The Cruise of the Calgaric

10 STOCKHOLM

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STOCKHOLM
THE APPROACH to Stockholm is one of the loveliest things in the world. It was an exquisite day, all blue and gold, as our ship threaded her way through the narrow channel between tree-covered islands. There are said to be eight thousand islands in the Stockholm group alone, and they seemed to surge up around us like a school of porpoises.
Gulls followed the ship, gliding and wheeling; every now and then one of them would make a side-slip and then recover its balance.
The water was glassy and the piled-up clouds were mirrored in it, even more lovely in the reflection than in the reality. The ship seemed to be floating along on an enchanted sea.
It was about one o'clock when we anchored, a stone's throw from the "Old Town" of Stockholm, and the Swedish delegation came on board to have luncheon with us. The Scout delegation consisted of the Chief Scout, Major Ebbe Lieberath and Mr. Sven Thiel, the International Commissioner. The Guides were represented by the heads of the two Associations, Miss Maria Dillner and Mrs. Elsa Cedergren and Mrs. Bergstrom. The two Associations are "The Swedish Girl Scout Association" and "The Swedish Y.W.C.A. Girl Scout Association." They have a joint Central Council and both wear dark blue uniform.
At Stockholm we had the pleasant surprise of finding one of our own English Commissioners, Miss D. M. Powell, of Hove, who had been visiting the Guides there.
The British Scouters and Guiders landed as soon as possible and were taken for a drive round the city in buses, accompanied by Scouts and Guides speaking English to perfection and well-primed with information about their own town.
Stockholm is well-known among the capitals of Europe for its beauty. It was built originally on three islands and has now spread over several more: it is therefore intersected at every point by narrow inlets of the sea and is called "the Venice of the North."
In Stockholm, instead of taking a bus or a train to another part of the town, you take a steamer. Quantities of these ply backwards and forwards across the harbour and out to the islands. In the summer very few people remain in Stockholm: each

family betakes itself to its own island, where the wife and children spend the day in and out of the water, while the man comes in to his office in Stockholm. In the evening the outward bound steamers are as crowded with home-going "daily breaders" as the trains from Victoria to Croydon.
In addition to the innumerable waterways in the town there are many fountains, which light up even the narrow streets of the Old Town.
Stockholm is full of interesting buildings, both ancient and modern, but the most interesting of all is the newly-built Town Hall, which is one of the new wonders of the world and a standing witness to the fact that a modern building can be "a thing of beauty and a joy for ever."
Unlike the House of the Diet in Helsinki, the Town Hall in Stockholm is built of red brick. It has not, however, the flat, monotonous surface and colour of most red brick buildings, because the face of each brick has been worked by hand, which makes the surface uneven. One enters through an archway into a most beautiful courtyard: one side of this is open arcading and beyond there is a terrace with grass and flowers giving on to an inlet of the sea. From the courtyard one passes into a magnificent hall, where the sunlight streams in from the upper part of the walls, which is made of glass: ascending a wide flight of steps at one end one comes into the banqueting hall, where the walls are entirely made of gold mosaic. Some people do not admire the colossal figures which are set in the mosaic, but the whole effect is very gorgeous. There are many other halls and rooms, both large and small, decorated with frescoes.
There is also a very fine modern church in Stockholm, the Engelbrechtskyrkan. The two most interesting old churches are the Storkyrkan or Great Church, built in 1264, and containing a very famous St. George and the Dragon, in carved wood; and the Riddarsholm Church, in which all the Swedish kings are buried. It was built by King Magnus about 1280 and is, as it were, the Westminster Abbey of Sweden.
The sight-seeing drive ended at Skansen, which is a sort of combination of a park, a zoo, and a museum. It is full of beautiful trees and groves, and in among these are enclosures where various native birds and animals of Sweden are kept, almost in freedom, but with log shelters for winter. There are bears, deer of different kinds, etc. Besides the animals, there are families of peasants from various outlying provinces of Sweden, wearing their native dress and living in their own houses, which have been transplanted here to show the different types of dwelling-placesome of them very simple and primitive.
The whole is very harmonious, and forms a wonderful epitome of Swedish life and customs. Part of the park stands high above the harbour, with a lovely view of the hills opposite, and here on the terrace we were given a splendid tea by the Scouts and Guides Associations. Admiral Prince Bernadotte, the brother of the King of

Photo] [M. Crowdy
WAVING A WELCOME, SWEDEN

Photo] [W. M. Comber
NEARING STOCKHOLM

Photo] [W. M. Comber
STOCKHOLM

Photo] [W. M. Comber
VIEW FROM SKANSEN

Photo] [M. Crowdy
THE GARDEN PARTY AT SKANSEN

Photo] [M Crowdy
CARRYING THE CHIEF SCOUT, STOCKHOLM

Sweden, and Princess Bernadotte, attended the party: their daughter, Mrs. Cedergren, is the head of the Y.W.C.A. Guides.
While we were having tea, Miss Dillner, the head of the National Movement, made a very witty speech to us. She said:
"Many centuries ago we people of the North visited you in Britain, and to-day you have come to visit us in return—but there are several differences between us. When we visited you, we needed a whole fleet of Viking ships: you to-day need but one ship, though she is a very large one. We were strong, and so are you, very strong, but you bring friendship instead of bows and arrows, good will instead of burning boats. You take away with you a strong feeling of understanding instead of stolen treasure. How much nicer you are than we were! Please do look over our town. Scouts and Guides are ready and eager to guide you, so pick out the ones you like the looks of, and they will take you where you will. Everything is open to you, and please receive our welcome from every Scout and Guide!"
Miss Dillner read to us a telegram from H.R.H. the Crown Princess of Sweden, expressing her extreme regret at being unable to be present.
After tea we adjourned to a clearing among the birch trees, where the Swedish Guides and Scouts, Wolf Cubs and "Blue Wings" stood massed below a little hill on which stood the Chiefs with their principal hosts and hostesses.
There were four tall flagstaffs, the outer two bearing the Swedish flag and the inner two the Union Jack. All four were slowly hoisted simultaneously and both National Anthems were sung.
Major Lieberath made a speech in which he said that the Swedish Scouts were now seeing for the third time their Founder and Chief—but this was far too seldom and they hoped he would come to them, not three times, but thirty-three.
To which the Chief replied that nothing would please him better, and that in that case he would not make a speech now but would wait till the thirty-third time and then give them a good one. He must say to them that however fond he might be of other countries, when he came to Sweden he always felt as if he had come home.
Mrs. Cedergren made a speech of welcome to Lady Baden-Powell, for this was her first official visit to the Guides of Sweden. She congratulated the Chief Guide on having been the one to originate the idea of this cruise. If Man be the head, as we are usually told, Woman is often the neck which turns the head, and where Guides are concerned one can be sure that the neck will always turn the head in the right direction.
The Chief Scout then descended the hill to have a look at the Scouts, but he got more than he bargained for, as he was promptly seized and tossed in the air (before the anxious eyes of his wife) and then carried up and down the lines, lying full length on the Scouts' shoulders. He was brought back to the terrace and safely deposited,

whereupon he thanked the Scouts for his nice free ride. The Chief Guide was then seized, and though not actually tossed, was carried round by a party of girls, including the two Chief Commissioners. She looked thoroughly at ease in this novel form of carriage, and smiled and waved like royalty from its state coach.
After this came a march past of the Swedish Scouts and Guides, in which the British joined, bringing up the rear.
The Scouters and Guiders were then left free to do as they liked, and most of them spent the evening in Stockholm. The Chiefs and their party were entertained to dinner by Count Folke Bernadotte, the brother of Mrs. Cedergren, in his charming house, which used to be the Mess of a celebrated Swedish regiment.
Next morning, August 21st, was occupied with independent sight-seeing in Stockholm. Some of us were taken for a drive into the country to see a model dairy farm, some went for excursions by boat, and some pottered about in the Old Town or did shopping in the New.
The Chiefs and their staff had luncheon with the British Minister and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Clarke Kerr, at the Legation.
Many Scouts and Guides were on the quay to see us off when we returned to the ship. We left Stockholm soon after two o'clock and made our way out again between the lovely little wooded islands, finally emerging once more into the open sea.
Drawing by H. E. C. Brickell

Photo] [M. Crowdy
THE "CALGARIC" AT STOCKHOLM

THE TOWN HALL TERRACE, STOCKHOLM

Photo] [M. Crowdy
MRS. KERR LECTURING