b o o k t]a i j a n d a lm o f t e n t i r e ly e n c lo f e d w i t h h i g h r id g e s o f r o c k s ,
. io bare and rugged, that they fcarcely produce a Angle blade
o f grafs, and exhibit as barren an appearance as the fummits
o f the loftteft Alps.' Gotheborg ftands partly upon the
ridges, and partly in the plain ; and is divided from theie
different fituations into the Upper and Lower Town. The
latter is entirely level, interfedted by leveral canals in the
manner of the Dutch towns V and its honfes are all con-
ftruffed upon piles : the upper part hangs on the declivities;
and rows o f buildings rife one above the other like the feats
o f an amphitheatre. The whole is regularly fortified ; and
its circumference is near three miles, exclufive o f the fubiirbs,
called Haga, which lie towards the harbour.
The ftreets are all Uniformly ftraight: a few o f the houies
arc o f brick ; but the generality are cohftrofted with wood
painted red. The harbour is formed by two chains o f Locks,
and is about a quarter of a mile in breadth. Its entrance is
defended by the fort o f New Elffborg, which ftands upon
a fmall rocky ifland, and contains a garrifon of i j o men.
There has been lately eftabliihed at Gotheborg, a Royal
Society o f Sciences' and Literature, upon the plan o f that of
Upfala. Its’ acts, which are written in the Swedifh tongue
and printed in the odtavo form, contain various fubjeits in
the feveral branches' o f fcience, natural hifto'ry, antiquities,
hiftory, and polite letters #.
I was informed by a merchant Who had refided two and
twenty years at Gotheborg, that, during that period, its population
has increafed- confiderably, and that it now contains
about 30,000 inhabitants. This flourifhing ftate is undoubt-
* A t L u n d was alfo in ftltu ted , in 1 7 76 , a fub je& s t re a ted o f in its a i ls re la te only to
R o y a l Phyfiograp hica l S o c ie ty , w h ich was na tu ra l hiftory , ch ym iftry , and ag riculture.
incorporated b y the k in g in 1 7 78 . T h e ■
edly
edly owing to the extenfion o f its commerce, particularly its CHAP-
Eaft India Company, and the fuccefs o f the herring fifhery. »■ .’ *
In 1731 a company o f merchants was eftabliihed with
the exclufive privilege o f trading to the Eaft Indies for 15
years; and after various alterations o f their charter, the
monopoly was, at the laft renewal, confirmed for 20 years,
on condition that the company ihould advance to government
a loan o f ,£124,980, one third whereof without inte-
re ft; and ihould pay ,£3,125 for every veflel proceeding
on a trading voyage to the Eaft Indies. This company is
merely a fociety o f merchants, who fend annually two or
three veflels to China.
As the port o f Stockholm in the Gulf of Bothnia is clofed
with ice until the fealbri is too far advanced for fhips to take
their departure from thence to the Eaft Indies, the company
carries on its commerce from Gotheborg, whofe harbour, being
fituated in the German ocean, is always open.
The following is the nature o f this traffick : Sweden containing
little fpecie, and few manufactures for exportation,
the captain, of each veflel firft proceeds to Gadiz, where he
borrows, in the company’s name, 100,000 piaftres, at the
intereft o f 30 per cent, he then fails to Canton, and pur-
chafes tea, porcelain, and other. Chineie commodities, which,
.upon his return to Sweden, are difpofed of to great advantage.
The ufual n,et profit upon the whole cargo being 70 per cent;
the .gain, .when the intereft is deducted, amounts to about
40 per cent.
In 1740, the herrings, which had hitherto never approached
the weftern fhore o f Sweden, flocking in fhoals to
that coaft, the inhabitants of Gotheborg eftabliihed a fiihery,
which has been attended with confiderable advantage. Its
increafing produce will appear from the following table :
Von. II. S s s In