Islands generally contribute greatly to the beauty of a piece of water. They serve, still further, to increase the variety of outline, and to break up the wide expanse of liquid into secondary portions, without injuring the effect of the whole. The striking contrast, too, between their verdure, the color of their margins, composed of variously tinted soils and stones, and the still, smooth water around them,-softened and blended as this contrast is, by their shadows reflected back from the limpid element, gives additional richness to the picture.
The distribution of islands in a lake or pond requires some judgment. They will always appear most natural when sufficiently near the shore, on either side, to maintain in appearance some connexion with it. Although islands do sometimes occur near the middle of natural lakes, yet the effect is by no means good, as it not only breaks and distracts the effects of the whole expanse by dividing it into two distinct parts, but it always indicates a shallowness or want of depth where the water should be deepest.
