Albertina, sister to Gustavus III. This is a magnificent building of
considerable extent. Like the opera-house, it occupies one side of the
square.
The northern suburb, or norra malm, as it is called, constitutes
the largest division of the city. The streets of which it consists are
not very regular, and are in general narrow. The principal of them is
called Drotkning Gatan, or Queen-street. It runs all the way from
the north gate to the lake side, which is about 14 English mile; but
the whole o f this distance is not filled with houses. The street properly
so called begins only at the observatory, and runs in a straight
line very nearly an English mile, constituting the longest, and perhaps
upon the whole the finest street in Stockholm. By casting the eye
over the annexed map o f Stockholm, the reader will be able to form a
more accurate idea of the north suburb than he could acquire by the
most elaborate description. The southern suburb is not so extensive
as the northern, nor does it contain'so many fine buildings. But the
map o f Stockholm will here save a great deal of tedious description.
No less than sixteen different maps of Stockholm have been published
at different times, the first as far back as the year 1547. Most
o f these may be still seen in Stockholm, and they are curious, because
they show us the gradual improvements which have taken place in the
buildings and in the streets. The map which is annexed to this chapter
is reduced from the large sheet map published by Fr. Akrel in 17Q5 ,
and brought down by him to the year 1 8 1 1 . It is deservedly considered
as the most accurate map of the town which has ever appeared;
though the style of engraving is somewhat blameable, as not sufficiently
distinguishing between what is town and what fields. His object
seems to have been to swell the town as much as possible, and conceal
its real dimensions from the eye : these faults have been in a great
measure corrected in our copy.
Our first object, after reaching Stockholm, was to take a survey of
the town, and examine its most remarkable buildings, squares, and
curiosities. I reserved my visits to the different collections, my introduction
to men o f science, and my inquiries respecting the different
scientific; institutions, till after my return from Dalécarlia. But I
think it better to introduce here all the remarks that I made, and all
the information that I could collect, than to divide the subject into two
parts, merely because a journey intervened during the course of my
observations.
My whole stay in .Stockholm amounted to about three weeks, so
that 1 had full leisure to satisfy myself about every thing remarkable
which was to be found in it. In consequence o f the great inequality
o f the ground, and the abundance o f water on all sides, it is not easy
to form an adequate notion o f the size of Stockholm. The best pomt-
of view is the little hill on which the observatory stands: it commands
the whole: city. You take in at once all the remarkable buildings, the
squares, spires, strèéts, lake,, and shipping. Nothing can be more
romantic than the view of Stockholm from this place. The houses
are almost all of stone, or brick covered with plaster. The churches are
mostly crowned with magnificent spires. The'inlet o f the Baltic covered
with ships; the lake Malar scattered with little hills constituting islands,
some of w h ic h were covered with buildings or forts, while others are
bare cliffs o f gneiss, or thick set with birches and pines ; the environs
in every direction entirely in a state o f nature ; no marks o f culture,
and scarcely a gentleman’s seat any where to be seen ; but the remarkable
inequality of the ground, the great proportion of water, the abundance
of wood, and the fine contrast between the dark green of the
pines, the lively green of the oaks, the autumnal yellow of the birches,
and the red of the poplar,, formed a whole exceedingly pleasing and
beautiful. Hardly a rock I should suppose exceeds 100 feet in height,
yet the inequality, small as it is, adds prodigiously to the beauty. Much
of the beauty is owing to the lake, and not a little to the striking contrast
between the magnificence o f the city and the wildness o f the
environs.
Stockholm does not cover nearly so much ground as Edinburgh, at
least if we include Leith. Nor would it be-fair to compare the beauty
of these two cities : the one owing a vast deal to the high state of cultivation
every where surrounding it ; the other depending chiefly upon.