Page:Once a Week, Series 1, Volume II Dec 1859 to June 1860.pdf/320

31, 1860.] There are two open corridors which run round the court, one to each storey, supported on pillars such as we have described, and which lead to the different apartments within the quadrangle of the building, one of which, however—that on the north, from which the principal apartments are approached—is closed between the pillars with glass, and heated in winter, forming a most agreeable promenade in cold or wet weather, the corridor being at least a hundred feet in length.

But one of the most interesting objects in the interior of the château is a chamber which commands a beautiful view over the woody hills, and which retains more than any of the rest the primitive characteristics of the building: the walls are boisé or wainscotted with oak, and the ceiling is traversed in both directions with massive chamfered beams of the same wood, the compartments between which are painted partly with designs from the actions of the two celebrated Princes of Eggenberg mentioned above; while in the lesser divisions appear the famous battle charger of Prince Wolfgang, and the antique galleys of the Admiral Prince Rupricht. The walls are hung with portraits of various Princes and Princesses of Eggenberg, and of their successors, the Leslies: among the latter there is one very interesting, a full-length, in the costume of his period, the middle of the last century; he is very young, and holds in his hand a scroll. At the foot of the picture is the following inscription, alluding to the scroll:

The furniture of the apartment is in keeping with the period; the tables, chairs, and wardrobes are of oak, and of antique forms, and rugs of bears’ and deers’ skins cover the floor.

View from Felsenberg of the Castle of Ehrenhausen, with Brunsee, Weinberg, and Gleichenberg in the distance.

From this princely residence we have made some delightful and interesting excursions among the woody mountains and valleys in the neighbourhood. The inhabitants of these luxuriant hills are animated with the most genuine spirit of hospitality and kindness: a great part of them are proprietors, possessing a considerable extent of forest and vineyards, and agricultural lands in the valleys: they possess too that genuine character of frankness and independence, hospitality and liveliness, which is the type of the aboriginal race of a mountain land.

One day, Count Heinric Attems, the Lord of Ehrenhausen, proposed to make an excursion to the top of Felsenberg, the highest hill in the neighbourhood, and we set out after luncheon, accompanied by our host and his brother, Count William Attems of Spielfeld, and their families also. We made a circuit of some miles among the delicious valleys, and finally visited Felsberg, the residence of a rural proprietor, Herr Genser, which is situated on the crown of the hill from which it takes its name. It is surrounded by the forest, and clothed with vineyards and fruit trees to its summit. On arriving at the house, we found our host waiting to receive us in a “Lusthaus,” or pavilion, in front of the dwelling, and perched on the edge of the steep green slope which descended to the valley on the east: here we found prepared a sumptuous collation, the table groaning with venison, capons, turkeys,