much more water than land all about him, that
he feels as if he were treading the spars of a
raft rather than the streets of a town.

Amsterdam is of a semicircular form. The
roofs of the houses are in general high and
pointed, and a balcony usually projects from
every window overlooking that favourite
prospect, the canal. It contains two hundred
and twelve thousand inhabitants, and is built
upon piles of wood driven into the bottom of
the sea; the whole being regulated by sluices, so
as to keep as dry as possible the treacherous soil
upon which the town seems to rest. Its extreme
cleanliness is astonishing, considering the quantity
of trade carried on upon its quays, especially
in the dirty articles of tallow, hides, fat, and tar,
which deflle other towns very much, but Amsterdam
not at all. Indeed, the busiest Amsterdamers
might be shipping eau-de-Cologne all day
long, for anything the stranger's nose can detect
to the contrary. In the side-streets, or rather
canals, certainly some noisome odours do arise;
not, however, from dirt, but from stagnant water.
But there is less sickness in Holland than in
most other European countries. Coughs, colds,
rheumatism, and pectoral disorders, are far less
common than with us. Nobody seems to be ill
in Holland, and no one appears to be
ostentatiously rich, and no one appears to be poor.

The prisons of Amsterdam have long had a
high reputation, and we have adopted, at
Pentonville and elsewhere, most of the simple and
ingenious contrivances for sequestering each
prisoner, and yet enabling him to communicate,
in case of need, with the officers on duty.
Every prisoner is set to some trade or employment
according to tastes and capabilities, and
the result of the labour is sold, the profits being
reserved until the prisoner is discharged, when
they become his property. The two Orphan
Houses, Protestant and Roman Catholic, are
well deserving of attention, and the Refuge for
superannuated individuals of both sexes is
admirably managed. The Spin House is devoted
exclusively to female prisoners convicted of
trivial offences, and is managed by a board of
directors. The Society of Public Welfare, whose
labours extend all over Holland, have also a large
establishment at Amsterdam.

Tlie worst thing in Holland generally, and at
Amsterdam in particular, is the water. Water-
curing doctors would fare ill in this country; for
the only drinkable water is brought from Utrecht
in stone jars, and is made as much of as if it
were champagne—to which it was my misfortune
to find that it bears not the slightest
resemblance.

The hotels are dearer than in expensive
England. Hackney carriages, too, are dearer than
anywhere else, excepting Vienna. On the whole,
Holland may be considered one of the most
expensive countries of Europe to live in; the cost
of living being not much less than double the
cost in Belgium or North Germany, and one-
fourth more than in Italy or South
Germany. Both the country and the people are
agreeable. The court is not brilliant,
but is respectably kept up; usually in
winter at the Hague; occasionally, for a short.
time, at Amsterdam; in summer, at the
Loo. The royal fêtes are well attended, and
strangers are hospitably invited to them. Hunting,
shooting, skating, and hawking, are the
chief amusements; the last is maintained in its
pristine glory at the Loo, where matches in
falconry annually take place, and where a considerable
sum is expended on the breed of hawks,
who are attended in their eyries by a large staff
of falconers in the service of the king. Races
also occasionally take place at the Loo, where
horses belonging to English noblemen usually
run, together with those belonging to members
of the royal family of Holland. The magnificent
château lies near the Yssel river, about twenty-
five miles north of Arnheim, a little to the left of
the great north-eastern route through Deventer
to Bremen. Hereabouts (in Guelderland) the
canals are by no means so numerous as in the
western provinces and the borders of the
Brabant. In those parts, a young couple will
marry "upon" a boat (as the phrase is), as they
would in England "upon" a farm. In this
floating home the early years of their married
life are passed. They live by sailing from town
to town, along the canals, with vegetables,
fruits, toys, trinkets, and what not. When a
long calm comes, or adverse winds arise, the
husband hooks himself on by a rope and girth
to the boat, and walks along the canal-bank
towing it, his wife steering. When the wind
veers to the favourable quarter, he resumes the
rudder, his wife resumes her knitting or cooking,
and away they sail again. In course of
time the boat is found too small for the
animated Dutch dolls who begin to make
their appearance. So, as a little capital has
been made, the boat is sold (probably at a profit
also) to another newly-married couple, and the
first couple and the Dutch dolls embark in a
boat a little larger, and so on for years together.
In this quaint and frugal manner some
of the great shipowners of Holland began life.

Every thing goes by contraries here, as
compared with the rest of the world. This is oddly
true even of great historical events. The army
of Valdez, before Leyden, an inland city, was
forced to retreat: not in consequence of any
attack on the troops, but because the sea came
in and submerged them. Some two centuries
later (1794-5), the Dutch fleet at anchor in the
Zuyder Zee was captured: not by the French
navy, but by a squadron of cavalry and artillery,
who galloped across the ice to the frozen-
up ships and boarded them. When history
supplies us with two such singular facts as an
inland army defeated by the sea, and a fleet at
anchor captured by horsemen, we may be
prepared to find Holland preserving a kindred
singularity in every-day life.

Few countries will better repay a visit. The
arts, manufactures, habits, manners, and
characters of the people, deserve and will repay
minute attention; nor do I believe, on looking
back to my Dutch holidays, that there exists