swans. From the swans, from the reeds and
grasses, and from the leaves and branches of
the oak, thousands of little jets of water
leaped forth, falling like fine rain upon the
masses of natural vegetation that flourished
amid the artificial. At the sides of the
bosquet there were two tables of marble, on
which a collation was served when the
marquise came to her grove to see the waters
play. In 1704 the King ordered Mansard
to destroy the _Marais_ and transform the
bosquet into the Baths of Apollo."

In 1674 the Royal Isle came into being;
and the next year the Arch of Triumph and
the Three Fountains, between the Avenue
of Waters and the château. In the thicket
of the Three Fountains were "an immense
number of small jets of water, leaping from
basins at the sides and forming an arch of
water overhead, beneath which one could
walk without being wet. . . . The Arch of
Triumph filled the end of the bosquet; it
was placed on an estrade with marble steps,
and was preceded by four lofty obelisks of
gilded iron in which the water leaped and
fell in sheets of crystal. The fountain
itself was composed of three porticos of gilded
iron, with large jets in the center of each,
while seven jets leaped up from the basins