The concave portion of this half circle would be sheltered by the
horns of the crescent, so as to enclose the pretty flower garden of
the mistress of the house. Stretching from this flower garden, the
progressive sloping of the soil would allow of a kitchen garden of a
certain extent, well sheltered from the wind.
We are told that "Flora shuns the sea;" what she really does shun, is
not the sea, but man's negligence, ignorance, or indolence. At
Eteretat, before a very heavy sea, on the high overlooking beach, and
exposed to heavy winds, there is a farm, with an orchard of superb
trees. What precautions have been taken? A simple hedge-crowned bank,
five feet high, and behind that a row of elms, which shelter all the
rest. Many places Brittany would furnish us with like instances. Who
does not know that Roscoff raises fruit and vegetables in such
profusion as to sell them cheaply, even in Normandy?
But to return to our building. I want it low-pitched; only a ground
floor, and over that the bed-chambers. Our house, therefore, will be
but small; but, on the other hand, it must be very thick, must have
two rows of chambers, an apartment looking out on the sea, and another
on the land.
The ground floor apartment, looking towards the land, would be
somewhat sheltered by the upper story, which would project about five
feet. This would make the interior crescent a sort of gallery for use
in bad weather. The lower rooms would be a dining room;--a small room
for our books (voyages and travels, and natural history) and a
bathroom. I do not mean an actual library or luxurious bath. The
necessary, and the very plain, the convenient, and nothing more.
On very rough days, when the beach is hardly the fit place for
delicate patients, I should wish to see the lady reading or working in
her pretty parterre. She would have some life there, flowers, an
aviary, and a little tank of sea water to receive the little creatures
which the fishermen would be sure to give her. Of course she would
also have an excellent compound microscope.
For the aviary, I should prefer the free one which I have advised
elsewhere, into which the birds come at night for protection and a
little food. It is closed upon them at night, to protect them from
birds of prey, but opened for them very early in the morning. They
return to this aviary very regularly. I believe, even, that if the
aviary were large enough, and the tree which they most affect were
enclosed, they would freely breed there, and confide their little ones
to your protection.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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