CHAPTER VIII.
JOURNEY TO UPSALA.
Travel to Upsala—Geological Account of Upland—Road between Stockholm and Upsala
—Description of Upsala—Palace—Cathedral—Tomb of Gustavus Vasa—Of John
III.—Of Catharine Jaghellon—Of the Three Stures—Curiosities in the Sacristy—Mr.
Tomer—University—List of Professors and other Teachers—Progress of the Swedes
in Botany, Mineralogy, and Chemistry.
T H E subjects treated o f in the last two chapters constitute a kind of
digression from the main object of this work. But they comprehend
a series of events so recent, so important, and so inaccurately understood
in Great Britain, that I conceived it would have been improper
in me to omit them. I now return to the journal o f my travels.
On Wednesday, the gth o f September, we left Stockholm about five
in the evening, and travelled till we reached Upsala, which is seven Swedish
miles, or 464. English miles, north from Stockholm. We had
hired a Swedish servant, who had gone to England with the British
ambassador, and spoke our language tolerably well. We paid him at
the rate o f six shillings sterling a day, besides victuals. He had been
hired upon the recommendation o f a German boy, without any particular
inquiry, and turned out rather stupid, and so timid that he was
quite unfit for travelling among mines, at all which he entertained the
greatest aversion. I visited Upsala no less than three times, and travelled
between that city and Stockholm both during the day and during
the night. But I shall throw all my observations together in
this place, both for the sake of brevity and distinctness.
The province o f Upland in which Upsala lies, extends from the lake
Malar, on the South to the mouth o f the river Dal on the North, and
consists of all the country contained between the sea on the east side,
and an imaginary line situated about six English miles west o f Upsala,
and drawn from the lake Malar to the river Dal. The country is, in
general very flat, with round backed knolls or hills of small height
rising here and there. These are more numerous on the northern and
eastern sides of the province : like all the other provinces of Sweden it
abounds in lakes, and is much covered with pine forests. The soil
Seems in general good, and as far as I observed it, consisted of clay.
Marl, I was told, is frequently found at a depth of two or three feet.
The country round Upsala is well cultivated, and must produce a considerable
quantity of corn.
The rocks aie all primitive ; but exhibit a greater variety than most
of the other Swedish provinces. In the neighbourhood of Stockholm
they consist of gneiss, in some places very deficient in felspar, in others
containing abundance o f hornblende, and putting on the aspect o f
sienite ; and in some few spots I observed a slight approximation to
mica slate. The opinion I formed of these rocks from the most careful
survey I could make was that they were gneiss, with occasional beds
of quarts, hornblende and felspar interspersed. I thought I perceived
likewise one bed o f primitive greenstone in the southern suburbs o f
Stockholm ; but was prevented by the buildings, which covered it on
all sides, from making any accurate investigation. These gneiss rocks
owing chiefly to deficiency of felspar, have not that red appearance
which distinguish them in other parts of Sweden. The Swedes call
such gneiss rocks grccy granite, while to the gneiss that abounds in
felspar they give the name of red granite. Under these names they
Will be found described in all Swedish books, even the latest that
have been published.
In the northern part o f the province, as for example, in the
neighbourhood of Dannetnora, red coloured gneiss, or gneiss contain