130 SCANDINAVIA. 



Spitzbergen and the arctic waters. They are the most advanced European out- 

 posts towards the pole ; yet nature, though severe, has its charms in these high 

 Latitudes, and during the long winter night is relieved by the fitful play of the 

 northern lights. These remote towns are even cheerful, feasts, dancing, theatricals, 

 succeeding each other without intermission. Strangers are warmly welcomed and 

 hospitably entertained. Like the wealthy merchants of Genoa and Marseilles, 

 those of Tromso have also their country retreats scattered over the neighbouring 

 terraces and hills, and nestling in forests of birch, Hamraerfest marks the 

 northern extremity of the arc of the meridian, stretching across 26° of latitude 

 through Scandinavia, Finland, the Baltic Provinces, Poland, and Austria- 

 Hungary to the Danube. A column of Finnish granite commemorates the happy 

 completion of this grand work of triangulation, carried out under the direction of 

 Struve. 



Swedish Towns. 



Therk was more space available in Sweden than in Norway for the foundation 

 of towns, which were not here compelled to crowd under the hills or encroach 

 on the beach. The plains of the interior lay open to them, and many have 

 risen far from the Baltic and Kattegat on the shores of the large lakes, or else 

 at the crossing of the great highways in the open country. North of the Dal 

 basin, however, the scanty populations were obliged to group round the river 

 mouths, the only places giving easy access to the outer world. Nearly all 

 the Swedish towns, having plenty of room for expansion, occupy areas equal" 

 to those of the great cities in France or Italy. Tiieir streets would elsewhere 

 be regarded as avenues or public squares ; the houses, standing apart, at least 

 in the suburbs, are low, spacious, generally very clean, painted in yellow, green, 

 or more frequently a dull red, and fitted with outside steps to facilitate escape in 

 case of fire. 



The chief town on the Kattegat const is G'otcborg, situated on one of the 

 mouths of the Gota, which here bifurcate, not round an alluvial delta, but in the 

 midst of a rocky district. The second largest city in Sweden, its prosperity is due 

 to its favourable position on the banks of a river, now navigable beyond the rapids 

 all the way to Lake Wener. There are several other good harbours on this coast, 

 but Goteborg is especially distinguished as the intermediate station between the 

 entrance to the Baltic and the Gulf of Christiania. It also faces the Skaw, or 

 northern extremity of Denmark, so that goods coming from Stockholm and the 

 rest of Sweden may here be conveniently shipped, either westwards by the Skager 

 Rak, or southwards by the Kattegat. Frequently rebuilt after destructive fires, 

 Goteborg is now an imposing city, with stone houses and well-kept streets, inter- 

 sected by canals crossed by swing-bridges, and surrounded by a wide belt of public 

 promenades, occupying the site of the former ramparts. Abridge connects it with 

 the low island of Hisingen, and the quays and river, nearly always free from ice, 

 are very animated, for, though inferior to the capital in population, Goteborg 

 exceeds it in its foreign trade and industries. Water and steam power are largely 



