o f the foreft, and about a dozen habitations. This dreary
fcene continued . till we afcended an eminence, and came
upon a fudden view of the fpires of Stockholm, half hid by
the intervening rocks and trees.
C H A P ,
C H A P . IL
Palace of Drotningholm— Gala Day at Court— S-wediJh Opera— Pro~
fejfor Sergei! Remarks on federal late changes effeSled in the Government
of Sweden..
T T V U R I N G my former travel's into thefe parts, I was pre-
vented by the earlinefs of the feafon, and the difficulty o f
croffing the lake Maeler, from vifiting the palace of Drotning-
holm; but in my fecond tour I had feveral opportunities of fa-
tisfying my curiofity;
The palace of Drotningholm, the favourite refidence of the
king, is fituated upon the iiland of Drotningholm or Queen’s
Iiland, in the lake Maeler, about ten Englifh miles from Stockholm.
The palfage acrofs- the lake to the iiland is near a mile.
The palace was originally built by Hedwige Eleonora, queen-
of Charles the Tenth j but has been greatly improved and enlarged
by fucceeding fovereigns, and' particularly by his prefent
majefty, who has added a theatre, and feveral other buildings.
The apartments are more comfortable than magnificent. The
king’s private libraiy contains an ufeful collection of modern
books. A cabinet of natural hiftory adjoining to the library is
fmall, but remarkable as having been arranged and defcribed by
Linnasus.
m 1 m x h .