Page:Japanese Gardens (Taylor).djvu/96

54 to step upon, for the ground when wet becomes very greasy and slippery, and the sand and gravel are never supposed to be trodden on, as they are also part of the design, and are strewn down in some sort of a pattern. As for the hard round pebbles, no one would want to step on them, except a Japanese or a foreigner wearing clogs, as they hurt one’s feet. But besides their usefulness in wet weather, their shape and manner of laying are a great addition to the garden. They carry the eye, as well as the feet, to the point of vantage best for viewing the whole scene, or to the central place of interest. The reader will notice, from Mr. Tyndale’s pictures, that his foregrounds are almost invariably made more interesting by the introduction of this very characteristic feature. Stepping-stones carry the eye to the central point of the picture.

That to the Japanese mind these stepping-stones are not without their poetic suggestion may be inferred by the ideas and images their names imply. The favourite way of laying them, in fours and threes or in twos and threes, in an irregular zigzag, is called ‘Wild-goose Flight,’ or ‘Seagull Style.’ They are also called ‘Flying Stones,’ and ‘Wild-duck Winging Stones.’ Again, where the sand has been combed to represent the waves of the sea, these stones are called Shiki Shima, or ‘Scattered Islands,’ and even the most casual tourist