"J give tiefe.Jibate- i far\the founding of a. College in- this Colmey •iffiLii^MviEissinnr- • ILHIBIK^IKy • Anonymous Gift HU ABOUT HOLLAND." SOME PRESS NOTICES. " By far the best, cheapest, and most practical and interesting guide to Holland which has been published in England." — Black and White. " This little manual is packed with facts, and positively bristles with exact information and pithy hints."— Speaker. " Has the merit of cheapness and wealth of illustration. It contains a great deal of information about what is worth seeing in the country, brightly and pleasantly put together." — Times. " The illustrations throughout the book are numerous and good, and the author treats his subject as if he both knew it and loved it. He praises other writers on this subject generously, quotes (not too freely) from them, and gives exact references to them, so that it is easy to compile a little Netherlandish library from him, in which his own volume will well deserve to rest. Let us add, as a mechanical but far from unimportant detail, that the book has, what is all but indispensable in a guide book, but is too rarely provided, an appendix of blank pages." — Saturday Review. " Certainly the author has produced a very handy and at ractive book. Mr. Matheson takes you about pleasantly from place to place, furnishing you meanwhile with a short vocabulary and a brief cambist. The little book is profusely illustrated, and, as all guide-books should be, is furnished with a few blank pages for memoranda." — Daily Chronicle. " A comprehensive, compact, and entertaining guide to visitors of that interesting country. The author's charmingly illustrated pages will make all his readers desire to visit scenes he describes and pictures so attract ively." — Daily Telegraph. " A prettily illustrated and pleasantly written practical guide."— Pall Mall Gazette. "This is quite a model of its kind, cheap, compact, and yet entirely adequate for the purpose to which it will be put." — Globe. " A useful little guide, with concise directions for tours in Holland, description of places, a short Dutch vocabulary." — St. James's Gazette. " As to a handbook as a companion — and their name is legion — none appear to hit the right hint as to ' what to see and how to see it ' so neatly as Mr. Greville E. Matheson's little book "* About Holland.' Besides the general maps, it contains route maps of towns, and other maps with schemes for tours, and any number of pretty pictures." — Westminster Budget. "Carefully and brightly ^ written. The holiday maker ma}' be con fidently recommended to devote himself to Holland, and he can't do better than read Mr. Matheson's little book before he starts and take it with him."— The Sketch. " An admirable little handbook.'' — Graphic. " This is an excellent little book ; well written, well illustrated, and well supplied with maps and plans likely to make easy the path ot the visitor to Holland. Not only has Mr. Matheson produced a really useful and practical guide, which should be of great assistance to anyone travelling in Holland, but he has also succeeded in writing a very interest ing book about the Land of Dykes and Windmills, which can be read quietly at home, with advantage and enjoyment, by anyone desirous of gaining information on so unique a country."— Wusn-atcd Sporting and Dramatic Neivs. Press Notices. "An excellent guide-book in all ways." — Vanity Fair. " Both practical and entertaining."— Ladies' Pictorial. "Most thorough-going."— Daily Graphic. "Those wishing to go to Holland cannot do better than provide themselves with this book, which, while being pleasantly written, omits nothing likely to be of use or interest to the visitor." — Morning Post. " The writer has known how to make his information compact and precise, while avoiding the flatness held native to Batavian themes." — National Observer. " Altogether the book is much to be commended." — Queen. "An interesting little work." — Field. Mr. Matheson has succeeded in not only producing a work which will prove indispensable to visitors, but in supplying the reading public with a volume that will be found exceedingly interesting. The illustrations and maps are both numerous and good. Altogether the book is one of the best and cheapest of its kind."— Dundee Courier. "This neatly executed volume is the best guide to Holland we have ever come across— or perhaps we must call it a description, for the little book is too well written to be classed amongst guides." — Stock Exchange. "Mr. Matheson's book is a model in its way, and displays full acquaintance with the country founded on practical experience." — Dundee Advertiser. "The volume is excellently illustrated, and is in all respects a desirable guide-book." — The Scotsman. " We_ should rerommend every British tourist to Holland to arm himself with a copy of this guide." — Fairplay. " A really delightful guide— pleasantly written, capitally illustrated, and highly practical." — News of the World. "We shall be very much surprised if Mr. Greville E. Matheson's cheap and excellent guide-book, ' About Holland,' does not induce many tourists to visit that country.'' — Manchester Examiner. "A most attractive manual, with scores of pictures, large and small and all sorts of information, becoming a tempting volume about a tempt ing place." — Liverpool Mercury. Recommended. MADEIRA AND THE CANARY ISLES. A Practical and Complete Guide for the use of Invalids and Tourists. With Eleven Maps and Five Plans. By A. Samler Brown. {Third and Revised Edition.) SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LIMITED, ST. DUNSTAN'S HOUSE, FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.G. "An excellent Guide Lo Madeira and the Canary Islands." — Field. ABOUT HOLLAND. ABOUT HOLLAND; PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR VISITORS. GREVILLE E. MATHESON. lontfon : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., Limited, Paternoster Row. 1893. WATKRLOW AND SONS, LIMITED, GREAT WINCHESTER .STREET, Hertogenboscti B E maas/tricmtF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Holland . I'AGK 9 II. How to Get There . 32 III. Zeeland 40 IV. From Middelburg to Rotterdam 5S V. Rotterdam . . 65 VI. Delft . . .74 VII. The Hague and Scheveningen 78 VIII. Leyden . 90 IX. Haarlem .... • 97 X. Amsterdam . . 105 XI. North Holland . 122 XII. Utrecht and Arnhem . ... 138 XIII. The Northern Provinces . . 146 XIV. From Arnhem to Breda . . 158 XV. Boating in Holland .... 162 XVI. Cycling and Skating in Holland. . . 178 INDEX Aanspreker, The AlkmaarAlva, Duke of AmersfoortAmsterdam Anna Paulowna polder , ApeldoornArea of Holland Arminius Army of Holland Arnemuiden . ArnhemArt, Dutch Assen PAGE 27 Brielle 124-127 Broek . J3 Bronbeek . : . 142 Brouwer 105-119 Brouwershaven 19, 127 Buiksloot • H7 12 • 73, 92 12 58 Cabs 142-145 Caf< M5 (Joes 5S Koen, Jan 12q Goldsmith in Holland 02 Kortenaer, Admiral 69 Gomarus. 92 Koudekerke . 59 72 Kronimenie 124 Groningen, Province of. I55» 156 Kwadijk . i;s 133 „ Town of 156* *57 „ Skating at . 182 Gronovius, Jacob . 14H Grotius, Hugo 77, 02 Haarlem . . Haarlemmer Meer . Hague, The . Hallweg . Language 20,21, App. B Laren . , uo Leeu warden . . 152 Leicester, Earl of . 53, 75, 79 Leidschendam . . SS Leyden 90-95 " Log of the Lat/ybird" 167-177 Loo, The . . . T4- Index. PAG If PAGE Maastricht 160 Railways, Dutch 22, 25 26, 39. Maes, Nicolas . 64, 84, 112, 114 App. A Marken, Island of. i34-!36 Registration of baggage App. A Medemblik . . 132 Religion of Holland 12 Meerenberg . 104 Rembrandt 69, 83, 95, 112, 114, 116 Meppel .... 152 Restaurants . 3° Mercantile Marine, Dutch 12 Return tickets App. A Merwede, The 60 Rhederoord . H5 Merwede canal 17 Rijks Museum in, 112 Metsu . 95 Rijnsburg 96 Middachten 145 Rijswijk . 77 Middelburg ¦ 49-53 Rilland Bath . 5s Mierevelt 77 Robinson, John 95 Mint, The National 141 Roosendaal , 59 Rotterdam ¦ 65-71 Monnikendam 133 Routes, Boating . 164, 169 Muiden . 120 ,, Cycling . 179 Muiderberg , 120 Rowing Clubs, Dutch • 177 Rozendaal 145 Rubens 69, 84, 86 Naarden 120 Navy, Dutch 12, 128 Sailing Clubs, Dutch • 177 Nieuwe Diep . 128 St. Laurens . 57 Nieuweschans J57 Saturday till Monday trips App. A Night-boats ¦ 35> 3*5 92 Nijmegen 158 Schagen ¦-7 Noordwijk-aan-Zee ¦ 96 Schalken *4 North Holland 122-136 Scheffer, Ary 63 Nonh Holland canal 17, 120 S chellingwoude 120 North Sea canal .17 104, 120 Schermerhorn 127 Schermermeer Polder r27 Scheveningen , c7, 88 Schiedam 73 Oldenbarneveld 14, 82, 85 Schouten 129. 130 Onze Lieve Vrouwe poldei 55 Schouw • 132 Oostkapelle . 57 Schouwen 40-42 Opera 71, Tig Serooskerke 57 Oranjezon 55 Sight-seeing . 3° Organ at Haarlem . IOI 's Gravenhage . 88,86 Oudeschild 128 's Hertogenbosch . 159, 160 Oudewater 73 Skating 181-184 Overduin 55 Sneek 152, 153 Over-IJssel 148-150 Snyders . . 69, 84 Soestdijk 142 Sonsbeek 145 Passport*; . 3° Pepys . .37) 75. 78 Peter the Great . . 124 Philip II. of Spain 13 Pilgrim Fathers . . 95 Polders . . . .19, 98, 127 Spinoza . Stavoren Steen, Jan . 69, 84 Storks . Sydney, Sir Philip Synod of Dort • 85 132, 153 95, 112, 114 . 36, 85 45, 147 61 Population of Holland . 12 » Postage . 29 Poste Restante Potter, Paul . 241 83, 84 29 , 112, 131 Taking one's ticket Tasman . Telegrams 34 Purmerend 128 29 Temple, Sir William 80 Teniers 84 Queenboro' and Flushing ine Terburg 84, 102, 112, 148 32-3' , App. A Terneuzen 57 Index PAGE PAGE Veur 88 Thackeray on Holland u, 84, no Vink, The . 89 Theatres , 30,71, ng Vlaardingen 7* Tholen .... "40, 57, 58 Vogeleczang . 96 Tickets . . . ,34, App, A Volendam i34 Tilburg ... 160 Vondel . 114 Time, Dutch . . 31 Vo or burg 88 Time tables . , 22 Voorschoten 89 Time, Best, for a visit . 15 Tips . . 30 Tollens . 70 Trekschuiten . 18 Tromp, Admiral . , 14, 71, 76 Wageningen 142 Trotting matches at Alkmaar 127 Walcheren 40-44 Warmond 0 Weights and measures . yj Westhove 55 Westkapelle . 57 Westwoud _ ¦ 130 Uitgeest . . . .124 Willeinssluis 16, 123 Universities . 92, 140, 153, 157 William of Orange 13 15, 61, 76, 77 Uik, Island of . 165, 176 Willibrord, Bishop 57- 139 Utrecht . . 138-142 Windmills ,. 16, 123 Winterswtjk . • '47 Wouverman . 84. 112 Wykerbrug, The . 88 Van Brakel, Admiral . . 69 Van de Veldes, The 24, 84, 95, 102, Van der Heist . 112 Zaandam 123 Van der Meer . 84 Zandvoort 104 Van der Neer ... 24 Zeeduin Van der Werff, Burgomaster 94 Zeeland . 40-57 Van Dyck ... 69, 84 Zeeland Steamship Company Van Goyen .... 24 32-39 , App. A Van Mieris ... 84, 95 Zeist 142 Van Ostades, The . 24, 69, 84, 112 Zierikzee 57 Van Ruysdaels, The . 24, 84, 112 Zoutelande 57 Veere .... 54.55 Zuider Zee, Draining the 19 Velp . . . . 145 Zutphen 147 Venloo . . . 160 Zwaluwe . I S3 Zwolle 149, IfO NOTE. n^HANKS are due to several friends for valuable assistance in the compilation of this little book ; notably to the writer of " The Log of the Ladybird," and to Mr. C. A. A. Dudok de Wit, Secretary of the Amsterdamsche Sport Club and Treasurer of the Y Sailing Club, who has furnished data for Chapters XV. and XVI. G. E. M. " What land is this that seems to be A mingling of the land and sea ? This- land of sluices, dykes, and dunes ? This water-net that tesselates The landscape? this unending maze Of gardens, through whose latticed gates Ihe imprisoned pinks and tulips gaze ; Where in long summer aftirnoons 'Ihe sunshine, softened by the haze, Comes streaming down as through a screen; Where over fields and pastures g/een The painted ships float high in air, And over all and everywhere The sails of windmills sink and soar Like wings of sea-gulls on the shore?" Her Majesty the Queen of Holland in Frisian Costume. ABOUT HOLLAND. CHAPTER I. HOLLAND. j It is " the proper thing " to spend a holiday in Switzerland or Germany, to run across lor a few days to Brussels or Paris ; and probably a goodly proportion of English people are familiar with Notre Dame or the Cathedral of Saint Gudule, have wandered around the Alster, or have seen Mont Blanc. But Holland has been, at all events until the last few years, almost a terra incognita to the ordinary holiday-maker. The artist, and perhaps the American, who comes over prepared to have a " good time " and to visit every country of Europe, will go on from Antwerp or Brussels, having seen the Rubens and Dierick Bouts, to Amsterdam and the Hague, to see the Rembrandts and Paul Potters. But the majority of people who want to go on the Continent for a short time have hitherto chosen to go anywhere rather than to Holland, which they supposed was a wet flat kind of country, and very uninteresting withal. And yet there is so much to see and enjoy in 10 Dutch Art. the Netherlands. It is true there are no mountains for the climber, and the latter end of the Rhine is not so romantic or beautiful as its earlier career in Germany ; but there is plenty of picturesqueness and colour, as the artist knows ; there are many old-world buildings and relics, as the American is aware ; and there is a great deal that is generally interesting to anybody who has eyes and ears and knows how to use them. One great enjoyment about a Continental trip of any kind is surely the actual getting away into a A Unique strange land among a people living a Country, different life from one's own — • " Out of my country and myself I go." And Hol land is quite unlike any other coun try. A great part of it has been s natch ed from the sea, and it is only by immense labour and ingenuity, and at a great cost, that it still remains dry land. "Who ever looks for the first time at a large map of Holland," wiites De Amicis, " wonders that a country so constituted can continue to exist. At the first glance it is difficult to ^say SOME DUTCH COSTUMES. Thackeray on Holland. i r whether land or water predominates, or whether Holland belongs most to the continent or to the sea. Those broken and compressed coasts, those deep bays, those great rivers, that, losing the aspect of rivers, seem bringing new seas to the sea ; and that sea, which, changing itself into rivers, penetrates the land and breaks it into archipelagoes ; the lakes, the vast morasses, the canals crossing and recrossing each other, all combine to give the idea of a country that may at any moment disintegrate and disappear." The Dutch have often been called amphibious, and more than one well-known writer has waxed witty at - their expense. But nobody can visit Holland and come away without a great respect and admiration for a people who have so bravely, and with such per severance and ingenuity, fought against the very elements for the strip of country which they inhabit and love. Holland is a small country, and is therefore suitable for a short holiday. A bird's-eye view of nearly the Multum in whole of it can be obtained, it is said, from Parvo. the top of one high tower. The visitor comes away with a feeling of satisfaction that he has seen so much of a country in so short a time. " If thou wilt see much in little," wrote Thomas Fuller, " travel the Low Countries." Most people must have read that delightful Roundabout Paper of Thackeray's entitled " Notes of a _ . Week's Holiday." The great novelist seems on to have revelled in his visit to Holland. Holland. Qn the railway journey "through the vast gieen flats, speckled by spotted cows and bounded by a gay frontier of windinills;" at Rotter dam, "swarming and humming with life," where the only bitterness in his cup was the florin which was charged at his hotel for a bottle of pale ale ; at the Hague, " the prettiest little brick city, with the pleasantest park to ride in, the neatest comfortable people walking about, the canals not unsweet, and 12 Facts and Figures. busy and picturesque with old-world life ;" at Amster dam, " which," he says, " is as good as Venice, with a superadded humour and grotesqueness which gives the sightseer the most singular zest and pleasure,'' — wherever he went he was bubbling over with enjoyment. It is perhaps well to recall to the memory of the intending visitor to Holland a few dry facts and Facts and figures relating to the country. They Figures, need not be read, but will be here for reference, if required. The kingdom of Holland consists of eleven provinces, and contains a total area of 12,680 square miles, with a population of about 4,500,000. Three-fifths of the people belong to the Dutch Reformed Church ; of the remainder the majority are Roman Catholics, while a small number are Jews. The royal navy consists of about 150 men-of-war, of which 26 are ironclads. The army consists of 2,688 officers and 50,966 men, with a militia {schutterij) numbering about 43,716. The mercantile marine consists of about 118 steamers and 500 sailing vessels. The visitor to Holland, wherever he goes, will find that he is " travelling in the prints of olden wars." Historical Each town and village that he may Interest, visit has its history, its own little history which goes to make up the great story of the long struggle waged by the Dutch in the sixteenth century for freedoni. A course of Motley beforehand will add much to the pleasure of a trip. " The Rise of the Dutch Republic" and "The United Netherlands" are somewhat bulky books to read, but the story of the Netherlands during their fierce prolonged fight with the Spaniards is intensely interesting, and such towns as Leyden and Haarlem, for example, will be doubly worth a visit if the memorable siege of each be familiar to the visitor.* * The laic Professor ThoroUl Rogers' " Holland " in '' The Story of Ihe Nations " series is an interesting resume of| the history of Holland. Published by T. Fisher Unwin. Price ss. History. 13 Motley, in the historical introduction to his "Rise of the Dutch Republic," gives a detailed account Early °f the early history of Holland. In the History, time of Julius Cassar the greater part of the country was a morass, covered with great forests and frequently submerged by the sea. This was known as Batavia. After the conquest of the Belgians, the Batavians became allies of Rome, and later on, in the fourth century, they disappeared, being merged in the Frisian tribes, who occupied more northern dis tricts. The Franks came swarming into the north west of Europe, and their sovereigns nominally ruled Holland for a time, one of them, Dagobert, founding the first Christian Church at Utrecht. In 785 the Frisians, after frequent rebellions, were completely subjugated by Charlemagne, who appointed rulers over them, leaving them, however, their own laws and customs. In the tenth century the Netherlands passed from France to Germany, and the various petty sovereign ties of Holland became hereditary. The Counts of Holland and the Prince Bishops were for centuries famous for their wealth and power. From 1437 Philip, Duke of Burgundy, and his descendants ruled the country, and at the beginning of the sixteenth century the various provinces were united and put under the power of Charles V. of Spain. Under Philip, the son of Charles V,, a revolt broke out, headed by the Prince of Orange, Xne on account of an attempt to infringe Great War. the liberties of the provinces ; and as the Protestants were very numerous, the struggle really became one between the adherents of the Catholic and the reformed religions. An army under the Duke of Alva was sent from Spain to suppress the insurrection, and to root out the heretics. By behead ing, hanging, burning, and racking, the Duke of Alva put to death some 100,000 persons, while many thou sands were driven out of the country. The insurrec tion soon became a war of independence under the , , History. leadership of William of Orange. Eventually the Dutch Protestants were successful, and several of the provinces, renouncing their allegiance to Spain, pro claimed the Prince of Orange Stadholder, and by a treaty at Utrecht (1579) laid the foundation of the Dutch Republic. In 1584 William of Orange was killed, and was suc ceeded as Stadholder by his son Maurice. Under the latter the Republic grew and flourished, in Its After Spite of the severe theological disputes which were rife, and in consequence of which the Pensionary John Van Oldenbarneveld was put to death by Maurice. In 1625 Frederick Henry became Stadholder, and the Republic reached its climax. The commerce of Holland was at its full glory, and Dutch navigators, painters, and scientists were renowned all the world over. In r647 Frederick Henry died, and his son Wiiliam, who succeeded him, only living a few years, John de Witt was appointed Grand Pensionary. In 1652 the first naval war wiih England broke out in consequence of the Navigation Act which was passed by the English Parliament, and which was intended to promote the navigation of Britain and to strike a blow at the naval power of the Dutch. Admirals Tromp and De Ruyter came to the fore, and the English fleet suffered more than one heavy reverse. In 1664 a second war broke out, and during this De Ruyter suc ceeded in sailing ujj the Thames as far as Chatham. Louis XIV of France had for some time been casting covetous eyes on the Netherlands, alleging a right to them on behalf of his Spanish wife, Maria Theresa, but he was checkmated by the triple alliance formed between Holland, England, and Sweden. In 1672 England went to war with Holland again, and in the same year, the triple alliance having been dissolved, Louis took possession of certain Dutch provinces, and De Witt, widi his brother, was killed by the infuriated Dutch mob at Best Time for a Visit. 1 5 the Hague. The young Prince of Orange became Stadholder, and in 1688 was crowned William III. of England. He continued to hold the office of Stad holder, and England and Holland declared war against France. The war lasted for about eight years, and eventually resulted in the discomfiture of Louis. In 1795 the French Republic took possession of Holland, and in 1805 Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, was made King. Five years later, Bonaparte formally annexed Holland, under the pretext that it was an alluvion of French rivers. In 181 3 the Dutch, with the help of Russia and Prussia, expelled the French, and in 1815 the Prince of Orange was created King of the Netherlands, under the title of William I. To him have succeeded William II. and William III., and the throne is now occupied by the young Queen Wilhelmina, who was born in 1880, her mother acting as Queen Regent. Spring is perhaps the pleasantest time in which to visit Holland. The green country — and it is very green — is at its best, and the weather is Best ™jmef°r not likely to be too hot. Moreover, the bulbs about Haarlem, which are referred to later, are in their full glory. There is only one drawback, and that after all is a very minor one, which need not be seriously taken into account. The Dutch cleanliness has long been proverbial, and in the early part of the year the Dutch housewife runs riot and spring-cleaning is rampant. The hose is turned on the fronts of houses on the slightest provo cation, so that the unwary traveller should look to it that he gets not a sudden ducking. At the museums and picture galleries it is just possible that the unlucky sightseer may find that the rooms, or the pictures, or the attendants (he will possibly not quite understand which) are being cleaned, and that consequently ingress to some of the finest treasures is barred for a time. May, June, July, and September are pleasant months for a visit. 1 6 Dykes and Draining. As the greater part of Holland lies some feet below the level of the sea, it will readily be understood that dykes are a very important feature of the Draining.1 countI7 ; and some of these are worth a visit if the visitor have plenty of timeon hishands. Of course, if he is trying to get through as much as he possibly can in a few days, he may have to content himself with merely viewing the dykes from boat or train For the most part they are composed of earth and sand and clay, kept together by willows, which are carefully planted and tended. Some of the dykes — for example, the gigantic one at the Helder — are built of masonry. Many of them are broad at the top, and being paved with clinkers, form very good carriage roads. The dunes or sandhills, which line the coas% also serve as a barrier against the ocean. They are systematically sown at regular intervals with a coarse grass, which holds the fand together. About six million guilders are spent annually by the Dutch Government in keeping the dykes in order, and a special body of engineers, De Waterstaat, is appointed to look after them. An elaborate system of drainage has also to be maintained throughout the country by means of powerful engines, windmills, etc. It must be remembered that the Dutch people have not only to fight against the in roads of the salt water, but they have also to deal with many rivers, which, taking their rise in other countries, choose Holland for their final exit into the sea. Consequently, when there are heavy rains, say, in Germany, the Rhine brings down an immense volume of water to add to t ae troublesome superfluity already enjoyed by Holland. Hundreds o f windmills {mole?i) are to Windmills. be secn on every hand as Windmills and Canals. 17 one travels about. Many of these are used for draining, but some are employed in grinding corn, cutting timber, etc. The sightseer may come across an immense one right in the heart of a busy town — in Rotterdam, for example. At the little village of Zaandam there are no less than four hundred. (See page 123.) IN HOLLAND. There are canals almost everywhere in Holland. They drain the country ; they serve as roads, and as hedges, dividing field from field and house ana s. from nouse. The two principal canals are the North Holland canal, which was constructed in 1819-25, from Amsterdam to the Helder, and which is 46 miles in length, T30 feet broad, and 20 feet deep ; and the North Sea canal, stretching from Amsterdam to the east coast, which was built about twenty years ago, and which is about 15 miles in length* about 22 feet in depth, and of a width varying from 65 to 1 to yards. (See page 120.) These canals are provided with immense sluice-gates, etc., and their construction has cost an enormous sum. The Merwede canal, to connect Amsterdam with the Rhine, now in course of construction, will be about 44 miles long, while its i8 Trekschuiten. average width will be about 100 feet. After leaving Amsterdam, passes Utrecht, and enters the Lek near Vreeswyk. It will stretch from Vreeswyk till it enters the Merwede, a branch of the Maas, and the Waal delta, a little below Gorinchem. The trekschuiten or barges which navigate the Dutch canals have been called the gondolas of Holland. Like the coaches in England, Trekschuiten. they haye been repiace(i by the raiiways for the most part as far as passenger traffic is con cerned. But here and there this old form of travel ling survives, and it is a pleasant experience to make a journey in one of these old-fashioned boats. Here is a description of one of them : "The vehicle which carries you is a very long and rather narrow barge, always low in tbe water, painted gener ally white and green, with a deck cabin in two compartments running nearly the entire length, and having a roof covered with a combination of sand pulverised cockle-shells, and bitumen, affording an easy foothold. Here is the standpoint whence to look Draining the Zuider Zee. 19 (unless the rising of the banks forbids it) upon Dutch pictures untouched — broad sweeps of pollard land, armies of windmills, often so clustered together that they seem as ten in one, or as five to five engaged in battle, countless lines of trickling water, endless rows of lime and willow. Out of the cottages come the children, rough in dress but clean, who run down to the canal's edge, and rarely fail to recognise someone who smokes or smiles or labours in the familiar barge." A polder is a lake or swamp which has been reclaimed by drainage. Almost every year more water is drained off, and more dry land 0 ers' obtained for agricultural purposes by the Dutch. Huge dykes are built to prevent the inroad of any fresh water, and the lake so dammed is gradually drained by means of pumps set in motion by windmills or steam-engines. The Anna Paulowna polder in the province of North Holland has been reclaimed from the Zuider Zee. The Haarlemmer Meer is referred to on page 98, and the reclamation of this was a wonderful piece of engineering. These polders are extremely fertile, and well repay the immense cost of draining and keeping in order. The Dutch have long dreamed of converting the Zuider Zee into a vast polder. A State Commission has been formed in order to decide upon Draining the some practicable scheme. There are Zuider Zee. -, , c -i - ¦ .. u t .1. plenty of plans in existence, but the most favoured project suggests the construction of a huge dyke from the coast of Friesland to the island of Wieringen. The portion of the Zuider Zee thus dammed in would be divided into four portions (marked A, B, C, and D in the accompanying plan), from which the water would be gradually pumped out. A lake would be left in the centre of the new polder, connected by canals with the North Sea and the North Sea canal, so as to leave navigable water ways, while a railway could be built along the dyke, uniting Amsterdam and the provinces. The work, if Language. ever carried out, will occupy about thirty years and cost many millions. The less said .about the Dutch language the better — that is, from the point of view of the casual visitor, who will probably find it as hard to make Language. « ^ accents coom " as Hans Breitmann found was the case with German. One advantage of choosing Holland as a holiday resort is that the Money. 21 majority of the Dutch people know some English, even if they are not " fond of it to distraction," as was averred by the captain of the Amsterdam boat in " The Vicar of Wakefield." The Dutch appear to be able to learn foreign languages with great facility ; even among the lowest orders many persons may be found who speak several languages. This may partly be accounted for by the fact that their own language is but little understood out of Holland, and the Dutch are, in self-defence, obliged to acquire the tongues of other nations in order to engage in business, etc. In addition to English, French and German are spoken at most of the hotels in Holland, and a few easy Dutch words, such as besteller (porter) and vigelante (cab), will work wonders en route. A short vocabulary of useful phrases translated into Dutch will be found in Appendix B. Before going to Holland, it is advisable to make oneself acquainted with the mysteries of the Dutch coinage, which after all is not so very oney' mysterious. The stranger is rather apt to treat the guilder, which is the principal silver coin, too much as if it were equivalent to a shilling, but he will find that the balance will come out on the wrong side, as the guilder equals is. 8d. Then the dubbeltje, a silver coin representing twopence, is so ridiculously tiny that one loses sight of its real value, and is inclined to squander in a small way. The following table will be useful : — ;,. d. Copper — 1 cent 2j „ = 0 of — Halve stuiver. Silver— 5 ,, = 0 1 — Stuiver. 10 „ = 0 2 — Dubbeltje." 25 „ = 0 5 — Kwartje or vijtje. 5° >» = 0 10— Halve gulden. 1 guilder or florin 8 — Gulden zj .. ¦>-. = 4 2 - Rijksdaalder Gold— 10 ,, >> = 16 8 — Goude.nWillem or tientje Notes [biljel) are issued for 10, 25, 40, 50, 60 guilders, and larger sums. 22 Railways. The purser on board the steamer will always change a little English money into Dutch for one, and the exchange may always be effected at one's hotel. Somebody once remarked that going by train in Holland gave one the impression of playing at travel ling rather than of doing the thing in Railways. earnest After some of the English expresses, the Dutch trains do perhaps seem to linger somewhat on the way ; but though slow, they are sure, and as a rule punctual. There are about 1,693 miles of railway in Holland, and the following are the principal lines : — 1. Dutch State Railways (Staatsspoorwegen). 2. Dutch Iron Railway (HollandscheYzeren Spoorweg). 3. Central Railway (Centraal Spoorweg). 4. North Brabant German Railway (Noord Brabant Duitsche Spoorweg). The first two are by far the most important and extensive, the last two covering but little ground. Van Santen's Officieele Reisgids (25 cents), an excel lent time table, should be bought. It can be obtained at most railway bookstalls, or at any stationer's, and by means of it the traveller should have no difficulty in working out his trains. It also contains full information regarding tram and steamboat services throughout the country. The first and second-class carriages are very comfortable. Ladies and others, desiring not to ride in a smoking carriage, should see that they get into a carriage labelled " Niet rooken.'' On a long journey (and Holland is so small, that a really long journey is hardly possible) there is gener ally time at the larger stations to procure refreshments at the buffet. At some stations glasses of beer and cheese- or ham sandwiches (broodjes met kaas or ham) are brought round to the carriages. The traveller who wishes to avoid buffets and the fear of being left behind had better carry light provisions. As Mr. Sala's guard said, " Diable ! il ne faitt pas s'embarauer sans biscuits I " Dutch Art. 23 Hotels are for the'most part good, while those at Amsterdam and the Hague leave little to be desired as far as comfort, cooking, etc., are con- Hotels. cerne(j, gome of the Dutch hotels are considered very expensive, but on the whole it may be taken that the expenses of living in Holland, if care be exercised, are not very different from those in some other parts of the Continent. One's ordinary hotel expenses should not exceed about eight guilders a day. Mr. Ruskin says somewhere, apropos of great pictures, that "of course the Florentine School must Dutch always be studied in Florence, the Dutch Art. in Holland, and the Roman in Rome." Certainly nobody can fully appreciate the great Dutch masters till he has seen the country in which they lived and painted. For theirs are pictures which have " grown out of the very soil," which have been painted by men who were "content to paint the portrait of their own country," a'tists who could " Descry abundant worth In trivial commonplace." The following extract from a useful little handbook on Dutch art will be found interesting : — " The Dutch School is the exponent of everyday life ; it has no aspirations after the great and glorious, the mysterious or the unseen. Nature, as seen in Holland, either out of doors or in the house, is the one inspiration of its art. We have come to the domain of naturalism, and have left spiritualism in Italy, just as we have exchanged the blue skies of the South for the leaden cloudy atmosphere of the North. We must not suppose, however, that the Dutch School in its realistic character presents nothing but a brutal materialism, and never rises above the delineation of drunken boors at a village inn. There is a truthfulness in the Dutch pictures which commands admiration ; a dead tree by Ruisdael may touch a heart, a bull by Paulus Potter may speak eloquently, a kitchen by Kalf may contain a poem. All the painters of this school confined themselves to loving, understanding, and representing nature, everyone adding his own feelings and tastes — in fact, adding himself. This love of nature is specially shown in those landscapes and sea-pieces in which the Dutch School excels. If we visit 24 Dutch Art. various parts of Holland in different kinds of weather, we shall see how each painter identifies himself with the special aspect which he depicts. A barren gloomy landscape under a leaden sky, unrelieved by living creature, its grim monotony only broken by a waterfall or a dead tree, at once shows us Jacob Van Ruisdael, the ' melancholy Jacques ' of landscape painters, who finds 'tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones.' A bright early morning, when the sun flashes merrily on white sail and glancing streams, and the fat cattle are browsing knee-deep in the rich meadows, reminds us of the lover of light, Albert Cuyp. A warm afternoon, when the shadows of the fruit trees lie across the orchards, and an ox, or horse, or some other animal lies in the grateful shade, tells us of Paulus Potter, the Raphael of animal painters, the La Fontaine of artists. An evening landscape where, amid the grazing cattle, some rustic Melibceus 'sports with Amaryllis in the shade,' and presents an idyll such as a Dutch Virgil might have written, recalls Adrian Van de Velde. A still pond, with the moon reflected on its surface and a few cottages nearly hidden by the dark alder and poplar trees, brings before us the painter of the night, Van der Neer. The sea-shore, with high-stemmed Dutch ships sailing over the waves, is the favourite haunt of Willem Van de Velde ; a river flowing on towards the horizon, and reflecting a dull grey sky, recalls Van Goyen ; and if we look on a frozen canal, crowded with skaters, Isack Van Ostade stands confessed. And this is not true only of landscape and sea pictures ; the everyday life of Holland is identified in its various phases with different painters of this school. Owing to the changes which time and fashion make, we shall not find in the streets the Night Watth of Rembrandt, or the Kanquet of Van der Heist in the t iwn hall, the long satin robes of Ter Borch, the plumed cavaliers of Wouverman, or the drunken peasants of Adrian Van Ostade. But if, in passirg through a Dutch town, we see a young girl leaning on the old balustrade of a window surrounded with ivy and geraniums, we may still recognise Gerard Dou. In the peaceful interior of a Gothic house, where an old woman is spinning, and which is lighted up by the warm rays of the sun, we see Pieterde Hooch."* There is no lack of books about Holland. The Frenchman, Henry Havard, has dealt exhaustively Books ahout w't'1 manv Parts 0I >t m n's three Holland, volumes, "La Hollande Pittoresque ; " t * " German, Flemish and Dutch Painting," by H. J. Wilmot Buxton and Edward J. Poynter, R.A. ; Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, price 5s. t In three volumes, the first dealing with the dead cities of the Zuider Zee ; the second with the provinces of Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, Overijsse!, Gueldre, and Limbourg ; and the third with Zeeland and lirabnnt. These volumes have been translated into English.but are rather dilficult to obtain now . Books about Holland. 25 and the Italian, De Amicis, has recorded his im pressions of the country in his book, entitled "Holland."* The Religious Tract Society has published " Pictures of Holland,"! an illustrated volume written by Mr. Richard Lovett ; and Mr. Charles Wood, of Argosy fame, has written a gossipy book called "Through Holland/' t "Sketching Rambles in Holland,"§ by G. H. Boughton, A.R.A., and E. A. Abbey, is a delightful volume, both as regards letterpress and illustrations, but is neces sarily somewhat expensive. The portions relating to the province of Zeeland are especially interesting. Mr. F. S. Bird's "The Land of Dykes and Windmills "1" gives some interesting particulars about life in Holland; and Mr. Augustus Hare, Professor Mahaffy, and others have written at more or less length about their visits to the country. " Dutch Waterways," by Mr. G. C. Davies, and " Friesland Meres," by Mr. H. Doughty, are referred to in Chapter XV. The Guides to Holland issued by Baedeker and Murray || are excellent in every way. One's first impression of Holland is that it is very flat, and that there seems to be a deal of water in the First landscape, Impressions. jf such an in the expression * Country, may be all owed. As one travels about by train, there are plenty of interesting sights to be seen. Sometimes the train slackens speed •An English translation is published by W. H. Allen & Co., price 10s. 6d. t Price 8s. t Richard Bentley & Son, price 12s. § Macmillan & Co., price zis. IT Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, price 12s. 6d, II Murray's " Handbook for Travellers in Holland and Belgium,' price 6s. Baedeker's " Belgium and Holland," price 6s. 26 First Impressions. In the Country. to cross one of the great bridges built over an arm of the sea or a river, and a good view is obtained from either window of the car riage. Here and there along the line are little signal stations, from which a signalman (who, by the way, is not unfrequently a woman) solemnly waves a flag as the train passes. Numerous cattle, many of them covered with a kind of jacket, are to be seen in the fields ; here is a dyke planted with rows of trees, or a farmhouse, and here is a row of women working, some of them wear ing mantles which seem out of place to the unaccustomed eye. Storks, which are treated with great respect in Holland, may be seen here and there : the house that a stork may select for a dwelling-place is considered lucky, and special facilities to enable it to build its nest there are provided by the happy inhabitants in such a case. At the various stations may be seen the peasants in all their glory, the women dressed in their quaint costumes, and headdresses. The gold or wearing wonderful In Town. 27 silver helmet (hoofdtjzer), covering the head like a second skull, is particularly to be noticed. These are handed down as heirlooms from generation to generation, and are greatly valued. Not content with the helmet, many of the vrouwen wear on each side of their forehead large orna ments of gold, which look like exaggerated corkscrews or like miniature shutters. Some spoil the whole effect by piling an elaborate bonnet, with ostrich feathers and other trimmings, on the top of everything else. These special headdresses and ornaments are usually kept for market and feast days. The visitor who finds himself in a Dutch town for the first time will be impressed by the cleanliness and neatness everywhere, and will be In Town, invested m tne innumerable canals, and in the long rows of tall narrow-gabled houses, painted various colours, and in many cases considerably out of the perpendicular. Projecting from the gables are small beams or cranes, which are used for hoisting up heavy articles to the top storeys, and fixed to the out side of the windows of many houses are little square mirrors, by means of which those inside can see what is taking place in the street without being seen themselves. In the morning there are many busy, neat Dutch maid-servants, beating carpets, washing steps, and performing other domestic duties in the streets, for most of the houses- in the large cities and towns have but little, if any, back garden , or yard. There are some curious people to be met with in the streets as one walks along. The solemn individual dressed in black and wearing a cocked hat and a long hat-band, etc., the " ' Aanspreker, whose duty it is to announce a death to the friends of the deceased, has almost become a thing of the past, but may still occasionally be seen. The Dutch policeman wears a simple uniform, and is generally a civil, easy-going individual. Caffis and tobacconists' shops are anything but few and far between ; cigars A STREET IN HOLLAND. Miscellaneous and Minor Details. 29 are cheap, and every male, including many of a very tender age, seems to smoke. Over the druggists' shops is a painted Turk's head, which is called a Gaper. The kermis, or fair, is held in various Dutch towns at different times of the year. Prior to the Reformation it was a religious festival ; Kermis. jt js now extremely secular. On such occasions the servant girls are in all their glory, and everybody holds high festival. There are numer ous booths, travelling theatres, and other amusements ; best clothes are extensively worn, and much hollands and broedertjes (gingerbread) are consumed. It is always a very animated, not to say noisy, scene, and one which is interesting to strangers. Miscellaneous The following information may be and Minor , , ° J Details, useful. There are English Churches in most of the princi pal Dutch towns. Full particulars as to hours of English service, etc., are usually put up in con- Churches, spicuous positions in the hotels, or can be obtained from the landlord. There are 11,355 miles of telegraph in Holland. The cost of an inland telegram is 25 cents, (sd.) for ten words, with a proportionate rate for extra words ; and from Holland to England 2d. per word. Telegrams. Telegrams can be written out on plain sheets of paper ; the authorities do not like erasures or corrections. The inland postage is 5 cents for 15 grammes (about half an ounce) and to Englanfi, for letters 12J cents(2^d.) under half an ounce, and for postcards 5! cents. When calling for letters at the Postage. poste Restante; jt is aiways wen t0 pro. duce one's card or to write one's name down. Cabs {vigelante) are to be found at most important towns, and, as a rule, the fares are moderate. 3° Miscellaneous and Minor Details. everywhere, how- There are " cabmen and cabmen ever, and some] Cabs' of the Dutch drivers require looking after In case of dispute, they should be asked to produce their tarief. English newspapers are taken in at many of the good hotels, Newspapers. an(j they can be procured at a few of the railway stations en route. Churches are usually open in the morning. If the sacristan has to be fetched, he will have to be fee'd. . At most of the important picture galleries. ig tseeing. an(j museums stjcks and umbrellas must be left at the door. Theatres are not expensive, and evening dress is not necessary, as a rule. Restaurants are numerous, and prices are as a rule Restaurants moderate. The waiter is addressed as and Cafe's, aannemen (literally the verb "to accept '"), and when one wants to pay, betalen is the word to use. A good deal of tipping in a small way has to be done in Holland, and the fact had better ps' be faced at the outset of one's journey. A tip smooths one's way wonderfully. Passports. A passport is not necessary in Holland. The metrical system of weights and measures is Weights and adopted in Holland. The following Measures, table may be useful for reference : — miles. yards. miles. yards. t kilometre = o 1,094 okil nmetres = s 1,043 2 kilometres = I 427 10 »» = 6 376 3 = 1 1,521 20 >> = 12 753 4 = 2 855 30 • ' = 18 1,129 5 = 3 188 40 " = 24 1,805 6 „ = 3 >»282 So • * = 31 122 7 = 4 615 100 jj = 62 243 8 „ = 4 1.702 One kilogramme = 2 lbs . ii oz. A "Holiday Rejoicing Spirit" 31 Passengers are allowed duty free one pint of liqueur or perfumed spirit (eau de cologne, etc.) The Customs. j , ,c j r • r and half-a-pound of cigars or unmanufac tured tobacco. Whether the visitor to Holland choose to imitate Hazlitt,* and to travel alone, or whether he prefer, like .,,.... Sterne, "to have a companion, were it rejoicing^ but to remark how the shadows lengthen: spirit." as the sun declines," is for himself to decide. It will have done him much good if he shall have studied his Motley ; it will have done him no harm if he shall have read one or two of the books mentioned on page 25, and spent a few hours in the Dutch room at the National Gallery. Let him start in a "holiday rejoicing spirit," prepared to enjoy everything ; and let him not forget to pack a piece of soap in his portmanteau, and, on arriving on Dutch ground, to put his watch in accordance with the national time.t The neglect of even two such small precau tions may cause much perplexity and irritation. * " One of the pleasantest things in the world is going a journey, but I like to go bv myself." — " On Going a Journey." t Amsterdam time is about twenty minutes in advance of English. The Dutch railway companies have, however,_ recently adopted Greenwich time, and this should be remembered by the visitor when studying his time table and planning his trains. CHAPTER II. HOW TO GET THERE. HH- *%»* *% From its inauguration by the Zeeland Steamship Company in 1875, tne ueenboio'-Flushing Royal Mail route has been regarded as by far the quickest and most comfortable way of reaching certain parts of the Continent. A glance I at the little sketch map at the V^r head of this chapter will show j?--- that Flushing is the key *¦ ' to central and north-east •-'** Europe. The Zeeland Com pany possesses a fleet of splendid paddle steamers, all How to Get There. 33 of which are about r, 700 tons burden and from 3,000 to 4,000 horse power. They are 274 feet in length, and 60 feet in beam, can carry 150 first and 50 second-class passengers, and are able to maintain a speed of 17 to 18 knots an hour. They have been built and engined by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Glasgow, from whose yard on the Clyde many a noble ocean liner has been launched, and are fitted with every convenience and com fort for the journey either by night or by day. Truly A QUEENBORO'-FLUSHING BOAT. the way of those who go down to the sea in ships is made pleasant nowadays. Except to the traveller who is blast, there is always a sort of fascination in going to bed in England and waking up next morning in a foreign country. But not so many years ago there was not the same chance of waking up to this pleasant feeling, simply because there was not much opportunity of going to sleep. Things are changed now, and the voyager by the Zeeland 34 Taking One's Ticket, etc. Company's boats across the North Sea could easily exhaust all the lines written in praise of sleep and " beds of down," from his Book of Familiar Quota tions, if he felt so inclined. To quote the writer of one of the most interesting and entertaining modern books written on Holland, to which reference has already been made :* Testimonial "The vessels" (of the Queenboro'-Flush- outofmany. jng Ljne) "are no doubt the largest and finest that cross that ever- vexed bit of sea, which often tries the inner consciousness more than the Atlantic itself. One great charm of this route is that you glide peacefully down the Thames for miles, and are safe in your berth and haply asleep before the ship begins her playful skipping over the Channel waves. The chances are that you reach the quiet bit of water on the other side before you wake. You do not bump about outside a harbour bar either just a few minutes before landing. . . . They give you a very good breakfast on board the steamer, and plenty of time for it, too. on that bit of smooth water. You reach Flushing in a good temper, and a good temper has very much to do with the truthfulness of first impressions." The holiday-maker who has decided to visit Hol land will experience no difficulty in making his travelling arrangements. He can procure Kekeirtc!8 his ticket at the booking offices at Vic toria, Holborn Viaduct, or St. Paul's, (L. C. & D. R.), or at any of Messrs. Thos. Cook's numerous offices in London or throughout the United Kingdom. The Zeeland Company have branch offices of their own in London, Man chester, and Birmingham, where tickets and the fullest information as regards routes, etc., can be obtained. Particulars as to circular and return tickets will be found in Appendix A. " Sketching Rambles in Holland.' H.R.H. The late Prince Henry of the Netherlands, Founder of tht Flushing Lint. The Night-Boats. 35 There is every day (Sundays included) both a day and night service from Queenboro' to Flushing, and vice versa. The traveller electing to make the journey by night will catch the " Queenboro'-Flushing special" at any of the stations on the L. C. & D. Railway already men tioned. He is whirled down through pleasant Kent, The Night Boats. THE SALOON' ON A NIGHT-BOAT. past Rochester and Chatham, to the port of Queen boro' at the mouth of the Thames. There are plenty of porters in readiness at the little station to carry his baggage to the good ship, which is lying not far off, alongside the pier. The porters are not allowed in the saloons of the ship, but stewards are waiting at the entrance of the saloon to take each passenger's packages and place them in the proper cabin. The visitor will notice, as he descends the companion, the large oval portrait of the late Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands, who originally estab lished the Queenboro'-Flushing route. The first 3b The Day-Boats. thing to do when on board is to make for the little window at the end of the saloon, at which the purser sits in state. This official will inspect the ticket proffered to him, and mark the number of the berth on it. In the summer, when the traffic is very heavy, it is just as well, when taking one's ticket, to ask for a telegram to be sent engaging a berth. This can always be arranged, a booking fee of a shilling being charged for the privilege. In the saloon, a spacious compartment decorated with panels painted by well-known modern Dutch artists, an excellent inviting-looking supper, a la carte, is ready. A good meal, a stroll on deck, and a cigar or cigarette in the smoking-room, will make the traveller ready for bed, and he can turn in when he likes and enjoy a capital night's rest. He will find his cabin very comfortable : it is lit with the electric light (which indeed is installed all over the steamer) and fitted with electric bells. A bell is rung at about 5.30 in the morning, giving one an hour in which to wash and dress and breakfast, before arriving at Flushing. To anyone who is fond of the sea, and who is not so pressed for time but that he feels he can devote a day to the voyage, the day service may be TBoat^" recommended. The mail train leaves London at a convenient hour in the morning, and, if the weather be fine, the trip is most enjoyable. Breakfast is served as soon as the steamer leaves the quay, at about ten o'clock, and once out of the river, the happy traveller has nothing to do for the rest of the day but lounge about in the sunshine, watching the passing vessels and the lightships moored here and there, read his papers or a novel in some convenient comfortable corner, and, last but not least, enjoy a good lunch or dinner. If the weather is at all doubtful, and the passenger is a bad sailor, he may be recommended to take his breakfast at ten, while in the Thames ; he can then lie down in the The Day-Boats. 37 saloon for a while, rising like a giant refreshed, and ready for lunch or dinner, or whatever he likes to call it, at four, when in the Scheldt. At the be ginning of the journey, as the steamer passes busy Sheerness, one thinks of the Dutch Admiral, De Ruyter, who sailed up the Thames 200 years ago, startling not a few Londoners, including Pepys, who wrote on the nth June, 1667 : "This morning Pett writes us word that Sheernesse is lost last night, THE DINING SALOON ON A DAY-BOAT. after two or three hours dispute. The enemy hath possessed himself of that place ; which is very sad, and puts us into great fears of Chatham." De Ruyter broke the chain at Chatham next day, and burned the Royal Charles, and Pepys laments further : "The truth is, I do fear so much that the whole kingdom is undone, that I do this night resolve to study with my father and wife what to do with the little I have in money by me." About three o'clock the long low line of the Dutch coast may be seen The. Customs. ON nECK. in the dim distance, and at about five Flushing ii readied. One great advantage of this route is that the steamers can, despite wind and weather, enter Flush ing harbour at any time. There is always Customs Pienty of water, and the roadstead is very safe and free from sandbanks. There is no loss of time or troublesome delay when one goes ashore. The sailors and stewards of the ship, or the porters on the quay, will carry baggage to the Customs, and thence to the train. The Customs authorities at Flushing are blessed with abundant common sense, and they only occupy a few minutes in their examination. The station is close by, and in a short time one is safely ensconced in the train and away. The journey is certainly very much simpler and easier than it was in the days of good Train Arrangements. 39 Mr. Evelyn, who in his diary describes how on the 21st July, 1641. he "embarqued in a Dutch Fregat, bound for Flushing, convoyed and accompanied by five other stout vessells, whereof one was a man of war." AT FLUSHING. A first class special train leaves Slushing, immedi ately on the arrival of both day and night boats, _ . for Utrecht and Amsterdam, while a few Arrange- minutes later another express, taking first ments. an(j sec0nd class passengers, steams out for the Hague, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Arnhem, and all the chief towns of Holland. Trains are also in readi ness for passengers proceeding to Germany, Belgium, Italy, and other parts of the Continent. Arrangements have recently been made by which the journey from England to the chief Dutch towns is1 still further shortened by an hour. The , traveller, arriving at Rotterdam in the evening, will find that he left London hardly twelve hours ago. CHAPTER III. ZEELAND ZEEXJUfB, We.stkopcl ./romgyeenboro The province of Zeeland con sists of a number of islands, of which the most important are Noord and Zuid Beve ls land, Schouwen, Tholen, and Walcheren. Of these the last is the most interesting. The greater part of Zeeland lies many feet below the level of the sea, and of all the Dutch 1 provinces it is the most ex posed to the perils of inundation. In the past it has A ZEELAND BEAUTY. 42 Walcheren. fought even more fiercely against wind and water than against the Spaniards. Three hundred years ago Schouwen was overwhelmed, and every living creature on the island was drowned. Noord and Zuid Beveland and Walcheren have all at various times been submerged. But the dykes — there are about three hundred miles of them — and the wonderful care and skill now exercised, keep Zeeland safe to-day. The province is very fertile, producing great store of wheat and other grains, and its numerous inhabitants are devoted to agriculture. The island of Walcheren, which is about ten miles in length and eight miles in breadth, has played its part in Dutch and in English history, and its story a c eren. manv years further back is full of interest. " Among the quickjands of storm-beaten Walachria that wondrous Noimandy first came into existence whose wings were to sweep over all the high places of Christendom. Out of these creeks, lagunes, and almost inaccessible sandbanks these bold freebooters sailed forth on their forays against England, France, and other adjacent countries, and here they brought and buried the booty of many a wild adventure. Here at a later day Rollo the Dane bad that memorable dream of leprosy, the cure of which was the conver sion of North Gaul into Normandy, of Pagans into Christians, and the subsequent conquest of every throne in Christendom from Ultima Thule to Byzan tium."* As to its connection with English history, every schoolboy has heard of the Walcheren Ex pedition in 1809, when the Earl of Chatham was sent with troops to destroy the naval arsenal which Napoleon was creating at Antwerp. The incompetent English general, instead of carrying out the object of the expedition, stopped en route to take Flushing, the consequence being that Napoleon had time to put Antwerp in a state of defence, while 7,000 * " United Netherlands." chap. 6. 44 Flushing. English soldiers left in charge of Walcheren perished of marsh fever, and twenty millions of money were sacrificed without any good result. Thousands of passengers pass through Flushing on their way to the Continent, but to the majority of them Walcheren is an unknown quantity. Yet there is much to see that is very interesting, and the holiday-maker may be recommended to devote some of his time to such towns as Middelburg and Veere. Let the traveller on board one of the Zeeland boats, instead of getting up when the bell rings in the early morning, sleep on, and breakfast at eight. He can then have a walk through Flushing, and either put up at the Grand Bath Hotel there, or go on by train or canal to Middelburg, which is a very good centre from which to visit the sights of Walcheren. Section I. FLUSHING. Flushing is not a show place by any means, but it deserves more attention than it gets. At the commence ment of the great fight for liberty, it was the first town to follow the example of the Brielle and to expel its Spanish garrison.* Thir teen years later, when Queen Elizabeth of England was appealed to by the Dutch for * "Dutch Republic,' page 71 of this book. Part III., chap. 6. As regards the Brielle, see The Port. 45 assistance, the Brielle and Flushing were the two places that were handed over to her as " cautionary towns." Sir Philip Sydney was appointed the English governor of Flushing, and shortly after his arrival in the town in that capacity in ^85, he wrote home speaking of the town as " a great jewel to the crown of England." After the Walcheren Expedition and the abandonment of the island by the English, Flushing continued to be a strong fortress until 1867, when the Dutch Government decided to demolish^ IN FLUSHING HARBOUR. the ramparts and other fortifications, and to construct extensive docks, hoping that it might from its position become a great commercial port. Flushing has made a magnificent attempt to become a great port. Why it has not altogether succeeded is hard to understand. Its position, as a 6 or " glance at the map of Holland will show, is unequalled, and millions of guilders have been spent on its harbour works and docks. As it is, its position as the headquarters of the Zeeland Steam ship Company makes it an important place. In 46 Flushing. The Town. addition to their Queenboro'-Flushing service, the Company has a regular service of steamers between Hull and various parts of the Continent. The harbour at Flushing is divided into three parts, which are known as the Outerport, and the first and second Innerport. The Outerport comprises about 32 acres, and has a depth of 21 fett at low water. A canal, 24 feet deep, connects the harbour with Middelburg and Veere, cutting the island of Walcheren into two parts. The town, which is about a mile from the harbour, is clean and quiet, with a good deal of sober colour about it. It was considerably damaged The Town. during the Expedition, the town-hall, two churches, and quite a hundred houses having been destroyed. The present town-hall in the Houtkade, which was once an old mansion, contains some in teresting antiquities, and, if one cares to climb to the root, a good view of land and sea is obtained. Other sights of interest are St. Jacob's Church in the Branderijstraat, founded in 1328, and the statue of Admiral de Ruyter, who was born at Flushing, near to the new Esplanade. The visitor should walk along the Kaaskaai and the Koningsweg, the former being a bit of old and the latter a bit of modern Flushing. The Grand Bath Hotel, situated on the dunes just to the west of Flushing, was built in 1SS2, and is Tne rapidly becoming very popular. Large Bath Hotel, numbers of visitors come here in the season, which lasts from June till October, for the sea bathing. Excellent bathing may be enjoyed from the strand appointed for that purpose. Some parts of the coast hereabouts are dangerous, but at this particular point there is no fear of currents, etc. Pleasant walks are to be had along the Esplanade opposite to the hotel, from which there is an interest ing view, and which is sheltered from the north and northeast winds. In front is the ever-changing sea, to the left is the coast of South Flanders, some of its THE BATH HOTEL. 48 The Bath Hotel. villages being easily discernible. To the north are the downs, with red-tiled farmhouses here and there. To the north-east one gets a glimpse of Biggekerke and Koudekerke, two villages worth visiting, by the way, and farther east are the towers of Middelburg. On the south-east is Flushing, with its port and neat houses. The Zeeland Steamship Company has IN THE BATH HOTEL. recently instituted cheap Saturday to Monday (or Tuesday) trips to Flushing in connection with the Grand Hotel. Full particulars of these will be found in Appendix A. To anyone requiring absolute rest, fond of bracing air, and desirous of escaping from the world for a while, such a trip may be specially recommended. Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland, is the next station to Flushing (4 miles), and is reached by rail in about ten minutes. Middelburg. 49 There is also a steam tram between the two places, and a very pleasant way of making the journey is to take the little steamer that runs at frequent intervals along the canal. Section II. MIDDELBURG. — ^siS^J^j Middelburgwas, in the Middle Ages, one of the richest and most flourish ing cities in the Nether lands, as may be seen from its well-built houses, once the homes of merchant princes, and from its spacious but disused docks and waterways. Its municipal charter, dated 1 2 13, is one of the oldest documents of the kind extant. It was a great market for wool, and was crowded with merchants from all parts of Europe, especially from England, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Its intercourse with other nations led to a large trade in wine. All wines coming from Spain and France, for example, for consumption in Holland and even parts of Germany, had to pass through Middelburg and to pay a heavy duty there. In 1572 Middelburg was the last place in Zeeland occupied by the Spanish. The Zeelanders besieged it, and in 1574 it capitulated. .Afterwards it was always on the side of freedom. A ZEELAND FEASANT. Middelbursr. 5i It has been described as the " most peculiarly representative and Dutch of all towns in Holland." The visitor should make first for the Thp£eket Market Place> the busiest spot in the town, especially on market day (Thursday). There is plenty of opportunity of studying the Zee- land peasants, for they flock in from the country round, on business or on pleasure bent. Their dress is peculiar and picturesque, and the most elaborate in THE MARKET PLACE. Holland : both men and women indulge in a good deal of quaint silver jewellery, most of which is dis tinctly beautiful. There are many little silver-ware shops in Middelburg, where may be bought such quaint old Dutch spoons as are described by .Thackeray in a Roundabout Paper.* These shops will on market days be full of peasants buying buttons, or fobs, or buckles. A young girl going out to service will perhaps be there, buying a silver clasp for the Bible which will be packed in her box. * in t'ie Paper entitled " On a joke I once heard from the late Thomas Hood.'- .52 Middelburg. The Town Hall. The Town Hall, in the Market Place, dates from the sixteenth century, and is a most graceful and imposing building. Its front is adorned with twenty-five statues of Counts and Coun tesses of Holland, and its fine tower is 1 80 feet high. The interior contains some old tapes tried rooms and an interesting collection of antiquities, together with some old guild and corporation pictures. The Town Hall. dz:: ^, A CANAL AT MIDDELBURG. The Abdy (Abbey), founded in the twelfth century, was once the residence of the Abbot of Middelburg. The Abdv ^ ^as ^een restored, and is now occu- and Nieuwe pied by the Governor of the province and Kerk. njs ofK.cia.ls. The chamber in which the deputies of the province assemble from time to time is a fine old room hung with tapestry. The Nieuwe Kerk, in the Groenmarkt, contains monu ments to Jan and Cornells Evertsen, two Dutch naval heroes. The high tower, which stands apart and at some little distance from the church, is popularly known as " Lange Jan," or Tall John. Its chimes are very musical, and the people of Middelburg Old Houses, etc. 53 tell a story of a French visitor who, on hearing them, threw off his coat and sword in rapture, exclaiming, "Are not these tunes pretty enough to have a dance?" This may have been the effects of kermis. The visitor as he walks about the town will see some splendid old houses. In the Langedelft, the principal street, is the house where the 01d ete?SeS' ^arl of Leicester resided when he came over to Holland as Queen Elizabeth's representative; on the Dwars Kade is a finely ornamented Renaissance house of 1590, called Steenrots. De Gouden Zon (1635) in the Langedelft is another good specimen of an old residence. The small museum in the Wagenaarstraat (Het Zeeuwsch Genootschap der Wetenschappen), containing an interesting little collection of antiquities, should be visited. Section III. EXCURSIONS FROM MIDDELBURG OR FLUSHING. -m- fjeveVrsuwe polder -TO HOLLAN D WESTERN SCHELDTH To Queenboro *»— dating from the tenth cen- past and tury. During the Middle Ages it was present. tne most important commercial place in Holland. Evelyn, writing in his diary in 1641, speaks of it as "the first town of Holland, furnish' d with all German commodities, and especially Rhenish wines and timber." A good deal of business is still done at Dort, which possesses a fine harbour fit for large vessels. The great rafts of timber, which are made up on the Rhine in Germany, usually finish their career here, being broken up and finally disposed of. Many of the busy windmills which are to be seen around the town are employed in sawing up this timber. The town has played an important part in Dutch history, for it was here that the, Estates of Holland * The Merwede is the name given for a short distance to the combined streams of the Maas and Waal. Historical Interest. 61 met in 1572, under the authority of William Historical °f Orange as Stadholder, and finally Interest, resolved to dedicate their lives and fortunes to the cause of the Prince.* It has also been the scene of much theological Tof Dort°d dispute, the famous Synod of Dort having been held here in 1618-19. At this Synod most knotty theological points werediscussed by Arminians and Calvinists, at some 180 sittings, which were spread over about seven months, the total THE GROOTE KERK, DORDRECHT. result being that the Arminians were outnumbered and condemned as heretics by their opponents, and that a million guilders were sperjt. The Groote Kerk (fourteenth century), with its tall The square tower, conspicuous for many miles Groote Kerk. round, may be visited. There is some ' Dutch Republic," Part III., chap 7. A STREET IN DORDRECHT. Dordrecht. 63 wood carving to be seen, but the interior is bare and cold, and the hand of the restorer is too visible in many places. TheStadhuis is a modern building, and contains a few unimportant pictures. In the Wijnstraat, leading Tho to the river, is the museum of paintings, Town Hall chiefly modern, including a goodly num- Miueum. ber by Ary Scheffer, who was born at Dort, and whose statue (a very modern one, in bronze frock-coat, etc.) may be seen in the same street. The Museum is open daily, admission ten cents. The visitor should stroll down to the quays, pass ing under the old gateway, to see the river with the Ita green polders beyond, and with its innu- Picturesque- merable barges gliding along or moored ness' to weedy posts. There are many quaint mediaeval houses and old-world streets and canals in the town; in fact, the chief charm of Dort is in " its delights of form and colour." It is a place full of sketches, a very paradise for artists. This is how a well-known artist describes his visit to the town : — "The church tower was our guiding star, and as we moved from foreground to foreground, so to speak, how splendidly it 'composed' with the masses of quaint gables and high red roofs ; then with tops of trees, golden with autumnal colours ; then with tangle of shipping, bewilderments of masts, brown sails, spars, ropes, and napping pennons ; now at the end of a long canal, with the multiform and multicoloured backs of houses overhanging either side ; now again at the end of a long street of elaborately gabled houses filled with picturesque bustle and life ! Threading in and out the ever-moving kaleidoscope of form and colour, as spots of high light, were the white caps of the women folk, with their gold ornaments glinting in the sunlight — all this through ever-shilting veils of pale blue peat smoke . " Dort seemed well off for rivers — three, not over silvery or limpid, and yet to a painter's eye not of an uninviting muddy tone, grey, green, or yellow, sometimes in separate tints, some times in mixtures, as they lay stagnant here or swirled swiftly there past the dykes, walls, and bridges of the old town, making not one island of it, but several. 64 Dordrecht. Its Picturesqueness. " The breeze seems to have a fine chance to play round Dort"; the brown and yellow sails scud by, and the windmills far and near seem cut loose or working for a wager."* The two Cuyps, Ferdinand Bol, Nicolas"1" Maes, Schalken, were all born at Dordrecht, and one may come across pictures of the old town in the many picture galleries of Europe. A very pleasant and picturesque trip (about an hour and a half) may be made by steamer from Dort to Rotterdam. Steamers leave at regular intervals, and the fares are moderate. The railway from Dort crosses a bridge over the Maas, and a fine view is obtained of the old town, a view which has been painted by more than one great artist. In about twenty-five minutes one crosses the Maas again, catching sight of much busy shipping, and arrives at Rotterdam (12 miles). The Beurs station is the most convenient to alight at. * " Sketching Rambles in Holland," by G. H. Boughton, A.R.A., and E. A. Abbey. CHAPTER V. ROTTERDAM Trams run from the Beursplein (close to the Exchange and Beurs railway station) to. different parts of the town. 66 Rotterdam. Rotterdam is built on the right bank of the Maas, near its confluence with the Rotte, and de rives its name from the latter stream. It is the second largest city and the chief port in Holland; with its wonderful advan- | tages as a harbour, and with its extensive inland communication by means of canals with other towns in the country, its trade is naturally very extensive. Some 6,000 vessels are said to enter the port annually, on an average. The visitor will not find much in Rotterdam to see in the shape of fine buildings or good pictures, but he will probably be greatly interested in the tout ensemble, in the busy canals, with their innumerable vessels gliding about, or " at roost," as Thackeray described them, and in the crowded streets and quays. Streets have been called "a mighty place of education ; " iu Rotterdam a man may learn much. It has been described as a novel and picturesque combination of water, bridges, trees, and shipping in the heart of a city. It is really one vast and ftuajr's. narbour, for, without mentioning the Maas, many of the canals are so deep that large ocean-going vessels may be brought up to the merchants' very doors. Mijnheer Die en Die may almost superintend from his parlour windows the loading or unloading of his ships. Hours may be pleasantly spent among the shipping on the Boompjes,* which is the principal quay on the Maas, "where merchants most do congregate," or in watching the progress of the craft in the canals * So called because of its rows of trees, foompjs being the Dutch for little tree. Finding One's Way 67 There is no lack of animation or colour anywhere. The streets are full of people, so that one can quite realise the fact that Rotterdam has a population of some 200,000. Drawbridges have con stantly to be raised in order to let the brightly painted barges pass through. During this operation the stream of vehicles and foot-passen gers is for a while arrested, much to the annoyance of the stranger per haps, who is not accustomed to this sort of thing, and who may have a train to catch, or whose dinner may be waiting. ALONGSIDE THE BOOMPJES. The visitor who wishes to find his *way about Rotterdam may be advised to " pore over maps and plans" for a while, like Sterne's Uncle one-way. T°by> and t0 wander about at first with no desire to go anywhere in particular. Probably the best way of finding one's way in a city like Rotterdam is to lose oneself. 68 Rotterdam. The Boompjes fronts the Maas, which is some forty feet deep here. Large steamers of nearly every nationality lie alongside, loading or un- TheBoompjes.loadjn& and almost seeming to touch the houses. At the eastward end of the quay are two large bridges, triumphs of engineering skill, one of which is used for ordinary traffic, while across the other runs the line to Dort, Belgium, etc. The visitor will stroll into the Groote Markt, which stands on a wide bridge built over a canal, to see the country-women at their stalls heavily ^arkt!*6 laden with a11 sorts of g°od things ; he will see many little carts, full of country produce, drawn by dogs, and he will probably be very sorry for the poor, willing, but tired beasts. In the Groote Markt is a statue of Erasmus, the great scholar, who was born in Rotterdam in 1467 ; and here once stood a curious old corner house known as "The House of the Thousand /Terrors." This is the story of it : " In 1572, when the Spanish by stratagem entered the town and treacherously massacred its inhabitants, a thousand of the people took refuge in this house. They put up the shutters and barred the entrance, and killing a kid, let the blood run out under the doorway. The Spaniards, seeing the red stream, concluded that the inmates had already been despatched, and passed by." On the modern house built on the spot where this happened of old is a commemorative tablet. Other markets, such as the Vischmarkt, the Kaasmarkt, and the Nieuwe Markt, are interesting and worth a visit. Sight-seeing. 69 Close to the Groote Markt is the Groote Kerk, or Church of St. Lawrence (fifteenth century, but re stored), containing the monuments of the Th|Gro°te Admirals Kortenaer and Van Brakel, both Dutch naval heroes in their day. The organ is a fine one, almost rivalling the famous instrument at Haarlem. If the visitor cares to climb the tower, he can do so on payment of a fee of 30 cents, and he will be rewarded for his trouble by a fine view of the city and the surrounding country. The Beurs, or Exchange, which is at its busiest from one o'clock till two, and the Town Hall, in the TheExchange Kaasmarkt, are both modern buildings, & Town Hail, and are of no particular interest. Rotterdam possesses a Picture Gallery, which contains some good pictures, but the collection is distinctly inferior to those at Amsterdam Museumf and the HaSue- The original Museum was destroyed by fire some thirty years ago, and many valuable paintings were then burned. In the present gallery, Boyman's Museum (open daily, admission 25 cents), there are works by Hobbema, the Cuyps, Van Dyck, the Van Ostades, Rubens, Rembrandt, Snyders, Steen, and others. Other museums are — Other The Ethnological and Naval Museum, Willems Museums, Kade ; open 10 till 4. Prices vary according to days. Museum of Industry and Art, at the Beurs. Admission 25 cents. The visitor will walk along the Hoogstraat, situated on an embankment originally built as a protection against floods, look into the shop win- Wt1ie cftvUt dows> and perhaps refresh the inner man at one of the numerous cafes in that street or in the Korte Hoogstraat, which leads into the Hogendorp Plein. He may lean on a bridge over 7° Walks about Rotterdam. the Steiger, a veritable water street, and look up at the curious houses overhanging the water. If he wish to extend his acquaintance with the Maas and its shipping, he can, starting from the Boompjes, and IN ROTTERDAM. crossing a bridge over the Leuvehaven, walk along the Willems Plein and Willems Kade to the west side of the town. Here he will be close to the Park, a very favourite plea sure ground of the Rotterdam people. The Park, which is beautifully laid out, contains a statue of Tollens, the Dutch poet. On Sundays concerts are given in the middle of the day, and on Wed nesdays in the evening. He will cross from the Boompjes by the Willemsbrug to the Noordereiland in the centre of the Maas, from which he will get a good view of Rotterdam. While he is on the island he can visit the Burgemeester Hoffman Plein, a square in which is the statue of Excursions from Rotterdam. 7 1 an engineer named Stieltjes, who had much to do with the creation of the harbour. The Koningshaven lies beyond the Noordereiland, and over this stretches a large drawbridge to the island of Feijenoord, where are more harbours and docks. He will find out the Diergaarde, or " Zoo " (admission 50 cents), outside the Delft Gate, and enjoy seeing the gardens and the collection of animals. To the east of the city is the suburb of Delfshaven. In the various environs he will find tea gardens, billiard rooms, and skittle alleys, where he may study yet more aspects of Dutch life, if he be amusements. so inclined. At the Schouwburg Theatre, in the evening, operas are performed, and at the Tivoli and other similar places concerts, operettas, and other light amusements may be enjoyed. Steamers leave Rotterdam for Dort, Delft, Arnhem, Nijmegen, and various other parts of Holland, and y . full particulars of the services can be from obtained from Van Santen's Officieele Rotterdam. j?ejSgiJS) while one's hotel porter can always be consulted and enabled to earn his inevit able fee. A short pleasant excursion may be made by boat (about an hour and a half) along the Maas to the quaint old - town of Brielle, once a The Brielle. fam0us fortress, and now a sleepy little fishing place. Admiral Tromp was born here, and here the Dutch achieved their first success against the Spaniards in 1572. The Beggars of the Sea, a body of wild rovers, who were furnished, with letters of marque by William of Orange, and who were commanded by William de la Marck, suddenly appeared one day before Brielle. " They determined to obtain its surrender, and sent a friendly fisherman of the town as their envoy. The Beggars were some four hundred in all, but the fisherman, when asked about their numbers, answered, in a careless manner, 72 Vlaardingen. ' About five thousand.' There was no thought of resistance, and the patriots soon got possession, and held it in the name of Orange. Alva sent troops to recapture the town, but they were repulsed, for the Sea Beggars were in their element." About seven miles to the south, and at one end of the canal of Voorden, is Hellevoetsluis, which can Hellevoet- a'so be reached by steamer from Rotter- sluis. dam. Here are two large docks and one of the royal arsenals. A diligence plies between the Brielle and Hellevoetsluis. Vlaardingen, the headquarters of the herring fish ery, and possessing some 400 fishing-boats, is a _. ,. clean little country place. The herring g 'season lasts from June till October. When the first catch is received, the fishmongers decorate their doors with a flag and a kind of crown made out of green leaves, as a token that they have fish for sale. The fishermen offer up prayers in church before they set out to sea at the beginning of the season. Vlaardingen can be reached by steamer from Rotterdam, or by a diligence from Schiedam. The railway journey from Rotterdam to Amsterdam may be made either via Gouda and Utrecht, or by way of Delft, the Hague, Leyden, and Haarlem. In any case Gouda (12 miles) can be conveniently visited from Rotterdam. Gouda, or Ter Gouw, situated at the confluence of the Yssel and Gouwe, is a quaint quiet town of some 18,000 inhabitants, and is famous for Gouda. cheeses, bricks (or klinkers), and clay pipes. It is a pleasant little place in which to while away a few hours, and its name will be familiar to anyone who has read Charles Reade's " The Cloister and the Hearth." In the large market square, which is easily reached from the station, are the Museum, containing a few portraits, including one by Bol ; the Town Hall, dating Gouda. 73 from the fifteenth century; and the Groote Kerk, with its magnificent old stained-glass windows. This Itg church was founded in 1485, and restored Groote Kerk. after a fire in 1552. The famous win dows were gifts from various wealthy persons when the church was rebuilt. They were the work of two brothers, Wouter and Dirk Crabeth, and of their pupils, and were executed between 1555 and 1603. In front of each window — there are twenty-eight of them — the visitor will find a cartoon of its subject. " Nowhere else can be found such an assemblage of old glass. You examine window after window, wonder ing at the beauty, and surprised that the town has not long since been deprived of its treasures. They date back to the sixteenth century, and are equally beautiful in design, tone, and colouring." The next station to Gouda is Oudewater (8 miles), the birthplace of Arminius, and in about half an hour one may reach Utrecht (22 miles). (See page 138.) Leaving Rotterdam for Delft, the train passes Schiedam (3 miles), with its numerous tall windmills and its clouds of smoke. There are about 300 gin distilleries in this little town, and a multitude of pigs and oxen are fed on the refuse from these. Delft (9 miles) is reached in about twenty minutes. CHAPTER VI. DLLFT. Trams run along the Oude Delft from the Hague Gate to the Rotterdam Gate. Delft. 75 Delft, which was once " The pride, the market-place, the crown And centre of the Potter's trade," is a pleasant quiet place — a veritable Drowsietown. The name conjures up visions of " blue and white," of " good earthen ware pitchers, sir ! of an excellent quaint pattern and sober colour; " but Delft-ware has had its day, ¦ and the pottery which is manufactured there now is not by any means what it was in the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries.* It is a town for which everyone seems to have had a good word. The Earl of Leicester, visiting it in 1585, de scribed it as "another London almost for beauty and fairness." Sir Robert Cecil, travelling in Holland in 1588, spoke of it as " the finest built town he ever saw." Pepys called it "a most sweet towne," and many modern writers have followed suit and have praised it The Oude Delft, a canal shaded by lime-trees and having a roadway on either side, is the chief thorough fare, and here, and in the spacious Groote Markt, are the principal buildings. At the northern end of the Oude Delft is the Haagsche Poort (Hague Gate), and at the southern end is the Rotterdamsche Poort (Rotterdam Gate). The Groote Markt is the chief centre of what life there is in Delft, and here, with the quiet every-day life of the town around one, may be seen many a " Dutch picture " to remind one of the many old painters who from time to time made Delft their home. Delft is very interesting historically, for it was the * Th&modern manufactory of Me-Frs. Thooft & Labouchere is open to visitors on Saturday afternoons, on written application. There is an interest ing collection of old Delft -ware in the Rijks Museum at Amsterdam. 76 Delft. scene of the assassination of the Prince of Orange. The In the Oude Delft is the Prinsenhof, a Prinsenhof. plain two-storied brick building, with red-tiled roof, now used as barracks. There, in 1584, William of Orange was living, and thither one day in July came Balthazar Gerard with certain despatches. How this Ge>ard had long been plotting to kill the Prince, how at Delft he unexpectedly found an opportunity of which he was unable to avail himself, being without weapons, and how eventually he effected his purpose, may be read at length in Motley.* The spot where the fatal shot was fired may be seen on the first floor \oi the palace, and the mark of the bullet on the wall-is still shown. THE OUDE DKLFT. Opposite to the Prinsenhof is the Oude Kerk, a plain antique building, with a leaning tower, The erected in the fifteenth century, and con- Old Church, taining several interesting monuments, including one to Admiral Tromp, who fixed a broom to his masthead, after defeating the English Admiral Blake, as a token of his intention to sweep the sea entirely of all English vessels. * " Dutch Republic," Part VI., chup. 7. Delft. 77 The Gemeenlandshuis, an old hall in which the Gemeenlands- ^rst Pariiament of tne Dutch Republic huis. met, is also in the Oude Delft. In the Groote Markt stands the Nieuwe Kerk, built in 133 1 (and thus rather seeming to belie its The name). In this is the very elaborate New Church, monument to William of Orange. At the foot of the figure of the Prince is the little dog, which is said to have saved his master's life on one occasion by barking and pulling at the bedclothes, on the approach of Spanish assassins. Here also is a monument to Hugo Grotius, the scholar and statesman, who was born in Delft in 1583. The picturesque Stadhuis, also in the Groote Markt, dates from 1618. It contains a few good The pictures, principally portraits, notably Town Hall, some by Mierevelt, a native of Delft and one of the earliest of Dutch masters. Opposite the Town Hall is a statue of Grotius. The large building close to the Rotterdamsche The Poort is the State Arsenal. It stands on Arsenal. a kind of small island formed by sur rounding canals, and is hardly a pleasant-looking object. Steamers run several times a day from Delft to Rotterdam. There is a tramway between Delft and the Hague The railway joumey (6 miles) occupies about a quarter of an hour. En route Rijswijk church is seen to the right. CHAPTER VII. THE HAGUE AND SCHEVENINGEN. Trams run from the "Dutch" and " Rhenish " stations into the town ; also from the Plein to different parts of the town, and to Scheveningen. " The Hague is a most neat place in all respects. The houses so neat in all places and things as is possible. Here we walked up and down a great while, the town being very full of Englishmen." So wrote Pepys in 1660. Thackeray's description of the Hague of a later day has already been quoted on page it. The Hague, or 's Gravenhage, is indeed a pleasant city, set down, as it were, in the middle of forests. Here will be found broad, clean streets, fine squares, handsome build ings, and some quiet, picturesque, tree-lined canals; the last not to such an extent as in other fashion able towns, however. There seems to be more gaiety and life here than in any other town in Holland. Its inhabitants all seem well-to-do, and to have plenty of time on their hands. There is none of the per petual motion of Rotterdam, none of the business activity of Amsterdam, while at the same time there is none of the sleepiness of Delft or Leyden. As IU the visitor, following the example of Pepys, walks up and down, he will catch sight of well- equi pped carriages, manyofthem bearingcoats-of-arms, and crowds of 1 well-dressed people strolling about, making calls, or shopping. The Hague is very cosmo politan, and many Englishmen have lived ;«"g« or sojourned there from time to trme, and have recorded their impres sions of the place in books or letters. The Earl of Leicester, sent by Queen Elizabeth tohelp STATIONjHOLl. SPOOR. 80 The Hague. the Dutch against the Spaniards, arrived at the city in 1585, and received a magnificent welcome, which is described at length in " The United Netherlands." From the Hague in 1660 sailed Charles II. on his restoration to the English throne;* twenty-two years later William III. of Orange left the city for England, to take up the English crown and become William III. of Great Britain. In the thirteenth century the Hague was a hunting seat of the Counts of Holland, and the Dutch name History 's Gravenhage is said by some to signify etc. ' "the Count's hedge." It has been the political capital of Holland since the sixteenth century. It is the residence of the Dutch Court, the seat of Gov- ernment.the headquarters of Parliament,and the abode of foreign ministers. For a long time it was considered to be a village only, because, through the jealousy of other Dutch states, it had no municipal rights, and did not return members to Parliament. Louis Bonaparte, when King of Holland, gave it the privileges of a town. It has been the scene of much diplomacy, and many important questions of national interest have been discussed in its midst. Macaulay, in his essay on Sir William Temple, gives an interesting description of the interviews and discussions which took place between that statesman and De Witt, with reference to the treaty which was eventually formed between England, Holland and Sweden, known as the Triple Alliance.! The best thing a visitor to the Hague can do first is to make for the Vijver (fishpond), a large square pool in the centre of the town. In the The Vijver. middle of this is a small green island, and rising up from the water on the south-east side is * There is an interesting picture in the Hague Museum, by Lingelbach, portraying the crowds assembled on the Scheveningen beach lo see ihe embarkation of Charles for England. t Sir William Temple's book." Observations upon Ihe United Provinces of the Netherlands." is very interesting, describing vividly the Holland of the seventeenth century. The Binnenhoj. 81 the ancient Binnenhof, perhaps the most interesting building in Holland. On the opposite side of the THE VIJVER. water is the Plaats Vijverberg, a " place " with rows of trees, forming a very pleasant and shady pro menade. The Binnenhof, an irregular dull-red brick building, was once a castle of the Counts of Holland. Some The portions of it date from the thirteenth Binnenhof. century, but much of it has been restored. Its north and south wings are occupied by the States- General or Dutch Parliament. This old building is full of associations, for some of the most famous events in connection with the long heroic struggle of the Dutch for freedom have occurred within its walls. "To me," wrote Professor Thorold Rogers, "whenever I visit it, the square of the Binnenhof at the Hague is the holiest spot in modern Europe, for here the great deliverance was wrought out." Within the cloistered courts of the Binnenhof is an ecclesiastical-looking building, with turrets and gables. 82 The Hague. This is the Hall of the Knights, once used as a court of justice, and now holding the archives of mv „ „ the Home Office. Opposite to this hall, The Hall » » . , t , of the one May morning in 1619, Johannes Knights, van Oldenbarneveld, Prime Minister of Holland, was put to death by command of Prince Maurice of Nassau, then Stadholder. "For years he and Maurice lived on terms of friendship, and worked together for the welfare of their country. THE BINNENHOF. But bitter theological differences — the curse ot Holland during the earlier part of her independence — poisoned the mind of Maurice against his old friend, led him to make an arbitrary use of his power, imprison Barneveld, condemn him by the mockery of a trial, and have him executed on May 24th, 1619." The Buitenhof is a large open space to the south west of the Binnenhof, with a statue of William II. The Buitenhof From this square an elaborately decorated Gevaneen- m°dern arcade leads to the busy narrow poort. Spuistraat. The Gevangenpoort, the old but restored gateway, with a tower, situated between the Buitenhof and the Plaats Vijverberg, The Picture Gallery. 83 is interesting as having been the prison of Cornelius de Witt, when he was falsely accused in 1672 of conspiring against the life of William III. The Orange mob, maddened by the reports spread about by De Witt's enemies, attacked the Gevangenpoort, dragged out Cornelius and his brother, John de Witt, who happened to be visiting the prisoner, and murdered them. Not far from this spot, in the Kneuterdijk, is the house where John de Witt lived. In the Gevangenpoort there is a collection of instru ments of torture (open 10 till 4, free). At the north-east end of the Binnenhof is the Mauritshuis, once the residence of Prince Maurice The of Nassau, and now the famous Museum Gallery. of Pictures. Many of the treasures of this Museum were collected by the Princes of Orange. In 1795, when Napoleon invaded Holland, some of the pictures, including The Bull of Paul Potter, were removed to Paris and hung in the Louvre. Later, however, the majority of them were sent back to the Hague. Many hours can be spent in this picture gallery with advantage. The Rembrandts, There are five Rembrandts, viz : — etc. The Lesson in Anatomy. — Painted when the artist was in his 26th year. Professor Tulp, a well-known doctor in the seventeenth century, dissecting a dead body, and lecturing to seven other doctors ; not the kind of picture one would care to live with, but a wonderful piece of work — "the greatest and grandest of all his pieces" to Thackeray's mind. " Its excellence does not lie alone in the composition, the expression and character of the admirable portraits, or even in beauty of colouring and execution. It is, above all, the conception which has made this work im perishable. From this picture dates Rembrandt's fame.''* Simeon in the Temple. — "This painting occupies a very important place in Rembrandt's works. It is the first of Rem brandt's known paintings containing severs.1 figures, and the treatment of the subject is very original."* * " Rembrandt," in the "Great Artists " series ; Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, price 3s. 6d. A very useful little biography of the great painter. 84 The Hague. Museums, etc. Portrait of the Painter. — " For colouring and force nothing can exceed it."* Susannah. — " Not a very pleasing picture, but wonderful in colouring and effect." Saskia, Rembrandt's first wife, is sup posed to have been her husband's model for this picture. Portrait of a Boy. There are some fine pictures by Dou (notably The Young Housekeeper), A. Van Ostade (notably The Fiddler), Jan Steen (notably The Poultry Yard or Menagerie, and The Guest Chamber), Paul Potter (notably the. famous Bull \), Terburg, the Van de Veldes, the Ruysdaels, and Van der Meer. Holbein, the Cuyps, Hals, Maes, Van Mieris, Rubens, Snyders, Teniers, Van Dyck, Wouverman, and many other painters are also represented. The gallery is open daily from 10 to 4, Sundays 12.30 to 3, free. Other _.,, 1 -r-r Museums, Other museums at the Hague are : — etc. The Municipal Museum, in the Tournooiveld ; open daily 10 to 3, Sundays I to 3 (free). Contains some pictures, old and new, the former having been transferred from the Town Hall. Baron Steengracht's gallery, 3, Vijverberg; open daily 2 to 4 (1 guilder). Contains pictures by modern and old painters, including Rembrandt, Paul Potter, A. Cuyp, A. Van Ostade, Rubens, and Steen. Museum Meermanno-Westreenen, in the Prinsesse-Gracht. Books, coins, pictures, and other works of art. This is only open on the first and third Thursdays in the month, and tickets must be obtained beforehand. The Royal Library, containing nearly 300,000 volumes and some MSS., is open on week-days from 10 till 3, and book- lovers will find much to interest them. Among other treasures are some prayer-books and Bibles ' ' with a history." There is also a collection of coins, medals, gems, &c. , in the Library. * Sir Joshua Reynolds, " Tour in Holland and Flanders." t " Here in the Hague gallery is Paul Potter's pale eager face, and yonder is the magnificent work by which the young fellow achieved his fame. How did you, so young, come to paint so well ? What hidden power lay in that weakly lad that enabled him to achieve such a wonderful victory ? Could little Mozart, when he was five years old, tell you how he came to play those wonderful sonatas ? Potter was gone out of the world before he was thirty, but left this prodigy (and I know not how many more specimens of his genius and skill) behind him." — Thackeray. The Hague. 85 The Stadhuis, a red brick building in the Vischmarkt, was erected in the sixteenth century, and has been restored quite recently. It is a Town Hall. gne anc[ interesting specimen of later Dutch architecture, but is too shut in by other buildings to be fully appreciated. The Groote Kerk (fifteenth century) which is close to the Town Hall, contains some monuments and a good carved pulpit. The organ, a fine urc es' one, is quite modern. In the Nieuwe Kerk, on the Spui, are the tombs of Spinoza and the De Witts. The Plein, a square just to the east of the Picture Gallery, has a statue of William I., with finger raised, Th Pi ' *n a^us'on t0 tn-e Prince's love of silence. Here are situated the Colonial Office, Ministry of Justice, War Office, and National Archives, while on the north-west side is a large club, the members of which may generally be seen on fine afternoons sitting on the pavement outside, smoking and enjoying their cafe and cognac. The visitor who cares to spend time in wandering about more or less aimlessly will find much to interest and amuse him during his Other sights, rambles. He will linger about the shady Vijverberg, stroll into the adjacent square, the Tournooiveld, study the shops in the Spuistraat, wander about the Groenmarkt and the Vischmarkt, where he will see the fisher-folk from Scheveningen in all their glory, and some storks which are maintained at the town's expense He will visit the Kneuterdijk, and have a look at the houses in which John de Witt and Van Olden- barneveld respectively lived, or walk along the Paveljoensgracht to see Spinoza's old home (No. 32) and statue. He will find out the Royal Palace, with its gardens and elaborate stables (stallen), in the Noordeinde, and walk along the Paleisstraat and Parkstraat to the Willems Park, a "place" adorned 86 Het Bosch. with a fine national monument commemorating the restoration of Dutch independence in 1813. He will wander out of the Tournooiveld, along the Korte Voorhout, go through the large gateway with Het Bosch ^e sentries on duty, pass the Malieveld, or garrison exercise ground, where on summer evenings the Hague youths may be seen bicycling and playing very fair cricket, and find him self in Het Bosch. Het Bosch, or The Park, is a magnificent forest of noble old beeches and oaks IiN HET BOSCH. extending for about three miles in length. There are delightful walks and drives along its shady ways. The Royal Grenadier Band plays here, during the summer, on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings. The House in the Wood, a royal villa, built by the widow of Prince Frederic of Orange, and about one and a half miles' distance from the entrance, may be visited. One guilder is charged for admission; and there are some fine speci mens of porcelain, and some paintings of the Rubens school (in the Orange Saloon) to be seen. The Scheveningen. 87 Zoological Gardens, close to the entrance of the Bosch, are pleasant, and contain a fair collection of beasts and birds (admission 50 cents). A band plays here on Mondays. Nobody ever dreams of going to the Hague without seeing Scheveningen, which is about three miles away, „ . . and which is a small fishing village promoted to the proud position of the Dutch Brighton. There are several ways of reaching it ; either by the steam trams starting from the " Dutch " or " Rhenish " stations, or by the ordinary horse trams starting from the Plein. By far the pleasantest way is from the Plein, by the old road, which skirts the lovely Scheveningsche Boschjes, another fine wood of stately old trees. This is one of the most delightfi1 tramway rides in Europe. The way winds throug trees, and to the stranger sitting outside it seems as it the tram every now and then must inevitably come in contact with one of the overhanging branches. But the line always turns in time, and of course there is no danger. Alighting from the tram and crossing the dunes, the visitor will first of all catch sight of the large fishing-boats, called pinken, and he will see numbers of fishermen, and perhaps some of the Scheveningen fishwomen, dressed in their quaint dress, and carrying baskets of fish on their heads. During the season the scene on the beach is very animated, especially when the pinken come in and the fish is sold by auction. The air is splendid ; the beach is of firm smooth sand ; there is a paved terrace along the dunes for some distance, and behind this terrace is a long row of hotels, villas, restaurants, and other buildings. There is no lack of amusement at Scheveningen during the season. Bathing may be indulged in ad libitum, either under cover or from the Amusements. sandg_ Thg al jrgsco bath.ing js g00d, but bathers should not venture out too far, because of the under-tow. Tents and large wicker chairs may be hired for sitting about in. The 88 spacious Kurhaus, with its verandahs and Kursaal, large enough to accommodate 2,500 persons, is the central point of interest. Concerts are given every evening at the Seinpost. Although Scheveningen possesses so many hotels, these are during the months of July, August, and September monopolised by the Dutch seaside visitors, and prices run high. The English visitor may be recommended to make his headquarters at any of the good and more moderate ON THE BEACH AT SCHEVENINGEN". hotels of the Hague, and to run in by tram to Scheveningen when he desires. A very pleasant excursion may be made from the Hague to the little village of Voorburg by the Yssel . steam tram, which traverses some very fromStheS charming country. Beyond Voorburg Hague. js tne Wykerbrug, a favourite country resort, with a restaurant, situated on the banks of the canal between Leyden and Delft. The trip may be extended by taking in the villages of Veur and Leidschendam, by visiting the large locks between the water districts of Rijnland and Delfland, the old Excursions frointhe Hague 89 moated castle of Duivenvoorde, the village of Voor- schoten, and the old Dutch pleasure garden of the " Vink," where, from the terrace on the banks of the Rhine, an extensive view can be obtained. There is a steam tramway from the Hague to Leyden, the journey occupying about an hour and twenty minutes. The railway journey (10 miles) takes about twenty minutes. A LITTLE MAID FROM SCHEVENINGEN. CHAPTER VIII. LEYDEN. Trains run from the station along Steemtraat, through the Beestenmarkt, and along the Breedestraat, Nobelstraat, Oude, Hoogewoerd, and Nieuwe Hoogewoerd, passing close to many of Ihe interesting sights of ihe town. The university town of Leyden practically consists of fifty small islands, formed by the old and new Rhine, and joined together by some 145 bridges. At one time it contained 100,000 in habitants, many of whom were engaged in the weaving trade. Its cloth was exported to Eng land, France, and Norway Its "population now is only about 45,000. It is a quiet place, with good streets, with the inevitable canals and rows of trees, and with a decided academic flavour. It is even quieter than Delft, and is just the kind of town where one might imagine scholars absorbed in great problems University to be living. And if in some of its a 1 m os t deserted streets but few way farers are to be seen, it is easy enough for anyone possess ing an imagination to people them with the ghosts of old inhabitants, walk ing along the ways where years ago they went in reality, with famine staring them in the face and relentless enemies at the very gates of their town. All readers of. the "Dutch Republic" will recall the won derful descrip tion of the great siege of the town. It ; is too long a 92 Leyden. story to tell here, but the visitor familiar with the book will be able to picture the town waiting in famine and despair, and apparently in vain, for the deliverance promised by the Prince of Orange ; and, looking out from Leyden upon the surrounding country, he will be able to imagine how the dykes were cut, and how, over the water thus let loose upon the land, the Prince's fleet, bearing the provisions so sorely needed, was enabled, after many difficulties and delays, to reach the starving town.* On the Stadhuis (sixteenth century) in the Breede- straat, a quaint building, with a fine tower and The a double flight of steps, is an inscrip- Town Hall, tion commemorating the siege, which, being translated, reads as follows : "When the black famine had brought nearly six thousand people to death, the Lord God repented, and gave us as much bread as we wanted." It was after the siege in 1575, and in commemo ration of it, that William established the University The m Leyden. For two centuries it was University, the most famous university in Europe, " far more renowned in the seventeenth century than Oxford, Cambridge, or Paris were, and students from all countries crowded into this, the youngest of the great universities." Some of the greatest scholars of their age, such as Scaliger, Grotius, Arminius, Gomarus, and Descartes, were connected with it. It is still well known, principally as a school of medicine and science. Not a few of our own countrymen have been educated there at various times. f Fielding the novelist is reported to have studied there "with a remarkable application for about two years." Goldsmith spent some terms there, * " Dutch Republic," Part IV., clap. 2. t The late James Hannay, in an interesting paper on education in Holland (" Characters and Criticisms," 1865), states that he found in the 11 Album" of the University the name of one Joannes Rose, Seotus, entered as a student as early as 1594. The University. 93 and writing home, and probably putting the cap upon the wrong head, complained that the professors were so very lazy. John Evelyn, writing in his diary on the 28th August, 164 1, records that he was matriculated by the "then Magnificus Professor, who delivered me a ticket, by virtue whereof I was made excise-free, for all which worthy privileges and the paines of writing he accepted of a rix-dollar." The THE RAPENBURG. University buildings are in the Rapenburg. In the Senate Hall may be seen more than 100 portraits of great Leyden professors, from Scaliger downwards. The library is the finest in Holland, and contains some 300,000 volumes and many unique and invaluable manuscripts. Museums. Botanic Garden. Leyden is very well off for museums, as will be seen from the following list :— Museum of Natural History, in the Rapenburg. Open on week-days, 10 to 4; admission free. Contains an excellent collection of birds, shells, minerals, insects, skeletons, etc., etc. Dr. Siebold's Japanese Museum, in the Rapenburg. Open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 12 to 4; admission I guilder. 94 Leyden. The Burg. Museum of Antiquities, 18, Breedestraat. Open daily, loto4, Sundays, 12.30 till 4; admission free. Ethnographical Museum, 108, Hoogewoerd. Open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10 to 4 ; admission free. The New or Municipal Museum in the Lakenhal, Oude Singel. Open daily, 10 to 4 ; admission 10 cents, Sundays free. Pictures and antiquities. The Botanic Garden, not far from the Rapenburg, is excel lently arranged. Open daily till 1. The Burg is a very ancient tower in the centre of the town. Motley, in his description of Leyden in Th B I574;says: " Upon an artificial elevation "' in the centre of the city rose a ruined tower of unknown antiquity. By some it was con sidered to be of Roman origin, while others pre ferred to regard it as the work of the Anglo-Saxon Hengist, raised to commemorate his conquest of England. Surrounded by fruit-trees, and overgrown in the centre with oaks, it afforded from its moulder ing battlements a charming prospect over a wide expanse of level country, with the spires of neigh bouring cities rising in every direction. It was from this commanding height, during the long and terrible summer days which were approaching, that many an eye was to be strained anxiously seaward, watching if yet the ocean had begun to roll over the land." The Burg, which now stands in the garden of an inn, and which is supposed to present almost precisely the same appearance now as that described by contemporaneous historians of the siege, can be inspected (admission 10 cents). St. Peter's Church, approached from the Breede straat by Pieter's Koor, a street nearly opposite to the Town Hall, was erected in 1315, and con es, tains the tombs of many Leyden worthies. Not far from the Burg is the Church of St. Pancras (this will sound familiar to Londoners) which was built in the fifteenth century, but has been restored. It contains a monument to the Burgomaster Van der The Pilgrim Fathers. 95 Werff, who held the town so splendidly during the siege. Many visitors to Leyden, especially Americans, will be interested because of its connection with the The Pilgrim Fathers. During the reign of Pilgrim James I. many Nonconformists, in order Fathers. t0 escape persecution, fled to Holland. "Among others came John Robinson and William Brewster. Persecuted, robbed, and imprisoned in England, it was only after many attempts that they finally escaped to Amsterdam, whence, after a year, in 1609, they moved to Leyden, which they found to be 'a fair and beautiful city, and of a sweet situation.' Robinson became a member of the University, and enjoyed its privileges while he ministered to his flock of English exiles and residents. At last the little English congregation turned their faces westwards, and, unable to gain the sanction of either the States-General or King James, they determined to go to the New World on their own responsibility in simple reliance upon God. Amid tender and tearful farewells the little company bade their loved pastor farewell at the Delfs- haven, and sailed away, carrying in that little company the true seed of the now mighty American Republic."* On the spot where Robinson lived is a large house, the Jerusalem Hof, upon which is an inscription : " On this spot lived, taught, and died John Robinson, 1611-1625." Rembrandt, Vennius, Gerard Dou, Jan Steen, Van Mieris, Gabriel Metsu, and other great painters were born in Leyden. So were the Elzevirs, Painters. t'le great printers, who produced the little volumes which are so dear — in more senses than one — to the bibliophile.! Six miles from Leyden, and reached by steam tram, is Katwijk-aan-Zee, another Scheveningen on a small * "Pictures from Holland." t " The founder of the family, a Flemish bookbinder, Louis, left Louvain and settled in Leyden in 1580. He bought a house opposite the University, and opened a bookshop, Another shop, on College ground, was opened in 1587. Louis was a good bookseller, a very ordinary publisher. It was not till shortly before his death in 1617 that his grandson Isaac bought a set ot types and other material. Louis left six -ons. Two of these, Matthew and Bonaventure, kept on the business, dating ex officina. Elzeviriana.^ In 1625 Bonaventure and Abraham (son of Matthew) became partners. The ' good dates ' of Elzevirian books begin from 1626."— Andrew Lang, " Books and Bookmen." 96 Katwijk-aan-Zee. scale. The road thither passes Endegeest, a country house -where Descartes lived and worked for some years, and the villages of Rijnsburg and Katwijk- Katwijk Binnen, both possessing interest- aan-Zee. ing churcneS- Katwijk-aan-Zee is well supplied with hotels and lodgings, and its air is extremely exhilarating. "One is lifted over its breezy dunes as if with winged feet," writes an enthusiastic visitor. Close to this little seaside resort are some interesting sluices at one of the mouths of the Rhine. " In the ninth century one of the numberless hurricanes which have visited Holland choked the river with sand, and until the beginning of this century the waters formed a great swamp. In connection with the formation of the Haarlem polder, this was drained. In 1807 a great canal and a series of gates were built to enable the river to flow into the sea. During high tide the gates are shut, as the sea- level is then much higher than the river ; for a few hours at low water the gates are opened, the pent-up waters of the river then rush out, carrying before them the quantities of sand heaped up by the tide. It has been computed by some lovers of statistics that 100,000 cubic feet of water rush through these gates every second." Another excursion by train may be made to Noordwijk-aan-Zee, a very prettily situated little Noordwijk- watering-place six miles away from aan-Zee. Leyden. The journey by train from Leyden to Haarlem (iS miles) occupies about half-an-hour. Warmond, with its Roman Catholic College, and Vogelenzang, with its waterworks for supplying Amsterdam, are passed, and as one approaches Haarlem many country houses and numerous tulip farms anl nurseries are seen. There is also a steam tram (2^ hours) between Leyden and Haarlem, an extremely interesting route. CHAPTER IX HAARLEM. Trams run from the station along the Kruisweg and the Kruisstraat, through the Groote Markt, along the Groote Hout- straat to the Pavilion in the Park. 98 Haarlem. Haarlem, the capital of the province of North Holland, on the river Spaarne, is a very clean, prim place, evidently inhabited by well-to- do people. Many visitors have been heard to complain that their first feeling on visiting the town was one of disappointment. Coming from such old-world places as Dordrecht, or Leyden, or Delft, they have found Haarlem " too modern." There is some truth in this, for the hand of the modern builder is evident in parts of the town ; some of the old waterways have been turned into brand new boulevards, and French-looking villas have sprung up here and there where old- fashioned gabled houses used to be. But there is plenty of old-world charm to delight the visitor who is not hypercritical, and he will find many "bits," plenty of dull-red brick gabled houses and quaint streets and canals ; and the town should most certainly be visited, if only for its beautiful market-square and church, and for the Hals pictures. The country round Haarlem was some years ago under water, but it was reclaimed in 1840-50, about „ . a thousand million tons of water being Haarlem -, r -w r Lake. pumped out, at a cost of a million 01 money. What was before a large lake is now a polder. This reclaimed country has well repaid the cost of its reclamation, and is to-day covered with fine crops, to say nothing of the flower farms. The siege of Haarlem in the great war was as terrible as, perhaps more terrible than, that of Siege Leyden. Leyden held out to the bitter ol end ; the inhabitants of Haarlem, after Haarlem. making a most wonderful resistance, in which the women even took their share, yielded Its Horticulture. 99 to the pangs of famine, and trusting to the promises of the Spaniards, were treacherously massacred. Motley should again be called into requisition if Haarlem is to be thoroughly appreciated by the visitor.* At one time there were 30,000 men under the Spanish leader, Don Frederic, besieging 4 000. A thick fog helped the Spaniards, but was also of assistance to the imprisoned inhabitants. " A dense frozen vapour hung continually over the surface of the lake. Covered by this curtain, large supplies of men, provisions, and ammunition were daily introduced into the city in spite of all the efforts of the besieging force. Sledges skimming on the ice, men, women, and even children moving on their skates as swiftly as the wind, all brought their contri butions in the course of the short dark days and long nights of December in which the wintry siege was opened." Haarlem is, as everybody knows, famous for its flowers. As the visitor approaches the town from Leyden, he will see from the train culture.1 acres and acres of bulb gardens, and if it be in the spring, when the bulbs are in flower, the patches of blue and yellow and red are very beautiful. There are large fields of tulips, hyacinths, anemones, and other flowers close to the town itself, and a visit should be made to one or two of the principal flower farms. t The visitor, if familiar with the books of Alexandre Dumas, will probably recall " La Tulipe Noire " and the feud between Cornelius Van Baerle and Isaac Boxtel. In 1637 the extraordinary mania for* speculating " Tulipo- m tuuP bulbs took possession of the mania." Dutch. " ' Tulipomania ' was a strange aberration of Dutch, and in a less degree of French and English, stock-jobbing. As florists * " Dutch Republic," Part III., chap. 8, t The grounds of Messrs. Krelage & Son, not far from the Pavilion, may be visited on presentation of card. ioo Haarlem. The Groote Kerk. the Dutch were always distinguished, but the culture of tulips was their favourite horticultural pursuit. The province of Holland carried on a great traffic in these flowers. The cities of Amsterdam, Haarlem, Utrecht, Alkmaar, Leyden, Rotterdam, Woerden, Hoorn, Enkhuizen, Medemblik, became so infatuated that by the year 1634 not only every leading merchant, but nearly every citizen, was engaged in the trade. Officers conducted the dealings in roots with the formality of signing, sealing, and delivering a deed of transfer. A variety called the 'Viceroy' was sold for 2,500 guilders; another, ' Semper Augustus,' for 4,600 guilders, Lesides a new carriage and a pair of greys. There were but two bulbs of the ' Semper Augustus ' known to exist, one at Haarlem, the other at Amsterdam. Contracts were made, and large sums of money paid for bulbs never seen by either bargainer. They were bought and sold even without being in existence, only with reference to the rise and fall of tneir hypothetical value. An estate in one case had to be sold to meet the deficiency of a speculator who bad bound himself to deliver a bulD by a certain day, the nominal value of which kept rising in consequence of the refusal of the owner to part with the sole specimen known. In two or three weeks another gained 60,000 guilders. Fortunes were rapidly made and lost. The trade now became an undisguised speculation, and when the bubble at length burst it was followed by a panic entailing ruin and despair. In one town alone during ihese three years [here was invested in hypothetical tulips more than 10,000,000 guilders."* It was not until about 1776 that the Dutch flower trade reached its greatest and real importance. Rare hyacinths are sometimes nowadays quoted in cata logues at 150 guilders. The Groote Kerk of St. Bavo (fifteenth century), a noble cruciform building, stands in the market place, The andisone of the finest churches in Holland. Groote Kerk. It is well cared for, and kept in good and judicious restoration. Inside there is the over abundance of whitewash to be found in so many Dutch churches, but this is gradually being removed. There are some interesting tombs to be seen, in cluding one to Conrad, the architect who engineered the Katwijk locks, "the defender of Holland against * "Growth and Vicissitudes of Commerce." The Organ. 101 the sea and the fury of the tempest." The roof is of cedar wood, and is finely groined. Some curious old models of seventeenth century ships, commemorating the fifteenth crusade of Count William I., hang from some of the arches, and a cannon-ball embedded in a wall reminds one of the Spaniards. THE GROOTE KERK, HAARLEM. The church contains the famous organ built by Christian Miiller of Amsterdam, which was for long considered to be the largest in the world, Or^an. and which is still a wonderful instrument. It has some sixty stops, and was three years in course of construction, having been com menced in 1735. Public recitals take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1 till 2 and 2 till 3 respectively, and the organist will play specially for a somewhat heavy fee. Visitors, however, unless they happen to be at one of the recitals, may be content with seeing and not hearing, or Gautier's definition of a concert as "an expensive noise" may occur to them. Close to the Groote Kerk is the fantastically beautiful io2 Haarlem. Frans Hals. Vleeschhal (Flesher's Hall), a very good specimen of Dutch architecture at the end of The the sixteenth century. Crossing the fine Vleeschhal. GrQOte Markt> and passing the statue of Koster, who is said by some to have invented printing, the visitor will find the venerable- Town Hall, looking Town Hall, originally a palace and Museum. of the Counts of Holland. Here is the museum containing the far-famed pictures by Frans Hals, an artist whose merits have only been rightly appreciated of late years, but who is considered by many to stand second only to Rembrandt among Dutch painters.* The vestibule of the Town Hall contains some portraits and a large picture of the siege of Haarlem, but there is no occasion to linger here, and the visitor should proceed at once to the museum proper, access to which is obtained by ring ing a bell in the vestibule. The Hals. There are eight pictures by Hals, viz. :— Jrictures, etc. Banquet of Officers of Arquebusiers of St George (Joris- doelen)t (1616). Banquet of Officers of Arquebusiers of St. George (1627) Banquet of Officers of Arquebusiers of St. Andrew (Adriaens- doelen (1627). Assembly of Officers of Arquebusiers of St. Andrew (1633). Officers and Sergeants of Arquebusiers of St. George (1639) ' (with portrait of artist). Governors of the Elizabeth Hospital (1641). Governors of the Hospital for Old Men (1664). Lady Governors of the Hospital for Old Women (1664). There are also pictures by Corneliszoon, De Bray, Brouwer, Terburg, A. Van de Velde, and others. In a small room, which is entered by a door concealed behind a picture, is a collection of furniture, weapons, instruments of torture, etc., many of the curiosities •An interesting account of Hals and his works will be found in "Van Dyck and Hals " (" Great Artists " series); Sampson Low, Marston, Searle cc Rivington, price 3s. 6d. t ''It was the custom cf the presidents of the various corporations, public and charitable institutions, to place in the guildhalls and shooting galleries (doclcn) portraits in groups of members of the various guilds, especially of the shooting societies." Museums. 103 having connection with the Spaniards and the great siege. THE TOWN HALL AND MUSEUM. At Teyler's Museum, on the quay called Spaarne, may be seen an interesting collection of coins, books, prints, and curios of various Other kinds, together with a few good modern pictures. The Episcopal Museum, con taining some ecclesiastical curiosities — " Crosses, relics, crucifixes, Beads, pictures, rosaries, and pixes," is in the Kruisweg. The picturesque brick Amsterdam Gate should be seen, and, if time permits, a visit should be made to jjjg the Park (Haarlemmer Hout), of which Amsterdam the Haarlem people are very pjoud, and and which is easily reached by tram from the the Park. town. Here is situated the Pavilion, once a private residence of William I., and now a Govern ment Art and Industrial Museum. There are many agreeable walks on the ramparts round the town, and it is pleasant to drive or walk 104 Zandvoort. to the village of Bloemendaal, about three miles away, situated behind the dunes. The large gloomy building passed on the way is the lunatic Bloemendaal. asylum of Meerenberg. Close to Bloe mendaal are the ruins of the Castle of Brederode, from which a fine view may be had. Trains leave Haarlem at frequent and regular intervals for the popular little sea-bathing place of Zandvoort, where there are numerous Zandvoort. hotels, restaurants, and a casino, and where pleasant enough walks along the sands may be enjoyed by anyone anxious for exercise. Zandvoort is a favourite resort of the Amsterdam people, who flock to the place in the summer in large numbers for the sea air and bathing. About eight miles farther up the coast is the entrance to the North Sea canal. (See page 120.) The train from Haarlem crosses the Spaame over an elaborate and massive iron bridge, proceeds across the Haarlem polder, passes Halfweg with its sluices and pumping engine," and arrives at Amsterdam (10 miles) in about twenty-five minutes. CHAPTER X. AMSTERDAM. Trams run from the Dam, Leidsche Plein, and other centres to all parts of the city. Omnibuses also ply in certain directions. Amsterdam, the commer cial capital of Holland, with a popu- la tio n of more than 450,000, is built on the Y, an arm of the Zui der Zee. Through the city runs the river Amstel to join the Y. A glance at the plan will show that Amsterdam is something like an enormous cobweb. It consists of some 90 islands, which are joined together by about 300 bridges. In addition to the Amstel and the four principal canals, the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Heerengracht, and Singel, there are 70 smaller canals. All these have to be kept in order; the water in them has to be kept Amsterdam. 107 on the move, so as not to become impure, and, what is even more important, has to be kept in check. But for its sluices and dykes, and but for elaborate and careful management of these, Amsterdam would soon be inundated. An enormous sum of money is spent every year in keeping its waterways in order. Unlike the Rotterdam canals, those in Amsterdam are shallow, and one only sees small vessels on their surface. The shipping is carried on in the harbour in front of the town. A large sum of money has been spent during recent years in improving the harbour in every way. Amsterdam is built upon sand, in apparent defiance of a certain text in St. Matthew. The soil hereabouts "Houses 's c°mPOsed of a loose sand or loam, and built no buildings could be erected unless Usand."6 piles were first driven in for a foundation. Erasmus, who was born in a rival city, waxed witty at the expense of the Amsterdam people, whom he compared with crows living on the tops of trees. This saying is always quoted by anyone writing about Amsterdam. It is very certain that, if the city could be turned upside down, it would present a very extraordinary appearance, and would seem like an immense forest of bare tree trunks. The cost of preparing the foundation is often larger than that of actually building the house. The Exchange, which looks solid enough, rests on some 3,500 piles driven into the shifting ground. The history of Amsterdam is the history of its commerce. In the year 1300 it was but a poor Its history ^^ fishing village in a marsh, whence and commerce, a few fishermen put out to earn a scanty living on the Zuider Zee. It gradually grew, and attracted trade from many directions. From various monarchs at various times it received important commercial privileges. In the sixteenth century many merchants and manufacturers, driven from other parts of the country by the persecutions io8 Amsterdam. of the Spaniards, came to its gates, bringing their trades and handicrafts with them. At the beginning of the seventeenth century it was one of the chief commercial cities in Europe, having drawn away the inhabitants from the other towns on the Zuider Zee, and having attracted to itself the commerce of Lisbon, Venice, Bruges, Seville, and other places. It became "avast granary and a storehouse of the fruits of the earth," and merchants from all parts of Europe met on the floor of its Exchange. It has passed through many crises, has survived wars and fires and inundations, and is to-day one of the great cities of Europe. There is much to be seen in Amsterdam. There is as much of general interest in the city, in its streets and on its canals, in its people Its Sights. an(j every-day life, as in Rotterdam ; and there are many interesting buildings worth visiting, many fine pictures worth travelling from afar to look upon. Like Rotterdam, it is full of interest, and many an hour may be busily employed in idly lounging in its streets. "The canals are covered with ships and barges, and in the streets that flank them are seen on one side heaps of casks, cases, bales, and sacks ; on the other a row of splendid shops ; here a crowd of people, well-dressed ladies, maid-servants, pedlars, and shopmen ; there the rough and wandering race of sailors and boatmen, withUheir wives and children. On one side the nostrils are saluted „byj_the perfume of the flowers The Dam. 109 which adorn the windows and the odour of cook-shops, on the other by the smell of tar and the fumes of the humble kitchen of the sailing vessels. Here a drawbridge rises to give passage to a ship, there the people swarm upon one which has just but fallen into its place again ; farther on a raft ferries over a group of persons from the other side of the canal ; from the bottom of the street a steamboat is just sailing off; at the opposite extremity a long file of laden barges are just coming in; here opens a sluice-gate, there glides a trekschuit ; not far off whirls a windmill, and down there they are planting piles for a new house. The rattle of chains from the bridge mingles with the roll of carts ; the whistle of steamers breaks into the chimes from the steeples ; the cordage of the ships tangles itself among the branches of the trees ; carriages pass side by side with boats ; ships are reflected in the water, sails are reflected in shop windows ; sea life and land life are intermingled, cross, and pass each other continually, and the result is new and gay beyond description." THE DAM. The Dam, which may be called the Trafalgar Square ™,„ _„„ of Amsterdam, is the central point for The Bam. .. . . ' , . Tn^ , the visitor to make for. Here the numerous tramways have their beginning. There is 1 10 Amsterdam. The Royal Palace. no lack of life : soldiers on duty cluster round the Palace, merchants make for the Exchange, ladies shopping pass in and out of the Kalverstraat, country people stand about gossiping. In the centre of the square is a monument to the Dutch soldiers who fell in 1830, during the Belgian Revolution, and to the left of the Palace is the Zeemanshoop (Seaman's Hope), a charitable association connected with shipping, easily distinguishable by the httle model of a ship on its front. On the west side of the Dam is the massive Royal Palace, once a Town Hall, but presented to King Louis The Boyal Napoleon by the people of Amsterdam Palace, in 1808, when he made the city his residence. One peculiarity about this building is that it has no proper entrance in front from the Dam — to use an Irishism, the front door is behind. The royal family of Holland only stay there for one week every year, and, except when they are in residence, the interior may be seen any day between the hours of 9 and 3 for a fee of fifty cents. The principal thing to see is the magnificent reception or ball-room (120 feet in length, 60 feet in width, and 100 feet in height), with white marble walls.* A splendid view of the city and of the surrounding country may be seen from the tower. * This room apparently had a somewhat strange effect on Thackeray. This is how he describes his sensations : " Vou have never seen the palace of Amsterdam, my dear sir? Why, there's a marble hall in that palace that wilt frighten you as much as any hall in ' Yathek/ or a nightmare. At one end of the old, cold, glassy, glittering, ghostly, marble hall there stands a throne, on which a white marble king ought to sit with his white legs gleaming down into the white marble below, and his white ej-es looking at a great white marble Atlas, who bears on his icy shoulders a blue globe as big as the full moon. If he were not a g^nie, and enchanted, and with a strength altogether hyperatlantean, he would drop the moon with a shriek on to the white marble floor, and it would splitter into perdition. And the palace would rock and heave and tumble ; and the waters would rise, rise, rise ; and the gables sink, sink, sink ; and the barges would rise up to the chimneys ; and the water-souchee fishes would flap over the Boompjes, where the pigeons and storks used to perch ; and the Amster, and the Rotter, and the Saar, and the Op, and all the dams of Holland would burst, and the Zuider Zee roll over the dykes ; and you would wake out of your dream, and find yourself silting in your arm-chair." The Beurs, cVv. 1 1 1 Opposite to the Palace is the Exchange, which is filled every day from half-past one till three o'clock ~ B with a crowd of busy merchants. During the last week in August the boys of Amsterdam are allowed to make the Beurs their playground, and according to those writers on Hol land who have witnessed the sight, the urchins enjoy themselves right well, " combining in a few hours the fun and frolic, the noise, uproar, and madness of 365 days." Every boy has a drum, and the effect may be imagined. This privilege was granted in commemoration of the discovery by some boys of a Spanish plot in 1622. The Nieuwe Kerk (fifteenth century), on the Dam, is one of the finest churches in Holland, and contains _. . some interesting monuments, notably that in memory of Admiral De Ruyter, with its Latin epitaph describing the old sailor as immensi tremor oceani. A fine brass screen divides the nave from the choir. The enormous pulpit, with its sounding-board, is elaborately carved. This church was seriously injured by a fire in the seventeenth century, and parts of it have been restored. The Oude Kerk (fourteenth century), near the Warmoes Straat, has some old stained-glass windows, a fine organ, and numerous monuments. Amsterdam possesses many other places of worship. The Roman Catholic Cathedral, near the Central Station, and the Syna gogue of the Portuguese Jews, in the Muiderstraat, are both very fine buildings. The Rijks Museum is a large imposing building, erected about nine years. ago, after the designs of The Eiiks Cuypers. It stands in pleasant grounds Museum, facing the Stadhouderskade. The interior is elaborately decorated, and if its numerous treasures are to be properly studied and appreciated, days may be spent there. The Museum is open (free) every day except Monday, from 10 till 5 ; on Sundays, 12.30 till 5. English catalogues, one guilder. H2 The Rijks Museum. On the ground floor are the Nederlandsch museum of industrial art ; military, naval, and colonial The Ground collections ; a collection of weapons ; Floor. small rooms containing specimens of Dutch national costume, etc. ; an ecclesiastical collection ; some interesting specimens of old Dutch rooms, with furniture, etc. ; a collection of casts ; the Admiral's room (pictures of naval heroes' sea fights) ; the cabinet of engravings; collections of china and Delft ware, and of Dutch toys. On the first floor is the valuable collection of pictures, including many important paintings by _. Rembrandt,Van der Heist, Frans Hals, the Van Ostades, Jan Steen, Gerard Dou, the Van Ruysdaels, the Cuyps, the Van deVeldes, Terburg, Maes, Wouverman, Paul Potter, Bol, Hobbema, and „ many others too numerous to mention here. Rembrandt The " Rembrandt room " is usually the Boom, centre of attraction. In this are, among others, two very great pictures : — The Night Watch, by Rembrandt, a masterpiece, which, how ever, has no connection either with night or wiih a Watch. It represents a company of arquebusiers coming out of their doele, or guild-house, in the daytime. " It is neither the light of the sun, nor of the moon, nor does it come from torches ; it is rather the light from the genius of Rembrandt," writes one enthusiastic critic. De Schuttersmaaltijd, by Van der Heist, a banqueting scene. " It is not painted by so great a man as Rembrandt ; but there it is — to see it is an event of your life." There are also pictures in this room by Karel du Jardin, Flinck, and Hals. Another famous Rembrandt, in another room, is the Directors of the Guild of Clothmakers, " a splendid portrait group — won derful for depth, strength, lightness, massive powei." Museums, etc. Other museums are :- The Six Museum, 511, Heerengracht. Admittance on presentation of card. The valuable collection of the Six family, the founder of it having been Burgomaster Jan Six, who in the seventeenth century was a well-known Maecenas. Pictures by A BIT OF OLD AMSTERDAM. U4 Walks about Amsteraam. many of the test Dutch artisls, including Ken brardt, Hals, Maes, Steen, etc., etc. The Fodor Museum, 609, Keizersgracht. Daily except Tuesdays, 10 till 3, 50 cents ; Sundays, II till 3, 25 cenls; also founded by a wealthy merchant. Pictures old and modern, among the latter being many by French, Belgian, and Dutch masters. Picture Galleiy, at the Arti et Amicitiae Society's building in the Rokin. Daily, 10 till 4, 25 cents. ; a loan collection. Near to the Rijks Museum is the Vondel Park, in the middle of which is a statue of Vondel, the The Vondel greatest of Dutch poets. This park, which Park. is pleasantly laid out, is crowded on Sundays and holidays by crowds of people enjoying the sunshine, walking about, or sitting in front of the large Paviljoen cafe". As in Rotterdam, the visitor must learn to find his way about. He should experience no Walks about difficulty. The Prinsengracht, Keizers- Amsterdam. gracht, and Heerengracht are splendid water-streets, lined with handsome houses, many of them old family mansions, and shaded by fine trees. The Singel, which is nearly seven miles long, is bor dered by busy quays. A walk along the busy narrow Kalverstraat, with its numerous handsome shops, is interesting. This is a favourite promenade Kalverstraat w'th the inhabitants of the city in the even- Rembrandt ing, and all sorts and conditions of Dutch ein,etc. pe0p]e may j-^ seen there. Running parallel with the Kalverstraat is the Rokin, another busy canal-street. Out of the Amstel Straat is the Rem brandt Plein, with its bronze statue of the great painter. In ihis street is the Panopticum, where a waxwork exhibition may be viewed and where an informal concert may be enjoyed over coffee and a cigar in the evening. Starting from the Dam, the visitor can go along the Gedempt Damrak* to the Y and the * Gedempt means Jilted itj>. Some of the canals in Amsterdam have of late years been filled up and made into streets. Walks about Amsterdam "5 harbour. At the end of the Damrak, and across the inner harbour, is the Central Station. The large green dome to the left belongs to the New Lutheran Church in the Singel. In front are busy wharves, at which steam-boats for North Holland and other places are lying. Walkingto the rightalong the P r i n s Hendrik K a d e, with its tall pic turesquehouses facing the inner har- b o u r , there is plenty of busy ship ping to be seen. The low tower built on a quay stretching out into the har bour is the Weepers' Tower (Schreijerstoren), so called because in olden days the wives and children of the Dutch sailors were wont to come here to say Ll6 Walks about Amsterdam. good-bye to their husbands and fathers, and to see The Weepers' the last Tower, of them before they sailed away. It is now used as an office for the harbour master. Not far from here on the Prins Hendrik Kade is the house where De Ruyter lived in the seventeenth century. It may be DeRuyter'srec°g- House. n i s e d by his portrait in relief on the front of the house. The visitor can turn into the Kloveniers- burgwal and see the New Market and Fish Market, and the old city gate, known as St. Anthony's Weigh-house, and now used as a fire Wefgh-h0onuyse.station an an(^ ^ey S° in procession from the town along a canal for about five miles — a veritable army for a Don Quixote to tilt at. Eighty can be counted from the station alone, as any one who is waiting for the train may soon find out. These windmills, which are of various colours and shapes, are employed in grinding corn, cutting timber, making oil, and last, but not least, in keeping the surrounding country drained. 124 Zaandam. Peter's Hut. There are many curious diminutive houses, gaily painted, set down in the middle of delightful little Peter's gardens. But the crown and glory of Hut. Zaandam is the hut where Peter the Great lived in 1697, when he worked as a shipwright in the yard of one Mijnheer Kalf. The monarch is said to have only spent eight days in the hut, but lie is responsible for a great deal, and the good folk of Zaandam have made no little capital out of his short sojourn there. The visitor is not likely to miss the hut ; it will be brought prominently to his notice by the inhabitants of the place, and he will experience no difficulty in procuring a guide, whether he wants one or not. A guide is hardly necessary. Let the visitor turn to the left from the landing-stage, proceed down a little entry on the right, down some steps and across a bridge, and keep to the left along the canal until he comes to some cottages on the banks of a ditch. The last of these is Peter's hut, now encased, for preservation, in an outer covering of zinc. There are two small rooms to be seen, in one of which is Peter's cupboard-bed. The walls of the hut are covered with the autographs of all sorts and conditions of men. The railway runs on from Zaandam through Krommenie (12 miles), famous for its sailcloth ; Uitgeest (14 milesS, the junction for Haarlem ; Heiloo (22 miles), and past some pleasant wooded country to Alkmaar (24 miles). Alkmaar is a very neat, pretty place, with bricked streets and quaint old houses, and with a certain amount of bustle that is hardly com- Alkmaar. patible with a «dead city» It would almost appear to be like a certain nobleman not un known to Doctor Johnson, and to have been dead for some time, but not to choose to have it known. Its name is said to be derived from the two Dutch words signifying "all sea," and has reference to the water and morasses which formerly surrounded the town. Alkmaar. I2c It is now famous for its cheeses, with which it sup plies all Holland ; and the visitor, if possible, should time his visit for a Friday, which is market-day. In 1573, at the beginning of the great struggle for freedom, 16,000 Spaniards besieged Alkmaar, which Historical contained some 2,000 fighting men, Interest, together with women and children, much in the same way as they attacked Haarlem and Leyden. " On that bank and shoal," says Motley, " the extreme edge of habitable earth, the spirit of Holland's freedom stood at bay."* The siege was so close that Alva declared it was impossible for a sparrow to enter or go out of the city. But, after an heroic defence of seven weeks, the brave inhabitants triumphed. The siege was raised, and breathing time was given to the Dutch people. The visitor can easily find his way from the station into the town; he need only walk about a quarter me of a mile through the pleasant public Church, gardens. The Church of St. Lawrence (Gothic) has a fine vaulted roof, and contains some paintings and carved stalls and a curious tomb to Florens V, Count of Holland in 1296. It is an im mense building, and is a reminiscence of the years ago when Alkmaar was a much more important place than it is now. It has been much defaced inside, and is " sadly silent and whitewashed." The Waaghuis or Weigh-house, dating from 1582, is the most picturesque building in Alkmaar. It is ^houseafd' a charminS o1^ building, with a very Market, richly and gaily decorated * front. In the fine market square, in front of the Weigh- house, the weekly market is held every Friday. This is a sight worth seeing. The market place is full of round yellow and red cheeses, looking like so many painted cannon-balls ; they are piled up ? "Dutch Republic," Part III., chap. 9 126 Alkmaat. ever) where, in curiously shaped waggons, on barrows, and upon the ground. There are crowds of Dutch farmers and peasants, with their wives and sweethearts.The women are chatter ing, and the men are smoking, gesticulating, bargain- i n g, and s h a k i n g hands over their bar gains. In the Weigh-house itself the cheeses are beingweighed,con-veyed thither on stretchers or hand-bar rows by busy porters. These porters wear differently coloured caps, corres ponding with the colours of the scales in the Weigh- house. The visitor, if he have time to spare, can stroll along the Langestraat to have a look at the Stadhuis, a sixteenth century building, restored,and ^afkslt containing a few paintings and some me mentos of the siege (admission 25 cents), or along the Gedempte Nieuwe Straat to see some of the old houses, with their elaborate stone carving and THE WEIGH-HOUSE, ALKMAAR. The Helder. 127 brickwork. He can get rid of some of his money at one of the numerous old curiosity shops, full of old (?) china and other treasures. He can wander along the quays, past the ancient warehouses, with their stone tablets identifying them with the cheese in dustry, and watch the vessels alongside taking in their cargoes of the coloured cannon-balls. There are pleasant walks along the old ramparts, which are planted with trees, and in the Bosch or Park close to the town. If the stranger happen to be in Alkmaar in August, when one of the famous trotting matches is being held in the Park, he will enjoy the fun immensely, and will have an unequalled opportunity of studying North Holland costumes and manners. About three miles from Alkmaar is Esmond Aan Zee, a primitive little fishing village, near Egmond Aan t0 wnicn are the ruins of the old castle of the Counts of Egmond, and an interesting old ruined church. The train after leaving Alkmaar passes Hugowaard (5 miles), near which are the Beemster and Schermermeer poldeis, and the little town of Schermer Horn ; Schagen (13 miles),with its cattle and flaxfields ; Anna Paulowna (19 miles), situated in the polder bearing the same name ; and arrives in about an hour at the Helder (27 miles). There is not very much to be seen here, but the great dyke is interesting. Napoleon first raised the Helder from the obscurity of a fishing Helder. viyage by fortifying it, with the intention of making it his " northern Gibraltar." The coast here is very much exposed, hence the erection of the Helder dyke, which is built of granite brought from Norway and Belgium, and T1Dyke.at which is five miles long, and four or five yards wide. It is strengthened by massive bulwarks, which project far into the sea. Against this dyke the waves often rise to a great height above the level of the land behind it. 128 Nieuwe Diep. It is interesting to walk along the dyke to Nieuwe Diep, a few miles away, which has been called the Portsmouth of Holland. Here are the Nieuwe head-quarters of the Dutch navy, and a p' naval cadet school. Some men-of-war may generally be seen at anchor here. A good view of the Zuider Zee is obtained from the Helder. In the distance is the long low- lying island of Texel, the first of the Texel. chain 0f islands, Vlieland, Terschelling, and others, which lie about the entrance of the Zuider Zee. Texel is renowned for its sheep, and it pro duces great stores of mutton and wool, which are duly sent to the mainland. It also exports innumerable sea-fowls' eggs, being the home of many strange fowl. Steamers run about three times a day between the Helder and Oudeschild on the island. Section II. FROM AMSTERDAM TO HOORN, ENKHUIZEN, AND MEDEMBLIK. There are steamers every day from Amsterdam to Hoorn and Enkhuiien. The train leaves the Central Station, branchesoff at Zaandam, passes through Purmerend (14 miles), " a paradise of dairy- farms," and devoted, like Alkmaar, to cheeses, Kwadijk, three miles from which is Edam, and in about one hour reaches Hoorn (25 miles). Hoorn, once a thriving wealthy city and the capital of North Holland, with extensive ship- Hoorn. building yards and a cloth-weaving in dustry^ now a quiet, prim, but delightful town. Hoorn. l2g In olden time its inhabitants were a seafaring folk ; the place bred heroes, as Vondel, the Dutch poet, wrote ; now they make and export cheese, Its Past. Gutter, and other provisions. Tasman, who discovered Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand, and Jan Koen, who in 1619 founded Batavia, were born here ; Schouten, who in 161 6 first rounded Cape Horn, had his home here. But the bit of glorious history of which Hoorn is naturally most proud is the defeat of the Spaniards under the great Spanish admiral, Count de Bossu, off the coast in 1573. The Spaniard sailed into the Zuider Zee confident at heart, and anticipating an easy victory, but he was attacked so bravely by the Dutch that before the evening his ships were nearly all dispersed or taken. His own flagship was sur rounded, and discretion being the better part of valour, he surrendered. He was a prisoner at Hoorn for three years. There are three houses overlooking the sea, from which the fight was watched by many anxious eyes on that day in October, and on the front of these may be seen a triple bas-relief picturing the principal events of the engagement. Hoorn is a right pleasant town to lounge about in : its houses, many of them dated 1560 to 1570 and elaborately sculptured, and and Gate's? many of them untenanted, are extremely picturesque and full of colour ; most of them are out of the perpendicular. Several of the old gates survive, and the beautiful Water-gate, situated at (-. the commencement of the pier, - - is quite famous. Dating from 1582, it stands by the Zuider Zee, dominating the harbour and conspicuous for many miles around. 130 Hoorn. Other Sights. Other sights to be seen, as one walks about, are the Town Hall, a gabled red brick building ; the Arsenal, with its pointed roof; and the State Col lege, the birthplace of Schouten. The last is built of grey stone, and on its front, among other ornamentations, is a shield bearing the arms of England held up by two negroes. When De Ruyter defeated the English, some of his vessels came from Hoorn, and on board one of these were two negroes. These worthies took from the English flagship the shield which it was then usual to fix to the stem of a war ship, and brought their trophy back to Hoorn. Hence the representa tion of England's coat of arms on the Stadhuis. Opposite to the State College is the Weigh- house, another quaint old building, devoted to the weighing of cheeses. Thursday is market day here, and Hoorn quite wakes up for a short time, the scene in the market being somewhat similar to that at Alkmaar. The St. Jan's Inn (an old almshouse) and the Doelen Hotel are also picturesque, the latter, once a mansion, having carved gates and a delightful old yard and garden with curious old brick walls. On the gable is the date 1646. The train from Hoorn to Enkhuizen (11 miles) passes through a rich country, passing Blokker, Westwoud, Hoogkarspel, and Bovenkarspel. ST. JAN'S INN, HOORN. Enkhuizen. 131 Enkhuizen, the birthplace of Paul Potter, is as " dead " as its neighbour Hoorn, and as full of reminiscences of the great sea-fight with n uizen. j-^ gosgu# Once an important town, devoted to the herring industry, with 40,000 inhabi tants, it is now a quiet decayed place, with a popu lation of about 5,000. Much of the town has disappeared, and green meadowsnow exist where were once busy streets and good houses, There are still plenty of picturesque old gabled houses left, and as one walks along the narrow Westerstraat and e 1 s e- where, it is inte resting to study the architecture. One of the most original buildings is the Weeshuis, or orphanage, with a fine Renaissance front. Inside the Westerkerk, a large church with a noble tower, are some carved stalls and a pulpit well worth seeing. In the seventeenth century Stadhuis there are some rooms with ceilings elaborately painted by Van .Neck, while one chamber, the Weeskamer, is hung with exquisite tapestry. Over the mantelpiece in the Burgemeester's Kamer is a picture by Ferdinand Bol. There is a collection of antiquities in the Town Hall, many of them being connected with De Bossu. On the sea front are the imposing Stavoren Gate and the great 132 Medemblik ; Broek. Dromedary Water Tower. Everywhere there is much to remind one of the former greatness of Enkhuizen. From Enkhuizen a steam ferry crosses the Zuider Zee to Stavoren in Friesland, and there is a regular steamer service to Harlingen. (See pages 153 and 154.) A branch line from Hoorn runs to Medemblik (10 miles). Medemblik is yet another very quiet, sleepy, desolate place. There is a Town Hall to be seen Medemhlik tnere> one °^ t'ie rooms of which is hung ' with some very old and beautiful em bossed leather. There is a small museum, as usual, in the Town Hall. The Church is spacious, and possesses a finely carved pulpit and some curious tombstones. Section III. TO MONNIKENDAM, EDAM, AND VOLENDAM. There is a steam tram from the Tolhuis through Buiksloot and Schouw to Broek. The steamers on the North Holland canal call at Buiksloot— a village at the Waterland dyke rejoicing in numerous cafe's etc. — and at Schouw, two miles from which is Broek. From Schouw visitors can proceed to the last-named village in a boat on a small branch canal. Broek has long been celebrated as being the cleanest place in the world. It is certainly clean— almost Broek. painfully so, perhaps — but this is nothing extraordinary in Holland. In appearance it is like a toy village taken out of a box and arranged on a nursery carpet. One almost expects to find tin swans on the water ready to be led about by a magnet. Monnikendam ; Edam. 133 It is a pretty village, with its sheet of water, its trees, and tiny gardens. If the visitor happens to be passing, he may well stop to see Broek, but it is hardly worth while making a journey on purpose to visit it. A little steamer takes passengers from Kwadijk (a station on the railway to Hoorn) to Monnikendam. There is a steam tram from the Tolhuis through Buiksloot, Schouw, and Broek to Monnikendam. Monnikendam is a quiet little decayed town, with a modest town hall and a grand old brick church, "big enough," as one writer remarks, M°damen" "t0 hold every creature in the town four times told." Red houses with green shutters line the deserted streets, which are paved with yellow bricks. Monnikendam has had its day of success, and was once a flourishing commercial place; now there is hardly a soul to to be seen in its streets. From Monnikendam the tram proceeds to Edam. Edam, another town devoted to the making of cheeses, possesses a Town Hall, a Market, and two Churches. At this town, in the seven- Edam, teenth century, when it was the centre of the shipbuilding trade, De Ruyter's fleet was built. The Groote Kerk (fifteenth century) is very large, and is adorned with some fine stained-glass windows. "A stroll through the town," writes the artist-author of "Sketching Rambles," "showed many traces of former prosperity and even a certain amount of civic grandeur. We looked at the market-place from the fine old bridge, with its broad seats and its much be-curled and twisted iron railing, that spans its wide canal. About the square were numbers of delightful old houses, with elaborately adorned gables, crow- stepped, scrolled, and weather-cocked and tableted." From Edam a boat takes one back to Volendam, or the visitor, if he prefers, can walk to the latter place in half an hour or so along the canal. J34 Volendam ; Marken. The village of Volendam is situated on the inner edge of the great dyke which runs along volendam. the Zujder Zee here for mileg_ The interior of one of the small wooden houses is well worth seeing, with its old tiles, china, and other treasures. Painters come in large numbers during the summer to this little place. Section IV. TO MARKEN. Steamers leave Amsterdam every Sunday in the summer for Marken. The fare is one guilder. A pleasanter but more ex pensive way of reaching the island (unless a party be made up) is to hire a sailing boat from Monnikendam. The green island of Marken is practically a huge meadow, and its inhabitants are mainly devoted to fishing. Many of them, especially the Marken. womeri) seidom leave the island for the mainland, and very few are the " hints and echoes of the world "that reach them. They all look fat and rosy, especially the children, whose cheeks almost seem as if they were painted. The island is only just above the sea level, and the little villages are built on mounds, connected by narrow brick-paved paths running across the fields. These are often submerged, and the little tightly packed villages are then separate islands for a while. There are some remarkable costumes to be seen. For example, the men wear a kind of divided Marken Costumes !3S skirt, with a blue shirt above, and a sou'-wester ; while a woman will wear dark blue stuff petticoats, Costumes snort and mil> a vel7 gay bodice of some brilliant colour, laced up the back, scarlet sleeves with a white band to the elbow, blue knitted sleeves from elbow to wrist, and a pink kerchief loosely knotted round the throat. She will wear a fringe across AT MARKEN thejforehead, with one^long curl down each side of the face, and a cap edged with wide white lace. An old woman will sometimes wear curls made of silk,twisted to look like hair. As for the boys and girls, they are often dressed exactly alike — like the women as* far down as the waist, and then in loose knickerbockers. It is only possible to tell the boys from the girls by the button that the former have on the crown of their caps, and the brooches they wear under their chins. The interior of a Marken cottage should be seen, if possible. There is a peat stove burning,filling the room r36 A Marken Interior. with its fragrance, and there is great store of crockery and brass, making the house seem almost like an old curiosity shop. Not a speck of dust AInteriorn 's t0 ^e seen anywriere ; the owners even leave their sabots (or klompen) at the door, and go about inside barefoot. All the ware and brass are heirlooms, and their proud owners can seldom be induced to part with them. There are trains nearly every hour from Amsterdam to Utrecht (22 miles). A MARKEN GROUP. CHAPTER XII. UTRECHT AND ARNHEM Section I. UTRECHT. Utrecht, the capita] of the province of that name, situated on the old Rhine and the Vecht, may be described as a typical cathedral town, placid and dignified. It is not a commercial place, nor, although it pos sesses a university, has it the aca demic air of Ley den. Its canals are different from those in other towns, inasmuch as they are con siderably below the level of the houses. In the principal thoroughfares, for example in the Oude Gracht and Nieuwe Gracht, Utrecht. 139 the visitor will see that there are practically two roadways on each side of the waterway, the upper one, lined with handsome buildings and good shops, forming a roof for a lower line of stores, vaults, etc., which open on to the level of the canal. Flights of steps here and there connect the two roadways. The effect of this is very picturesque. Utrecht is a very old city, and its history is interesting, giving the visitor much to think about as he walks about its shady squares and Histoy. 1U^ streets. In very early days, when the country was subject to the Romans, the city was known as Trajectum ad Rhenum (the Ford of the Rhine). Later on, when Friesland — then a distinct province, to which Utrecht belonged — was conquered by Charlemagne, and the Franks took possession of the country, Dagobert, son of Clotaire II., founded the first Christian church here. The Frisians were loth to accept Christianity, but a great battle, fought against them by Charles Martel, estab lished the new religion. The first Bishop of Utrecht was Willibrod, an Anglo-Saxon who had come over from England as a missionary, and who had already been preaching the Gospel in Walcheren. The Prince-Bishops of Utrecht were for long famous for their power and wealth, and they, with the Counts of Holland, practically ruled the country for many centuries.* In 1579 the famous treaty of union between the southern provinces, " the foundation- stone of the Netherlands Republic," was formed at Utrecht. In 17 13 the great Treaty of Utrecht, which put an end to the Thirty Years War, was signed there. The Cathedral, or rather what remains of it, is a magnificent building, and was originally one of the ¦me finest churches in Holland. It was Cathedral, erected in the thirteenth century on the spot where, in the eighth century, stood the church * See page 13. 140 Utrecht Cathedral. built by Willibrod. In 1674, during a terrible storm, the nave fell in, and it has never been rebuilt. In consequence of this, the church and the tower stand at some distance apart, being, in fact, on opposite sides of a large square. The interior, which is much disfigured by unsightly woodwork, contains some interesting monuments. The tower, which is 340 feet in height, can be ascended (25 cents), and it is from here that nearly the whole of Holland can be seen. IN THE OUDE GRACHT. There are several other churches in Utrecht (St. Pieterskerk, St. Janskerk, Jacobikerk, and the Church of St. Catherine), but they are hardly worth specially visiting. Close to the Cathedral, and connected with it by old Gothic cloisters, is the University, founded in 1636. Thither in 1763 came Boswell to Univeraty study> finding> as he wrote t0 Dr' Johnson> Utrecht very dull at first after the animated scenes of London. There is a museum of natural history in the University buildings. The library, containing about 100,000 volumes and numerous Utrecht. 141 MSS., has been moved to the palace which was built in 1807 for Louis Napoleon. „ There are other museums in the city Museums. , . J to be seen. The Archiepiscopal Museum, at one end of the Nieuwe Gracht ; open on week-days, 10 to 5, 50 cents. Pictures, books, vestments, sculptures, etc., all illustrating Dutch sacred art. Museum Kunstliefde, in the MariaHaats ; open on week-days, 10 to 5, 25 cents. (Sundays I to 4, free.) Pictures, principally by early Dutch painters. Museum van Oudheden, in the Town Hall (which is quite a modern building), at the end of the Vischmarkt ; open daily, 10 to 4, 10 cents. Drawings, pictures, and various antiquities and curios. Museum van Kunstnijverheid, in the Wittevrouwenbrug ; open daily, 1 to 4, 25 cents ; Sundays free. An art industrial collection. Utrecht is a pleasant place in which to stroll about. In the Nieuwe Gracht is the Pope's House (Paus- huizen) built in the sixteenth century by Walks about P°Pe Adrian VI., and now used for public the City, offices. The National Mint in the Oude Gracht can be visited, if application be made to the Director. There are pleasant walks on the ramparts around the city, and the Maliebaan or Mall, an avenue of limes three rows deep on either side, more than a mUe in length, is considered to be one of the finest promenades in Europe. Utrecht is the headquarters of the Jansenists, a curious Roman Catholic sect founded in the sixteenth The century by one Cornelius Jansen. They Jansenists. have been excommunicated many times, bull after bull having been launched against them by various Popes. There are about 6,000 of them, and they form quite a separate communion in Holland, electing their own bishop without reference to the Pope. Pleasant trips may be made to various places in the Excursions environs of Utrecht — e.g., to De Bilt, about from Utrecht, six miles away, where there are pretty tea-gardens,_c-r to Baarn, with its fine wood. Close 142 Arnhem. to Baarn is Soestdijk, a royal chateau, which was a present from the States-General in 1816 to William II. (then Prince of Orange) in recognition of his bravery at Quatre Bras. This is open to the public sometimes. At Zeist, which is about three miles from Driebergen station, and to which there is also a tramway from Utrecht, there is an interesting Moravian colony. From Utrecht there is a railway to Zwolle (42 miles) through Amersfoort (14 miles), and Harderwijk (17 miles). Trains for Arnhem (35 miles) leave Utrecht every few hours, passing through Driebergen, and Ede, whence there is a tramway to Wageningen, with its large Agricultural College. Arnhem is reached in a little more than an hour. The country traversed is pleasantly wooded, and is a contrast to the rest of Holland. Section II. ARNHEM. Trams run from the station through the town and to some of the suburbs. Arnhem, the capital of the province of Gelderland, is situated in the most beautiful part of Holland. It is more like an English or a German town than a Dutch one- " In Arnhem you feel as if you had said farewell to Holland," says one writer. All round it are hills and woods, from which peep the handsome country houses of the rich Dutch merchants and nabobs, who wisely prefer to live here in the Arnhem. M3 summer, away from the heat of city or town. It is built at the foot of the Veluwe hills, and on the bank of the Rhine, which is crossed by a picturesque bridge of boats. This bridge is a pleasant place whereon to lounge and watch the steamers going up and down the river. Arnhem is an old*town, and is said to be the Arenacum of the Romans, but it impresses one as being a very modern, thriving place. The last rampart was levelled in 1853, and parks and gardens now take the place of the old fortifi cations. The Town Hall, a fifteenth century building in 144 Arnhem. the Markt Plein, rejoices in the name of the Devil's House, from the fact that its front is adorned with The Town many sculptured grinning faces. The local Hall. legend is that Maarten van Rossem, a famous soldier in olden days, who once lived in the house, had the devils' faces put on the facade, in order to annoy the municipal authorities, because they had refused to allow him to have golden steps to his door instead of stone ones. Behind the Town Hall is the Public Library, which contains many valuable books. THE RHINE AT ARNHEM. In the Groote Kerk (late Gothic) is the black and white marble monument of Charles Van Egmont, The Groote Duke of Guelders in the sixteenth century. Kerk, etc. In the choir hangs his armour. The St Walburg's Church (fifteenth century) contains some stained-glass windows and a carved pulpit. The Museum of Antiquities, over the Weigh-house (open on Wednesdays from 2 till 4 and on Sundays in the summer from 11.30 till 1.30, admission free), is interesting, possessing, among other curios, a fine collection of seals and of old silver cups. There are numerous excursions to be made from Arnhem, many beautiful places being within easy Excursions from Arnhem. 145 walking or driving distance from the town. Sonsbeek, the seat of Baron Van Heeckeren, is close to the town, and the fine park attached to Excursions _, . . ., K,. ,, , from this is open to the public on Mondays Arnhem. an(j Wednesdays. A good view is obtained from the Belvedere Tower in the grounds. The Reeberg is a pleasant resort, provided with pleasure grounds and a casino. Concerts are given here frequently. Heijenoord, with beautiful woods, Bronbeek, with its military hospital, Klarenbeek, Rhederoord, Beekhuizen, Biljoen,' Middachten, Velp, and Rozendaal, with its beautiful avenue, are all places to which pleasant trips may be made by anyone staying any time in Arnhem. CHAPTER XIII. THE NORTHERN PROVINCES. OVER-IjeSEL, DRENTHE, FRIESLAND, GRONINGEN. The visitor who has the time to spare may well devote some days to the north- e r n pro vinces, of which Fries- land is the most in teresting. A glance at the map will show that the traveller can either proceed to Zwolle, and on farther north, from Utrecht, returning by way of Arnhem, or can take train northward from the latter town. Another pleasant way of visiting Friesland, if the visitor be wandering about at his own sweet will, has already been briefly referred to on page 132. This is to take boat across the Zuider Zee from Enk huizen to Stavoren or Harlingen (about an hour and a quarter's journey). A few days devoted to such towns as Zwolle, Kampen, Leeuwarden, Stavoren, and Zutphen. 147 Groningen will by no means be wasted, but will con siderably enlarge the stranger's knowledge of Holland and its people. The train from Arnhem to Zwolle (47 miles), before leaving Gelderland, passes through Zutphen (19 miles). Zutphen, an old town at the junction of the IJssel with the Berckel, is to Englishmen inseparably con nected with Sir Philip Sydney, for it was Zutphen at the giege Qf Zutphen that he received the wound from which he shortly afterwards died at Arnhem. There is not very much to be seen here. In the long narrow market place is the Wine House, formerly a weigh-house, and now reduced to being a police office. It contains a few antiquities. The Groote Kerk of St. Walburgus (Gothic) dates from the twelfth century, and has recently been restored. It is a fine building, and TtKGrk°te contains some monuments of the Counts of Zutphen. An old iron chandelier, which was presented to the church by Otto II. in the thirteenth century, and an elaborate font of the sixteenth century, are interesting. In a long narrow chamber with a low ceiling, which adjoins the church, and which was once the chapter-house, is an old monastic library containing some rare and ancient books chained to desks and cases. Branch lines run from Zutphen to Hengeloo and to Winters- wijk, where, however, there is nothing of importance to be seen. About 1 1 miles by rail from Zutphen is Apeldoorn , a large and picturesque village, near to which is the Loo, a favourite royal residence. The beautiful park is open to visitors on application to the head gardener, and, when the royal family are not in residence, the palace may be visited. " The palace, a large white building, is the reverse of beautiful in point of architecture, but the interior is fitted up with extreme taste and care." Skction I. O V E R-I J S S E L. :-=fr- Over-IJssel is a flourishing pro vince, of which the southern por tion is by far the pleasanter. The northern part, which adjoins Drenthe, is flat and desolate, the landscape consist ing principally of peatfields and underbrush. The train from Zutphen to Zwolle (28 miles) passes through Deventer (10 miles). Deventer is a thriving and neat town, and prides itself somewhat on being the birthplace of Jacob Gronovius, a celebrated philologist. It is still more famous perhaps for its ginger bread, which is manufactured in large quantities. A public official, duly appointed by the town, looks after the proper making and baking of this delicacy. There are plenty of shops where the Deventer koek, as it is called, may be obtained by the visitor who is curious to taste it, or take some home in his portmanteau. The Gothic Weigh- house, which stands conspicuous in the great square, and the Town Hall, which contains a good picture of a town council by Terburg, who was himself once a burgomaster of the town, are interesting. The late-Gothic Groote Kerk Deventer. Deventer ; Zwolle. 149 of St. Lebwin has a fine tower, and an interesting Romanesque crypt dating from the eleventh century. Carpets are manufactured extensively in Deventer, AT DEVENTER. and there are also some iron foundries here. Motley, writing of the town as it was in 1587, describes it as the most important mercantile place in all the provinces after Amsterdam and Antwerp. From 1 'eventer by rail to Zwolle>l8 miles. Zwolle is the capital of Over-IJssel, and is a quiet commercial town, built on a small river called the Zwarte Water. As the visitor walks from the station into the town he will pass through the Sassen Poort, an old Gothic brick gate way with a clock tower and four turrets : this is the only gate that Zwolle has left out of nine. The Groote Kerk of St. Michael in the market square dates from 1406, and contains a very elaborately carved pulpit, by some people considered to be one of the finest to be seen anywhere. At the Town Hall arejS_some portraits. In a monastery on the Zwolle. iS° Kampen. of St. Agnes), which is Agnetenberg (or hill about three miles away, and which is used as a cemetery, lived in the fifteenth century Thomas a Kempis, the author of the Imitatio Christi. There is a branch line from Zwolle to Kampen, about 8 miles away. Kampen is a quaint old town near the mouth of Kampen. the jj^ and is a seaport of the Zuider Zee. It is rich in old gateways, pos sessing no less than four, all interesting and picturesque. The Town Hall (sixteenth century) is an espe cially fine building, with an elaborate facade ornamented with carving and statues. Inside there are some spacious and magnificent municipal chambers, decorated with old oak wains coting. There is some beautiful wood-carving to be seen in these rooms, particularly in the council chamber, where there is also a picturesque chimney- piece. There are two fine churches, St. Mary and St. Nicholas. The good people of Kampen are in the happy position of being exempt from taxes, the municipality being rich enough to do without such luxuries. One almost wonders, under such THE SASSEX POORT, ZWOLLE Friesland. 151 circumstances, that the population of the place is only some 18,000. Section II. FRIESLAND. Friesland is a flat, fertile, agricultural province, covered with large meadows, on which are pastured immense herds of cattle. Its breed of horses is well known throughout Europe, and its butter and eggs andcheese are largely exported to other parts of Holland. Its inhabi tants are renowned for their physique, the women being considered to be very beautiful. The distinctive costume of the province may still be seen, although it is gradually giving way to more modern fashions. The gold headdress ~ =- is still very extensively worn, and on market days such towns as Leeuwarden seem full, as De Amicis writes, " of beardless cuiras siers." Friesland reaches back to very olden days, and flavard, in his "Dead Cities of the Zuider Zee," gives many interesting details of the history and customs of the province. It is said to have been discovered two hundred years before the Christian era, by one Friso, a prince who came from somewhere in the East. The Frieslanders have always prided them selves on their independence and freedom. When Charlemagne took possession of the country, it was agreed by him that although the Frieslanders were to be governed by his rulers, it should be in accord ance with Frisic law. Many of the buildings in Friesland are erected on mounds of earth which 152 Leeuwarden. are called terpen, and which were raised by the ancient inhabitants as a protection against inundations. At Meppel (16 miles from Zwolle) the line divides, proceeding east to Leeuwarden (40 miles) and Harlingen (55 miles), and west to Assen (28 miles) and Groningen (44 miles). Leeuwarden, the chief town of Friesland, is a some what primitive place, with, however, many traces here and there of modernity in the shape of eeuwar en.g00(j sn0pS wjtn piar.e-glass windows, fine bridges, etc., etc. There are some interesting build ings to be seen here, and at the cattle market, which is held every Thursday and Friday, the costumes of the Frisian folk may be studied to advantage. The Chancellerie or House of Correction, dating from 1504, and once used as the residence of the Gover nor (or Chancellor) of the province, is a very quaint building of red and yellow brick, with gabled windows and roofs, and adorned with seven statues of the Virtues. In the Hofplein is the old palace of the Stadholders of Friesland. The Town Hall, also in the Hofplein, dating from 17 15, is large and hand some, and the old grey stone Weigh-house is pictur esque. The massive leaning tower of St Jacques, which " seems to be bending over the street to watch the passers-by," looks almost dangerous, and one is apt to hurry past it. The Oldehoof, another old tower, which once belonged to the Church of St. Vitus, now stands forlorn, the church having been destroyed in 1580. The sea once came up to the very gates of the church, but the country around has been drained, and the sea is now some ten miles away. In the Museum is a collection of very interesting Frisian antiquities. From Leeuwarden a branch line runs through Sneek (14 miles) and Hindeloopen, a little place full of gaily painted miniature houses and famous for its unique costumes, to Stavoren (3 1 miles) . Sneek carries on an extensive trade in butter Stavoren. i~53 and cheese, and is a busy little town. It possesses a fine old brick Watergate .and a Sneel1, Town Hall. Stavoren years ago was a flourishing city and port. So wealthy was it that its innabitants are said to have made their door-handles, Stavoren. ^^ ^ out Qf pure gold> It ig a very ancient place, having been the city of _ the Frisian god Stavo and the residence of the Frisian monarchs. The legend of its decline is curious. Guicciardini, an old writer on Holland, relates that there was a certain widow at Stavoren, who was so rich that she hardly knew the extent of her pos sessions, and this made her very petulant and insolent. She loaded a vessel for Dantzic, and put in command of it a captain, who, in exchange for the cargo with which he was entrusted, was instructed to bring back the most exquisite and rare articles procurable. As the captain knew of no merchandise more valuable than wheat, he loaded his ship with this and returned to Stavoren. The widow was so incensed that she ordered the captain to throw the grain over board. This he did : the grain took root, and a formidable sandbank was formed at the entrance of the harbour, which prevented ships of any tonnage from entering. The grass-sown sandbank, which still exists in front of the harbour, is known as the Vrouwenzand. There are no buildings of particular interest in Stavoren, which practically consists of a straight narrow canal with grassy banks and small houses on either side. The train from Leeuwarden to Harlingen (15 .miles) passes Franeker (10 miles), which was an important university from 1585 till 1811, when it was suppressed by Napoleon. Like the more famous institution at Leyden, this university was founded by the Dutch people in the midst of all their troubles and misery. " The voice with which this infant seminary of the Muses first made itself heard above the din of war was but feeble, but the institution was destined to thrive, and to endow the world for many successive generations with the golden fruits of science iS4 Harlingen. and genius." At Franeker may be seen a working model of the solar system, known as the planetarium, and made by one Eisinga, '•' a self-taught genius." It is set in motion by elaborate and complex machinery. Harlingen is a busy port, serving as an outlet for the butter, cheese, and other good things produced Harlin e *n Friesland. There are great canals ' full of vessels, and good streets lined with neat, small, vari-colonred houses in the town. It is founded near the site of a village which was destroyed by the sea in 1134, and is now protected by immense dykes, formed of piles and planks and red granite. The Steenen Man, a monument on the old sea wall, was erected in the sixteenth century to the Spanish Governor Robles, who, after a terrible inundation in 1566, set the inhabitants to work at improved and satisfactory dykes. There, is little in the way of old- world architecture to be seen here. About 1 2 miles from Harlingen, and connected by tram, is the very old town of Bolsward, which has been _ . . great in its day, but which is 'now a very quiet place. The fifteenth century Groote Kerk of St. Martin, containing some fine woodwork and some good monuments, and the Town Hall, with an elaborate fagade, are both interesting buildings. Section III. GRONINGEN AND DRENTHE. " Gronin gen is per haps, of all the prov inces of the Low Coun tries, the one which the hand of man has most wonderfully transformed . In the sixteenth century a great part of this prov ince was still uninhabit ed. It was a country of sinister as pect, tov- ered with brambles, stagnant pools, tempestuous lakes, and constantly in undated by the sea. Three centuries of patient and courageous labour, often given up in despair and again renewed with obstinate determination, and carried on through every kind of difficulty and peril, have transformed that savage and dangerous region into a most fertile country intersected by Trams run from the station to the Groote Markt. iS6 Groningen. canals, dotted with towns and factories, where agriculture flourishes, commerce and labour go hand in hand, and a population of wealthy and well- instructed people swarms." So writes De Amicis, who gives an interesting description of this province, and who appears to have been much impressed by its wealth and prosperity. The journey from Leeuwarden to Groningen(33 miles) occupies about an hour and a half. Groningen is an-hnportant, flourishing, business town, but possesses nothing of any special, interest for the visitor. Its streets and squares are large, its canals are wide, its'houses are^very tall, " it has shops worthy of Paris, cleanli- Groningen. THE GROOTE MARKT, GRONINGEN. ness worthy of jBroek, with nothing peculiar in form, colour, or general aspect." Altogether it is rather a curious mixture. It possesses a very spacious market-place, which indeed is one of the largest in Holland. Here are situated St. Martin's Church (seventeenth century), a vast building, with a lofty tower The University. 157 rather resembling that of the church at Utrecht, and the Town Hall, which has been restored. The Aa Church is very old, and has fallen on evil days. The University of Groningen, founded in 1618, is less fashionable than that at Leyden, but much good work is done there. In its handsome buildings is a very good natural history museum. The people of Groningen are very musical, and very good con certs are given from time to time at the Harmonie Club. Visitors are welcomed to these ; and if the stranger should be spending a night in the town, he should ascertain at his hotel if one of these concerts is advertised, and if so, arrange to be present. To some the large Deaf and Dumb Institution, one of the largest in Europe, will be interesting. Large vessels can come up the Reit-diep, a canal, to the harbour of Groningen, which is a busy place. There is a line from Groningen to the fortified port of Delfzijl (18 miles), and another to Nieuweschans (28 miles), a town of no particular interest on the frontier. The train from Groningen to Arnhem (107 miles) passes through Assen (16 miles), the chief town of Dr nth Drenthe, which is a flat and uninteresting province, practically one immense peat- field, whose inhabitants are for the most part engaged in the peat industry. There is very little to detain the visitor. At Assen there are curious tumuli and other antiquities. CHAPTER XIV. FROM ARNHEM TO BREDA. The train from Arnhem to Breda passes through Nijmegen (10 miles) and 's Hertogenbosch (38 miles). Nijmegen* has figured much in wars, and is built on a hill — the Hoenderberg — where the Romans of Niime old had a fort, known as Castellum Noviomagum. It is beautifully situated, close to the river Waal, and was once the favourite AT NIJMEGEN. residence of the Carlovingian monarchs. In the grounds of the Valkhof, where once stood a castle said to have been built by Cssar, may still be seen * Pronounce " Nimwegen.'' Nijmegen; Bois-le-Duc. 159 the ruins of Charlemagne's church. The extensive ramparts round the town are now laid out as promenades, and pleasant walks and views may be enjoyed there. In the Groote Markt is the Town Hall (1554), adorned with two rows of statues, and containing some portraits and antiquities ; close by, and approached from the market by an old gateway, is the Groote Kerk of St. Stephen, which was commenced in 1272 and finished in the fifteenth century. The tower has suffered during past wars, and has been restored. Inside there is the monument of the Duchess of Guelders. A spare hour may well be spent in the pleasure grounds of the Valkhof, already mentioned, or at the Belvedere Tower, where there is a restaurant, and whence a good view is to be enioyed. There is a ferry across the river Waal to a pretty tea-garden near the landing-stage, from which the beautiful situation of Nijmegen can best be appreciated. "Few experiences are pleasanter than to stroll down from the market plac: by the narrow steep streets descending to the river, cross the ferry, take a comfortable seat in the gardens, and while sipping the fragrant cup delight the eye with one of the fairest sights Holland can show. To the right is the fine railway bridge spanning the Waal in three great arches, immediately in front the irregular masses of brightly coloured houses, roofs, and spires, the most prominent being the Great Church, although that is hardly pressed by its very modern neighbour, the new Roman Catholic church ; and then away to the left are the well-wooded grounds of the Valkhof, while running between with swift cur rent are the broad yellow waters of the Waal." From Nijmegen the distance to 's Hertogenbosch is about 30 miles.'s Hertogenbosch (French, Bois-le-Duc^ the chief town of North Brabant, can boast of one of the finest Bois-le-Duc c^urcnes *n Holland. The Cathedral of St. John dates from the fifteenth century, but looks older than it is, being built of soft, sandy stone, which has not worn well. The interior is handsome and well cared for. St. Anthony's 160 Maastricht. Church is interesting, and St. Catharine's contains some pictures which originally came from an old abbey at Tongerloo in Belgium. The Town Hall contains some tapestry and a small museum of various curios (admission half a guilder), and in the Noord Brabant Museum are some interesting antiquities. 's Hertogenbosch is a very quiet place, but there is plenty that is interesting to be seen in its streets and tree-lined quays. From 's Hertogenbosch there are lines of railway to Utrecht (30 miles), to Zwaluwe (on the line from Rosendaal and Breda to Dort), to Eindhoven (21 miles), a pleasantly situated and busy manufacturing town, and Venloo (12 miles), famous for its sieges, and to Tilburg (12 miles) and Breda (24 miles). From Venloo there is a railway to Maastricht (44 miles). Maastricht, the capital of the Dutch portion of the province of Limburg, is a picturesque old place, " a grey old town, with its fringe of belfries, Maastricht. t0WerS) and pinnacles, its rambling roofs and scrolly weathercocks." It suffered much in the war against the Spaniards, and has been besieged many times. The seventeenth century Town Hall stands conspicuously in the centre of the Groote Markt, and in the Vrythof is the massive Hoofdkerk of St. Serva- tius, said to be the oldest church in the Netherlands. The Church of Notre Dame is an ancient building, to which additions have from time to time been made not wisely but too well. In the Petersberg, a hill above the town, are innumerable subterranean quarries cut in the soft sandstone. Hundreds of years have been devoted to the excavation of these. Some hours are required for the proper exploration of these caves, and a properly appointed guide is abso lutely essential, as it is quite possible to lose one's way in the labyrinth. The train from 's Hertogenbosch to Breda passes through Tilburg, a manufacturing town with important manufactories, and_in about an hour arrives at Breda. The fair and pleasant city of Breda, on the river Breda. 16 1 Merk, has also had experience of wars and sieges. „ . The account of its recapture from the Breda. « . , . Spaniards by clever stratagem in 1590, when one Captain Charles de Heraugifere and a body of sixty-eight picked men contrived to get into the town by concealing themselves under the turf in a turf-boat, is extremely interesting, and Motley may again be consulted with advantage.* The houses which line the winding streets of Breda are very varied in colour and outline. The Hervormde Kerk (sixteenth century), in the market place, is a stately building with an octagon tower. It contains some fine but sadly mutilated monuments, notably the magnificent one (in a side chapel) to Count Engelbert II. of Nassau and his wife. The old castle built in the fourteenth century by the Lord of Breda, John Van Blanen, and the new chateau erected by William III. of England, and surrounded by the Merk, should be visited. The latter is used as a military school. The railway journey from Breda to Flushing, 'via Roosendaal (63 miles), occupies from two to three hours. * " United Netherlands," chap. 21. CHAPTER XV. BOATING IN HOLLAND. " Holland is the best country in the world for attractive cruising in small vessels." So writes Mr. G. Christopher Davies, whose books on the Norfolk broads are well known, and who has spent much time afloat in the Netherlands. His book. " On Dutch Waterways," is referred to later. There are so many waterways in Holland, that the boating man meditating an excursion in that country may find it difficult to decide which routes he shall choose. With a proper craft, there are few corners of the Netherlands which he may not visit. Yachts of more than eight feet draught cannot get much farther than the Y and the Maas, as the Zuider Zee and the canals are very shallow, but, with a boat of less draught than this, many of the principal and most interesting parts of Holland may be seen. A boat, such as a Norfolk wherry, may be taken across from this country, or a Dutch boeitr, a flat-bottomed vessel built especially for the shallow waters, may be hired on reasonable terms. Anyone writing to Mr. C. Jaski, shipbroker, 95, De Ruyterkade, Amsterdam, can obtain full particulars as to cost, etc., etc. Rowing men or canoeists can enjoy them- Wi.s,i- _7J77^ A BOEIER. 164 Boating Routes. selves in Holland to their heart's content, and they will find many kindred spirits among the Dutchmen. . H\ ¦ . . -M W45\° *--' ¦'•'•¦ Routes. Charts of the various parts of Holland can be obtained from Mr. J. C. Stemler, 2, Haarlemmer- straat, Amsterdam ; and any further infor mation as to sailing, rowing, or canoeing will be given to intending visitors by the editor of the newspaper Nederlandsche Sport, published in Amster dam, or by Mr. Th. Van Heemstede Obelt, 150, De Ruyterkade, Amsterdam. The following routes, among many others, may be recommended : — 1 . From Flushing, via Middelburg and Veere, thiough the "Zandkreek" to Wemildinge ; or through the Scheldt, via Hansweerd, to Wemildinge. " On Dutch Waterways." 165 2. Thence to Zierikzee, and via Bruinisse to Willemstad and Hellevoetsluis. 3. From Willemstad along the Moerdijk, through the " Kil " to Dordrecht, and through the " Noord " to Rotterdam ; or from Dordrecht up the river, via Gorkum and Zaltbommel, to Arnhem. 4. From Rotterdam to Vlaardingen and Maassluis (a day's trip). 5. From Rotterdam, via Gouda, to Alten, thence to Leyden, and by the canal in the Kaager Lake to Haarlem and Amsterdam ; or from Alten, via the Brassemer Lake and the Haarlem Lake polder, and along the Amstel to Amsterdam. 6. From Rotterdam, via the Lek, to Vreeswijk, and via Utrecht and the Vecht to Amsterdam ; or from Vreeswijk, via Kuilenborg and Rhenen, to Arnhem. 7. From Arnhem by the Ijssel to Zwolle, Kampen, and the Zuider Zee. 8. From Amsterdam, via Zaandam, to Alkmaar, or via the North Holland Canal to Broek and Monnikendam, or via Pur- merend to Edam, Volendam, and the island of Marken, and via Schellingwoude back to Amsterdam. 9. From Amsterdam, via Schellingwoude, to the small ports on the Zuider Zee, such as Muiden, Hoorn, Enkhuizen, Medem blik and the island of Urk ; from Medemblik, via the island of Wieringen, to Nieuwe Diep and the island of Texel, and via Harlingen to the Friesland meres. There are several books describing pleasant holi days afloat in Holland, which may be studied with „ advantage. Mr. Davies' book, already WateiTrays1?" referred to, is the description of the cruise of the ss. Atalanta on the rivers and canals of Holland and the North of Belgium, the route taken being as follows : — Lowestoft to IJmuiden, IJmuiden to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Hoorn, Hoorn to the island of Urk, Urk to Kampen, Kampen to Urk, Urk to Stavoren, Stavoren to Medemblik, Medemblik to Nieuwe Diep and the Helder, Nieuwe Diep to Alkmaar, Alkmaar to Purmerend, Purmerend to Haarlem, Haarlem to Rotterdam, Rotterdam to Dort, Dort to Wemildinge, Wemildinge to Antwerp, Antwerp to Dendermonde, Dender- monde to Ghent, Ghent to Terneuzen, Terneuzen to Middelburg, Middelburg to Veere, Veere to Zierikzee, Zierikzee to Flushing. The Atalanta was a steam yacht, hailing from i66 'Friesland Meres." Lowestoft, about sixty feet in length by ten feet beam, and drawing five feet of water, her gross registered tonnage being twenty-three tons. Further particulars of this vessel, and a very interesting account of the trip, with all its adventures, may be read in full in Mr. Davies' book, of which a new and cheap edition is to be published shortly by Messrs. Jarrold & Sons* Another interesting book, which should certainly be read by anyone contemplating a yachting trip in Holland, is " Friesland Meres, the Voyage ' FMeerls."d of a Family in a Norfolk Wherry," by Hy. Montagu Doughty. t " A Norfolk wherry fitted as a yacht — a comfortable, fast-sailing house boat, in fact — was towed across from Yarmouth to * Mr. Davie has also made the following cruises: — With his wife, in a 9-ton sailing yacht, drawing four feet nhe inches — Lowestoft to Rotterdam, Gouda, Amsterdam, Nieuwe Diep, Harlingen, Leeuwarden, Sneek, Lemmer, and Hoorn. With his family, in a 27-ton yacht, drawing six- feet— Lowestoft to Ostend, Bruges, Ghent, Terneuzen, Dordrecht, Rot terdam, Gouda and Amsterdam. t A cheap new edition of this will shortly be issued by Messrs. Tarrold & Sons. " The Log of the 'Ladybird: " 167 Stavoren," writes Mr. Doughty in his preface, " and in her we — the writer and his family — first cruised for a month about Friesland. We sailed over some thirty meres, known and unknown to fame, and through the web of river-like canals which vein the entire province. We went to nearly all the towns — old walled towns some of them — Sneek, Leeuwarden, Dokkum, Bolsward, Workum, Sloten Lemmer. Next we made our way, without a pilot, and almost entirely under sail, along the rivers Zwartwater, Ijssel, Rhine, and a maze of canals and lesser streams ; through four more of the old seven provinces, Over-Ijssel, Gelderland, Utrecht, and Holland; visiting their historic cities, Zwolle, Kampen, Deventer, Zutphen, Doesborg, Arnhem, Utrecht, Oudewater, Gouda, Leyden, Delft, the Hague, Haarlem, Alkmaar, Purmerend, and Edam — each rich in associations, architecture, and art. From Edam we sailed by the Zuider Zee to the 'dead cities,' Hoorn and Enkhuizen; and then across the sea again to Friesland, leaving our boat at last laid up at Leeuwarden." The following extracts from "The Log of the Lady bird " (a yawl so called because she was supposed in her build to resemble that insect), printed "ofthe°g ^ere ^ permission, will be interesting. ' ladybird.' " The Ladybird, whose crew consisted of a gentleman, his wife and son — skipper, mate, and crew— left the Medway, calling at Dunkirk and Ostend, for Flushing. " This, our first view of the land of Rembrandt, Paul Potter, and Jan Steen, reminds us of the old saying, that ' God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland,' the whole coast being protected, as far as the eye can reach, by groins of stone, innumerable posts, and wickerwork interwoven with plaited straw. Our first impression of the Dutch language is conveyed to us from the top of the dyke, by a cowherd who is lazily calling out a Netherlandish version of the ranz-des-vaches. The tune can be heard a long way across the green ' polders' lying far below the level of the sea. " Girt with ramparts, busy Flushing looks deliriously quaint from the sea, with its high steeple, like several towers standing 168 " The Log of the "Ladybird:" one on the top of the other, with double rows of bells hanging on the outside, topped by a great tulip bulb. All around cluster bright red-roofed houses with green shutters and windows like crystal, all beautifully clean and neat. The little fishing harbour, crowded with boats of the most extravagant shape and outlandish rig, is full of life. No one could guess how many yards of stuff there must be in the petticoats of the women, who wear white caps with lappets over the ears, odd gold pins, and sometimes little straw bonnets turned up with blue, and a touch of bright colour round their necks to set off the black dress and dark blue apron. Bright brass pails, green and red cans, wooden sabots clattering over the hard brick pavements, everything new and strange. "The calm water of the ship canal makes the very place for a thorough good tidy up, but it does seem wonderful ! where does all the mess come from ? How does every little comer get its pile of moist dirt ? Why won' t it come off without using finger-nails for scrapers ? When did the crew sow all those copper tacks in dark places ? and where do one's cuts and bruises all come from ? The forecastle corners flow with Swiss milk and honey from various dribbling tins upset during the recent rough weather. " Our milkman, with crop of black hair, red face, green pails, long pipe, baggy breeches, and wooden shoes, causes great pleasure. We try to fancy him in big boots and breastplate sailing up the English Channel with a broom at his masthead, or in doublet and hose defending his walled city to the last extremity, famine and pestilence inside, whilst all around are frost and snow, and the musketeers of Philip II. with gibbet, racks, and slow fires ready. How would that sluice-master look in a ruff with the heart of a Spaniard on the end of a pike ? And the little maid yonder, with bonny pink cheeks and bare arms, would she stand by her faith were she put to the question before the Grand Inquisitor ? To all outward appearance nothing could be milder than the modern Dutchman. If you get in his way, he will wait placidly until you move on . We saw a mighty collision between two tjalks, and the skipper of the one that was damaged con templated his broken bowsprit with pipe in mouth and hands in pockets, without a word. Imagine a Thames bargee under similar circumstances ! This green island of Walcheren must be little changed since the bad old times of Alva, three hundred years ago ; the walled and moated towns, long lines of willows by the ditches and dykes, and over in the west the high bulwark of sand dunes, with the restless sea eternally thundering among the groins and stone breakwaters, all is much the same in form and colour to this day. "The pump is kept locked up, and an old woman sells penny worths, standing by to see that there is no waste. Whilst Skipper got water aboard, the mate and crew sought stores ; the " The Log of the 'Ladybird.'" 169 grocer fetched the tobacconist to translate, the two butchers bowed politely, the butcher's wife shook hands, and with much friendly bustle our small order was attended to. We set sail and ran up the canal through a great swing bridge, which gapes ponderously as the bridge-master heaves round with a hand spike. We brought up for the night near two queer-looking tjalks, whose skipper told us if we didn't show a light 'police man come, pay plenty money. ' " On the morrow the crew asked if he might go ashore, as there was such a sweet little Dutch maid on the bank. By-and-by there was quite a little crowd of children and dogs. We threw them biscuits, and to their great delight and wonder the whole ship's company took a bath in the clear green water, and then the Skipper, going ashore with the lead line, towed the Lady bird up to Middelburg, the capital of Zeeland, which is neat as a new pin. The Great Church standing in the midst is bathed in a rosy red as the sun sets," with a rainbow right across the sky. " Next day we do the ' lions ' of Middelburg. "Cast off, set sail, and came very slowly through heavy showers of rain to Veere, where we made fast to one of the countless guns buried with their muzzles deep in the dyke. ' ' Veere was once a large and thriving town ; the huge church, which has never been finished, looks desolate, the place having shrunk away to almost a hamlet, though the grass-grown walls, standing out far in the fields, mutely testify to its old magni ficence. The Town Hall is a delightful little building, with a high pointed roof and double row of fantastic dormer windows ; the front is carved, like that of Middelburg, with statues and carving, and a tower, the most graceful we have yet seen, finishes up as usual with a bulb and bells, a golden ship crowning the whole. A tiny harbour runs up the main street, which is over grown with grass and very knobbly. An ancient vrouw, helped by a baby in very big sabots, with the Dutchwoman's instinct for tidiness, is feebly weeding at the roadway ; but it looks a hopeless task, and drowsiness reigns supreme. During the war of independence the hatred between the Dutch and Spanish race seemed to culminate at Veere, where a heart cut from a Spanish prisoner was nailed on a vessel's prow, and the towns men invited to come and fix their teeth in.it. " We are quite tired of the canal ; the only* commotion is made by the passing steamer, and even she slows up that we may not get too much wash ; so shoving off the bank, we passed through the lock into the open river, let go the anchor, and felt once more like a sea-going vessel. Towards evening we went on shore with all the water-bottles, found the well locked, and the keeper of the key would not give it up without the burgo master's sanction ; but by promises of backsheesh it was at last 170 " The Log of the ' Ladybird: " arranged. Swarms of children stood around whilst we drew bucket after bucket of water. " To-day Skipper, after finishing his day's work, went ashore in the dingy, risking a wet jacket, as the gale was high. After vainly trying to pronounce the Dutch word for egg, he at last cackled a marvellous imitation of a laying hen, to the great amusement of the people who had dropped in and the wondering children peeping out of the back parlour. The effect was electric, and the eggs were at once produced. He also brought off our first load of sweet-smelling peat. When he asked for veal the butcher said "the flesh was in the stall — come to-morrow," which was horribly suggestive. " Still a fresh breeze, but we tripped anchor going down opposite the lighthouse, which juts out from the front of an old crenelated round tower guarding the harbour's mouth. The wind lulling in the evening, the whole fishing fleet of great clumsy smacks belonging to the town put to sea, drifting slowly down between the big yellow sandbanks that at low water show their heads almost entirely across the river, which is gradually silting up, Veere becoming in consequence more dead-and-alive every year. Mate and crew went on shore buying what was thought to be veal cutlets, but not until they were eaten did we discover that the meat in the stall had grunted. In the evening Skipper read Hamlet till we turned in. During the night, in a gale of wind, the Ladybird dragged her anchor off into deep water, going for a cruise on her own account, and awoke us to the fact when she got into a tide-race. The Skipper hove up, got sail on her, and worked into a quieter berth, where, veering ever so many fathoms of chain, we slept the sleep of the just. " Started to-day with double-reefed mainsail and tore along up Zuidvliet, which was like a seething cauldron, the water boiling under our bows, and the spray from the crest of the waves dashing on to our faces till we were white with salt. Turning the corner at a pointed black buoy, we lowered the peak, triced up the tack, and sped away before the wind up the narrow and winding channel, carefully marked, like all Dutch waterways, white buoys to starboard, black to port, and red buoys which may be left on either hand. We were soon miles away from Veere. Some of the puffs came down as if they meant to blow the whole river into spray and our sails into tatters. When one gets into a real gale the sheets seem to turn into iron bars and run through the hands like fire ; one strains at the helm with all one's might, yet she will come up to the wind. And a gybe ! Who shall describe the scene ? One cowers low down to the slippery deck as the main sheet, with its iron-bound blocks and writhing ropes, comes rattling across the horse, barely clear of one's head ; " The Log of the ' Ladybird.' " 171 with a sigh of relief when it is over, the peak is hoisted as she urges on her wild career. Thinking enough wear had been taken out of the gear for one day, we decided to pass the night in Zand Kreek, so, running in under the lee of a jutting point, made things snug, and Skipper got to work. At low tide we were on a soft and shining bed of mud surrounded by curlews, gulls, and herons, all as tame as barn-door fowls. Being Britons, instead of noting their odd ways, and delighting in their beauty, we ought to have brought out a swivel-gun to kill and wound hundreds of these confiding creatures in the name of sport, but we neglected that duty. To-night we had Othello, with the wind whistling wildly through the rigging, the jib halyards keeping up a running accompaniment of raps. " A pale watery sun was just rising when we got under way and ran out of Zand Kreek into the Engelsche Vaarwater, rounded the red buoy at the end of the Galgenplaat, and were soon running up Keeten Mastgat, breakfasting under way, accompanied by a fleet of Rynschips, tjalks, boeiers, and every kind of fantastic Dutch rig that can be imagined, the long line stretching out ahead and astern. We slowly overhauled one after the other. Nearly all had their vrouws on board, helping to work the ship like A.B.'s, the children tumbling about everywhere, small babies peering out of the doors of the great green deck-houses, or lifting aside the very white muslin curtains and flattening their little noses against the glass to gaze at us. Their rudders are quite a feature, standing high above the stern and cut into all sorts of queer shapes, with sometimes a tutelary deity in the shape of a huge vrouw, or a Dutch lion with red body and gilded mane, perched on the top, besides a beautiful little piece of beaten iron work holding the flagstaff; green paint and polished brass set off the rich brown varnished hulls. Some had landscapes, sea-fights, and odd patterns decorating their water-barrels. This motley procession, winding between the shoals and dykes with swelling sails and fluttering flags, made a most beautiful sight against the ever-changing background of low Dutch landscape, mottled by fleeting sun shadows, red roofs peeping up here and there, with rows of willows (reminding one of the carved trees found in toy boxes in company with wooden cattle and little soldiers presenting arms), windmills, and here and there a great church tower out of all proportion to its surroundings. " At Bruinisse was another small fleet of trading craft waiting for a shift of wind, and hundreds of mussel boats busily fishing, looking glorious in the sunlight with their many-coloured sails. The little town is entirely given over to the fishing interest, and seems to live on mussels ; though without ancient towers, car- rillons, or ornamented town hall, it looks a thriving place, clean and bright, with the usual windmills and little trees. Below 172 " The Log of ihe ' Ladybird.'" the dyke, and right among the houses, runs a green and poisonous canal, spanned by little wooden bridges, and filled with soaking timber. " The old fishermen, in round black cloth jackets, beaver hats, and huge white sabots, gravely put their hands upon their hearts as they salute us. One sees many odd faces among the women, with their large white caps kept stiff by wire, or flowing down their backs. After we had anchored Skipper began King Henry the Sixth, but fell asleep in the middle. " The boats were all off early for their day's fishing in a lovely calm, which, however, did not last long, a strong breeze springing up. Now and then one would pass so close that the fishermen, who always saluted with a grave and stately lifting of the hand, could see into the skylight, their faces lighting up with a grin. ' ' We stayed here several days, Skipper sketching hard. As the tide ebbed the boats would dredge the wide river by hundreds, coming back with the rising tide to throw out the catch of mussels in the parks to grow fat and large ; there is also a great deal of raking done by men in big boots, who wade up to their waists as far as two hundred yards from shore. It was at this spot that a force of Spaniards, marching to attack Zierikzee, waded from St. Philipsland right across the main river, by a passage six miles long, all through the long night, lighted only by the waning October moon. These dauntless ruffians felt their way, holding their powder high above their heads clear of the swirling tide, undismayed by the shots sent bounding along the water by the Zeeland gutux de mer or the cries of those who got out of their depth and were swept away. After accomplishing this wonderful feat, the survivors were thought invincible by the burghers of Zierikzee, who surrendered without a blow. " On a lovely evening, with the water just stirred by a light northerly wind, we started up the river, the sun sinking in a glorious blaze of orange behind Bruinisse, still faintly in sight in the deepening gloom. Soon we could no longer see the colours of the buoys, so we followed a misty outline ahead, making up our minds to anchor when she did. Our ghostly pilot led us a long and devious course through lines of anchored craft, now and again an upright buoy with cage or cross gliding up to us out of the darkness, solemnly nodding its head as if it were alive. At last the tide slacked, we heard a foresail run and the splash and rattle of an anchor let go ; a moment later a flood of light burst from an open cabin door, w hilst a tempting smell of fried sausages drifted across the water. We followed suit in four fathoms of water, and a tremendous ebb tide began to run, bringing the Ladybird up to her chain with jerks, and causing the Skipper to have exciting nightmares of " The Log of the 'Ladybird.'" 173 deep-laden Rynschips and tfalks drifting helplessly athwart our hawse. " Before sunrise we lit the fire, and putting the kettle to boil, got under way at once in the damp chilly morning, with an oar rigged up as a mizzen sprit and a graceful Irish pennant floating proudly at the peak. As the sun rose it became warmer. There being very little wind, the crew steered, though every now and again he would fall in a reverie, or swing on the tiller, so we made but a meandering course up through the Hillegat into Hollandsch Diep, passed Willemstad, the neatest of neat little towns, in the form of a seven-sided figure, with brilliant green ramparts, over which grinned some long breechloaders, an odd little tower, a small harbour, all black and white posts, plenty of trees, some cut in patterns. " Here were plenty of seals and birds of all sorts, fleets of sckokkers catching smelts, and fresh water. The character of the river gradually changed, the high dykes neatly faced with stone and plaited straw sinking away and giving place to beds of rushes, line upon line of willows ; and now, instead of the country being below the level of the river, the fields rise so that the front doors of the houses are seen as well as the chimney tops. The tide slacked, and as the wind left us we anchored, leaving the mainsail set ; while the Skipper sketched, the crew rolled himself in the jib, drawling out his lessons till, the smell of frying smelts proving too enticing, he came in to assist, both mate and crew jumping as the fat sputtered. With a light south- westei-Iy wind got under way ; Skipper, hoisting spinaker and topsail, was happy. Having set every stitch of canvas we possessed, we soon got to Willemsdorp, passing in between two neat pile lighthouses, rows of white posts, and out of the wide river into a narrow sort of water-lane called De Kil, fringed with willows and little houses; and in one spot, when it was getting dark, the whole land seemed made of windmills. Nearing Dordrecht, as it was now very dark, we took in sail, the tide hurrying us along into the Oude Maas, crowded with shipping and lights in bewildering confusion ; so, shoving round the side of a big vessel, letting go our anchor, with a run brought up just ahead of a lot of craft. Skipper got the bowsprit in as a pre caution, the river being so crowded. " Dordrecht is a large and thriving town. We stayed here a long time, as there was plenty of life and movement on the river. Besides the multitudinous sailing craft, there were huge paddle- wheel tugs from Frankfort and Strasburg starting on their long voyage up the Rhine, laboriously towing deep-laden iron lighters of tremendous length, sometimes three-masted and carrying as much as 1,000 tons ; there were also innumerable passenger and excursion steamers, painted pea-green, pink, lilac, red, and lemon-yellow. Light-draught Dutch ironclads patrolled the 174 " The Log of the ' Ladybird.' " river, the leadsmen sounding with along pole painted in various colours for the depths, and marks which looked very odd in our eyes. There were any number of bumboats and milkmen, whose cans shone like burnished gold, rivalling Mrs. Cripps in the variety of their wares. " Sometimes the crew, growing restless, worried the mate till she took him for a row up winding little back-waters and rivers among the meadows in which grazed black and white Dutch cows wearing jackets made of sacking to protect them from the weather, past small back gardens, where the rows of bright pails were waiting for the milkmen ; strange, out-of-the- way corners, where the boat -builders plied their trade, hammer ing at bluff-bowed Dutch craft that looked much too large ever to get out of the narrow creek, with its banks of tall rushes and sweet-scented wild peppermint. At other times the Skipper would come with us in the dark up the long canal into the heart of the town, under bridges, past squares of calm water reflecting every light in the windows of the tall Spanish houses, past silent vessels moored to black posts, through an echoing tunnel, where, just as the glimmer of light at the other end appeared, something big seemed to rise on either side, nai rowing the channel so that we had to lay in our oars and paddle with the blades. There was something creepy in the quiet drip, drip, drip, of the water, with the muffled sound of voices and tramping footsteps in the street beyond ; the over hanging houses, with their jutting balconies, and high above all the ponderous square tower of the Groote Kerk against the stars, "All the days here resembled each other, except that on Sunday the Dutch skipper alongside put on his best clothes, and read in a loud voice out of a little book sitting on his tiller. It rained on and off the whole time, and next day the Dutch skipper's beautiful black cloth garments were all hung in the rigging to dry. " The milkman comes regularly, bringing with him ginger bread, onions, tea, coffee, petroleum, and sketch-books, to say nothing of soft tommy half a yard long, salt herrings, and red cabbages as hard as cannon-balls. " The boat -builder's yard, by which the Ladybird lies, is one of the prettiest spots on the whole river, having a clean piece of sand in front, two slip-ways on which are tjalks— the vrouw in one of them, like the old woman who lived in a shoe, having eight children on board. Alongside the boat-builder's own house is a windmill, clothed with thatch so neatly done that Skipper thought it was painted ; surrounding the whole are tall graceful willows and rushes, and a small landing-stage for the Dort ferry-boat. The crew runs about on the sand, often chased by the boat-builder, who delights in doing bogey, looking the character to perfection, with his sharp restless blue " The Log of the 'Ladybird: " 175 eyes, very like an elephant's, with puffy bags underneath, stooping shoulders, and very long nose. Every day at twelve o'clock a boy, with delight on his countenance, counterfeits a steam-hooter to call the workmen to dinner. "The Biesbosch looked so tempting on the map, with its hundred islands, that we decided on going there, and sailed away till we got to the wonderful bridge over the Amer, with fourteen iron arches, each of no yards' span. " A very grey day, and decidedly chilly was the sail up the river, though pretty, with big clumps of reeds, and every now and then a small village or little boat-builder's yard, with the tiny schuyts of the locality hauled up on the slip, fishing-boats among the rushes, with sea-gulls skimming over all. Over the reeds is the town of Getruedenburg, to which we went in the dingy up a narrow creek piercing the green ramparts ; walked over a narrow bridge, then up a short street, passed the fish market, where an old woman was tolling a bell to let the in habitants know there was a great sale of smelts ; down the square, which can hardly be called a square, as it is long and narrows away to a point planted with rows of irees, under which the soldiers were drilling. " Two friends joined us here from England, and the ranks of boatswain and ship's interpreter were given them respectively. After a chat our visitors went on shore to find a night's lodging, promising to be with us not later than nine. When they came on board they told wonderful stories of the hospitality of the officers of the garrison, who kept it up till the small hours, and saw them off in the morning with military honours, the (sancta simplicitas !) hotel servant being indignant when offered a tip. " The Biesbosch, which being translated is ' the forest of reeds,' is in fact a perfect maze of islands and creeks covering a space of forty square miles, and is a striking contrast to the rest of Holland, being entirely uninhabited save for a solitary farm here and there ; yet before the great flood of 1421, when over a hundred thousand persons were drowned, it was a most thriving and populous part of the country. Now there are no windmills, no boat-builders, no milkwomen, with bright pails, clattering in their sabots ; nothing but tender-coloured willows, grasses, and thick masses of tall reeds surrounded us, stretching away without end, yellow sandbanks showing themselves at every turn, the stillness only broken by the her&n as he flaps lazily along over the still waters. ' ' The water was very shallow in many places, but although we dragged our rudder now and again, we did not stick. Sailing up the winding channels till nearly dark, we finally anchored in a great wide pool called the Steurgat, which, before the Nieuwe Merwede, was one of the main channels of the river, but now there is a dyke right across, and it remains a 176 " The Log of the ' Ladybird.' " tideless calm. Being now a mile from Wirkendam, our Skipper put the officers and crew on shore, bound for beds and post- office. Filing over the dyke into the quaint Dutch street, we were followed by the whole juvenile population clattering in sabots and gathering as we went along ; each alley contributed to the ever-increasing throng. On our return it was found necessary to form a rear-guard to protect crew and mate from the noisy and over-inquisitive urchins, and on reaching the drawbridge our gallant defenders kept the enemy at bay until we had gained the open country in safety. When the guard again joined us, I heard that one of them had stormed an alley, which he carried with great slaughter, the other contributing volleys of big D's which astonished everybody. " After breakfast the boatswain and interpreter made their appearance and towed us along the little canal to Wirkenden. After came a most splendid sunset through the rain. Next day the lock-keepers took the boatswain and crew a-fishing for salmon ; but the fish were not hungry, so we had to content our selves with beefsteak, after which we set sail and ran up the Merwede to Gorinchem. All the morning crowds of people have been pouring into the town, driving before them herds of cows, pigs, and sheep. As it is the first Monday in the month, there is a great fair held, one street being full of cows, others cheese and butter, and yet another, close to the chirch, for pigs ; a man going all down the row putting rings into their noses, and the carillons keeping up an accompaniment all the time. The country people you meet have evidently come to drive tremendously hard bargains, if you may judge by the expression of their lined and thoughtful faces. " Here the Skipper paid off officers and'crew, and was alone in his glory for over a week, sketching hard all the time, and waiting for a friend to join him. At last, losing patience, he sailed up the river to Bommel, where he shipped the new crew, who had been wandering over the country in search of him. " They went to many wonderful places, and had extraordinary adventures, meeting with frost, snow, and gales of wind, and found that the rolling Zuider Zee is not so deep as the song says, for you can touch the bottom with a boathook anywhere. In the island of Marken the houses are all built on stilts in case of flood, the churchyard being the only piece of land above the sea level. The costume of the fisher-folk was outrageously picturesque. At the Isle of Urk the whole population turned out and made a respectful escort when the Skipper and crew took a walk, and the young women, when paid with bread and marmalade for sitting for their portraits, honestly brought back the empty pot. The dead cities of Monnikendam, Hoorn, Enkhuizen, and Medemblik are very fine places to talk about, and no doubt what is left of them is very picturesque ; but sometimes Dutch Sailing and Roiuing Clubs. 177 this is a very small quantity indeed, and on getting to Stavoren, the deadest of all, it was found to have dwindled to little more than half-a-dozen houses. Sailing out by the Texel into the North Sea, the Ladybird made her appearance in the Medway one blustering afternoon in mid-winter, with two reefs in her mainsail, a cabin full of wet ropes, spare sails, and a tired weather-beaten crew covered with salt spray." The Royal Dutch Sailing and Rowing Club at Amsterdam is the oldest and largest sailing club in Dutch SailingHolland. Many visitors from the Nether- and Rowing lands and other countries attend its an- lu s' nual International Sailing and Rowing Regatta. Its members make a six days' cruise every year on the Zuider Zee, to which the members of other clubs are often invited. The Y Club is also influential and well-known, and holds several good regattas every year. These are always an nounced in the newspaper Nederlandsche Sport. In addition to the two mentioned above, there are alsc sailing and rowing clubs on the Amstel at Amsterdam, on the Maas at Rotterdam, and at many of the country towns. The annual regattas on the Sneekmeer in Friesland, on the Brassemer Lake near Leyden, and those of the Hollandia Club at Oudshoorn and the Zaanland Yacht Club at Zaandam, are probably the most interesting country meetings. English boating men will always be hospitably received by sportsmen in Holland. CHAPTER XVI. CYCLING AND SKATING IN HOLLAND. Section I.— CYCLING. _ =3P] HE cyclist pro- 'JCM~5TEB3ffig . t , , Deze moeten S gereg's'ree'd worden. Ik moet dit in den wagen hebben. Hier is m«jn bagagebillet. Een vigilante, als 't U belieft. Wat is de prijs? Ik heb niets te declareeren. Een ~\ eerste klasse") enkel ^-billet tweede ,, ?-naar . retourj derde ,, ) Hoe \ eel? Waar is mijn geld ? Waar is de conducteui ? Zijt gij de conducteur ? Gaat U door tot ... 1 Ik wil uitstappente . Wil U voor mij zorgen. Ik wil een hoekplaats. Rooken, als 't U bellieft. Niet rooken, als 't U belieft. Appendix. Please tell me when to change. Please tell me when we arrive at . . . How long do we stay here ? I break my journey here. I go on by a later train. Thanks.Good morning. Good evening. Good night. Yes. No. I beg your pardon. ("English. Do you speak •< French. (.German. I do not speak Dutch. I do not understand yuu. Wil U mij zeggen waar ik overstappen moet. Och. zeg mij wanneer wij aankomen te . . . Hoe Jang stoppen wij hier? Ik breek mijn reis hier af. Ik ga met een lateren trein door. Dank U. Goeden moreen, Goeden avond. Goeden nacht. Ja. Neen. Ik vraag excuus. ("Engelscb. Spreekt U X Fransch. LDuitsch. Lk spreek geen Hollandsch. Ik versta U niet. Cardinal Nimbers. One ... Een. | Nineteen ... Negentien. Two ... Twee. ' Twenty Twintig. Three ... Drie. Twenty-one Een en twintig Four ,.. Vier. Twenty-five Vijf en twin'ig Five ... Vijf. Thirty Dertig. Six . . Zes. j Forty Veertig. Seven ... Zeven. \ Fifty .. Vijf tig. Eight ... Acht. , Sixty Zestig. Nine Negen. Seventy Zeventig. Ten ... Tien. Eighty ... Tachtig. Eleven ... Elf. Ninety .. Negentig. Twelve ... Twaalf. j One hundred .. Honderd. Thirteen ... ... Dertien. One hundred and Honderd en Fourteen ... ,.. Veertien. one een. Fifteen ... Vijftien. 1 Two hundred Twee honderd Sixteen ... Zestien. A thousand .. Duizend. Seventeen ... ... Zeventien. Eighteen ... ... Achttien. ¦ Months. January FebruaryMarch April May June Sunday Monday .. TuesdayWednesday Januari. Februari. Maart. April. Mei. Juni. July August September ., October November „ December ... ... JuU. . . . Augustus. ... September. ... October ... November. ... December. Days ov the Week. Zondag. Maandag. Dinsdag. Woensdag. Thursday ... Friday Saturday ... ... Donderdag ... Yrijdag. ... Zaterdag. flDemoranba. flDemoranba. flDemoranba. flDemoranba. flDemoranba. Advertisements. ZEELAND STEAMSHIP COMPANY. ROYAL DUTCH MAIL SERVICE. best, safest, quickest, and most comfortable route BETWEEN England and the Continent QUEENBORO' & FLUSHING. DAY AND NIGHT MAIL EXPRESS SERVICES Twice daily in both directions (Sundays included) by magnificent Mail Steamers in connection with Fast Trains to and from HOLLAND, GERMANY (including the RHINE), SWITZERLAND, DENMARK, NORWAY, SWEDEN, RUSSIA, AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, and ITALY. Through Booking and Registration of Luggage From and to HOLBORN, ST. PAUL'S, VICTORIA, and HERNE HILL STATIONS, to and from the Principal Towns on the Continent. Advertisements. OFFICES AND AGENTS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. ZEELAND STEAMSHIP Co., 44a, Fore Street, London, E.C. 36, Lime Street, London, E.C. The CONTINENTAL MANAGER of the L. C. & D. R., Victoria Station, London, S.W. Messrs. BRASCH & ROTHENSTEIN, 45, Fore Street, London, E.C. Messrs. THOS. COOK & SON, Ludgate Circus, London, E.C. Messrs. BEST, RYLEY & Co., 88, Bishopsgate Street Within, London, E.C. ZEELAND STEAMSHIP Co., ¦2.1, Albert Square, Manchester. 52, Corporation Street, Birmingham. Mr. HUGH ROSS, 85, Royal Avenue, Belfast. FLEET OF THE COMPANY. JDA/Y" BOATS. "ENGELAND" . . 1,700 tons, 4,000 horse-power. " DUITSCHLAND " 1,700 „ 4,000 "NEDERLAND" . 1,700 „ 4,000 ,, ZCTIGZHTT BOATS. 4 " PRINS HENDRIK " . 1,700 tons, 3,500 horse-power. " WILLEM, PRINS VAN ORANJE". . 1,700 ,, 3,500 " PRINSES ELISABETH 1,700 „ 3,500 "PRINSES MARIE" . 1,700 ,, 3,500 Advertisements. LONDON, CHATHAM & DOYER RAILWAY ZEELAND STEAMSHIP COMPANY. THE ROYAL MAIL ROUTE TO HOLLAND AND GERMANY, AND TO DENMARK, SWEDEN & NORWAY, VIA Queenboro' K Flushing TWO SERVICES DAILY (Sundays Included), LEAVING LONDON SS 8.2S a.m. & 8.30 p.m. Through Lavatory Carriages from Flushing to principal Dutch and German Toivns. The Day and Night Mail Steamers of the Zeeland SS. Co. are the finest vessels in the Channel Service. THROUGH BOOKINGS AND REGISTRATION OF LUGGAGE. AMSTERDAM to LONDON in 13 Hours. ROTTERDAM „ „ „ Hi „ COLOGNE „ „ „ 14| „ BERLIN „ „ „ 20| „ Full Particulars can be obtained from the Continental Manager, L. C. & D. R., Victoria Station, London, S.W., or from Messrs. T. Cook and Sons' Tourist Offices, or from the Zeeland Steamship Co., Flushing. A di 'ertisements. CHATHAM & DOYER RAILWAY. FRIDAY TO MONDAY AT FLUSHING (For MIDDELBURG and DOMBURG). CHEAP RETURN TICKETS TO FLUSHING ARE ISSUED EVERY FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY DURING THE SUMMER SEASON HY THE TRAINS LEAVING Victoria . . at 8.30 a.m. 8.30 p.m. Holborn Viaduct „ 8.25 „ 8.30 „ St. Paul's „ 8.26 „ 8.31 „ Heme Hill . „ 8.40 „ 8.40 „ RETURN FARES. FIRST CLASS. SECOND CLASS. 25/0 XT/T These Tickets are available to return by the magnificent Steamers of the Zeeland Steamship Company leaving Flushing at 11.50 a.m. and 11.35 P'm. any day up to and including the 11.35 P-m' departure on the following Tuesday. , GRAND BATH HOTEL AT FLUSHING.— Full Board Coupons are issued by the L. C. & D. R. Co. at 8s. 4d. per day. For further particulars apply to the Agents. Advertisements. L0ND0N'1HAIML^LD0VERJA™ CHEAP WEEKLY TRIPS FROM LONDON TO SZOLLJ^IsriD Via QUEENBORO' and FLUSHING, BY THE FOLLOWING SERVICE '.— OUTWARD (Saturdays only). Victoria dep. Holborn ,, St. Paul's ,, Herne Hill „ Amsterdam via Utrecht arr. Amsterdam, via Rotterdam Arnhem Rotterdam (B) ... The Hague Utrecht A.M. 8 30 8 25 8 26 8 40 P.M. 10 7 10 16 10 47 8 19 9 1 9 30 HOMEWARD (any day within eight days). Utrecht dep The Hague ,, Rotterdam (B) ... ,, Arnhem „ Amsterdam, via Rotterdam ,, Amsterdam, via Utrecht ,, Herne Hill arr, St. Paul's „ Holborn „ Victoria , A.M. 7 58 8 27 9 6 7 20 7 20 7 5 P.M. 8 56 9 5 9 8 9 5 rRTETTTIR.ICsr FAEES. Amsterdam (via Utrecht) Amsterdam (via Rotterdam) Arnhem ist Cl. 2NdCl.I JistCl.i2ndCl. £. s. d. £ s. d.l \£ s. d.l,£ s. d. 117 11 5 ffl Hague, The... 1 13 1011 3 5 Rotterdam ..Jl 11 101 1 9 118 11 6 6 Utrecht 116 7il 5 i 1 18 21 6 51 i I These Tickets will be issued every Saturday during June, July, August, and September, available for the homeward journey any day up to and including the following Saturday. As the Time Tables are liable to alteration from time to time, intending passengers are recommended to verify the figures shown above by reference to the L. C. & Ti. current Continental Time Tables. Passengers can travel only by the Day Services, as shown above, and not by the Night Services. For further particulars apply to the Continental Manager, L. C. &D. R., Victoria Station, London ; to the Booking Clerks at Victoria, Holborn, St. Paul's, and Heme Hill ; to Messrs. Cook and Son, Ludgate Circus, JjOndon, etc. ; or to the Zeeland Steamship Company, 44A, Fore Street, London, 52, Corporation Street, r.irmingham, and 21, Albert Square, Manchester. Advertisements. CASTLE LINE, ROYAL MAIL WEKKLY SERYICE. SAILINGS. For the GOLD FIELDS of SOUTH AFRICA. LONDON, SOUTHAMPTON, MADEIRA, GRAND CANARY, CAPE COLONY, NATAL, DELAGOA BAY, BEIRA, MADAGASCAR, AND MAURITIUS. THROUGH BOOKINGS HOLLAND. ET. Steamer. Tons. 'GARTH CASTLE" 3,660 ' D RUM MOND CASTLE" 3,663 'GRANTULLY CASTLE" 3,454 ' HARLECH CASTLE" 3,056 ' WARWICK CASTLE " ...3,056 'DUNBAR CASTLE" 2,608 'METHVEN CASTLE" ...2,605 'MELROSE" 810 'VENICE" 511 FLE Steamer. Tons. " TANTALLON CASTLE " 5,636 " DUNOTTAR CASTLE " ...5,465 " NORHAM CASTLE " 4,392 " HAWARDEN CASTLE " ...4,380 "ROSLIN CASTLE" 4,266 "ARUNDEL CASTLE" (now building) "DOUNE CASTLE" 4,045 " LISMORE CASTLE " ...4,045 "PEMBROKE CASTLE" ...3.878 The Royal Mail Steamers of The Castle Mail Packets Company, Limited, Leave LONDON e\ery alternate Friday, and sail from SOUTHAMPTON on the following Saturday with Mails, Passengers, and cargo for CAPE COLONY and NATAL, calling at MADEIRA. Intermediate Steamers are despatched every fourteen days from LONDON and SOUTHAMPTON, for CAPE COLONY, NATAL, DELAGOA BAY. &c, via GRAND CANARY, thus farming a weekly service. Passengers and Cargo are taken every fottnight for DELAGOA BAY and BEIRA (Pungwe River), every lour weeks tor MADAGASCAR and MAURITIUS. Return Tickets issued for ALL PORTS. Handbook of information for Passengers gratis on application. Loading Berth — East India Dock Basin, Blackwall, E. Free Railway Tickets are granted frotb London to Southampton to Passengers by Royal Mail Steamers. Experienced Surgeons and Stewardesses on every Steamer. Superior Accommodation Excellent Cuisine. DONALD CURRIE & CO., LONDON— 1, 2, 3, & 4, Fencliiiroh Street, E.C. MANCHESTEH-15, Cross Street. LIVERPOOL-25, Castle Street. GLASGOW— 40, Enoch Square. Agents in Flushing— THE ZEELAND STEAMSHIP COMPANY. Advertisements. ZEELAND STEAMSHIP COMPANY. ROYAL DUTCH MAIL. Picturesque Holland. HOLIDAYS IN HOLLAND. SPECIAL CIRCULAR- TOURIST TICKETS are issued from London to Holland, taking in the most interesting towns, by way of Flushing. The trains corresponding with the Day and Night services leave Holborn Viaduct at 8.25 a.m. and 8.30 p.m. ; St. Paul's at 8.26 a.m. and 8.31 p.m.; and Victoria at 8.30 a.m. and 8.30p.m.; arriving at Queenboro' Pier resp. at 9.40 a.m. and 9.55 p.m. Passengers proceed thence by one of the magnificent steamers of the Zeeland Steamship Company, arriving at Flushing at 5.15 p.m. and 6.00 a.m. The circular tour -tickets are available for 30 days and for the following route : London — Flushing — Arnhem (via Bois-le-Duc— Nijmegen), Arnhem — Utrecht (via Ede), Utrecht — Amsterdam (via Breukelen), Amsterdam — Haarlem — Leyden — the Hague— Rotterdam — Dordrecht— Flushing— London ; or London— Flushing — Dordrecht — Rotterdam— the Hague — Leyden -Amsterdam and back by the other route. The Fares are: Fipst Class. £3 5s. Id. Second Class. £2 6s. 4d. ^ours at Special fares. TOURIST TICKETS on the CONTINENT Cheapest travelling from and to Continental Towns by the favourite QUEENBORO' & FLUSHING ROUTE. In connection with London to Flushing, or Flushing to London, Tickets, special circular-tourist tickets are now issued from and to Flushi-g to and from any part of the Continent. Early application, from 3 to 6 days before the day of departure, should be made to THE LONDON OFFICES OF THE ZEELAND STEAMSHIP COMPANY, No. 44a, FORE STREET, LONDON, E.C. , OK TO THK Direction of the Zeeland Steamship Company, Flushing, Holland. Advertisements. AMSTERDAM.— AMERICAN HOTEL. Cafe-Restaurant Billiards. Leidsche Plein 16-1S. AMSTERDAM.— VICTORIA HOTEL. First-class family house. New fireproof building, facing the Central Station; finest position of the town. Electric light throughout. Hydraulic lift. Large public rooms. Emil Kauffmann, Manager. ARNHEM.— GRAND HOTEL DES PAYS-BAS. First-class Hotel, with garden (for families and gentlemen). Situated in the best part of the town. Manager, Fred. Simon. DOMBURG- HOTEL SCHUTTERSHOF. (Bathing place, Walcheren.) Restaurant. Table d'hote, three shillings. Modern languages spoken. DORDRECHT. HOTEL AUX ARMES DE HOLLANDE. First-class Hotel, newly restored and furnished. Dining, sitting, and show-rooms. Best situation, near the river and trams. Highly recommended. Album of artists and visitors from all parts of the world. Table d'h6te from 2 to 5 p.m. Restaurant. Moderate prices Pension from five shillings per day. Telephone No. 128. Leons Pennock, Proprietor. FLUSHING.— COMMERCIAL HOTEL. L F. H. van Bakel, Prop? ietor. FLUSHING.— NEW GRAND BATH HOTEL. First-class Hotel. Eighty bedrooms, saloons, and bath-rooms. Sea baths. Excellent cuisine and choice wines. Moderate charges. Advertisements. GRONINGEN.— HOTEL DE DOELEN. Bed and breakfast from three shillings. Dinner, includirg half bottle of wine, four shillings. Omnibus meets all trains. C. Struvk. GRONINGEN. GRAND HOTEL FRICGE. Heerestraat. First-class Hotel. English spoken. GH ON INGEN.— HOTEL RESTAURANT WILLEMS. Elegantly furnished. Centrally heated. Telephone No. 41. THE HAGUE —HOTEL MARECHAL DETURENNE. Korte Iloutstraat, only a few steps from all the trams, the State Railway Station, the Wood, the Museum, etc. Modera'e charges. Pension. HOORN. -HOTEL BELLEVUE. Facing the Station. J. Wonder. ROTTERDAM.-LEIJGRAAFF'S HOTEL. Family Hotel. Old but comfortable. Vis-a-vis the Park and the landing-stages of the English, Scotch, American, and Indian steamboats. Terms moderate. ROTTERDAM. GRAND HOTEL COOMANS. Electric light throughout. UTRECHT,— HOTEL THE CASTLE OF ANTWERP. First-class Hotel. Moderate charges. . J. G. Jansen. LOnO 2006 £ Pedrs' soap By permission of the Proprietors of " PONOH." "Two years ago I used your Soap, since when I have used no other." Punch, April 26th, 1884.