200 VISIT TO DENMARK AND SCANDINAVIA. [1799. 



deserted. A few houses engross all the trade, while 

 there is a multitude of small merchants and traders 

 almost starving. 



The principal merchants arc British, chiefly Scotch, 

 who unite the English style of living with the 

 Swedish way of drinking. The town is large and 

 chiefly of brick some pretty good buildings. It was 

 built by the Dutch, in the style of Rotterdam, with 

 canals and trees. The inhabitants are in great dis- 

 content with the present state of their trade, and 

 have lately shown marks of it. The use of French 

 brandy having been forbidden, the distilling of 

 Swedish spirits became extremely unpopular, particu- 

 larly at Gottenborg, from the quantity of grain con- 

 sumed in it. The mob rose and destroyed the works, 

 warehouses, &c. The governor employed conciliatory 

 measures, and the mob was appeased. The king 

 was furious, and severely reprimanded the governor 

 by letter for not having made the soldiers fire, for 

 which there was no pretext. The popularity of the 

 governor is excessive among all ranks. 



Dec. 19. We set out from Gottenborg at nine, 

 determining to make for Norway, in the almost cer- 

 tain expectation of finding a vessel there for some 

 port in Scotland. After driving up the valley, and 

 crossing the river by the drawbridge, we came 

 to a ferry under the Castle of Bohus, now in ruins, 

 but which must have been a place of no small strength. 



1 O 



Its ramparts are of stone, and very high. It is built 

 on a rock, and surrounded wholly by the river's 



