EXCURSION TO SWEDEN. 69 



the lovers of flowers, not botanic gardens for the science 

 student. Their attractions are their brightness, their bands, 

 and their restaurants. 



As Gothenburg was to be revisited, the party did not pause 

 long in it, — Jonkoping had to be reached that night. An in- 

 teresting but poor country lies between the two towns. Much 

 of it is moor, bearing what may naturally come up upon it. 

 Small cultivated patches, worked by peasant proprietors, have 

 crops of rye, oats, potatoes, flax, and hemp. Turnips, Swedish 

 or other, are seldom seen in Sweden ; their place in the rota- 

 tion is generally taken by bare fallow. The most remarkable 

 charactei'istic of the country is the extraordinary number of 

 lakes. They seem to have been ground out by glacial action, 

 and, being recently formed, have not yet been silted up. 

 Inland waters are always beautiful ; in Sweden they are 

 also useful. Their abundance has suggested the formation 

 of vast water-ways for the transport of merchandise. Every- 

 where one finds these intersecting the land, and rendering its 

 resources available. Sometimes a river, as at Motala, has aided 

 the engineer, but, in the absence of a river, canals have been 

 formed. Carriage is so much less expensive over water than 

 over land, that this system has helped greatly in the dcA'elop- 

 ment of Sweden. Stretches of level land are seldom met with, 

 nor is there much of the other extreme. Gentle undulations, 

 low rounded hills sloping gradually down to meadow lands or 

 quiet waters — these are the abiding impressions of the scenery 

 of southern Sweden. It is a prospect tame, but not unpleasing. 



The people seem to have been moulded by their environ- 

 ment. They have neither the culd austeinty of the Scotch, nor 

 the lively passion begotten under southern skies. Simple, 

 equal-tempered, kindly, they show the truest courtesy to the 

 stranger, and command his respect. Theirs is a courtesy that 

 is not servile ; it sits becomingly upon the people, being at once 

 easy and dignified. 



Over the shoulder of Mount Taberg the moon had risen, and 

 was shining full across Lake Vettern, as the party reached its 

 destination. The arrival of the Scotsmen created a sensation 

 in Jonkoping, where, outside of the station, a crowd awaited 

 their arrival. It was difficult, however, to read in the impassive 

 countenances the kind of impression the " foreigners " made. 

 Jonkoping was quite approved of by the foresters. The hotel 



