CHAPTER IX.

DYKALLA.

ON a fine May morning, when the sun shone with much splendour, though the air was keen and bracing, I shouldered my knapsack, grasped my staff, and sallied forth from the inn of Trollhatta. I know few feelings so delightful as those with which a man is filled on such an occasion. What are to him the cares and anxieties of every-day life? He is affected by none of the distractions of conflicting parties, nor harassed by any of the troubles that are incident to business or greatness. All the

property for which he need now be solicitous is safe on his own back; there is none for whom to feel anxious but himself, and he is not likely to be much discomposed by the distant chance of misadventure. He has nothing, therefore, to do but enjoy whatever befall him; the succession of agreeable prospects keeps up his spirits in continual excitement, and at every rising hill he hastens his steps that he may behold some novel scene beyond. The doubts as to where and how he shall spend the night are speculations that tend to excite, rather than depress, his spirits, for the prospect of novelty is always engaging. Many a time, as with buoyant spirits, and elastic step, I inhaled the pure air of mountain scenery, have I felt far removed above the miseries that darken life, and all those numerous though petty evils, which, like shell-fish clinging to the trunk of some mighty tree that has been drifted into the ocean, encumber and disfigure it; and in joyousness of heart have hummed the blithe

song of the rogue Autolycus, in the Winter's

Tale:

Jog on, jog on the foot-path way,

And merrily pent the stile-a,
A merry heart goes all the day—
Your sad tires in a mile-a."

Having walked about ten English miles, I came to the town of Wenersborg, which, at this time, presented a most lamentable spectacle. It had been burnt down about four months previously, by an accidental conflagration, and, as all the houses were of wood, the fire had been rapidly carried over every part of the town, of which a very small portion remained unconsumed. Blackened heaps of ruins met the eye in every direction, whilst here and there a few yards of brick wall, and now and then a solitary chimney, stood conspicuous. In the midst of this scene of desolation the church remained untouched; it seemed as though the remorseless flames had been repelled by the holiness of the spot, for they had approached it on every side, and yet passed by without daring

to injure. The scathed trunks were visible of trees which had lost all their branches, and silence and horror reigned undisturbed in this their city of ruin and ashes. In the outskirts of the town some houses had been already restored, and others were then being erected.

There is a good deal of shipping on the Lake Wenern, and the lake itself, from its great extent, and the tumult of its waves, has the appearance of a sea. They who travel through Wenersborg generally pass thence to Uddervalla, a town lying to the north-west of it, and thither also I had thought to go, but happened to mistake the road, and went in a north-east direction towards Almar, near the head of the lake.

The scenery on the borders of this lake is neither grand nor beautiful; it generally consists of low, round, greyish rocks, which have not height enough to be imposing, nor variety to be picturesque: it is, for the most part, a dreary and cheerless prospect.

As I had no particular object in view, I lost my way, (a misfortune that usually happened every day,) with the greatest indifference. As evening came on, however, I began to think that supper and shelter would not be unwelcome; and it was with considerable satisfaction that I at length discovered a village, lying about half a mile distant on the left of the road.

As I approached, it being then dusk, Į beheld a man of better appearance than the boors of the country, striding across a field that adjoined the lane along which I was advancing; and, in spite of the forbidding aspect of a huge pair of mustachios, I ventured to address him in English and a language that was meant to be Swedish, and made him comprehend that I was in search of an inn, and bed, and supper. Understanding him to answer that he would show me a house where I could be accommodated, I accompanied him through the village, which seemed to be a miserable place, until, at a little distance beyond its limits,