In a few moments, the magnificent line of sleighs reaches its first stage. As, however, there had been some slight contretemps with those frail ‘turn-outs,’ there was a half-way halt near the monument erected to King John Sobieski for his deliverance of Austria. It is a triangular pyramid constructed on the very spot where the Grand Vizier Kara-Mustapha had erected his tent during the siege. When the brilliant string of sleighs had vanished from our eyes, there was a unanimous cry of admiration from the numerous spectators at the unique beauty of the sight. The fact of so many illustrious personages being brought to the spot was considered as worthy of admiration as the magnificence and pomp displayed by the Austrian Court and noblesse. Of course it required a solemn function like the Congress to rally so many crowned heads, celebrities of all kinds, and remarkable women. It was, indeed, a picture which for many centuries will not be repeated. The Empress of Austria, the King and Queen of Bavaria, besides several other personages in far from robust health, who feared the cold, had gone to Schönbrunn in closed carriages. A magnificent fête had been prepared and many invitations issued. The return was to take place at night and by torchlight. After the banquet to which all those who made up the sleighing party were invited, the principal Viennese actors presented one of the prettiest pieces of the French stage, the _Cendrillon_ of M. Étienne, which had been translated into German. A grand ball was to wind up the entertainment. The Prince Koslowski, the Comte de Witt, and I repaired betimes to Schönbrunn. The sleighs on their arrival formed into a circle around the frozen lake of Schönbrunn, which was like a polished mirror, and was covered by skaters in the most elegant costumes of the various countries of Northern Europe. The scene was very animated, with the various sledges in the shape of swans, gondolas, etc., and reminded one of a Dutch kermesse, especially in respect to the itinerant vendors of fortifying drinks patronised by the energetic performers. The picture was in reality unique in virtue of the various servants in livery, both on foot and on horseback, and the sleighs of the Court itself, not to mention the enormous crowds of spectators who had come all the way from Vienna.