at 'Italy was lost.'

I have many a temptation here to diverge from a line that I set down for
myself in these memoirs, and from which as yet I have not wandered--I
mean, not to dwell upon events wherein I was not myself an actor; but
I am determined still to adhere to my rule, and, leaving that glorious
event behind me, plod wearily along my journey.

Day after day we journeyed through a country teeming with abundance:
vast plains of corn and maize, olives and vines, everywhere--on the
mountains, the crags, the rocks, festooned over cliffs, and spreading
their tangled networks over cottages; and yet everywhere poverty,
misery, and debasement, ruined villages, and a half-naked, starving
populace, met the eye at every turn. There was the stamp of slavery on
all, and still more palpably was there the stamp of despotism in the air
of their rulers.

If any spot can impress the notion of impregnability it is Kuffstein.
Situated on an eminence of rock over the Inn, three sides of the base
are washed by that rapid river. A little village occupies the fourth;
and from this the supplies are hoisted up to the garrison above by
cranes and pulleys--the only approach being by a path wide enough for
a single man, and far too steep and difficult of access to admit of his
carrying any burthen, however light. All that science and skill could do
is added to the natural strength of the position, and from every surface
of the vast rock itself the projecting mouths of guns and mortars show
resources of defence it would seem madness to attack.

Three thousand men, under the command of General Urleben, held this
fortress at the time I speak of, and by their habits of discipline
and vigilance showed that no over-security would make them neglect the
charge of so important a trust. I was the first French prisoner that had
ever been confined within the walls, and to the accident of my uniform
was I indebted for this distinction. I have mentioned that in Genoa they
gave me a staff-officer's dress and appointments, and from this
casual circumstance it was supposed that I should know a great deal of
Massena's movements and intentions, and that by judicious management I
might be induced to reveal it.

General Urleben, who had been brought up in France, was admirably
calculated to have promoted such an object were it practicable. He
possessed the most winning address as well as great personal advantages,
and although now past the middle of life,