The canal owes its origin to a desire in the sixteenth century to connect Lake Vener with the Baltic. It was not until 1808 that Baltzar von Platen, with the assistance of the English engineer Telford, staked out the course, and the work was completed in 1820 at a cost of about £1,000,000. Very many soldiers were engaged on it. The whole distance is about 125 miles, which is a long distance to travel by canal steamer, especially as passing through locks is slow, but the beauty and variety of the scenery, as well as the sights, ancient and modern, always keep up the interest. After entering the canal at Sjötorp, the steamer proceeds very slowly, always ascending, until it reaches Lake Vetter, 308 feet above the Baltic. Next morning, when you come on deck, you find that you have entered the lake itself. Away to the south is Sweden’s greatest fortress. You can see it in the distance with the tower surmounted by the national flag. Lake Vetter is clear and blue and is beautiful to look upon, but every mariner dreads it, as, without any warning, violent storms arise. Sailing across in a south-easterly direction, you come to a famous old town--Vadstena. How times have changed! Before you rise the massive castle with its towers and spire. It was built by Gustavus Vasa, who when fifty-eight years of age brought here his third wife, Katarina Stenboch, who was only sixteen and a very unwilling bride. The lake comes up to the walls and fills the moat, which is used as a harbour. There are here remains of two churches, which owed their origin, as the town did, to a convent founded by S. Brigitta in the sixteenth century. She was a splendid woman, and drew to her side ladies of noble birth from many countries. Life was very strict in the convent, no one could possess any wealth, no intercourse was allowed with old friends except on rare occasions. Every nun was driven out at the Reformation, and not much is left to tell of their having lived there, but in the town many women make beautiful lace of the old patterns the nuns used to work. Often on board the steamer a woman brings a basketful to sell. The steamer re-enters the canal at Motala, where there are very large engineering works, at which all the science of modern times is employed in turning out all sorts of engines and mechanical appliances. When the steamer is entering Lake Roxen, we are again carried back to the old days. Here is Vreta Closter, where of old kings were buried, and here, too, can be seen several coffins in one of the chapels. These contain the remains of members of the Douglas family, who fought under Gustavus Adolphus. Their descendants have a high place among Swedish nobility at the present day. [Illustration: SUMMER EVENING ON THE WEST COAST OF SWEDEN. _Oscar Hullgren._] Lake Roxen is a beautiful sheet of clear crystal water, with steep, rocky, and wooded shores on the one side, and fertile plains on the other. There are many old ruins that command our attention.