452 fORTIA S TRAVELS IN SWEDEN . .

land, who received flattering tefiimonials of his conduft from every, general under whom,he ferved, yet was unable to get a company till two years after the peace, notwithfland-ing it was formally promifed him, and that he was every way deferring. A number'of officers have waited a long time, even with the King’s recommendation in theirpocket. Minifters and general officers objeft to foreigners on account of their igno-rance of the language of the country, but when requifite to order them to face the ene-my they never think of this deficiency, but rate them as they truly are, very fit for thepurpofe.

Chap. XII. — Journey to the Mines ; Sahla ; Afvefcad ; Sater ; Ornes; Fahlun\ Mora;

Elf dal; Quarries of Porphyry. — Dalecarlians. — Gejle. — Cataract of Flfscarleby*

— Suderfors.

The tour of which we are about to render account is very interefling ; provided yoube difpofed to pay attention to every thing curious it will take up a fortnight. Wead-vife it to be undertaken in the month of May, a period when thefnow is entirely thaw-ed ; for unlefs you have the precaution to wait until the fnow is wholly gone, you willbe deprived of the pleafure of feeing many interefling fpots, the road to which is fre-quently impaffable during the thaw.

From Stockholm to Sahla is twelve miles, and an excellent road. The latter is fitu-ated on the banks of the river which feparates the government of Stockholm from thatof Upfal. Before you reach the ftage called Tible, you find two marble monuments,the inferiptions on which fhew them to have been eredted in commemoration of themarriage of Adolphus Frederic, with the Princefs of Pruffia, and the arrival of theQueen of Guftavus III.

Sahla is a fmall and very badly paved town ; the ftrCets are ftraight; the houfes en-tirely of wood, very low', being feldom more than one ftory high ; it may contain abouttwo thoufand four hundred inhabitants, the greater part of whom are employed in themines. Happening to arrive on the day on which a mother and daughter, who died ofdifferent complaints, were buried, we remarked the fame oftentation in the funeral, thatwe had noticed at Stockholm ; as perfons concerned in the mine, each of them was car-ried by eight workmen ; the country people and miners who followed them to the gravewere'all decently clad in black, in a much better manner indeed than is ufual in othercountries with people of the fame condition. The church, confiderirg the fize of thetown, is handfome enough. The living of Sahla, which is one of the belt in Sweden ,brings in 2000 dollars : the Count de Schwerin, fon of the deceafed fenator of that name,is the prefent incumbent. The neighbourhood of this town is very pleafant.

Sahlahutta is the name of the place where the foundry is, a quarter of a league fromthe town: as you travel thither you notice a number of houfes, Handing by themfelves(for fear of fire) which ferve as magazines for ftoring the corn, grain, and forage of theinhabitants. All the houfes of Sahlahutta are occupied by different perfons belongingto the foundry. There is there a church ; a river which paffes through it ferves towork a number of wheels. More than two hundred workmen are employed at thefoundry, and a like number at the mines. The {tones drawn from the mine are carriedinto a building containing two and thirty peftles moved by wheels, which ferve to reducethem to powder: there are two forts of powder, the one called flour or dufi, and theother pafte; the firft of which is the beft : the ore thus pounded, runs off into woodenreceivers, is fpread upon fheets of coarfe cloth, and waflied by water \yhich falls over

it 5.