CHAPTER IV
THE GÖTA CANAL
For those who are not pressed for time I can hardly imagine a more enjoyable trip than that of travelling from Gothenburg to Stockholm by the combination of river, lake, and canal known as the Göta Canal, a leisurely journey of two days and a half that takes you through the heart of the country, from coast to coast, on a line of steamers that, though bearing much the same relationship to an ordinary passenger boat as a Pomeranian to a wolf-hound, are models in miniature of what a river vessel should be, accommodation, cooking, and service being all that could be desired. The charm of this trip does not lie so much in the beauty of the castles, churches, and lake scenery that characterise it, as in the way in which it brings you into constant touch with the heart-beat of the country. At times the boat glides along fertile fields and meadows, and within sight of ancient churches, pleasant villages, or old castle ruins; at others it makes its way across wide shimmering lakes or passes locks innumerable that afford ample opportunities for exercise to those desiring it. I shall not easily forget the enjoyable days that I spent in this manner seeing mile after mile of the most varied scenery unfolding itself before me, as I sat lazily complacent in a comfortable deck-chair, almost hoping that the journey would have no end. This passage across the very centre of Sweden is so assuaging that I most heartily recommend it to all those who hold with me that every traveller who would duly appreciate a country that is to him virgin soil should only visit it with mind attuned to the world, and consequently that the Göta Canal should be regarded as a kind of portal to the more arduous Sweden which is disclosed to the senses as soon as the last lake of Östergötland and the Stockholm Archipelago will have been traversed. Used both as an entrance and as an exit to Sweden, however, it is alike admirable, since in the first instance it predisposes the mind to view everything favourably, in the second it soon consoles the disillusioned traveller for any shortcomings and deceptions that he will have discovered in the rest of the country.
The credit of building a system of waterways linking up Sweden’s many large lakes, and even the Baltic and North Sea, belongs to no modern engineer but to a certain Catholic bishop called Brask of Linköping, a town found on this route, who in 1525 advocated this canal in a letter to King Gustavus I. as a means of escaping the duties that were exacted by the Danes on shipping passing through the Sound. The work was actually begun at a place called Norsholm, and advanced so far that signs of it are still visible at Brask’s Ditch: only the King’s extensive commitments in other directions preventing further progress being made. And from that moment there was hardly a Swedish monarch who did not recommend the project, though nothing much was achieved until the reign of Charles XII., when Christopher Polhem finally obtained permission from the Swedish King to “construct a passage between Gothenburg and Norrköping by using the natural waterways as far as possible”. The Swedish Government was to be responsible for the financial part of the undertaking, and according to the terms of the contract that was now signed between the King and Polhem on January 17, 1718, this engineer was to complete the canal in five years, a sum of 40,000 silver daler being allowed him annually for expenses, with a stipulation that any eventual deficiency would be made good by the King. The length of the sluices was fixed at that time at 180 feet and the breadth at 38 feet. The great engineering project was immediately started from the side of Gothenburg, but Polhem was compelled to abandon the enterprise at the King’s death in December of the same year, the Council declaring that the entire project was useless, as it was only a product of Polhem’s egoism and that it would therefore have to be abandoned. The completion of the canal was subsequently delayed for many years, owing to difficulties which arose attendant upon the construction of several of the locks, and it was only in the early part of the nineteenth century that a really concerted effort was made to complete the work, this ultimately leading to the opening of the route from the Cattegat to the Baltic in 1832, a result that was in the main due to Baltzar von Platen’s extraordinary energy and driving power. The cost incurred in completing the canal, as well as the time that was spent in building it, were so much beyond the estimates made at the time that there is good reason to assume that von Platen deliberately handed in an erroneous estimate from the very beginning, so keen was his resolve to allow no consideration to interfere with the carrying out of his plan, and so firm his conviction that a more correct estimate would only have torpedoed his scheme; this misrepresentation giving Sweden a canal that, though possessing far less importance as trade route or for war operations than many later canal constructions, is, as a piece of engineering work, ahead of even the Suez Canal.
During the first stage of the journey the steamer proceeds slowly up the Göta river, and after passing Jordfallet, arrives in sight of the picturesque ruins of Bohus Castle, which dominate the two arms of the river. Erected in 1308 by Håkon Magnusson, King of Norway, this fortress long enjoyed the reputation of being one of the most formidable strongholds of Scandinavia, and was also the scene of innumerable sieges and counter-sieges in which the attacking party invariably came off second best. King Eric XIV. invested it for over a year and a half, only to find his best armies and most experienced generals recoiling in defeat before its massive walls and equally stout-hearted defenders, and it continued to live up to its proud reputation of impregnability until the beginning of the eighteenth century, when it was condemned as a fortress and left to fall to wrack and ruin. Only two of its towers remain, the _Fars hatt och mors mössa_ (the father’s hat and the mother’s cap), of which the first is an interesting and well-preserved example of mediæval fortress architecture.
[Illustration: THE TROLLHÄTTAN FALLS]
On the opposite shore, and immediately facing Bohus, is the little town of Kungälv, now an unimportant village, but at one time a large and thriving city which appears to have been the Scandinavian Geneva of its age. Here the rulers of the three Nordic nations used to meet in conference, and it was here again that the famous Peace Congress of 1101 held its meetings. Kungälv did not, however, long retain its exalted position, and after having been partly destroyed by Ratibur, King of the Wends, at the close of the twelfth century, quickly relapsed into comparative obscurity. Though shorn of all its former importance, Kungälv is an attractive place to visit, especially during the summer, and is picturesquely situated at the foot of a steep and thickly wooded hill from which interesting views can be obtained of the neighbouring country. Beyond Bohus are the green fields and marshes of Hisingen island and in the far distance the chimneys and church steeples of Gothenburg. After passing Gamla Lödöse (Old Lödöse), of which a story relates that by command of Gustavus I. its inhabitants removed to another locality twenty miles nearer the mouth of the river and there built a new town on the spot now called Gamlestaden, the steamer reaches Trollhättan and the first series of sluices that lead up to Brinkeberg Hill, the time spent in negotiating this uphill climb providing ample opportunity and leisure for seeing the Trollhättan Falls and electric power station. The Falls are six in number, and the sight of the great masses of water as they hurtle and leap down from one rocky shelf to the other, impetuously forging their way between rocky canyons in a frenzied descent of over a hundred feet, is impressive to a degree. The accumulated force of this water is more than 270,000 horse-power, of which over 170,000 have been turned to practical use by the huge electric power station that has been installed in the vicinity of the cataract; while of the current thus generated part has been transformed into electricity for the lighting of a 300-mile area and also for the Stockholm-Gothenburg railway, and part consumed by the numerous saw and wood-pulp mills, smelting furnaces and ironworks which have been set up near the falls. For sheer grandeur of scenery Trollhättan compares favourably with any other place in Sweden, and abounds with beautiful walks in the surrounding woods, from whence magnificent views can be obtained in all directions.
Shortly after leaving Trollhättan the steamer begins what is to many by far the most attractive portion of the journey, for lake after lake are now traversed that, if lacking the dreamy voluptuous charm, soft atmosphere, and luxuriant vegetation of southern lakes, are almost equally pleasing for the exquisite loveliness of their sunsets and the beauty of their skies. Surrounded by low-lying hills and pine woods that often extend to the very water edge, these lakes are strongly evocative of Canadian scenery, and from early dawn to that golden twilight which in June is the nearest approach to night that is obtainable in these northern latitudes, present a slowly changing kaleidoscope of colour so rich and varied that not only does the eye rarely weary of watching it, but even the mind refuses to do aught but unquestioningly admire.
The steamer first glides into Lake Vänern, the largest inland lake in Sweden, and the biggest in Europe outside of Russia. Over 2000 square miles in area, this lake is divided into two parts by two long necks of land, each with an archipelago. Dotted here and there are many beautiful islands and skerries, of which many call for careful navigation, compasses being often at a discount owing to the ore lying at the bottom of the lake.
From Vänersborg, the first port of call in the lake, we motor or drive to Halleberg, a strange-looking hill that is now separated by a deep valley from Hunneberg, a sister hill which was originally one with it. Exceedingly steep and difficult of access, but equally picturesque, Halleberg is crowned by a large plateau in which lonely waste land alternates with small lakes and pine woods, where, if luck favours you, giant elks evoking prehistoric times may occasionally be seen crashing through the encircling branches. Like many other hills found in the vicinity of these lakes, Halleberg possesses many interesting geological features and affords a good idea of the type of Swedish scenery that characterises this part of Sweden.
[Illustration: SJÖTORP LOCKS, GÖTA CANAL]
The steamer from here proceeds north, and after reaching the Eken archipelago, a labyrinth of small islands and skerries which present considerable difficulties to the navigator, rounds the promontory and turning south calls at Hällekis, a village that is most picturesquely situated at the foot of Mt. Kinnekulle. Towering over all the surrounding country, this mountain is not only so extraordinarily fertile that in early spring and summer it becomes a garden of wild flowers, but it possesses geological characteristics that in themselves would justify making it a special visit, there being no less than three distinct layers of rock strata below the diorite that once covered the entire hill. Surrounded by many pleasing valleys and woods, Kinnekulle is during the summer months an inland rural paradise and an ideal place for dreaming away an hour in quiet contemplation of the landscape.
Leaving Kinnekulle the steamer then proceeds north and at Sjötorp begins a long uphill climb along the canal leading out of Lake Vänern into the province of Västergötland. From lock to lock the boat is gradually raised until it is more than 150 feet above Lake Vänern, this providing a unique opportunity for getting down on shore and having a look at the country people working in the fields. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but found few fellow-passengers energetic enough to follow my example, the great majority seeming to prefer to remain on deck, from which they could occasionally be heard making those vapid exclamations of admiration that pass for appreciation of beauty.
Comfortably reclining in deck-chairs and basking in the sun, it was clear that their thoughts were little concerned with the rustic beauty of the landscape through which they were passing, and that they only regarded the journey in the light of a rest cure. For this regrettable state of affairs I rather fancy the Göta Canal Company is in part responsible, for the diminutive little steamers in which the journey from Gothenburg is taken are so crammed full with comfort and so similar to miniature hotels that it is perhaps not to be wondered at that so many travellers succumb to their attractions and lazily allow life to slip by without worrying over such trifles as scenery or old and historic buildings. _On le ferait à moins._
Quietly and almost unobtrusively, then, the steamer glides along fertile fields and rural landscapes, the canal being at times so narrow that at one place after passing Lake Viken (Spetsnäset or Pointed Ness) branches can actually be broken off the trees lining the banks. Nothing very distinctive about the scenery, apart from its general pleasantness, but I noticed, in addition to innumerable silver birches, a profusion of unfamiliar trees of the ash variety lining the banks of the canal, which I was informed were called oxel or beam trees. Covered with white blossoms they made a pretty picture, though their general effect was rather marred by the very pungent and sickly perfume which emanated from their flowers, and of which I became unpleasantly conscious as I approached nearer to the trees. I made various attempts to bring back some of these sprays of white blossoms to the boat, but on every occasion elected to throw away those which I had picked, owing to their offensive and almost nauseating odour.
After crossing Lake Viken, a typical forest lake of great natural beauty studded with rocks and small wooded islands, the steamer proceeds down the canal, and near the point where it enters Lake Vättern passes the powerful fortress of Karlsborg. Begun as far back as 1820 to serve as a final base of operations against a potential invader, this fortress was part of a scheme of defence which Carl Johan Bernadotte, the founder of the present Royal House of Sweden, organised just after the Napoleonic campaigns in order to make good the wastage caused by a very exhaustive series of wars. It was thought at the time that the fortress would take ten years to build, and the probability is that it would have taken no longer a time if the military authorities had not been so anxious to make it outshine every other fortress in Europe. The result was that though any amount of work was put into building it the Swedish military authorities submitted so many plans and counter-plans that little was done that was not immediately undone, in view of a possible improvement, this policy causing the work to drag on till 1909, when the principal fort was at last completed. Passing on from Karlsborg we then enter Lake Vättern, the second largest lake in Sweden and perhaps the most beautiful. Shaped somewhat like a spindle, Vättern is fed almost entirely by subaqueous springs of purest quality which would account incidentally for the limpidity of its waters, and possesses so many legends and historic memories of the past that it has become invested with a charm and attraction that are quite its own. Our next objective being the town of Jönköping, at the southern extremity of the lake, the steamer now takes a southerly direction, and after a few hours arrives in sight of the mysterious Vising Island, a visit to which is almost obligatory upon any visitor to the lake. It contains an old abbey and a castle which was for centuries the residence of the Swedish kings, as well as a number of runic stones that were erected in the Viking age to the memory of warriors who had fallen in distant lands. Apart from Mt. Omberg, with its lovely grottos and its wooded heights recalling Kinnekulle, however, we pass nothing else of special interest until we reach the extremity of the lake and the town of Jönköping.
An important commercial city and the centre of the match industry, Jönköping is less frequented by tourists than the other parts of the lake because it is not on the direct line between Gothenburg and Stockholm and consequently is very often overlooked by English and American tourists. It is, however, well worth visiting, if only for the beautiful park which the municipality has had planted on the shores of the lake and a very interesting wooden church dating from the Middle Ages, in which I saw many quaint wall-paintings and carvings as well as an old portal that was simply riddled with Danish bullets. Jönköping is the most convenient headquarters for making excursions to either Visingsö, Vadstena, or St. Bridget, while it is within easy distance from the iron mountain of Taberg, the surrounding country being very typical of Sweden.
Turning north again the steamer then proceeds to Vadstena, perhaps one of the most interesting historical places in Sweden, and certainly one of the oldest.
Dominating the town is a large sixteenth-century Renaissance castle, built for Gustavus Vasa by Joakim Bulgerin, the best fortress architect of his age, as a defence against Danish Sweden, an imposing edifice forming one side of a rectangle, the others consisting of ramparts and four circular bastions bristling with cannon embrasures, which are surrounded by one of the widest moats that I have ever seen. A little too massive for my taste, yet not without a certain air, and replete, moreover, with historical memories, this building is typical of what Augustus Hahr calls “business-like architecture or utility buildings”. You feel that it was only constructed for a utilitarian purpose and that Bulgerin’s principal concern was to make a fortress that would resist both the attacks of time and those of its enemies.
Here many Swedish monarchs had their residence, including Gustavus Vasa, who was married here to Catharine Stenbock, and Magnus, who in a fit of madness hurled himself out of a window in order to “seize a beautiful girl whom he had seen rising out of the waters of the lake”. Here again many Parliaments were held, including that of 1501, when Hans of Denmark was dethroned. Vadstena owes its proud position as royal city almost equally to the convent which the same Magnus Eriksson had built on the shores of the lake in 1370 for St. Bridget and the religious order which she founded—the most influential and respected association of the north at that time. And especially after St. Bridget’s canonisation in 1391 the town increased in population and in importance sufficiently to enable Queen Margaret to give it full civic rights, while it was also entirely re-planned. Very little remains to-day of the original convent buildings erected by Magnus, but within the precincts of the lunatic asylum which now stands on the old site are still to be seen one or two nuns’ cells, and also the private chapel of the Abbess, while of the original gardens there remain a few old pear trees dating from those early days on which the first Bergamote pears had been grown. Apart from the castle and convent there is little else of interest to be seen in Vadstena except the Blue Church, an attractive towerless building of bluish-grey limestone in which the bones of the saint and many memorials of the Middle Ages can be seen.
[Illustration: JÖNKÖPING]
Passing on from Vadstena we next come to the town of Motala at the most easterly extremity of the lake, and re-entering the canal begin our gradual descent to the Baltic, after passing the stone memorial which the townspeople of Motala erected in the early part of the nineteenth century to Baltzar von Platen, the founder of the canal. Made of one solid block of stone, this monument is typical of early Victorian architecture, and a blur on the landscape. More pleasing and typical of a scenery which from this moment is perhaps the prettiest of any found on this journey are the many fine estates now seen on both sides of the canal and on the shores of Boren, the next lake that we meet. And after making its way across this very attractively wooded lake the steamer re-enters the canal at Borensberg and there begins a slow progression down fifteen locks in the short distance of two miles, a feat that, taking nearly two hours to accomplish, affords a splendid opportunity for walking to Vreta Abbey church situated near by. Built in the twelfth century, in the reign of King Charles Sverkersson, this old church has undergone many vicissitudes, and after being burned to the ground in the middle of the thirteenth century was repeatedly built over and even considerably altered in form and dimension. In 1915, however, the church was restored and excavations made, in the course of which large parts of the old walls of the monastery building were brought to light and freed from the thick layer of soil that had covered them for centuries. Inside the Abbey are numerous graves of the Middle Ages, in which are treasured the relics of the old dynasties of the country, the most noticeable of these being the tombs of King Inge and his queen Helena, those of Kings Magnus Nilsson and Valdemar and Queen Sophia, and the well-preserved mortuary chapel in which members of the Douglas family lie buried. Like most of their countrymen who emigrated to foreign countries in the Middle Ages, the Scotch soldiers of fortune who came over to Sweden at various moments of her history to earn renown not only made good but rendered signal and distinguished service to the country of their adoption, there being few fields of activity in which they were not soon prominent.
From Vreta the journey now proceeds through Lake Roxen, there being, however, little to detain us beyond the pleasing character of the scenery and the town of Linköping on the southern side of the lake, where a visit should be made, if time permits, to the thirteenth-century Gothic cathedral which has been attributed to Bishop Bengt, brother of the mighty Birger Jarl.
Richly decorated, this old church is one of the best examples of fifteenth-century Gothic architecture to be found in Sweden. After passing Norsholm, where tourists who are pressed for time can break the journey and proceed to the capital by train, we then cross one of the most enjoyable parts of the Göta Canal, the scenery being not only extremely attractive but equally varied. At one moment we glide through a lake (Asplången) whose banks are pleasantly wooded or studded with picturesque country houses; at another we follow the sinuosities of a canal that, winding its tortuous way through a most fertile landscape or passing between high banks of trees whose branches sweep the very deck of our boat, is a revelation of what engineering can do. And passing lock after lock we reach Söderköping, once an important commercial centre and coronation city, now one of Sweden’s principal watering-places. Picturesquely situated almost on the shores of the Baltic, this town abounds in enjoyable excursions, the finest of these being the delightful though steep ascent that may be made of the heights of Ramunderhäll on the other side of the canal. An hour later, and as the steamer glides gently into an arm of the Baltic Sea at Mem, the water trip across the mainland of Sweden may be said to be completed, yet the remainder of the journey to Stockholm is no less enjoyable than that spent along the canal. We first pass the ruins of Stegeborg on our right, a solitary tower on the water edge dominating the surrounding country, which is the last remnant of a castle in which Gustavus I. and his son John III. are said to have passed the greater part of their lives. Stegeborg has had an interesting history, and by some authorities is declared to be of unknown antiquity, by others to date back to the twelfth century. All, however, agree that King Birger Magnusson held his court here at the beginning of the fourteenth century and that after his flight it underwent many vicissitudes.
It was first captured by Mats Kettilmundsson, and then besieged in turn by Engelbrekt, Charles Knutsson VIII., Sten Sture, and Gustavus Vasa’s famous leader, Arvid Västgöte; the estates ultimately passing into the possession of certain noble families connected with the Vasa dynasty, only to be then dismantled and allowed to fall to rack and ruin.
[Illustration: VADSTENA CASTLE, LAKE VÄTTERN]
From here the steamer proceeds past Etter Sound and the deserted copper mine of Arvidsberg along the wooded shore of the mainland until the Arkö Sound is reached, when it cuts right across Bråviken Bay and steers north in the direction of Oxelösund, the first of the Archipelago lighthouses (the _Femörehufvud_ or Half-penny Lighthouse) being passed shortly before reaching this port. These lighthouses are not exceptionally striking to look at, but possess a lighting apparatus that is so exceptional that I am not afraid of wearying my readers by describing them with some detail. Around a petroleum flame 14 inches in diameter, whose glare is intensified by a powerful lens and driven by the heat generated by it, there revolves a rotary plate which ensures that the flame is adequately hidden at regular intervals from any given point, frames of coloured glass, red or green, in the body of the lighthouse itself but interposed between the flame and the outside world, causing that light to appear red or green according to the position in which the observer is then standing. This enables the position of the vessel to be correctly estimated. These lights are so distinct that no person who is not absolutely colour-blind should ever make a mistake as to their character, and so carefully adjusted that as you stand on one part of the deck of the steamer one colour is visible, while another can be observed if you shift your position in any appreciable degree. When the course is clear the light appears white. The archipelago is strewn with so many rocks and skerries, however, that even with the help of these splendid light towers the most expert navigator crossing it would be courting inevitable danger if to his skill was not added great local knowledge of the shoals and rocks lying in his course.
Oxelösund itself is a very thriving industrial town possessing every natural advantage for the facilitation of transport both by land and water, in addition to being the terminus of the Flen Oxelösund railway and the port to which converges for transporting purposes practically all the iron ore mined in Central Sweden. The harbour is deep and capacious enough for the largest steamers, and enormous quantities of iron ore are shipped from here not only to other parts of the country, but also to Germany and Great Britain, where the high-grade Swedish iron is in great demand for the manufacture of heavy ordnance and plate armour. From this town, moreover, many delightful excursions can conveniently be made, especially in the direction of Norrköping.
Continuing our journey, we then cruise in and out of narrow straits and among skerries and rocks that are at times so close that you could almost jump on to them from the steamer as you pass them by, there being one particular strait called Stendörren, or Stone Door, reached shortly after entering Örsbaken, that is so narrow and winding that only the exercise of the greatest caution and the firmest of hands at the helm can negotiate it successfully. From this point until Hållsfjärden, where the boat enters the Södertälje Canal, we then pass the most delightful scenery, the archipelago simply abounding in picturesque pine-clad islands and rocks and furnishing endless subjects for an artist’s canvas, while the clearness of the atmosphere appears to endow every object with the most exquisite colouring. These skerries, like those found in Bohuslän and in the Baltic around Stockholm, are ideal places for fishing, boating, and yachting, and in summer become the happy hunting-ground of numbers of Swedish men, women, and children, who can be seen daily yachting or darting in and out among the islands in those very light motor-boats that have become so common a feature of Swedish life of to-day. As the islands number many thousands, however, there are hundreds which are still unfrequented, this ensuring a complete absence of those unpleasant elements which tourists are apt to bring in their train, there being countless beauty spots where even the most retiring traveller is certain of finding peaceful solitude and oblivion from the world.
After passing through Södertälje Canal—which, incidentally, is so narrow that even steamers as diminutive as the canal-boats belonging to the Göta Canal Company cannot pass one another when crossing it—the steamer follows the coast line of Södertörn and soon reaches Lake Mälar, our course now taking us eastward in the direction of Stockholm, through scores of channels and past even more numerous islands set with pine and dotted with attractive red wooden houses or with the more imposing stone castles of the aristocracy. The scenery here recalls that seen in the archipelago of the Skärgård, with the one distinction that the shore line that we continue to hug until we reach the capital is no longer uniformly pine-green in colouring, this typically Swedish landscape colour being now frequently splashed with the more genial green tints peculiar to the elm, maple, and other less sombre deciduous trees. A very pleasant part of the journey this last stage. Steaming lazily along, we first come to the island of Björkö (Birch Island) on our left, where Christianity was first preached in Sweden by Ansgarius, in whose memory a granite cross in old Gothic style was erected on a prominent part of the island in 1834, and then swinging eastward follow the coast line of Södertörn, first crossing the narrow Bockholm Sound (Buck Island Sound), perhaps the most beautiful strait in the country. On our right we notice several fine estates, among these the beautifully situated Sturehof Castle, and Norsborg with its numerous graves purporting to contain the bodies of old Swedish giants, while we pass several islands on our left concerning which interesting legends have lingered on to this day attesting the part which they played in the early annals of the country or locality. Thus Estbröte recalls the history of Johan Knutsson Folkunge, whom the Esthonians treacherously attacked and killed on his family estate of Askanäs, only in their turn to be annihilated by his avenging wife when they had returned to their island lair, while Kungshatt (King’s Hat), one of the next islands that we come to, evokes the days of King Erik Väderhatt. Stuck on the top of a high pole that is visible from any part of the straits is a large hat which this warrior king is supposed to have flung aside as he jumped down from the rocks into the lake and with his horse swam across to the opposite shore when escaping from his foes. Then after passing Fågelö (Bird Island) and the islands of Långholmen (Long Island) and Slagstaholmen, whose shores are lined with villas and summer residences, we obtain our first view of the quays of Stockholm glimmering white in the water and of the city itself, beautifully situated amid encircling and intersecting waterways.