This splendid fountain, a view of which is given in the cut beyond, is
one of the most remarkable in the world, and in commemoration of a visit
paid to it in 1844, by the emperor of Russia, it was called the Emperor
fountain, though since the outbreak of the war between Great Britain and
Russia, the name is said to have been changed to that of the Victoria
fountain. It is situated in Chatsworth, one of the most luxurious seats
of the English nobility; famous for its exceeding beauty and its costly
embellishments. Its walks, lawns, parterres, mimic Alpine scenery,
conservatories, gardens, cascades, halls, pictures, and sculpture, and
music, and fountains, have all been constructed and arranged with
consummate taste and with lavish expense. A month would scarcely suffice
to visit all that is worthy of observation in this wonderful place, and
perhaps few sights could produce a deeper impression of the wealth
possessed by the English aristocracy. We have from this munificent
storehouse selected a single object to be delineated by the pencil. The
Emperor fountain is fed by immense artificial reservoirs on the hills
above Chatsworth, covering eight acres of ground, into which various
springs and streams have been diverted. Our American ideas of a fountain
are usually limited to a beautiful jet of water forced twenty or thirty
feet in hight; hence it is with amazement, if not incredulity, that we
hear of the fountain of Chatsworth, which throws its jet to the hight of
two hundred and sixty-seven feet! Such is the velocity with which the
water is ejected, that it is calculated to escape at the rate of one
hundred miles a minute!
[Illustration: THE EMPEROR FOUNTAIN.]