b o o k :
vu.
Near Kungfaer there is an old wooden building, or -kind
o f palaee, formerly inhabited by the kings of Sweden, with a-
manage and fiables- for the royal ftud. From Kungfaer
ftretches, about nine miles, almpft as far as Arboga, a long-
narrow plain- o f rich, pafture, which belongs to- the king :■ it
is watered, by the Ulvifon, and fkirted with gently rifing hills
tufted with wood ; produces great quantities o f fine hay ;
and feeds a large number o f cattle. I palled, in fight of this
fmall plain, which isfcarcely morethanhalf a mile in breadth,
through an. undulating country, and arrived at the canal of
Arboga, which I crofîèd overra draw-bridge, .The following
infcription informed me that the canal was begun by Gharles
XI. and.finilhed under the reign o f his-fop Charles-XII.
“ Hoc aquarium juflii Auguftiflimi quondam Suecorum
u Regis CarolLXI. nunc in. coelis beati- anno MDCXCI. in-
“ choatum, ultimam manum fçeptra-gerente Suevica. Au-
“ guftiffimo- Carolo XII. féliciter recepit MDCIC.” This
canal, will be more properly defcribed in. this> chapter on
the inland navigation o f Sweden.
Finding little worthy of notice in Arboga,-1 haftened to
0 rebro,. the capital o f Nerike, where I paffed the night : it
Hands near. the weftern extremity o f the lake Hielmar-; and
is the large!! town which-I vifited fince I quitted Stockholm.
The houfes are chiefly conftrudled with wood ; and, though;
only o f one itory, are for the moff parr large and -commodious.
Upon a fmall ifland in the middle of the town, formed by two
branches o f the Swart,Hands the cafile,. formerly a royal re-
fidence : it is an old fquare building o f brick and H o n e white
walhed,, and is appropriated to. the governor- of- the province.
The inhabitants o f Qrebro fend iron, vitriol, and" red paint to
Stockholm ; and the trade whiGh they carry on with that ea-
pital acrofe the Hielmar and Mæler,.by means o f the canal of
j Arboga».
Arboga, is very confiderable; The town poflefles manufactures
o f fire arms, cloth, and tapeftry. v
Upon quitting Orcbro, I traverfed that part o f the province
o f Nerike, which lies between the lakes Hielmar and
Wenner; a fertile diftridl, abounding in corn, palture, and
foreil. Towards the clofe of-the day, I entered the province
o f Weft Gothland, and pafled the‘night in a peafant’s cottage
at Hofva, a final! place, not far diftaot from the lake Skager.
March 9. About noon I arrived at Marieftadt, a town built
by Charles IX. fituated upon the Tidla, a fmall rivulet, and
the lake Wenner. A new prifon o f brick, ftuccoed white,
makes a finer appearance than any o f the other houfes, which
are moftly built with wood, and painted o f a red colour.
From Marieftadt I continued my route, for fome time, at a
fmall diftance from the Wenner, the large!! lake in Sweden,
being nearly ninety miles in length, and forty in
breadth. Its Ihores in this part are low and level, fo that
the view over the furface o f the water appears boundlefs
like a fea.
I pafled through Lindkioping, the inhabitants whereof
carry on a confiderable inland trade acrofs the Wenner, and
down the river Gotha to Gotheborg. I flopped the night at
the fmall village o f Malby, and arrived the next morning at
Trolhsetta, through an exceedingly drCary country, confifting
chiefly of barren heaths- with ridges o f rock almoft naked,
which exhibited few marks o f vegetation.
This village, containing fcarcely a dozen houfes, is fituated
clofe to the cataradls o f the river Gotha; and is well known,
011 account o f its ftupendous works, with a view to open a
paflage for veflels, by means of a navigable cut, called, from
this place, the Canal o f Trolhaitta.
Q q q 2 This
C H A P .
IX .