SWEDISH TOWNS. 133 



Hveeii, visible to the south, is the celebrated site of his Uraniborg, afterwards 

 razed to the ground by a mistress of Christian IV. The meteorological observa- 

 tions of the illustrious astronomer have been compared with those recently made 

 at Copenhagen, and show that the general atmospheric conditions have undergone 

 no change for the last three hundred years. 



In this extreme south-west corner of Sweden the population is very dense, a 

 circumstance due partly to the fertility of the soil and relatively temperate climate, 

 but more especially to the development of trade. The coast towns shai'e in the 

 profits of the traffic in the Sound, and Landskrona and Malmo, whence Copenhagen 

 is visible, may be regarded as Swedish suburbs of the Danish capital, taking part 

 in its progress and general development. Landskrona is mainly a fortress, the 

 town proper being hemmed in between a vast citadel surrounded by moats and 

 Fort Grâen, a granite islet carved into geometrical figures by its basins and ditches. 

 Malmo, on the contrary, is a commercial town, whose approaches have lately been 

 nnich improved b}^ extensive works, including a port 20 feet deep, and land 

 reclaimed from the sea, already covered with docks, workshops, and building yards. 

 Malmo is now the third city in Sweden, and has far outstripped its former rival, 

 the university town of Lund, lying a little to the north-east, amidst the most fertile 

 districts of Scania. Before the Eeformation Lund was the primatial city of all 

 Scandinavia, and called itself the "metropolis" of Denmark. But deprived of its 

 privileges, and ruined by the wars, it sank rapidly to a place of no more than 

 1,000 inhabitants at the end of the last century. Thanks, however, to its university, 

 founded by Charles X. in 16G8, it has slowly revived, and now possesses some fine 

 buildings, parks, gardens, the archœological museum founded by Mlsson, and a 

 Byzantine cathedral dating from the eleventh century, one of the most remarkable 

 monuments in Sweden. The bronze statue of the poet Tegner adorns one of its 

 promenades. 



On the sandy promontory forming the south-west extremity of Scania stand 

 the towns of Ska nor and Fakferbo, jointly forming one municipality, formerly 

 flourishing, now much reduced, and continually encroached upon by the shifting 

 dunes. East of them are Trellehorg and Ydad, north of which lies Kristianstad 

 in a marshy plain, formerly a fiord, which has been drained, while the river Helge 

 has been deepened and rendered navigable for small steamers. Farther on are 

 the ports of Sôlvenhorg, KarhJiamn, and Eànnehi/, the last mentioned noted for its 

 rich copperas and alumina mineral waters. When KarJskrona was founded the 

 people of Eonneby were ordered to remove to the new town, concealed behind a 

 rampart of fortified islands, near the south-east headland of Scandinavia. Named 

 after Charles XL, Karlskrona is the chief Swedish naval station, with graving docks 

 excavated in the live rock, numerous detached forts commanding the approach 

 to the roadstead, and an arsenal supplied with excellent water by an aqueduct 

 5 miles long. 



Kalmar, like Karlskrona, capital of a lun, is a venerable place, which owes its 

 importance to its position on the strait separating Oland from the mainland. In 

 history its name is chiefly associated with the treaty of union concluded in 1397 



