90 SWEDEN. 



ribbons. The Swedes in general, wear short dresses, and of a blue 

 or black colour. Veils are much Used by the women of all classes ; 

 even the female peasants, while at work in the fields, cover their 

 heads with black crape. There is no country in the world where the 

 women do so much work as in Sweden; they manage the plough, 

 thrash out the grain, row on ihe water, serve the bricklayers, carry 

 burdens, and do all the common drudgeiies of husbandry. 



Cities, chief towns, edifices... .An unusually small proportion 

 of tne population of Sweden, or not more than a tenth part, is col- 

 lected in towns, the number of which is estimated at 104. Of these, 

 24 are staple-towns, where the merchants are allowed to import and 

 export commodities in their own ships. Those towns which have no 

 foreign commerce are called iand-towns ; and the third class are 

 termed mine-towns, as belong. ng to the mine districts. 



Stockholm is a staple-town, and the capital of the kingdom. It stands 

 upon seven small rocky islands, besides two peninsulas, and is built 

 upon piles. It strongly impresses a stranger with its singular and ro- 

 mantic scenery. A variety of contrasted and enchanting views are 

 formed by numberless rocks of granite, rising boldly from the sur- 

 face of the water, partly bare and craggy, partly dotted with houses, 

 or feathered with wood. The harbour, which is spacious and con- 

 venient, though difficult of access, is an inlet of the Baltic : the wa- 

 ter is clear as crystal, and of such a depth that ships of the largest 

 burden can approach the quay, which is of considerable breadth, and 

 lined with spacious buildings and warehouses. At the extremity of 

 the harbour several streets rise one above another, in the form of an 

 amphitheatre; and the palace, a magnificent building, crowns the 

 summit. Towards the sea, about two or three miles from the town, 

 the harbour is contracted into a narrow strait, and, winding among 

 high rocks, disappears from the sight ; the prospect is terminated 

 by distant hills, overspread with forests. It is far beyond the power 

 of words, or of the pencil, to delineate these singular views. The 

 central island, from which the city derives its name, and the Ritter- 

 holm, are the handsomest parts of the town. 



Excepting in the suburbs, where the houses are of wood, painted 

 red, the generality of the buildings are of stone, or brick stuccoed 

 white. The roval palace, which stands in the centre of Stockholm, 

 and upon the highest spot of ground, was begun by Charles XI. It 

 is a large quadrangular stone edifice, and the style of architecture is 

 both elegant and magnificent.* 



The number of housekeepers who pay taxes are 60,000. This city 

 is furnished with all the exterior marks of magnificence, and erections 

 for manufactures and commerce that are common to other great Eu- 

 ropean cities ; particularly a national bank, the capital of which is 

 450,000^ sterling. 



Upsal, or Upsala, formerly the metropolis of Sweden, and the royal 

 residence, is the chief town of the province of Upland, and is famous 

 for its university and its cathedral, the finest church in Sweden, built 

 in imitation of the church of Notre Dame at Paris. It is a small but 

 very neat town, divided into two almost equal parts by a small river 

 named Sala; and the streets are drawn at right angles from a central 

 kind of square. A few of the houses are built with brick, and stuccoed, 

 but the generality, as in most of the towns of Sweden, are of wood 

 painted red. It contains, exclusively of the students, only about 

 3000 inhabitants. 



* Coxe, vol. ii. p. 327, 328. 



