In the spring we went to Salzburg, where we remained all summer. We had an apartment in a dilapidated old chateau, about an hour's walk from the town, called Leopold's Krone. The picturesque situation of the town reminded me of the Castle and Old Town of Edinburgh. The view from our windows was alpine, and the trees bordering the roads were such as I have rarely seen out of England. We made many excursions to Berchtesgaden, where King Louis and his court were then living, and went to the upper end of the Koenigsee. I have repeatedly been at sea in very stormy weather without the smallest idea of fear; but the black, deep water of this lake, under the shadow of the precipitous mountains, made a disagreeable impression on me. I thought if I were to be drowned I should prefer the blue sea to that cold, black pool. The flora was lovely, and on returning from our expeditions in the evening, the damp, mossy banks were luminous with glowworms: I never saw so many, either before or since. We never fail to make acquaintances wherever we go, and our friends at Munich had given us letters to various people who were passing the summer there, many of whom had evening receptions once a week. At the 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 Schwartzenberg. 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 Cola, on the Lago di Garda, within five miles of Peschiera, where we spent a month with Count and Countess Erizzo Miniscalchi, 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 Cola, which, from its commanding situation, was always the headquarters 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 Radetsky were besieging the town, which was defended by Charles Albert. Fearing what might occur when the city was surrendered, the lady, together with her new-born infant and the rest of her family, escaped the next day with considerable difficulty, and travelled to Genoa.