works, is spoken of at some length by Mr Boas,
who considers it to be, in various respects, the most interesting
division of Sweden. Its inhabitants, unable to find means of subsistence
in their own poor and mountainous land, are in the habit of wandering
forth to seek a livelihood in more kindly regions, and Mr Boas likens
them in this respect to the Savoyards. They might, perhaps, be more
aptly compared to the Galicians, who leave their country, not, as many
of the Savoyards do, to become beggars and vagabonds, by the aid of a
marmoset and a grinding organ, but to strive, by the hardest labour and
most rigid economy, to accumulate a sum that will enable them to return
and end their lives in their native village.

"The dress of the Dalecarlians (_dale carls_, or men of the valley)
consists of a sort of doublet and leathern apron, to the latter of
which garments they get so accustomed that they scarcely lay it
aside even on Sundays. Above that they wear a short overcoat of
white flannel. Their round hats are decorated with red tufts, and
their breeches fastened at the knees with red ties and tassels. The
costume of their wives and daughters, who are called Dalecullen,
(women of the valley,) is yet more peculiar and outlandish. It is
composed of a coloured cap, fitting close to the head, of a boddice
with red laces, a gown, usually striped with red and green, and of
scarlet stockings. They wear enormous shoes, large, awkward, and
heavy, made of the very thickest leather, and adorned with the
eternal red frippery. The soles are an inch thick, with huge heels,
stuck full of nails, and placed, not where the heel of the foot is,
but in front, under the toes; and as these remarkable shoes _lift_
at every step, the heels of the stockings are covered with leather.
On Sundays, ample white shirt-sleeves, broad cap-ribands, and large
wreaths of flowers are added to this singular garb, amongst the
wearers of which pretty faces and laughing blue eyes are by no
means uncommon.

"The occupations of these women are of the rudest and most
laborious description. They may be literally said to earn their
bread by the sweat of their brow, and their hands are rendered
callous as horn by the nature of their toil. They act as
bricklayers' labourers, and carry loads of stones upon their
shoulders and up ladders. Bes