The Land of Thor

by J. Ross Browne

The next place of importance on our route was the pretty little town of Motala, at which we stopped for some hours to take in freight and passengers. The neighborhood is undulating and picturesque, and abounds in rich farms. Motala is an old-fashioned place, with paved streets and wooden houses, much like the suburbs of Stockholm. It is celebrated chiefly for its manufactures of iron. The founderies are numerous, and cutlery of a very good quality is manufactured here. Besides these, it possesses many other objects of interest. The churches are well worth visiting, and the ruins of the fortifications erected in 1567, to resist the Danes, are among the finest in Sweden. From Motala, after another narrow stretch of canal, we soon reached the Wettern Lake, the next largest to the Wenern, and the waters of which are three hundred and four feet above the level of the sea.

In my recollections of travel I can scarcely call to mind any experience more pleasant than I enjoyed during this part of the trip. The lake scenery of Sweden, although not very grand compared with that of the Norwegian fjords, is certainly unsurpassed in the softness and beauty of its coloring, the crystal clearness of the water, the luxuriance of the surrounding forests, the varied labyrinths of charming little islands through which the channel winds, and the delicate atmospheric tints cast on the distant shores. By this time, too, the passengers have become better acquainted. The wonderful sights that we have seen together; the perils and dangers through which we have passed; the breakfasts, dinners, and suppers that we have eaten at the same board; the amount of solid sleeping that we have done in the same little cabin; the promenades we have had up and down the decks, and the rambles we have enjoyed together, have bound us together as one family, and now we come out with our individual histories and experiences, our accomplishments and humors. We (the gentlemen) drink schnapps together, smoke cigars, talk all the languages under the sun, tell our best anecdotes, and sing glees under the awning. The ladies look more beautiful than ever, and although they are still a little shy of us, as ladies in Europe generally are of the male sex, they sometimes favor us with a smile or a pleasant word, and thus contribute to our happiness. I don’t know, for the life of me, what dire offense the man who founded European society was guilty of; but it is certain his successors, from Algeria to the North Pole, are sadly mistrusted by the unmarried ladies. This, I regret to say, is the case in Sweden, as well as in Germany and France. A gentleman is generally regarded as a ferocious cannibal, ready without the slightest provocation to devour and swallow up defenseless maidens. The married ladies are free and easy enough, having discovered probably that men are not half so dangerous as they are reported to be. But, all things considered, the Swedish ladies are exceedingly polite and affable, and on occasions of this kind seem well disposed toward our rapacious sex.

The next important point in our route was the fortress of Wanas, which commands the channel entering the lake on the eastern side. This is considered a work of great importance in view of invasion by any foreign power. We did not stop long enough to examine it in detail, merely touching to put the mail ashore and take in a few passengers. Leaving the Wettern Lake, our route lay through a series of smaller lakes, beautifully diversified with wood-covered islands, till we entered the Viken, another magnificent stretch of water of less extent than the Wettern, but still more beautiful than any we had yet seen. Here the rocks and islands are innumerable, rising from the water in every direction; the smaller ones covered with moss, lichens, shrubbery, and flowers; and the larger darkened with a dense growth of fir, pine, and other evergreens, while the oak, elm, and ash occasionally enliven the masses of shade with their more lively foliage.

At the end of the Viken, which is some fifteen miles in length, the West Gotha Canal commences, and continues through a rich and beautiful farming country to the waters of the great Wenern Lake, some twenty miles distant. The passage through this portion of the route is less interesting than others through which we had passed—so far, at least, as the scenery is concerned. The country is undulating, but not sufficiently diversified for fine scenic effects. Farms and meadows extend nearly all the way to the shores of the Wenern; and the canal passes at frequent intervals through farming districts, which, in point of cultivation, are quite equal to any thing I had seen in more southern parts of Europe. The peasants’ houses along the route are neat and comfortable, and reminded me occasionally of our New England farm-houses. Villages enliven the route at intervals of a few miles, but generally they are of inconsiderable size, and may properly be regarded as mere gatherings of farm-houses around the nucleus of a church or post station. In this respect, I was struck with the difference between Sweden and Germany. The German peasantry, as a general thing, live in villages, and carry on their farming outside, sometimes at a distance of several miles. In the Thuringenwald, the Schwartzwald, the Spessart, and some other mountainous districts, it is true, exceptions may be found to this rule; but throughout the best cultivated districts of Germany there are but comparatively few farm-houses in which isolated families live. Hence villages, and, in many cases, large towns, form the head-quarters of each agricultural parish. The pedestrian, in traveling through Germany, is scarcely ever more than a “halp-stund” from one town or village to another. I think the longest stretch I ever made between two villages was two hours, or six and a half miles. In Sweden (and the same may be said of Norway) the farming districts have more of an American aspect. The houses are scattered about on the different farms, and the peasants do not seem to be so gregarious in their habits as those of Germany. This arises in part from the fact that the population is not so dense in Sweden as in the more central parts of Europe, and in part from the greater abundance of wood and pasture, and the predominance of the lumbering, mining, and stock-raising interests. Many of the farmers are also lumbermen and miners, and nearly all have a good supply of blood cattle. The extent of arable land in Sweden is comparatively small. It presents few attractions as an agricultural country. Its chief wealth consists in its vast forests and mines. The climate is too severe and the production of cereal crops too uncertain to render farming on a large scale a profitable pursuit. This is especially the case in the northern parts. South of Stockholm, between the lakes of Wettern and Wenern, and along the banks of the Gota River, farming is carried to considerable perfection; but with this exception, and some small and sheltered valleys to the north, in which the peasants manage with great care and labor to raise a sufficient supply of grain and potatoes for domestic consumption, but little is produced for exportation. The land generally throughout Sweden is barren and rocky, and it is only by great labor and constant manuring that fair crops can be produced. In the populous districts, where the soil possesses some natural advantages, the farms are mostly small, averaging from ten to seventy-five acres. A tract of forest is usually attached to these farming-lands, from which the peasants derive their supplies of lumber and fuel. Saw-mills are numerous on all the rivers, and a large trade in lumber is carried on in the lake regions. The main lumber region lies north of Stockholm, on the various small rivers emptying into the Gulf of Bothnia. Sundswall, Umea, Lulea, and Haparanda are the principal places of exportation on the eastern shore, and Gottenburg on the west. The fisheries are also an important branch of industry, and large quantities of stromung and herrings are exported. Salmon abound in the rivers, and the lakes and mountain streams furnish a very fine quality of trout. Game is more abundant in the densely wooded regions of Sweden than in Norway, being less accessible to English sportsmen. Of late years Norway has become the favorite hunting and fishing ground of the English, and every summer they swarm all over the country with their guns and fishing-rods. In Sweden, however, comparatively few have yet made their appearance. Bear, elk, red deer, ptarmigan, and wild-fowl abound in the forests and along the shores of the lakes. The Swedes themselves are not so much given to this kind of recreation as the English. Their chief amusements consist in Sunday afternoon recreations, such as theatrical representations, dancing, singing, drinking, and carousing. In their religious observances they are very strict, but after church they consider themselves privileged to enjoy a little dissipation in the Continental style. It too often happens that their frolics are carried to an excess. More brandy and other strong liquors are consumed in Sweden, according to the population, than in New Orleans or San Francisco, which is saying a good deal for the civilization of the people. Another good sign is that they chew tobacco. The better classes usually smoke this delightful weed, but the peasants both smoke it and chew it, showing conclusively that they are advancing rapidly toward emancipation from the narrow prejudices of European society. I saw drunken men and tobacco-chewers in Sweden who would have done credit to any little mining district in California. The habit of drinking is almost universal. The peasants drink to get drunk, the better classes drink for excitement, and all drink because they like it. At the principal restaurants in Stockholm and Gottenburg there is usually an anteroom opening into the main saloon. Here every gentleman who enters deposits his hat and cane. In the centre of the room stands a small table, upon which are several decanters containing “schnapps,” a pile of brown bread sliced, various plates of biscuit and thin flour-cake, butter, and pickled fish. Around this the customers gather to acquire an appetite, which they accomplish by drinking one or two glasses of schnapps, eating a few small fish (stromung) spread upon their bread and butter, and then drinking some schnapps. They then go in to dinner, and call for what they want, including the various wines necessary for the process of digestion. Having eaten heartily and emptied a few bottles of wine, they wind up with coffee and cognac or maraschino. One would think such a process every day would burn the lining off the best stomach in the world; but the Swedes, like the Russians, have gutta-percha stomachs. The same system, it is true, prevails in San Francisco, only in a different form, and the same consequences generally ensue. People are very apt to get up from the table with a rush of blood to the head, a general obliquity of vision, and a peculiar weakness in the knees. I tried it myself by way of experiment, and was sick of a headache for three days after. Somehow I can travel a long distance on foot without getting tired, but my stomach is not lined with sheet iron. I have seen women and children drink at a single sitting enough of intoxicating beverages, since my arrival in Europe, to have capsized me for a month. This, I think, will account for the prevalence of bloated bodies and red noses in these highly civilized countries.

I had read somewhere, before visiting Sweden, that the Swedes are not very sociable toward strangers. Perhaps in this respect they do not produce so favorable an impression as the Germans, but my experience has been such as to give me a very pleasant idea of their social qualities. It is true they are not so demonstrative in their manners as the French, or so enthusiastic as the Germans; but I found no difficulty in becoming acquainted with them, and was invariably treated with kindness and hospitality. When a Swede manifests an interest in your behalf, it is pretty certain that he feels it. If you become acquainted with one respectable family, you have a general entree into the entire social circle. No pains are spared to render your visit agreeable; and although the demonstrations of kindness are never intrusive, you feel that they are cordial and sincere. There may be among the more polished classes a certain degree of formality which to a stranger bears the appearance of reserve; but this quickly passes away, and the pleasure is all the greater in finding that there is really very little reserve about them. With all their adhesion to forms and ceremonies, they are simple and unaffected in their manners, and have a natural repugnance to whatever is meretricious. In a word, the Swedes are an honest, straightforward, sterling people, resembling more, in certain points of character, the English than any of their Continental neighbors, though I must do them the justice to say that they rarely have so unpleasant a way of manifesting their best traits. I can readily believe that the longer they are known the better they may be liked. It is true I saw nothing of Swedish society beyond what a casual tourist can see in passing rapidly through the country, yet that little impressed me very favorably, and disposes me to rely with confidence upon what I gathered from others who have enjoyed a more extended experience.

The home sketches of Fredrika Bremer give a more thorough insight of Swedish life and manners than perhaps those of any other writer. Of late years, however, Miss Bremer does not appear to have maintained her early popularity. She is said to have written some things which have given offense and provoked severe criticism, and I was surprised to hear her productions mentioned by several of her countrymen in somewhat disparaging terms. This was a source of disappointment to me, for I had supposed she was the most popular writer in Sweden; and I could not easily forget the pleasure I had derived from the perusal of “The H—— Family,” “Nina,” “The Professor,” and other of her charming delineations of domestic life. As no man is a prophet in his own valley, I suppose the same may be said of women. To this, however, Jenny Lind is an exception.

But, as usual, I find myself steering out of the channel. We were now in the great Wenern Lake, a vast sheet of water fifty miles broad by one hundred in length. The elevation of this lake is 147 feet above the sea level. Its shores are densely wooded, and it abounds in islands, many of which are inhabited and cultivated. Several rivers of considerable size empty their waters into the Wenern, among which is the Klar, a large and rapid stream having its source in the mountains of Norway, at a distance of two hundred and fifty miles to the north. Fishing and lumbering are the principal occupations of the inhabitants living on the islands and shores. All these interior waters are frozen over in winter, and communication is carried on by means of sledges. The winters are very severe; and it is said that great numbers of wolves, driven from their usual haunts by starvation, prowl along the public highways during the winter months in search of prey. Traveling parties are sometimes attacked, and it is considered dangerous for children to go from one farm-house to another. The government, however, by a system of rewards for the destruction of these vicious animals, has succeeded of late years in greatly reducing their numbers.

In speaking of the severity of Swedish winters, it may be well to state that the cold is uniform, and consequently more easily endured than if the temperature were subject to sudden variations. There is, of course, considerable difference between the northern and southern parts of the country; but, taking the average or central parts, the winters may be considered as lasting about five months. During that period the snow covers the earth, and the lakes and rivers are frozen. At Stockholm the thermometer averages in summer about 70 degrees above, and in winter 29 degrees below zero, of Fahrenheit. At Gottenburg the summers are not quite so warm and the winters not so cold. The temperature of the Norwegian coast facing the Atlantic is less rigorous than that of the Swedish coast on the Baltic, arising from the influence of the Gulf Stream, and partly from the proximity of the open sea. Even at Wammerfest, which lies within the arctic circle, the winters are comparatively mild. At Bergen it rains over two hundred days in the year, and the fjords are seldom frozen over.

Passing along the eastern shore of the Wenern, we passed a series of rocky islands, well wooded till we reached the town of Wenersberg—an important dépôt for the commerce and products of the lake. At this place a brisk trade in iron and lumber is carried on during the summer months, and the wharves present quite a lively appearance, with their shipping, and piles of lumber and merchandise. The population of Wenersberg is about 2500; the houses are neat, and the general appearance of the town is thrifty. We stopped long enough to enjoy a ramble through the streets, and take a look at the inhabitants, after which our little steamer proceeded on her way through the Wassbottom Lake. At the end of this we entered the Carls Graf, or that portion of the canal built by Charles IX., to avoid the upper falls of the Gota River. The canal is here cut through solid masses of rock, and must have been a work of great difficulty and expense.

Late in the evening we arrived at the Falls of Trolhætta.