296 Mary Somerville. 



Countess Irene Arco's beautiful Gothic chateau of 

 Anif, which rises out of a small pellucid lake, and 

 is reached by a bridge, we spent many pleasant 

 evenings, as well as at Countess Bellegarde's, and at 

 Aigen, which belonged to the Cardinal Schwartzen- 

 berg. We never saw him, but went to visit his 

 niece, with whom we were intimate. 



The war being over, we went by Innsbruck 

 and the Brenner to Colk, on the Lago di Garda, 

 within five miles of Peschiera, where we spent a 

 month with Count and Countess Erizzo Minis- 

 calchi, who had been our intimate friends for 

 many years. The devastation of the country 

 was frightful. Peschiera and its fortifications 

 were in ruins; the villages around had been 

 burnt down, and the wretched inhabitants were 

 beginning to repair their roofless houses. Our 

 friends themselves had but recently returned to 

 Colk, which, from its commanding situation, was 

 always the head-quarters of whatever army was 

 in possession of the country around. On this 

 account, the family had to fly more than once at 

 the approach of the enemy. In 1848 the Countess 

 had fled to Milan, and was confined at the very 

 time the Austrians under Kadetsky were besieging 

 the town, which was defended by Charles Albert. 

 Fearing what might occur when the city was sur- 



