THE PATERNOSTERS. 307 



'• Patei'nosters," a most craugei'oiis reef of rocks, several 

 hundreds in number, lying in the open sea, at less 

 than six (English) miles from Marstrand, which rocks, 

 according to Parson Odman, " are more perilous to sailors 

 than either Scylla or Charybdis." Before the erection of 

 the present lighthouse, indeed, they were an open grave 

 to mariners navigating this part of the Cattegat, and are 

 suj^posed to have swallowed up more people than all the 

 rest of the western coast of Sweden. In Catholic times, 

 therefore, no one passed these much-dreaded rocks without 

 saying his paternoster ; and hence the name by which 

 they are now designated. 



The town of Marstrand stands near the water's 

 edge, and is of ancient origin, having been built by the 

 famous Norwegian king Hakon Hakouson, in the early 

 part of the 13th century. Formerly it was a place of con- 

 siderable imjjortance, and carried on a large trade, espe- 

 cially in herrings, of which at one period it exported about 

 50,000 lasts, or 600,000 barrels, annually. But its com- 

 merce is now nearly gxine, and the inhabitants, reduced to 

 a few hundreds in number, exist chiefly, I believe, on the 

 money spent by bathers, who during the summer months 

 resort to the place in numbers. 



The church, also supposed to have been built in the 

 13th century, is of the Byzantine order, and was formerly 

 dedicated to the Virgin Mary ; and though sadly van- 

 dalized in modern times, is believed to be one of the best 

 specimens remaining in the province of the architecture 

 of the Middle Ages. Several fine monuments adorn the 

 sacred edifice, and amongst the epitaphs is the following 

 to the memory of the Governor, M. Wolberg von Tungel- 

 feltSj who died in 174-7 : — 



" Den dygden fort till iiran i '\>\>, 

 Hai" hvilai- nu siu trotta kropp. 



X 2 



