The first lock is at Lilla Edet: there are five here; and while the
ship passes through them, the passengers have leisure to admire the
contiguous low, but broad and voluminous fall of the Gotha.
This first batch of locks in the canal extends over some distance
past the fall, and they are partly blasted out of the rock, or built
of stone. The river past Akestron flows as through a beautiful
park; the valley is hemmed in by fertile hills, and leaves space
only for the stream and some picturesque paths winding along its
shores, and through the pine-groves descending to its banks.
In the afternoon we arrived at the celebrated locks near Trollhatta.
They are of gigantic construction, which the largest states would be
honoured in completing, and which occasion surprise when found in a
country ranking high neither in extent nor in influence. There are
eleven locks here, which rise 112 feet in a space of 3500 feet.
They are broad, deep, blasted out of the rock, and walled round with
fine freestone. They resemble the single steps of a giant's
staircase; and by this name they might fitly rank as one of the
wonders of the world. Lock succeeds lock, mighty gates close them,
and the large vessel rises miraculously to the giddy heights in a
wildly romantic country.
Scarcely arrived at the locks, the traveller is surrounded by a
crowd of boys, who offer their services as guides to the waterfalls
near Trollhatta. There is abundance of time for this excursion; for
the passage of the ship through the many locks occupies three to
four hours, and the excursion can be made in half the time. Before
starting, it is, however, advisable to climb the rock to which the
locks ascend. A pavilion is erected on its summit, and the view
from it down over all the locks is exceedingly fine.
Pretty paths hewn out of the wood lead to Trollhatta, which is
charmingly situated in a lovely valley, surrounded by woods and
hills, on the shore of a river, whose white foaming waves contrast
strongly with the dark foliage of the overshadowing groves. The
canal, which describes a large semicircle round the chief stream,
glitters in the distance; but the highest locks are quite concealed
behind rocks; we could neither observe the opening of the gates nor
the rising of the water in them, and were therefore surprised when
suddenly the masts and then the ship itself rose from the depth. An
invisible hand seemed to raise it up between the rocks.
The falls of the river are less distinguished for their height than
for their diversity and their volumes of water.
