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The churches are well worth visiting, and the ruins of the fortifications erected in 1567, to resist the Danes, are among the finest in Sweden. From Motala, after another narrow stretch of canal, we soon reached the Wettern Lake, the next largest to the Wenern, and the waters of which are three hundred and four feet above the level of the sea.
Daniel Thunberg contributed materially to the opening of the route between Wenern and the Baltic; and Colonel N. Eriksson, the celebrated engineer whose reputation stands so high in the United States, had the direction of the work for many years.
South of Stockholm, between the lakes of Wettern and Wenern, and along the banks of the Gota River, farming is carried to considerable perfection; but with this exception, and some small and sheltered valleys to the north, in which the peasants manage with great care and labor to raise a sufficient supply of grain and potatoes for domestic consumption, but little is produced for exportation.
To this, however, Jenny Lind is an exception. But, as usual, I find myself steering out of the channel. We were now in the great Wenern Lake, a vast sheet of water fifty miles broad by one hundred in length. The elevation of this lake is 147 feet above the sea level. Its shores are densely wooded, and it abounds in islands, many of which are inhabited and cultivated.
The country is undulating, but not sufficiently diversified for fine scenic effects. Farms and meadows extend nearly all the way to the shores of the Wenern; and the canal passes at frequent intervals through farming districts, which, in point of cultivation, are quite equal to any thing I had seen in more southern parts of Europe.
Several rivers of considerable size empty their waters into the Wenern, among which is the Klar, a large and rapid stream having its source in the mountains of Norway, at a distance of two hundred and fifty miles to the north. Fishing and lumbering are the principal occupations of the inhabitants living on the islands and shores.
Among the passengers I met many who spoke English and German, and few who did not speak at least one language in addition to their own. In midsummer the trip from Stockholm to Gottenburg usually takes three days, though it is sometimes accomplished in two. The distance is about three hundred and seventy miles by the shortest route, through the Wettern and Wenern lakes.
At the end of the Viken, which is some fifteen miles in length, the West Gotha Canal commences, and continues through a rich and beautiful farming country to the waters of the great Wenern Lake, some twenty miles distant. The passage through this portion of the route is less interesting than others through which we had passed so far, at least, as the scenery is concerned.
At Bergen it rains over two hundred days in the year, and the fjords are seldom frozen over. Passing along the eastern shore of the Wenern, we passed a series of rocky islands, well wooded till we reached the town of Wenersberg an important depot for the commerce and products of the lake.
The project of connecting the lakes of Wenern and Wettern, and forming a water communication all the way between Stockholm and Gottenburg, was entertained at a very early day by the different sovereigns and scientific men of Sweden.
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