IN BEAUTIFUL DELECARLIA 



477 



others must every now and then give 

 the horses some exercise to keep them 

 from freezing. 



The logs are drawn on sleds to the 

 banks of the streams, there to rest until 

 spring comes, when they are floated 

 down by the rushing waters coming from 

 the melting snows. This is the most 

 dangerous part of the work. At all 

 points where the logs might become 

 wedged in between opposite banks, or 

 where a sharp turn in the stream would 

 cause the logs to be thrown upon the 

 shore, there men must be stationed who 

 with long poles try to keep the logs in 

 the channel, and that, too, without delay, 

 for hundreds and thousands are hurry- 

 ing down, and if two or three should be- 

 come fastened there would be a jam 

 which might require weeks of work to 

 loosen. In this labor men are frequently 

 knocked into the current and drowned 

 before the eyes of their comrades. 



Equally laborious, though less ex- 

 posed, is the work in the porphyry beds 

 at Elfdahl, where a large number of men 

 find employment during the winter 

 months. This industry, first developed 

 to afford relief from a famine that 

 threatened Orsa in 1788, has been a con- 

 tinual source of profit to its promoters. 

 One of the finest objects ever cut here 

 is the gigantic vase made from a single 

 piece of stone and measuring 9 feet in 

 height and 12 feet in diameter that now 



stands in the deer park at Stockholm. 



It was in one sense a votive offering 

 made by the people to their king, Charles 

 XIV, who as owner of the quarries did 

 so much towards their development, 

 chiefly as affording work for the men 

 of this section, and now his remains 

 rest in a sarcophagus of porphyry from 

 these self-same quarries. 



Near Falun, the great mining district 

 of Dalarne, lies Lake Runn, on whose 

 bank rests the famous Ornasstugan, or 

 cottage of Ornas. It is not only a splen- 

 did example of the architecture of two 

 centuries ago, but it is one of the cher- 

 ished monuments to the wonderful es- 

 capes of Gustave Wasa. The building 

 belongs to the state, and in the room 

 which was occupied by the great liber- 

 ator during his short stay here, we find 

 an interesting museum. 



If you wander for days throughout 

 this land the eyes will ever see some- 

 thing new, and the ears he daily glad- 

 dened by the recital of the legends of 

 long ago or the quaint myths of today. 

 Monuments on every hand tell of the 

 loyalty of the early heroes, and strong 

 arms and earnest faces plainly show that 

 their beloved king would not be obliged 

 to call long nor loud for loyal defenders. 



There forests rule in gloomy grandeur, 

 There rivers break 'gainst rock and shore : 



A glorious land ! Yes, honest Daleman, 

 Which none can see to see no more. 



MAKING FLAX 



