weakest and most insignificant of the European powers. To return from this digression. The travellers proceeded to Elsineur. In the fortress they were shown a suite of rooms occupied by the unfortunate Queen Matilda, the consort of the then insane King of Denmark. During her captivity there, the captain of an English merchantman in the Sound sent her a leg of mutton and some potatoes; a gift she graciously accepted, and returned by the present of a gold chain.

Crossing from Elsineur to Helsingborg, in Sweden, the travellers were forcibly struck by the change in the appearance of the country, and the manners and costume of the people: boundless forests, extensive lakes, lofty mountains, foaming cataracts, compose the magnificent features of the scenery. The dress of the female peasants is showy, consisting of a scarlet jacket placed over a sort of variegated waistcoat; short blue petticoats, not reaching lower than the knees; the feet bare, and a white handkerchief bound loosely and elegantly over the head, covering a part of the face: sometimes they appear without the jacket, and then have only shift-sleeves over their arms, buttoned a little below the wrist. The national physiognomy is a long and somewhat pale face, grey eyes, and a mild expression of countenance. From Helsingborg to Gothenburgh the road is excellent, winding, at a small distance from the sea-coast, through a chequered country, in great part barren, in others fringed with beautiful woods. The huts of the peasants are low and dirty. Agriculture is in a miserable and declining state from the rapacity of the lords, who seize, without remorse, upon the property of their vassals, whenever they think fit to appropriate it.

Gothenburgh is built chiefly of wood, and divided into two towns by the river Gotha, which, rising from the Wenen Lake, here falls into the sea. The population of the town is about 15,000 souls: its trade is considerable, the exports consisting chiefly of iron, steel, oil, naval stores, and herrings. The inhabitants are very hospitable to strangers. Brandy is invariably offered before dinner. The amusements of the place are derived from a small theatre during the winter season, and an imitation of Vauxhall Gardens in the summer. Leaving Gothenburgh, Dr. Clarke and his companions proceeded towards Stockholm, finding the roads uniformly good, but travelling dear, and the hired postwaggons execrable, consisting of nothing more than a pair of wheels with two shafts resting upon the axle; upon the shafts were lashed the trunks, and upon the trunks were seated the travellers. They visited the celebrated falls of Trollhæta upon the Gotha, which are described by Dr. Clarke as falling far short of his expectation: the principal fall is only 20 feet. The descent of timber down the falls is one of the most striking things which engage the attention of the traveller. In this part of their route the peculiarities of a Swedish climate were very observable. On the 3d June the ice thawed at Gothenburgh; on the 18th the thermometer, in a northern aspect, stood at 74°.

A singular and very picturesque custom prevails in this part of the country. The houses of the peasants are roofed with wooden planks, covered with green turf, which, in the summer season, are embroidered with flowers. The interior of a cabin in the southern part of Sweden, as represented by Dr. Clarke, affords a melancholy parallel to those receptacles of disease, famine, and sorrow, so often met with in the southern part of Ireland. " A close and filthy room, crowded with pale, swarthy, wretched-looking children sprawling upon a dirty floor, in the midst of the most powerful stench, were the usual objects that presented themselves to our notice." The purity and bracing qualities of the atmosphere, and a life of active labour out of doors, counteract the natural tendency of the impure air inhaled within. The Swedes are distinguished for their athletic size, robust health, and great strength.

A short navigation conducted the travellers to Wener Lake, one of the largest not only in Sweden but in Europe, being 98 English miles in length, and 56 in breadth; the water pellucid as crystal, and extremely deep, in some places 300 fathoms; the shores bold and rocky. Ships of considerable burthen navigate this lake. On its banks a great change was observed in the cleanliness, furniture, and accommodations, of the peasants' houses. Entering, unexpectedly, into one of them, the travellers were regaled with a repast consisting of fowl, fish, soup, veal cutlets, and many other delicacies. The table was covered with a white damask linen cloth; damask napkins were supplied, and silver-handled knives and forks. Hospitality is a distinguishing virtue of the Swedes: it is found amidst all classes; but amongst the gentry it assumes the form of the most polite and delicate attention. Of this quality Dr. Clarke cites a very remarkable instance. Crossing over the mouth of a small river which falls into the Wenen Lake, the travellers were solicited by the servants of an unknown Swedish lady, whose husband was an officer, to repair to her house; they accepted the proposition, were received in the most courteous and liberal manner, passed the night in her habitation, and, upon the arrival of the officer, were introduced to their fair hostess. The long-continued warmth of the day was here distressingly and dangerously contrasted by the extreme coldness of the short night; a term, however, which can hardly be applied with justice at a season when, at midnight, it is said to be as light as it is at noonday, in this country, in December. Proceeding from the Wener Lake to Orebro, Dr. Clarke and his companions passed numerous groupes of peasants assembled to hold the festival of St. John's day. It is thus described by the Doctor: "The porticoes and doors of all the dwellings, even of the cottages, were decorated with pendent garlands; and upright poles, like our May-poles, covered with flowers and green boughs, and set off with painted egg-shells and ribbands, were visible in every place through which we passed." The dress of the male peasantry is almost always uniform. Only three colours are allowed, blue, grey, and black. Their diet is principally salted fish, eggs, and milk. Butcher's meat is rarely to be found in travelling.

The route to Orebro, where Bernadotte was elected Crown Prince, is described as being eminently beautiful and romantic, combining whatever is most sublime and picturesque in the northern parts of Switzerland and Great Britain with the peculiar features of a Swedish landscape. Immense forests of the tallest fir-trees, lakes sprinkled with verdant islands, the most delightful meadows, cottages, the roofs of which were enamelled with flowers, and covered with grass. By the road-side were alms-boxes for the relief of the poor. To the immortal honour of the Swedes, although proverbially an indigent nation, these unguarded depositories of casual benevolence were never robbed. Indeed theft is a vice unknown in the interior and northern parts of Sweden.

From Orebro to Stockholm there is nothing worthy of particular observation, except the cathedral of Westeros, the steeple and roof of which are covered with copper. The entrance into Stockholm is striking and romantic in the highest degree. The traveller is almost unconscious that he is entering the capital of the state; for a considerable time he passes through streets, or rather between red wooden palisades on one side, and red wooden houses on the other, shaded by trees planted in regular succession. Proceeding onwards, he reaches Queenstreet, where a visible improvement takes place in the size and architecture of the buildings; at length he arrives at the grand square, which presents one of the most magnificent and extraordinary spectacles in the world. It is spacious, surrounded on all sides by buildings of a most magnificent description. On the right, above a large and rapid stream, rises a superb pile of architecture, connected with the square by a broad bridge of granite, and commanding at one view the innumerable streets, buildings, and avenues below it. In the centre of the square stands an equestrian colossal statue of bronze upon a pedestal of polished granite. On each side, lofty palaces corresponded to each other, and between them and the first vast building the winding of the lake admits an extensive view of the city rising like an amphitheatre, and the rocks still farther in the distance. The whole coup d'œil was enchantment; nothing ever seen or read could give an idea of the singular magnificence of such a prospect. Crossing the bridge, you arrive at the palace; and on turning to the right, you perceive innumerable shipping, and a fine broad quay. On the opposite side of the water, lofty houses rise one above another; the dome of a church above them, seeming to look down upon the waters and city below. It is impossible to describe the effect of the whole at first sight; the most romantic country imaginable surrounding a populous city, rising amidst rocks and forests. The indestructible features of nature will always render the square an object of peculiar admiration; but the architecture of the country will not support a rigid scrutiny, inasmuch as the buildings are whitewashed edifices, or, what is worse, made up of lath and plaster; mere wood and mortar, tricked out to look like Corinthian pillars, and stone-walls. The royal palace, arsenal, and senate-house, are the objects most worthy of attention in Stockholm. Its foreign trade was formerly more flourishing than it is at present; but symptoms of revival begin to appear.

From Stockholm to Upsal the road passes through a flat country, well cultivated in all the spots which would admit of tillage. The condition of the peasantry improved as the travellers proceeded northward; neatness, cleanliness, activity, uninterrupted health, unruffled content, were the rich inheritance of these children of nature. Upsal is a very antient city, once the metropolis of Sweden, where its sovereigns were crowned. It can still boast of a royal palace; but is more celebrated for its university, which has produced some of the most distinguished literati in Europe, including Linnæus, Celsius, Hasselquist, and Fabricius. At Dal, the travellers beheld a magnificent cataract ; a river, a quarter of a mile in breadth, falling down a precipice fringed with woods from the height of 40 feet. The situation of the sawing-mills by different cataracts, both in Sweden and Norway, is striking and picturesque. The mill by this cataract was built with the trunks of large fir-trees, as if brought down and heaped together by the force of the river. The saws are fixed in sets, parallel to each other; the spaces between them in each set being adapted to the intended thickness for the planks. A whole tree is thus divided into planks by a simultaneous operation, in the same time that a single plank would be cut