{55} Patience is also required here, though not so much as in Norway.

I had always to wait from fifteen to twenty minutes before the carriage was brought and the horses and harness prepared, but never longer; and I must admit that the Swedish post-masters hurried as much as possible, and never demanded double fare, although they must have known that I was in haste.

The pace of the horse depends on the will of the coachman and the powers of his steed; but in no other country did I see such consideration paid to the strength of the horses.

It is quite ridiculous to see what small loads of corn, bricks, or wood, are allotted to two horses, and how slowly and sleepily they draw their burdens.
The number of wooden gates, which divide the roads into as many parts as there are common grounds on it, are a terrible nuisance to travellers.
The coachman has often to dismount six or eight times in an hour to open and close these gates.

I was told that these delectable gates even exist on the great high road, only not quite in such profusion as on the by-roads.
Wood must be as abundant here as in Norway, for every thing is enclosed; even fields which seem so barren as not to be worth the labour or the wood.
The villages through which I passed were generally pretty and cheerful, and I found the cottages, which I entered while the horses were changed, neatly and comfortably furnished.
The peasants of this district wear a peculiar costume.