No one touring in Sweden should omit a visit to the province of Dalecarlia. It is a most lovely district, inhabited by a people who stick to their old customs and national dress. They are very proud and manly, and have done a great deal for the freedom of their country. The chief town is Falun, which is well known because of its copper mine, said to be the oldest in Europe, as it has been worked more than 600 years. It is named the Treasury of Sweden. More than £5,000,000 worth of copper has been extracted. It was here Gustavus Vasa worked when he was in hiding from the Danes, and got his men and money to fight against them. The fumes from the works have spoiled the vegetation in the neighbourhood; but travel in the train a short distance, and you soon get a sight of what the Dalecarlians are very proud of--Lake Siljan, the Eye of Dalecarlia. Down the slopes of the mountain the train proceeds until it reaches Rättvik on the edge of the lake. You seem in a new world, for you see young and old, men, women, and children, going about in costumes similar to what their grandfathers and grandmothers wore. In some parts of Sweden you see people wearing these costumes on Sundays and gala-days, but in Dalecarlia they wear them at church and at market. The men have a long coat which extends below the knee, knee-breeches, white woollen stockings, and shoes. On the head they wear a low-crowned felt hat. From the neck there hangs a long leather apron. The women wear a skirt of a blue colour with a green border. The bodice is of a dark colour, and is only as high as a broad belt, laced together in front with bright red ribbons, the eyelets being of silver. They have also a white blouse. Round the neck is a red kerchief with a bright pattern, fastened at the throat with an old-fashioned silver brooch. The apron is dark, with transverse stripes of blue, red, yellow, and white. The cap is a black, peaked one, with red trimming round it, and red tassels hanging down. It is something in shape like a helmet. In winter they wear a short jacket made of sheepskin. Their clothes-store is a treasure-house. In days gone by the sound of the shuttle used to be heard in every Dalecarlian home, as the women used to spin and weave all the cloth required for the clothes of the family. They now buy from the merchant. The Dalecarlians are of a mechanical turn of mind. They make watches and baskets, and the women do hair-work. The natives travel over the country to sell their wares. The Rättvikians excel chiefly as painters, and they cover the walls of their houses with paintings instead of putting up hangings. The traveller usually proceeds by steamer from Rättvik to Leksand, where on a Sunday a most interesting sight is seen.