble
spasms--the columns rising higher by degrees, but old Neptune took every
body by surprise. Hundreds leaped and shouted for joy, when they saw that
the southern heavens, which had been so clear and beautiful but a moment
before, were suddenly whitened with clouds of vapor upon which the rays of
the western sun produced a most charming effect. A gentle breeze gave to
each spouting jet, a misty tail, comet-like in appearance to the admiring
spectators.



An Incident


which added much to my pleasures and enjoyments of that glorious day,
deserves notice here, as it illustrates that if one even starts to make
the tour of the world alone, so that he may not be detained by the
loiterings of a companion whose tastes and fancies differ from his, need
not therefore be without pleasant associates when he is in want of them.
Early in the afternoon, as I was about taking my seat under the shade of a
yew-tree on a terrace where I might have a fair view of Bassin de Latone,
(the play of whose liquid arches render it the most _beautiful_ of all in
the garden), I was accidentally met by the same English party with whom I
had traveled from London to Paris. It was a happy meeting indeed, and the
incidents of our walks and conversations upon that pleasure-garden will
ever remain fresh and green on memory's tablet. They had finished their
tour of Germany and returned in time to spent the great day of the month
at Versailles. As the band was discoursing excellent music, the fountains
playing, and crowds of people streaming hither and thither in the midst of
these splendid scenes, one of the ladies passed a remark which I only