rapidity with which «nr ships o f war decline is almost incredible. I
am informed by a gentleman, who has been making particular inquiries
on the subject, that 12 years for each ship is the full average o f
the duration o f the whole navy. This is a most enormous expense to
the -country, and must be owing to some mismanagement or other.
A t present our vessels o f wax are built in the open air, and left for
-several years exposed to the weather by way o f seasoning, before they
•are finished. This I conceive to be a bad practice, and to contribute
•to hasten the decay o f the timber. It is proper that the wood should
be well seasoned-; but the vessel should be kept under cover and protected
from the rain and the weather.
•I was -struck with the great number o f vessels lying in the harbour
-of Gottenburg. A -fleet of 3-00 sail had left it a few days -before, and
-the number still remaining .could not fee fewer. As we approached the
town, we passed by a small fort called ¡New Elfsbong, situated ¡upon a
«reeky island, and intended to prevent the:advance -of hostile vessels. It
has a garrison o f 250 men.
Our vessel anchored at Mastuget, a village about a mile south from
Gottenburg, and a kind-of suburb. We were .going ashore without
-any formality, when we were told b y our Captain, that the laws a f
•'Sweden did not permit any passenger ¡to land till the vessel had been
visited fey the custom-house officers : -non-compliance with this condition,
we were told, was punished by-a-fine o f 3oo rix-dollars. In con-
'sequenee of this information, we thought ourselves obliged to remain
aboard the vessel. The custom-house officers at last, made their appearance
at four o’clock, and after a slight inspection of our portmanteaus,
"and -receiving a little -money, we were permitted to go.ashore. We
•found afterwards that there was no necessity -for staying aboard as we
did; that deviations from the strict letter of the law were common, and
-that with regard to foreigners it was usually winked at or easily made
Up-by a little address.
'We prevailed upon the Captain to .rowms up to -town in -the ship’s
boat. There is a canal which runs through the middle ¡of the principal
•street-in Gottenburg. When we came to the-extremity-of this canal,
opposite to the Governor’s house, where the town began, a customhouse
officer perceived us and our boat. He hauled out lustily and
made signs to us, in a threatening manner, to bring our boat to the
margin o f the canal. His whole manner indicated a confident expectation
o f a lucrative prize. When we opened our portmanteaus, in consequence
o f his orders, and when he saw that they contained no contraband
goods of any kind, but merely a few books and clothes, he
slunk away very much disconcerted, and allowed us to proceed. When
the boat had rowed as far as the middle o f the street, we went ashore
to look for an inn. Our surprise was not small and our disappointment
extreme, when we traversed the whole city from one end to the
other without meeting with any house that had the least appearance o f
an inn or a hotel. As we were unacquainted with the language, and
therefore had no means o f making inquiry, we were utterly at a loss
what to do.
Luckily we met our Captain, who carried us to his broker, a gentleman
who understood English : by him we were informed that Gottenburg
contained no inns, but that there were two hotels at the east end
o f the main street, where we might perhaps find lodging and breakfast,
but that they would not provide us with dinner. He told us
likewise that the concourse o f strangers at Gottenburg was always so
great that these two houses were usually overflowing with lodgers.
He immediately carried us to what he called the best of these houses,
and we found to our mortification that they had not a single empty
room. In the other, however, kept by a Swede, o f the name o f Blum,
we got a couple erf rooms, and began to feel ourselves pretty comfortable
after the fatigues o f our voyage.
This total want o f inns in a place like Gotteaiburg, which is at present
a great thoroughfare, being the channel of communication of
Great Britain and the continent, is quite unaccountable. There are indeed
at Mastuget two houses kept by natives o f Great Britain, a Mr.
Tod and a Mrs. Ribbens, which are the great rendezvouz o f the captains
o f British merchantmen. But they are little better than ale-houses,
and so -crowded that you might as well attempt to lodge in the middle