TOUR IN SKANE 257 



not quite so positively. The large size of the walnut 

 trees is an evidence of the general mildness of the 

 climate here. From Christianstad the burgomaster 



o 



Schulten acccompanied him to Ahus, the port of Chris- 

 tianstad. The Helgeasjo was then more of a lake than 

 it is now; the weeds in summer make its surface look 

 like a meadow. A good deal has been done towards 

 draining this lake, so as to reclaim thirty thousand acres 

 of land, and render the town less unhealthy. Linnaeus 

 says that lavender and rosemary thrive here as well as 

 even on the Spanish hills. He admires the church 

 of Christianstad, and no wonder: it is the finest 

 specimen of the Renaissance in Sweden. He describes 

 its chancel of black marble, with alabaster pictures 

 upon it. 



He made a detour by the lake, visiting R&belof, 

 BaldurbergshSla, whose name is a legend in itself, the 

 saltpetre works of Torsebro, the chalybeates of Aby 

 and back again by Torlof and Araslof to Asum, south 

 of Christianstad, where the Pastor Risberg had a plen- 

 teous and delightful fruit garden, with mulberries and 

 almond trees, which were not injured even by the hard 

 winter of 1740. Tobacco flourished finely here. 



o 



The tobacco raised round Ahus is highly prized by 

 the Swedes. Its good quality is attributed to the 

 manuring of the land with seaweed, and this culti- 

 vation has given high value to that otherwise poor 

 soil. 1 



1 Du Chaillu. 



VOL. II. S 



