“Gottenburg,” replied a hundred of the students.
“That is plain English. What do the Swedes call it?”
“G-ö-t-e-b-o-r-g,” answered Captain Lincoln, spelling the word.
“Perhaps I had better call on Professor Badois to pronounce it for you.”
“Yāt-a-borg,” said the instructor in languages, repeating the pronunciation several times, which, however, cannot be very accurately expressed with English characters. “And the river here is Ya-tah.”
“The French call the city Gothembourg. It is five miles from the sea, and is connected with Stockholm by the Göta Canal, which is a wonderful piece of engineering. Steamboats ply regularly between Gottenburg and the capital through this canal, the voyage occupying three or four days.”
“I intend to make a trip up this canal as far as the Wenern Lake, with the students,” said Mr. Lowington.
A cheer greeted this announcement, and then the professor described the canal minutely.
“The principal street of Gottenburg,” he continued, “is on the canal, extending through the centre of the city. There are no remarkable buildings, however, for the city is a commercial place. It was founded by Gustavus Adolphus, and, like many other cities of the north, being built of wood, it has several times been nearly destroyed by fire. The buildings now are mostly of stone, or of brick covered with plaster. The environs of the city, as you may see from the ship, are very pleasant. Now a word about the money of Sweden. The government has adopted a decimal system, of which the unit is the riksdaler, containing one hundred öre. The currency in circulation is almost entirely paper, though no bills smaller than one riksdaler are issued. The silver coins in use are the half and the quarter riksdaler, and the ten-öre piece; the latter being a very small coin. On the coppers, the value in öre is marked. A riksdaler is worth about twenty-seven cents of our money. Sweden is a cheap country.”
The signal was made for embarking in the boats, and in a few moments the Gottenburgers, as well as the people on board of the foreign vessels in the harbor, were astonished by the evolutions of the squadron. The students landed, and dividing into parties, explored the city. Their first care was to examine the canal, and the various craft that floated upon it; but the latter, consisting mainly of schooners, were not different from those they saw at home. They visited the exchange, the cathedral, the residence of the governor of the province, and other principal edifices.