the Dalman gravely. and the golden harvest-fields, as we passed, educated, but so multifariously dissipated men of the world, appears incomprehensible, is grasped by their simple and profoundly penetrating minds with equal ease and clearness. To their pastors they are devoted with childlike affection, when they do not prove themselves unworthy of such attachment; and they are proud of their churches, and contribute freely to their embellishment. You expend a great deal upon your churches; I wonder that you find means to do it,' said a traveler to a Dalman as he contemplated the church of Mora and its new glittering copper roof. We expend all the less on our own houses,' replied picturesque line of stacks, with here a peasant's cart gathering the sheaves, and there a group of peasants in their striking costumes; the women in their quaint red and white head-dresses giving just the relief to the picture which an artist would desire. Add to the above scene a picturesque little church situated upon a bold promontory jutting out into the lake, the whole landscape lighted up by one of those peculiarly strong effects of sunset produced by a mass of clouds hanging just above the sun, not obscuring its rays, but rather concentrating them, while every object upon the mountain height, every tree top, the church tower, and every sheaf of grain seems gilded with the glow, and you will have completed a picture combining some of the finest points of interior Swedish scenery. It was such a scene as I have here endeavored faintly to describe, which held me spell-bound for a time near the little church of Gagnef. "As the Dal Elf runs through Dalarne, a great and bright thought through a solemn and troublous life, so runs the life-pulse of religion through the laborious existence of the Dal people, and centuries have passed over them without leaving any rust. They are still in their manners, in appearance, in costume, what they were in the days of Engelbrecht and Wasa. Labor and prayer have preserved their health and youthful vigor. Lowly are the dwellings of the people. They stoop their necks at the doors of their huts, but never have they bowed them to the yoke of the oppressor." KOMTILLMOTTA STATION. THIS is a small inn and station-house, situated upon a triangular piece of ground, the road passing on three sides of it. As we arrived, the moon was just coming up, and appeared in her full like an immense ball of fire as her dazzling rays broke through the fringed outline of the hills, which formed the line of the horizon. From the wooded hill-sides fires were blazing here and there, looking like stars in the distance. Now only one was visible, then three or four, stretching along the hill-side for the distance of some miles. I had observed these some time before arriving at the station-house, and was quite perplexed in determining their object. The post-boy could give me no information. At first I took them for signal fires, when I could only discern two, but as they seemed to multiply and sparkle in every direction I was still more at a loss. But the mystery is solved; they are not signal fires, nor do they indicate any revolutionary movement among the Dalesmen, as they might have done had they been seen in the reign of the Northern Nero; but simply that the peasants are clearing off the wood from the whole of this side of the mountain at the same time, and these fires indicate the places where they are at work. A charming country is that between Leksand and this station; wood, hill, lake, Those who can only find enjoyment in scenery of the most stern and gigantic character, that which seems to overpower the soul, and crush one as it were under its mighty weight; where frowning heights and yawning chasms, with roaring torrents, make up the sum of nature about them, would find little in Swedish scenery to excite their admiration. In Dalecarlia dame Nature" seems a face of smilingness to assume," and her frowns are not sufficiently rigid or prolonged upon her brow to hide the dimples in her cheeks. Surely these little gems of lakes scattered here and there, usually at a considerable depth below the mean surface of the country, these tiny indentations filled with water pure and clear as crystal, I may not inappropriately term dame Nature's dimples. Speaking of Northern scenery, I shall never lose the impression left upon my mind of a tour to the extreme north of the Scandinavian peninsula, passing some hundred miles along the Arctic coast, and then to the interior of Lapland. In the southern and central portions of Norway there is sufficient of the commingling of the smiles of nature with her frowns to relieve the mind somewhat from the crushing weight which one experiences in the more Arctic regions. There all is savage, bare, and desolate; for hundreds of miles you pass at times without the scene being relieved by the least cultivation. Here you lose sight even of those dark and gloomy forests which it now seems would afford great relief to the mind. Continuous mountain rocks, with an occasional dwarf tree, or rather straggling shrub, and mountain tops glistening with snows which have been the accumulation of years, present an ensemble the effect of which is extremely depressing. GAGNEBRO STATION. THE road from Komtillmotta to this station does not present as much variety in scenery as the previous stage. But this charming spot abundantly makes up in beauty for what a portion of the road has fallen short. A little distance from this place the road strikes the Dal Elf, which wends its course through scenery of uncommon beauty. Our host seemed quite delighted on our arrival to learn that I was an American. He was a gentlemanly person, who had been unfortunate in bus iness. From the previous station we had received an account, by no means favorable, of this establishment. My companion, priding himself on understanding Swedish character particularly well, quite astonished me with the string of titles which he used in addressing the landlord. No people, by the way, are more fond of titles than the Swedes. The ci-devant merchant was, therefore, addressed by my companion as Herr Landed proprietor, merchant, and magistrate, all of which, if not actually demanded by him, did not seem to come amiss. Our host informed me that he had a brother settled in the United States, who had passed through various vicissitudes of fortune, now roughing it in the extreme West, and then joining the American forces in Mexico. At last fortune seems to have smiled upon him, and he is now settled in one of the Eastern cities in very prosperous circumstances. This is the first person of whom I have heard in this vicinity who has emigrated to America. There is always a something in scenery of a sublime and beautiful character which fastens itself so upon the hearts of a people that they are far less likely to leave permanently their homes than others. The poorer peasantry of Dalecarlia, it is true, emigrate every spring to Stockholm, and some of them go as far as Germany, but the autumn blasts are quite sure to recall the wanderers to their dearly loved hills and dales. I have before mentioned the peasants of this province as the most honest, industrious, and trustworthy class of laborers who can be employed in Stockholm. TO FAHLUN. a very early hour, and continue until eight This Ar an early hour of the morning we left our kind host of Gagnebro. He declined receiving the least compensation, and assured me that he was but too happy of an opportunity of extending his hospitality to an American, as he felt so much indebted to my countrymen for the kindness his brother had received in the United States. Our walk toward Fahlun led us for a considerable distance near the river, affording many charming views. Here we fell in company with a peasant, who accompanied us for a while on our road. I soon found myself an object of intense curiosity to the rustic. Surely people living in such a remote place, with the little incident which breaks in upon the regular routine of life, are at liberty to be curious. And when they see a stranger, particularly one who speaks an unknown tongue, they may be excused for asking many questions which would certainly be out of place in a capital. Cultivation, and a knowledge of the world, to a great extent do away with the exhibition of this inquisitiveness. But among a people living secluded, it is but a simple and frank avowal of the thoughts which are stirring within; had they become more artificial, although the same curiosity might exist, it would not find utterance. There is in a rural district a something in this child-like and unsophisticated expression of one's thoughts, which is pleasing. "Where are you from?" says my fellowtraveler; this being the first compliment after the accustomed salutation of "goodday," and a touch of the hat, which court-oughly Swedish dinner without this sharpesy is never neglected by a Swedish peasant. My reply of "From America" to this query, seemed by no means to lessen his curiosity; and many were the inquiries which followed relative to my far-lowed to become sour and harden, when off home. When I informed him that laborers were paid in America four dollars rix geld (one American dollar) per day, he seemed perfectly astonished. He assured me that the most he could count upon here was one rix-dollar per day, and to secure that, he was obliged to commence work at After about an hour's walk we crossed the river by a ferry-boat to Bätsta. large farm establishment, of which I presented a view in the last NATIONAL, is most picturesquely situated. It was formerly occupied as a station-house. In the rear the grounds stretch away for a considerable distance, with a garden prettily laid out, and a gravel walk extending along the river, affording some charming points of view. I had been for a little time at a short distance from the house, sketching, when I received from the proprietor a very kind invitation to enter. The favorite beverage of the country, Swedish punch, was produced; after which I gladly accepted an invitation to dinner. The usual preparatory repast was soon after offered with the never-failing native whisky. It has never been my fortune to see a thor ener to the appetite being produced. Our first course consisted of fish, the neverfailing dish of the lake and river country. The next course was milk, which is al it is sweetened, and forms one of the dishes peculiarly in favor here, as well as in Norway. After this mutton was served, and some very excellent home-brewed beer. This course being finished, coffee was brought, and then another turn at Swedish punch. The son of my host is a student at the University of Upsala, and was then | landscape was shrouded by dark masses passing his vacation at home. As I have before remarked, the proportion of young men who enjoy the advantages of a University education here among the middle classes is very considerable. My stay in the dingy, smoking, and sulphureous atmosphere of Fahlun, on my return, was short. Tradition gives the mines at this place an antiquity quite remarkable, even tracing them to TubalCain himself, "an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron," as we read in the Book of Genesis. The Sagas, at all events, establish the fact of the remote antiquity of these mines; but that it extends to the time of TubalCain, is a point I shall scarcely attempt to establish. From Fahlun I proceeded to the house of the clergyman whose acquaintance I had been so fortunate as to make on board the little steamer upon Lake Silja; from thence to Westeras by the beautiful Dale of Sater. The Dale of Sater is quite celebrated in Sweden for its charming effects of Swiss scenery in miniature. During my stay there, the beauty of the scenery was greatly enhanced by the fitty humor of the weather. Now we had bright sunshine penetrating into the depths of the Dale; then the of clouds, the whole lighted up by occasional vivid flashes of lightning, attended by the deep and heavy roaring of thunder. The day was such a one as that on which the Swedes say, "Thor has been out traveling to-day." Near the Dale of Sater I stopped for a time to sketch a group of trees, which combined the two varieties most characteristic of the North, the weeping birch and Northern spruce. In a former article in the NATIONAL, I have enlarged somewhat upon the character of the Northern birch. Some portions of my journey toward Westeras, I noticed a marked change in the appearance of the buildings, which still continued of timber, produced by the use of turf for roofing in place of boards, as I have described in Dalecarlia. Occasionally a shrub, of almost sufficient size to be called a tree, is seen growing upon the roof. In the vicinity of Westeras tile is used for the same purpose. WESTERAS. THIS is a small, but apparently thriving town of some few thousand inhabitants. situated upon the Malar Lake. The cathedral and castle are the principal objects of attraction. A portion of the cathedral dates from the eleventh century; but, as in most of the churches of Sweden, various additions have been made from time to time, in accordance with the increasing wants of the population. Three very curiously-carved altar-pieces adorn this edifice. They are of German workmanship, and were among the trophies of the Thirty Years' War. These are inclosed by doors ornamented with paintings, presenting the marked characteristics of the old German and Byzantine school of art. Among the most remarkable monuments here, is that of Magnus Brahe and his two wives. These persons are represented in a recumbent posture upon the tomb, in that stiff and almost grotesque style in vogue in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Speaking of tombs and reclining figures, Rauch, of Berlin, has produced some exceedingly fine things in this line. He has done away with the stiffness of the age to which I refer, and his works present as striking a contrast when compared to these, as do the works of Praxiteles and Scopas when contrasted with the death-school of Egyptian art. The statue by Rauch, of the beautiful Queen Louisa, in the Mausoleum at Potsdam, is certainly one of the most successful productions of modern times. The likeness of the queen is admirably preserved. The figure is remarkable for its ease and grace of position. Here is also the tomb of the wretched Eric XIV. It is a sarcophagus of Egyp- | ascending the throne. The room in which tian marble, surmounted by a crown and sword taken from the tomb of King John at Upsala. The castle of Westeras is picturesquely situated, and of very considerable antiquity. It has been greatly changed in modern times; its corners were formerly flanked by towers, which have been removed, and a large square structure, which might pass for an American hotel or manufactory, is all that remains. It was here that the wretched Eric XIV. was for a long time confined. It will be remembered that he was the son of Gustavus Wasa, and was compelled to abdicate, his brother John this monarch was confined is still shown. The only light admitted to his cell was through a small aperture in the massive wall some ten feet high. Here are also exhibited irons of immense weight, with which the royal prisoner was loaded. It would seem that banishment from the throne which was his lawful right, and secure confinement, would have been quite sufficient to satisfy his unnatural brother who succeeded to his place, without the addition of all the torture which fancy could devise. However erring might have been the unfortunate prince during his short reign, one cannot visit the place |