ACROSS SWEDEN BY WATER
An interesting and comfortable way of reaching Stockholm from
Gothenburg is by canal. Between these two cities are many lakes,
including Vener, Vetter, Hjelmär, and Malar. These are so linked
together by canals, that they form a waterway across Sweden through
which fairly large passenger and cargo-boats can go from the North Sea
to the Baltic.
Travelling by canal-boat is, as a rule, tedious. It is interesting in
this case. The steamer passes through a country which has many towns,
churches, and castles that make you think of long, long ago, and also
many factories and workshops that speak of the present. You rarely
lose sight of vast expanses of water and great stretches of forest. In
the distance you can see a whitewashed parish church glistening in the
sun, here and there farmhouses and woodmen’s huts nestling among the
trees, and sometimes the castle where the nobleman of the district
lives. How comfortable is the steamer, ever fresh-looking with its
white paint, with its nice dining-room, clean and tidy cabins, food
beautifully cooked, and well served by smart waitresses. Both mind and
body have enough to make the time pass pleasantly.
To avoid the monotony of the first part of the journey, many join the
steamer at Gothenburg about midnight, and arrive at Trollhättan early
in the morning. After morning coffee with _kringlor_ (ring-twisted)
biscuits, you leave the steamer while it passes through the locks,
eleven in number, and walk along the shaded paths until you come to
the falls. They consist of a series of six rapids, and are noted not
on account of their heights, but because of the volume of water. They
are playing a large part in the industrial life of the country, and
are destined to do much more.
In a very short distance the steamer has ascended 144 feet, and once
more enters the Göta River, along which it travels until it enters
Lake Vener, the largest lake in Scandinavia. It is very picturesque
and beautiful, with many houses and villages on its banks. More than
thirty rivers run into it. You very often meet steamers and
sailing-vessels, and for their safety a great many lighthouses have
been erected. It is not till you have passed through this lake that
you enter the Göta Canal.
The canal owes its origin to a desire in the sixteenth century to
connect Lake Vener with the Baltic. It was not until 1808 that Baltzar
von Platen, with the assistance of the English engineer Telford,
staked out the course, and the work was completed in 1820 at a cost of
about £1,000,000. Very many soldiers were engaged on it. The whole
distance is about 125 miles, which is a long distance to travel by
canal steamer, especially as passing through locks is slow, but the
beauty and variety of the scenery, as well as the sights, ancient and
modern, always keep up the interest.
After entering the canal at Sjötorp, the steamer proceeds very slowly,
always ascending, until it reaches Lake Vetter, 308 feet above the
Baltic. Next morning, when you come on deck, you find that you have
entered the lake itself. Away to the south is Sweden’s greatest
fortress. You can see it in the distance with the tower surmounted by
the national flag. Lake Vetter is clear and blue and is beautiful to
look upon, but every mariner dreads it, as, without any warning,
violent storms arise. Sailing across in a south-easterly direction,
you come to a famous old town--Vadstena. How times have changed!
Before you rise the massive castle with its towers and spire. It was
built by Gustavus Vasa, who when fifty-eight years of age brought
here his third wife, Katarina Stenboch, who was only sixteen and a
very unwilling bride. The lake comes up to the walls and fills the
moat, which is used as a harbour.
There are here remains of two churches, which owed their origin, as
the town did, to a convent founded by S. Brigitta in the sixteenth
century. She was a splendid woman, and drew to her side ladies of
noble birth from many countries. Life was very strict in the convent,
no one could possess any wealth, no intercourse was allowed with old
friends except on rare occasions. Every nun was driven out at the
Reformation, and not much is left to tell of their having lived there,
but in the town many women make beautiful lace of the old patterns the
nuns used to work. Often on board the steamer a woman brings a
basketful to sell. The steamer re-enters the canal at Motala, where
there are very large engineering works, at which all the science of
modern times is employed in turning out all sorts of engines and
mechanical appliances.
When the steamer is entering Lake Roxen, we are again carried back to
the old days. Here is Vreta Closter, where of old kings were buried,
and here, too, can be seen several coffins in one of the chapels.
These contain the remains of members of the Douglas family, who fought
under Gustavus Adolphus. Their descendants have a high place among
Swedish nobility at the present day.
[Illustration: SUMMER EVENING ON THE WEST COAST OF SWEDEN.
_Oscar Hullgren._]
Lake Roxen is a beautiful sheet of clear crystal water, with steep,
rocky, and wooded shores on the one side, and fertile plains on the
other. There are many old ruins that command our attention.
On the last morning of our trip, we wake up to find ourselves among
those pretty islands that dot the Baltic Sea off the Swedish coast. We
have, however, to pass through the Sodertelie Canal, which is entered
at a village of that name. Of this you can make no mistake, for on
board come women and children with baskets full of ring-twisted
biscuits, which are known all over the world. At last we enter Lake
Malar, surely one of the most beautiful of lakes, and with a warm sun
and blue sky overhead, no one can but feel at peace and full of
happiness. Soon the spires of Stockholm are visible, and the canal
voyage is over when we moor at the Riddarholm quay.