On the first morning after starting on this novel mode of travel, my companion thrust his head into my stateroom, and exclaimed in great excitement, " Come quick, and see a steamer climb a hill! " I hastened to the deck, and there beheld a truly marvelous achievement. In order to pass from the level of the sheet of water we had just been traversing, to a higher one, our boat had now to ascend a massive granite staircase more than a hundred feet in height. Even to one accustomed to the use of locks the scene is always interesting, and to a traveler unfamiliar with the process it seems at first almost miraculous. In one place there are no fewer than eleven basins, one above the other, mostly hewn and blasted out of solid rock. Each of these basins is one hundred and twelve feet long, and wide enough to receive an ordinary ship or steamer of that length. As soon as the vessel enters the lowest of these tanks, which is on a level with the lake or river over which it has been coming, two heavy gates are closed behind it, and separate it from the water it has left. Forthwith a slide is opened in the lock above, permitting the water in that reservoir to flow into the one below it and lo! as the ing flood foams up around the vessel's hull, the iron ship is lifted like a feather, until, the basin being full of water, the steamer finds itself upon a level with lock number two.

The gates of this enclosure are then opened, and into it the vessel glides, com pleting thus the first step in the ascent. A similar operation now takes place, whereby the water, introduced from the third lock, raises the ship another step, till finally the whole hill is surmounted, and the steamer, far above the foot of the great staircase where it started, moves swiftly forward on the next stage of the journey. There is a charming sense of novelty and wonder in seeing heavily loaded ships and steamers moving thus, as if by magic, up and down the hills, without the slightest insecurity or hesitation. Nature has here become a willing slave, and bears the burdens laid upon her without the faintest sign of insubordination. It is a striking illustration of the power gained by man when he has learned the secrets of the elements, and makes of them submissive servants, instead of cruel and imperious masters.

Thus, going either way between the Baltic and the Cattegat, the fettered water lifts each ship to a height of three hundred feet above the level of the sea. In winter, of course, this route is closed by ice; but during the months when it is open for navigation, thousands of vessels use it annually. Not all of them, however, make the entire trip. About midway between the oceans lie Lakes Venern and Vettern, the former of which may be fairly called an inland sea, since it is more than a hundred miles in length and nearly fifty in breadth. Upon their shores are several large towns, between which and the capital on one coast, and Gothenburg on the other, communication by boat is thus maintained for more than half the year.

The Gotha Canal, Passing A Bridge.

The Pallas.

A Fine Canal Boat.

Ships That Pass In The Day.

A Small Craft.

Life On The Canal.

Crave Of Baron Von Platen, The Promoter Ok The Gotha Canal.

Climbing Ip The Liquid Stairs.

Almost At The Top.

Ready To Step Down And Out.

On Lake Vettern.

But, interesting as are the locks along this route, and;harming as one finds the various lakes across whose surfaces he sails at dawn, at evening or by moonlight, the most delightful feature of the journey is the canal itself. For there, when one is seated on the deck, unless he looks ahead he sees no water, but simply gazes on a series of sweet, peaceful landscapes through which he glides in silence and in mystery. At times a bridge swings noiselessly to let him pass. At other times a shaded path lies almost by the gunwale of the boat, and with a bound he could secure a foothold on the turf and walk beneath the trees. Thus, hour after hour, mansions, estates and well-kept farms, succeeding one another on each side, present the pictures of a pastoral paradise. Looking ahead, the line of water frequently suggests an avenue winding through a beautiful garden. Often the turnings are so sharp that it is necessary to throw a rope ashore, and by the aid of huge stone capstans warp the steamer round the point. Never shall I forget some vistas which I here enjoyed of Sweden's sunset light pervading in a luminous dust the adjoining walls of foliage, and paving the long, liquid avenue with gold. In every walk that I shall take hereafter through a stately forest, the curving path before me will recall this bright, bewitching waterway of Sweden, bordered with silvery birches, quivering aspens, and majestic oaks, and forming a long, glittering belt, uniting east and west, and sparkling with equal beauty in the splendor of the sunset or the glory of the dawn.