province, they use a dialect o f their own, somewhat similar to the
English, or rather to that dialect of English, which is spoken in the
lowlands of Scotland. It is reported that a Dalecarlian, who spoke
this dialect, being landed near Aberdeen, was understood by the inhabitants
of Scotland. They use the letter w as we do, and many of
their words are pretty similar to ours. Thus instead of vatter, which
is the Swedish word for water, they say waiter. Not having been in
the part of Dalecarlia where this dialect is spoken, I had no opportunity
o f judging whether it was intelligible to a person from Scotland. But
my information was derived from Mr. Tode, a Swedish merchant,
one of the best informed men that I met with in Sweden, and who
spoke English exceedingly well.
The military character of the Dalecarlians stands very high. They
first rose to eminence during the struggles of Gustavus Vasa, who was
enabled by their means to shake off the Danish yoke, and vindicate the
liberty of his country. This military character they have preserved
ever since, and have more than once exerted it for the deliverance of
their country. When Gustavus III. found himself hard pressed by the
Russians, he repaired to Dalecarlia, called together the inhabitants of
the province, and prevailed upon them to march in a body to his relief.
When Gustavus IV. was in a still more deplorable situation than
his father had been, he thought of the same means of extricating himself:
and accordingly called together the inhabitants of Dalecarlia. But
this mistaken prince, being acquainted with no other means of obtaining
what he wanted but force, instead of endeavouring to persuade, or
to excite compassion, issued his peremptory orders for them to march.
The province was irritated, they claimed the exemption from all such
necessity given them by his father, and absolutely refused to obey.
The regiment o f Dalecarlia bears nearly the same character in the
Swedish army that the 42d regiment does in the British.
The province o f Dalecarlia is of considerable size, extending from a
little southward of the river Dal, which is somewhat beyond the 6oth
degree o f north latitude to nearly the 62d degree. From east to west,
if we allow it to extend to the Gulf o f Bothnia, it stretches over about
five degrees o f longitude. It is finely variegated with hill and dale,
and indeed takes its name from this circumstance: Dalarne, by which
appellation it is known in Sweden, signifying the valleys. It is not
nearly so much covered with wood as most of the other provinces of
Sweden, at least those parts o f it which I saw; and this adds very
materially to its beauty. For nothing appears more dull or tiresome,
when you have been accustomed to it for some time, than a continued
pine-forest, excluding every possibility of a view, and exhibiting nothing
to the eye but its own dark and dismal green. Like all the other
provinces o f Sweden, it is checquered with a variety of lakes o f different
sizes, and it contains two rivers (besides many streamlets) which
in such a country as Sweden, where great rivers are not to be found,
acquire some importance. These are the Dal, which occupies the
southern part of the province, and though a shallow and slow running
river, and therefore not containing a very great deal o f water, is yet
broad, and has a respectable appearance. When I state that at first
sight I mistook what I saw o f it for a portion of a lake, it follows that
its breadth must be pretty considerable. The other river is the Ljusne,
which occupies the northern part o f the province, and is about the
same size as the Dal. Both of these rivers, I conceive,; is they'approach
the Gulf o f Bothnia into which they fall, make their way
through a number of small lakes, which add greatly to their apparent
breadth. Both of these rivers originate from the high mountainous
tract which separates Sweden from Norway, about the latitude of
Drontheim, and a little to the south. There is another pretty considerable
river which rises in the same tract, runs south through Yerme-
land, and empties itself into the Venner. This river is the Clara.
Except the southern part of the province in the neighbourhood of
the Dal, and as far north as Fahlun, the whole of Dalecarlia may be
said to be mountainous. But the mountains vary greatly in height.
The highest are in the neighbourhood of Norway. The mountain
Fjäll, for example, which lies in the parishes o f Lima and Särna,
bordering upon Norway, rises above those limits within which trees
and the larger vegetables grow, and cannot be less than 3000 feet in
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