g
rain, which is the climax of bad weather. We determined, however, to
push onward as far as Fahlun, the capital of Dalecarlia, about four
Swedish miles distant. Our road was down the valley of the Dal Elv,
which we crossed twice on floating bridges, through a very rich,
beautiful, and thickly settled country. The hills were here higher and
bolder than in Westerdal, dark with forests of fir and pine, and swept
south-eastward in long ranges, leaving a broad, open valley for the
river to wander in. This valley, from three to five miles in width, was
almost entirely covered with enclosed fields, owing to which the road
was barred with gates, and our progress was much delayed thereby. The
houses were neat and substantial, many of them with gardens and orchards
attached, while the unusual number of the barns and granaries gave
evidence of a more prosperous state of agriculture than we had seen
since leaving the neighborhood of Carlstad. We pressed forward in the
rain and raw wind, and reached Fahlun towards evening, just in time to
avoid a drenching storm.

Of the celebrated copper-mines of Fahlun, some of which have been worked
for 600 years, we saw nothing. We took their magnitude and richness for
granted, on the strength of the immense heaps of dross through which we
drove on approaching the town, and the desolate appearance of the
surrounding country, whose vegetation has been for the most part
destroyed by the fumes from the smelting works. In our sore and sodden
condition, we were in no humour to go sight seeing, and so sat
comfortably by the stove, while the rain beat against the windows, and
the darkness fell. The next morning brought us a renewal of the same
weather, but we set out bravely in our open cart, and jolted over the
muddy roads with such perseverance, that we reached Hedemora at night.
The hills diminished in height as we proceeded southward, but the
scenery retained its lovely pastoral character. My most prominent
recollection of the day's travel, however, is of the number of gates our
numb and blue-faced boy-postillions were obliged to jump down and open.

From Hedemora, a journey of two days through the provinces of Westeras
and Uppland, brought us to Upsala. After leaving Dalecarlia and crossing
the Dal River for the fifth and last time, the country gradually sank
into those long, slightly rolling plains, which we had traversed last
winter, between Stockholm and Gefle. Here villages were more frequen