OF THE FOREST. 81

progress round the circle. I had almost:
omitted to describe a very important part of
the show, whereat I much wonder, considering
that it is the feast of the flowers to which I am
endeavouring to bring my readers in imagina-
tion; and this was a statue on a pedestal
which stood exactly in a line with the front of
the house, at the bottom of the lawn. ‘This
statue was a female one, and therefore suited
very well to serve as a representation of the
goddess Flora ; she was richly decorated with
garlands and wreaths, and on her head was
placed the crown of myrtle, through which
was twisted an azure riband, on which a motto
was wrought in threads of gold. The crown
on the statue was pointed out to me by the
persons who stood near it, and I attempted to
decipher the motto, if such there might be ;
but I was not able: the riband was so
curiously and artificially twisted that I could
only make out a part of a word here and
there, and was therefore obliged to rest in my
ignorance.

The party were all assembled when I arrived
on the lawn, with the exception of the family
of Madame Bulé; but whilst I was paying my