At the
entrance to the Maze is a bronze statue of
Aesop himself--the famous Mythologist of Phrygia."
[Illustration: The Fountain of Versailles]
To appreciate the engineering skill of the
directors of fountain construction at
Versailles it must be remembered that it was
from an arid plateau that hundreds of
streams were made to spring from the earth.
Thousands of laborers were employed to lay
beneath the surface of the ground a net-work
of canals and aqueducts to receive the tribute
of water-courses directed hither from distant
sources. The waters were finally pumped
into immense reservoirs adroitly dissembled
on the roofs of buildings overlooking the
park. From these tanks a maze of pipes
carried the water to thickets, grottoes,
basins, fountains and canals. Nothing could
surpass the ingenuity with which all this was
contrived. The play of water directed to
the Basin of the Mirrors reappeared later
in the Baths of Apollo and the Fountain of
the Dragon. Flowing in turn among
successive pools and ornamental groups--branching
hither and yon in the gardens, the
stream attained its full display in the most
majestic effect of all, the Basin of Neptune.
"Here again is the hand of Le Notre,"
remarks James Farmer, author of
"Versailles and the Court Under Louis XIV." "The
basin of Neptune, called at first the
Grand Cascades, was constructed from 1679
to 1684, in accordance with his designs.
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