entleman who enters
deposits his hat and cane. In the centre of the room stands a small
table, upon which are several decanters containing "schnapps," a pile
of brown bread sliced, various plates of biscuit and thin flour-cake,
butter, and pickled fish. Around this the customers gather to acquire
an appetite, which they accomplish by drinking one or two glasses of
schnapps, eating a few small fish (stromung) spread upon their bread
and butter, and then drinking some schnapps. They then go in to
dinner, and call for what they want, including the various wines
necessary for the process of digestion. Having eaten heartily and
emptied a few bottles of wine, they wind up with coffee and cognac or
maraschino. One would think such a process every day would burn the
lining off the best stomach in the world; but the Swedes, like the
Russians, have gutta-percha stomachs. The same system, it is true,
prevails in San Francisco, only in a different form, and the same
consequences generally ensue. People are very apt to get up from the
table with a rush of blood to the head, a general obliquity of vision,
and a peculiar weakness in the knees. I tried it myself by way of
experiment, and was sick of a headache for three days after. Somehow I
can travel a long distance on foot without getting tired, but my
stomach is not lined with sheet iron. I have seen women and children
drink at a single sitting enough of intoxicating beverages, since my
arrival in Europe, to have capsized me for a month. This, I think,
will account for the prevalence of bloated bodies and red noses in
these highly civilized countries.

I had read somewhere, before visiting Sweden, that the Swedes are not
very sociable toward strangers. Perhaps in this respect they do not
produce so favorable an impression as the Germans, but my experience
has been such as to give me a very pleasant idea of their social
qualities. It is true they are not so demonstrative in their manners
as the French, or so enthusiastic as the Germans; but I found no
difficulty in becoming acquainted with them, and was invariably
treated with kindness and hospitality. When a Swede manifests an
interest in your behalf, it is pretty certain that he feels it. If you
become acquainted with one respectable family, you have a general
entree into the entire social circle. No pains are spared to render
your visit agreeable; and although the demonstrations of kindness are
never intrusive, you feel that the