Journey from Paris to Vienna. 47 



catalogue ; another also of precious stones, cut and polished. 

 This last has been since sold to count Archinto. 



The environs of Vienna are, in general, agreeable. We find 

 scattered around, elegant villas, chateaux, palaces, surrounded 

 with the richest vegetation, in situations the most pictu- 

 resque, and abounding with natural curiosities. For further 

 descriptions of Vienna and its environs, I must refer the 

 reader to the work of M. Marcel de Serres, on the Austrian 

 monarchy, who has handled this subject with very consider- 

 able detail, and to other authors. 



Some notice may be taken, however, of the imperial palace 

 of Schonbrusur, the park of which especially merits the atten- 

 tion of naturalists, from the immense number of plants dis- 

 tributed throughout its numerous inclosures. This is partly 

 owing to the munificence and special care of the reigning 

 emperor, who is not a little attached to the study of nature. 

 Occasionally the traveller will see foreign birds fluttering 

 about the plants of their natal soil, though generally confined 

 in cages. The menagerie is not very rich in animals, though 

 superior to that at Paris. At Schonbrunn are also the Alpine 

 collections of the Archduke John. The archdukes, the arch- 

 duchesses, and the emperor himself, are frequently occupied 

 in the investigation of the objects of natural history. 



The imperial chateau of Lachsenburg, excites an interest 

 of another kind, in the variety of its objects of fancy. Here 

 are temples and pavilions of curious foreign architecture, also 

 buildings and their furniture, throughout, in the rustic style, 

 with village fishing and farming. One building, called the 

 House of Caprice, is singular in its architecture, and in its odd 

 and grotesque contents, some of which are so contrived as to 

 be rather mischievous. But the most striking object, at Lach- 

 senburg, is the little Gothic castle, built by the present em- 

 peror, on the model of the castle of Ambras, in the Tyrol, 

 which is as old as the fifteenth century. It forms a truly 

 curious picture of a castle of the middle ages, giving a com- 

 plete idea of chivalresque manners, monuments, furniture, &c. 



The chateau of Dornbach has a very delightful park, and 

 that of Schoenau, two posts from Vienna, contains the famous 

 temple of night, the descriptions of which resemble those of 

 the palaces of the fairies. About Vienna are not a few neat 

 villages, with elegant houses and chateaux, more or less re- 

 markable, where a stranger may entertain himself during the 

 fair season, amidst a profusion of materials, accumulated by 

 art and caprice. 



In one of my excursions as a mineralogist, I came to Sifring 

 to survey two quarries, from which vast quantities of stones 



