at intervals with trees : the foil was chiefly fand mixed with
' vegetable mould. We arrived, late in the evening o f March
the ax ft, at Helfingborg, the place o f embarkation upon the
found for Denmark.
Before I conclude my travels into Sweden, I fhall throw
together a few remarks upon the mode o f travelling, and
other general heads, which I had no occafion to touch upon
in a particular manner.
Travelling in Sweden is perfectly commodious to a perfon
acquainted with the ufual method o f procuring hories. At
the different towns and villages upon the high roads poft-
horfes are not always regularly ftationed ; but i f the traveller
fends forward a peafant to appoint relays, at a certain ftipu-
lated place and time, his orders are pundtually executed.
The negleit o f this precaution has caufed frequent delays to
inexperienced foreigners, as it did to us upon our firft arrival
in the country ; for we were obliged to wait at each poft-
houfe until horfes could be obtained from the adjacent villages.
The ufual practice of fupplying poft-horfes is regulated
in a manner very convenient and cheap to travellers,
yet extremely burdenfome to the natives *.
* C a n t z le r makes th e followin g ju dic iou s “ ageur. C e t t e corvée s’ appelle Hollsikjuts
rema rks upon th is füb je él. In enumerating “ e t il s’y perd ch aque fois un jo u r e t demi,
th e obflacles to th e improvement o f agri- “ M r . M od e e r , fecre taire de la .fo c iété pa-
cu ltu re in Sw ed en , h e mentions , among “ t rio tiqu e , fupposè 700 endroits de relais
o th e r s , “ L e s voiturages publics e t le tranf- “ dans fon t c e royaume, e t fe p t chevaux
p o r t des vo yag eu rs , à fa ire tou r -à -to u r “ jou rn ellemen t aflignés à ch aque endroit
“ p a r les payfans aflignés au x relais de p o lie “ de relais. . E n ne comp tan t même que
P 8 v0 ' C e u x - c i fon t ex trêm e- “ 300 endroits de relais, et 4 ch evau x pour
‘ ment on éreux a u x cu ltiv a teu rs , o b lig é s , “ ch acun, c e q ui fa it 1200 ch evau x par
ch acun au moins trois fois p a r mois, d’en - “ jo u r , o u 432,000 ch ev au x p a r an , à 360
v oyer un valet ou g a rçon avec un-ou deux “ jo u r s , c e tte for te de corvées caufo pour
ch e v au x a 1 endroit de relais, qui leu r eft “ l ’a g r icu ltu re une p e r te ann uelle de
aliigne, pou r s y tenir une jou rn ée entière “ 216,000 jou rnées d’ouvrage J faire par
‘ p rê t au tranfport des p o lies , fans q u e “ un valet e t deux ch e v au x ,” See C a n t z le r ’ s
les payfans en reço iv en t aucune com p en - M émoire s, & c . p . 202.
*1 fa iio n , à moins c[.u’ il ne furvienne de vo y -
Ail
A li perfons poffeffing land o f a certain tenure are bound CHAP-
to fend one or more horfes two or three times in the month ‘ X]' •
to the neighbouring poft-houfe: i f they are not wanted,
they return, after waiting 24 hours, without any compenfa-
tion for their labour and lofs o f time; and, i f employed, receive
a very inadequate recompence *. I found, indeed, travellingfo
exceedingly cheap in Sweden, that, during a courfe
o f 500 miles, from my departure from Stockholm to my arrival
atCarlfcrona, my whole expences, including the prime
coft o f my cart, the hire o f poft-horfes, the gratuities to the
drivers, and the accommodations on the road, did not amount
to ¿ 2 0 , although my Swedifh fervant occafionally taxed me
with want o f ceconomy. The drivers being the peafants
themfelves, who ufually attend with their own horfes, are
contented with a fmall acknowledgement o f about id . or id .
for each poff. The horfes are fmall, but lively and active •
two were ufually the complement for my cart; and they -
went generally at the rate o f fix or feven miles in an hour :
the poftilion never rode, but fat upon a fmall bench at the
extremity o f the cart.
The high roads o f Sweden wind agreeably through the
country, are made with ftone or gravel, and are as good as
our turnpikes in England; and yet not a firigle toll is exacted
from the traveller. Each landholder is obliged.to keep in
repair a certain part of the road in proportion to his property
; and, for the purpofe o f afcertaining their refpedtive
portions, fmall pieces, of wood, or ltone, marked with
* W h en .w e firft entered Sweden, we -on ly . w h ich time 3,2 ftivcrs =? jorf. was paid in.
paid 24 ftivcrs — 7 ft/ . fo r each h orfc p e r the towns for- each liorie fo r a Swediih mile
Swedifli mile from the: towns, and 12 ftivers, and 16 o r ;d : in the v illa g e s. Even a c -
o r — 3jrf; from the villages t this p r ic e was . cord ing to this advanced: p r ic e, -the hivheft
fo ex ce edin g ly low , that at the laft diet th e fom is. not quite 1 ¡d , and- th e loweft not a
ftates increaled i t : the new regu la tion to o k pen n y, p e r horfe, for an E n g l fii mile,
place on th e 16 th o f M a rch , 177,9-i from
numbers..