Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/230

194 and after we had left it behind we entered another canal. After passing through some more locks we ascended to Motala which is a large manufacturing town situated on the river Motala,—"Motalastrom,"—which was also the name of our steamer. There are large iron works and an engine factory here, and Swedish matches manufactured here are largely exported to India and elsewhere. Leaving this place behind we soon came to the fine Vettern lake, the finest of the large lakes of Sweden. The water is exquisitely clear like that of the sea, and the hills Vaberg and Omberg rise on opposite banks to a height of about 580 feet.

We stopped for about two hours at Vadstena, a town on the shores of this lake. Leaving that town we crossed the lake Vettern, and came to the pretty little town of Karlsburg and its fortress, the only fortress in the interior of Sweden. After we left that place, our route lay through a small winding lake surrounded by pine-clad low hills, and dotted with pine-clad islands. All was quiet and still over the dark and solitary forests, as our steamer slowly threaded its way over the still waters sleeping under the beautiful moon. The scene reminded me strongly of the still lonelier scenes I had seen in my own country when travelling by moonlight through the vast solitudes of the Sunderbans. We then began to ascend again through some locks and at night at last reached the Viken lake, which is the highest sheet of water within our route, being over 300 ft. above the level of the sea.