Patience is also required here, though not so much as in Norway. I
had always to wait from fifteen to twenty minutes before the
carriage was brought and the horses and harness prepared, but never
longer; and I must admit that the Swedish post-masters hurried as
much as possible, and never demanded double fare, although they must
have known that I was in haste. The pace of the horse depends on
the will of the coachman and the powers of his steed; but in no
other country did I see such consideration paid to the strength of
the horses. It is quite ridiculous to see what small loads of corn,
bricks, or wood, are allotted to two horses, and how slowly and
sleepily they draw their burdens.
The number of wooden gates, which divide the roads into as many
parts as there are common grounds on it, are a terrible nuisance to
travellers. The coachman has often to dismount six or eight times
in an hour to open and close these gates. I was told that these
delectable gates even exist on the great high road, only not quite
in such profusion as on the by-roads.
Wood must be as abundant here as in Norway, for every thing is
enclosed; even fields which seem so barren as not to be worth the
labour or the wood.
The villages through which I passed were generally pretty and
cheerful, and I found the cottages, which I entered while the horses
were changed, neatly and comfortably furnished.
The peasants of this district wear a peculiar costume. The men, and
frequently also the boys, wear long dark-blue cloth surtouts, and
cloth caps on their heads; so that, at a distance, they look like
gentlemen in travelling dress. It seems curious to a foreigner to
see these apparent gentlemen following the plough or cutting grass.
At a nearer view, of course the aspect changes, and the rents and
dirt appear, or the leathern apron worn beneath the coat, like
carpenters in Austria, becomes visible. The female costume was
peculiar only in so far that it was poor and ragged. In dress and
shoes the Norwegian and Swedes are behind the Icelanders, but they
surpass them in the comfort of their dwellings.
September 14th.
To-day I returned to Stockholm on the Malarsee, and the weather
being more favourable than on my former passage, I could remain on
deck the whole time. I saw now that we sailed for several miles on
the river Fyris, which flows through woods and fields into the lake.
The large plain on which old and new Upsala lie was soon out of
sight, and after passing two bridges, we turned into the Malar. At
first there are no islands on its flat expanse, and its shores are
studded with low tree-covered hills; but we soon, however, arrived
at the region of islands, where the passage becomes more
interesting, and the beauty of the shores increases.
