On its shores are situated the beautiful ladies'
pensionary, Wadstena, and the celebrated mountain Omberg, at whose
foot a battle was fought.
The next canal is short, and leads through a lovely wood into the
little lake of Norbysee. It is customary to walk this distance, and
inspect the simple monument of Count Platen, who made the plans for
the locks and canals, - a lasting, colossal undertaking. The
monument is surrounded by an iron railing, and consists of a slab
bearing an inscription, simply stating in Swedish his name, the date
of his death, &c. Nearly opposite the monument, on the other side
of the canal, is the town of Motala, distinguished principally for
its large iron factories, in which the spacious work-rooms are
especially remarkable.
Fifteen locks lead from the Norbysee into the Roxersee, which is a
descent of 116 feet. The canal winds gracefully through woods and
meadows, crossed by pretty roads, and studded with elegant little
houses and larger edifices. Distant church-steeples point out the
village of Norby, which sometimes peeps forth behind little forests,
and then vanishes again from the view of the traveller. When the
sun shines on the waters of this canal, it has a beautiful,
transparent, pea-green colour, like the purest chrysolite.
The view from the hill which rises immediately before the lake of
Roxen is exceedingly fine. It looks down upon an immense valley,
covered with the most beautiful woods and rocks, and upon the broad
lake, whose arm flows far in land. The evening sun shed its last
rays over a little town on the lake-shore, and its newly-painted
tiles shone brightly in its light beams.
While the ship descended through the many locks, we visited the
neighbouring church of the village of Vretakloster, which contains
the skeletons of several kings in beautifully-made metal coffins.
We then crossed the lake, which is from four to five miles broad,
and remained all night before the entrance of the canal leading into
a bay of the Baltic.
September 8th.
This canal is one of the longest; its environs are very pretty, and
the valley through which it runs is one of the largest we had
passed. The town of Soderkoping is situated at the foot of high,
picturesque groups of rocks, which extend to a considerable
distance.
Every valley and every spot of soil in Sweden are carefully
cultivated.
The people in general are well dressed, and inhabit small but very
pretty houses, whose windows are frequently decorated with clean
white draperies. I visited several of these houses, as we had
abundance of time for such excursions while the ship was going
through the locks. I think one might walk the whole distance from
Gottenburg to Stockholm in the same time that the ship takes for the
journey.
