lley of the Klar Elv, which is here a
broad lazy stream, filled with tens of thousands of pine-logs, waiting
to be carried down to the Wener by the first freshet. The scenery
charmed us by its rich and quiet beauty; it was without grand or
striking features, but gently undulating, peaceful, and home-like. We
found walking very fatiguing in the hot sun, which blazed upon us all
the afternoon with a summer heat. The handsome residences and gardens,
which we occasionally passed, gave evidence of taste and refinement in
their possessors, and there was a pleasant grace in the courteous
greetings of the country people whom we met. Towards evening we reached
a post-station, and were tired enough to take horses again. It was after
dark before we drew up at Ohlsater, in the heart of Wermeland. Here we
found a neat, comfortable room, with clean beds, and procured a supper
of superb potatoes. The landlord was a tall, handsome fellow, whose
friendly manners, and frank face, breathing honesty and kindness in
every lineament, quite won my heart. Were there more such persons in the
world, it would be a pleasanter place of residence.

We took horses and bone-shattering carts in the morning, for a distance
of thirteen miles up the valley of the Klar Elv. The country was very
picturesque and beautiful, well cultivated, and quite thickly settled.
The wood in the sheltered bed of the valley was of remarkably fine
growth; the birch trees were the largest I ever saw, some of them being
over one hundred feet in height. Comfortable residences, with orchards
and well-kept gardens attached, were quite frequent, and large sawmills
along the river, which in some places was entirely concealed by floating
rafts of lumber, gave an air of industry and animation to the landscape.
In one place the road was spanned, for a considerable distance, with
triumphal arches of foliage. I inquired the meaning of this display of
the boy who accompanied us. "Why," said he, "there was a wedding a week
ago, at the _herregard_ (gentleman's residence); the young Herr got
married, and these arches were put up for him and his bride." The
herregard, which we passed soon afterwards, was an imposing mansion,
upon an eminence overlooking the valley. Beside it was a _jernbruk_, or
iron-works, from which a tramway, some miles in length, led to the
mines.

Resuming our knapsacks, we walked on up the valley. The hills on either
side increased in height, and gloomed darkly under