CHAPTER IX.

THE PARKS.

THE extent and beauty of the Parks of London, at once struck us and impressed us with the magnificence of the city, said to be the first in the world.

ST. JAMES'S PARK.-The oldest in the Metropolis, was so called from St. James's Palace being at its north side. Henry the Eighth found a rude marsh here, caused it to be drained, pulled down an ancient Hospital called St. James's and built the Palace of St. James's; Charles the Second caused the trees to be planted and had aviaries for birds in that part now called Bird Cage Walk. You can enter by the Horse Guards in Whitehall Street, there are entrances also by Hyde Park Corner, in all we believe eight entrances where sentinels are on duty, the public who are freely admitted have only this restriction not to pull the trees; the Treasury, Admiralty, and Horse Guards look into this park; you may walk many miles in it; Queen Victoria lives here in a fine house originally old Buckingham House, but which has been nearly rebuilt and is now called Buckingham

Palace. A large statue on a high pillar of the late Duke of York looks into this park; it is near where the Palace of George the Fourth stood, called Carlton House, now pulled down.

THE GREEN PARK goes up to Piccadilly, it is all surrounded by iron railings and a great number of the houses of the nobility look into this park on the western side; there is a large sheet of water in it and upon a high part called Constitution Hill there is a good view of Buckingham Palace, St. James's Park, Westminster Abbey and the hills of the counties of Surrey and Kent, you may every day see a great number of beautiful carriages, handsome horses and persons of all sorts in large numbers walking.

HYDE PARK contains four hundred acres, and as you enter it from the upper end of Piccadilly, at the south east corner, close to the house of the Duke of Wellington, is a large figure called Achilles, put up in honour of the Duke of Wellington and those who fought with him; it weighs thirty tons and was cast from cannons taken at the battles of Salamanca and Waterloo. There is a small river called the Serpentine, which is very pretty for London, it adjoins Kensington Gardens, which is also a park laid out in flower gardens; in Hyde Park the soldiers are reviewed and they have sham fights. No stage coaches are admitted in Hyde Park, the road through this park towards Kensington is called Rotten Row, and here on most days from three until five o'clock,

Her Majesty with her suite and all the fashionable people in London, including the nobility, are to be seen either on handsome horses or in magnificent carriages moving steadily along and nodding to each other, and on Sundays from two until five in addition to all the carriages and horses, thousands of well dressed people of both sexes may be seen walking: there are five entrances open from sun-rise until nine at night.

THE REGENT'S PARK is considerably more to the northward and has enclosed about four hundred

and fifty acres. This park has all around it magnificent houses looking into it, built in every varied style of architecture. At the south end is an immense building called the Coliseum which we visited and will describe at length as it deserves ; at the end of the park is the Diorama, which we have described, and the Zoological Gardens are also in Regent's Park which we have before noticed; we consider these parks as most conducive to the health of the inhabitants of London, All these parks are inclosed in by iron railings with handsome gateways and they are infinitely superior to the Esplanade at Bombay, the only place of resort for the public near that city; here is to be found pure air, healthful exercise can be taken, and here at certain hours every day, more wealth, more respectability, more beauty, is to be seen collected in one spot than is to be found congregated in any other part of the world.

CHAPTER X.

THEATRES.

THE ITALIAN OPERA.-We were sent by our kind friend, Sir Charles Forbes, to the Italian Opera House, called the Queen's Theatre. It is situated at the corner of the Haymarket and Pall Mall, and is considered the most splendid of all the London Theatres; and the richest and most fashionable of the inhabitants of London are to be seen within its walls. The boxes will hold nine hundred persons, and the pit and gallery eight hundred each, thus two thousand five hundred persons can be accommodated. The stage is sixty feet deep and eighty feet long, thus affording plenty of room for the beautiful dancing. This is one of the best and most respectable places of amusement, patronised by the Queen and the nobility, many of whom have boxes hired for the season, entirely for their own use, and for which they pay a large sum of money. The Queen's box is easily distinguished from the others by the richness of its fittings. It is on the first tier, and the first from the stage on the left

hand side. We were highly delighted with it, and the number of people that were congregated. It is indeed always fully crowded when her Majesty honours it with her presence, which she very frequently does. On the evening that we were there, part of the performance was "William Tell," who had struggled in former times for the liberty of Switzerland, and who, being an expert marksman, had to shoot with an arrow by a tyrant's command, an apple from the head of his son, which he did. The Queen was present, and from our situation we had an excellent opportunity of the honour of seeing her. She was elegantly but simply dressed in white, and looked as happy as a queen could look surrounded by wealth, beauty, and by people who dearly loved her. Upon the stage we saw a great many females dressed exactly alike, all very handsome, dancing and performing difficult evolutions, standing upon one leg, and whirling rapidly round, with the other stretched straight out. It was the last evening upon which Taglioni, the favorite French dancer, was to dance in England, and an English friend who accompanied us very frequently asked us how we liked her dancing. He, for his part, was very much delighted with it, but to us it appeared of very little interest; and we were very much surprised to hear that for every night that she had appeared upon the stage she had been paid one hundred and fifty guineas!!!