ergreen arbour at the farther end as a background to a
statue of Venus, its little fountain in the centre, is a spot that
always attracts visitors--attracts and holds them by its spell of
quiet beauty.

At the farther end of the gravel walk is the glasshouse in which for
close upon a hundred and fifty years has flourished the great grape
vine, which always proves an enormous attraction to those who come to
see the Palace. The vine--a Black Hamburg--was planted in 1768, and it
annually bears about twelve hundred bunches of grapes, many incipient
bunches being removed in accordance with the custom of viticulture to
allow the rest to mature the better. The vine has been known to bear
well over two thousand pounds weight--or about a ton--of grapes in a
single season. It is not, however, though sometimes so described, the
largest grape vine in England.

To the north of the Palace--reached by a gate in the wall of the Long
Walk, or first seen by those who come to Hampton Court Palace through
the Lion Gate--is the Wilderness, a half-cultivated place contrasting
greatly with the parts of the grounds that we have already been
visiting. Here are tall trees of various kinds, massed shrubs, and
broad stretches of turf spangled with daffodils and other bulbs in the
spring; within it is a smaller wilderness overlooked by many visitors
forming a kind of wild garden, its many flowers growing upon the rocky
banked sides of the tortuous paths, with groups of slender bamboo,
flowering shrubs and brambles,--a place which is particularly
fascinating in the late springtime.

Here, too, close to the Lion Gate, is that Maze which is always a
popular feature with holiday-makers old and young. Between the
Wilderness and the Palace lies the Old Melon Ground, now apparently
utilized by the gardeners whose incessant work maintains the grounds
of Hampton Court in so beautiful a state. West of the Wilderness is
the Old Tilt Yard, long since given over from joustings and tiltings
to the cultivation of plants, and not open to the public.

To go back to the eastern garden, we see at its farther edge the lime
avenue, with beyond it the Home Park, the two separated by shady
canals well grown with gorgeous water lilies and bordered by clumps of
fine foliage plants. It was presumably in the Park near here that
George Cavendish found Henry the Eighth engaged at archery practice
when he came to tell him of the death of Wolsey. It was in this Park,
at the