ITER DALECARLWM 229 



They changed horses at the pretty hamlet of Gar- 

 berg, ' pleasant with red houses, verdant fields, and 

 groves, and a stream of clear water.' * The next hamlet 

 of importance is Elfdal, near which are now celebrated 

 porphyry works. 2 Faldstedt made a special report upon 

 them, while Hedenblad's attention was drawn to the 

 signs of Lapp ancestry among the people, who are short 

 and ugly, at only fifteen miles' distance from the 

 finely-peopled parishes of Orsa and Mora. The scenery 

 round Elfdal is very picturesque. The numerous falls 

 and cataracts formed by the Dal river add much to the 

 beauty of the landscape. Henceforward traces of human 

 industry become less frequent ; mountain, ravine, cata- 

 ract, and pine-forest follow each other in endless suc- 

 cession. The shooting in these forests is highly spoken 

 of bear and elk, capercailzie and hazel-hen, and most 

 kinds of game. Emporelius's gun was constantly at 

 work for specimens ; he fed the party well besides. 



O 



Ten miles farther up is Asen, with a chapel, where the 

 pastor received them for the night. 



They crossed the East Dal at a ferry near Asen, 

 keeping the river on the right hand, and after a long ride 

 they rested at a large hay-house. From Asen to Sarna 3 it 

 is six Swedish miles, with no hamlet or post-station be- 

 tween these places. This long march from Elfdalen to 



1 Du Chaillu highly praises this landscape. 



2 Linnaeus's monument in Upsala Cathedral is made of the red 

 porphyry of Elfdal. 



8 Spelt Serna in the MS. diary. The spelling of proper names 

 is unsettled throughout. 



