I had the honour of dining twice, once in the house of Dr. Schultz an
old Librarian of Sir Joseph Banks, and once in the house of Dr. Dubb,
Fellow of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, at the head
of his profession at Gottenburg, and one of the most eminent physicians
in Sweden. I was surprised to find the utmost cordiality reigning
among these medical men, and nothing o f that jealousy, envy, and
rivalship so conspicuous among the medical men in most of the towns
o f Great Britain. Dr. Lampert likewise introduced me to Dr. Eckman,
who had travelled over most parts o f Europe, and had a considerable
collection of minerals, which he had made during his travels. This
collection was not so interesting to me as some others that I saw afterwards,
for the very reason that would make it more valuable in the
eyes, of a Swede. It consisted chiefly of foreign minerals, many of
them English, and contained few or no Swedish. My principal object
being to see the minerals peculiar to Sweden, I only looked over Dr.
Eckman’s slightly.
ISiext to Dr. Lampert, I must rank Mr. Kennedy, a merchant originally
from Edinburgh, but long settled in Gottenburg. He carried me
out to his country-house, about an English mile from town: I was
much pleased with the style of his garden, and with the abundance of
fruit which it contained. Among others was the Astrakan apple;
which when ripe is so transparent that you can count the cells containing
the seeds. Mr. Kennedy was married to a Swedish lady, one
of the most amiable and accomplished women that I met with during
the whole o f my tour. After Mr. Kennedy, come Messrs. Barclay and
Fisher, likewise two Scotch merchants, and Messrs. Dicksons, two
brothers, settled for some time at Gottenburg. I ought also to mention
Mr. James Sinclair, a clerk in the house of Mr. Kennedy, to whom
I was indebted for my introduction to Mr. Kennedy, and for other
favours.
. The prosperity of Gottenburg formerly very much depended upon
the herring-fishery, which was carried on in the neighbourhood to a
great extent; but for some years past the herrings have left the Swedish
coast, so that the fishery has sunk to nothing. The food of the herring
appears to be a small species o f crab. Hence their frequenting or
leaving a coast must depend upon the abundance or scarcity o f this
minute animal. It would possibly be practicable, to propagate the
breed o f this creature in any particular place, and thus the annual visit
o f the herrings might perhaps be secured.
In travelling through Sweden, it is necessary to be provided with a
passport from the Governor o f the province where you first happen to
land. This passport was easily procured from Count Rozen. All that
was requisite was to pay some small fees, amounting altogether to
about six shillings sterling.
As there are no public: vehicles in Sweden, there is no other means
o f travelling but by purchasing a carriage. We.bought a very light open
one, but hardly strong enough for the purpose, for 207 rix-dollars, or
about twenty-seven pounds sterling. Our ignorance o f the language
obliged us likewise to hire a servant, to act as an interpreter. W e
hired a black man from North America to conduct us to Stockholm, at
the rate of two rix-dollars, or four shillings sterling per day, and his
victuals on the road. W e found afterwards that this , was below the
usual rate, because he had conducted some person from Stockholm to
Gottenburg, and was anxious to get back to the place of his residence.
He was very obliging, but we could not help suspecting that he had
gone snacks with the man from whom we had purchased our carriage.
For we told him to take a coach-maker to examine it, and see whether
it was stout enough for our purpose. As the wheel afterwards gave
way, we had reason to believe that he had never taken any person to
inspect it.
Before leaving Gottenburg, it may be worth while to state a few
particulars, respecting the charges made in the hotel where we lodged.
These, the badness o f the accommodation considered, were considerably
higher than even in England. For two rooms, for four days, we
paid twelve rix-dollars, or twenty-four shillings sterling. Our breakfast
cost us from eighteen-pence to two shillings, and the washing o f a
shirt came to eight-pence sterling. A dozen years ago, the prices did
not amount to one-fourth of the above sums. The rise has been sudden,