THOUGH by no means picturesque, Holland is in many respects an interesting country, especially to Englishmen. It has the cleanest and best educated population on the continent, and it has shewn what industry can do in defiance of the elements.

The surface embraces 13,000 square geographical miles; the population amounts to 4,060,600, of whom two-fifths are Catholics. The largest cities are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and the Haguc. The imports in 1879 amounted to 70 millions sterling; the exports to 48 millions. Holland in 1862 had 400 factories with steam apparatus. The paper mills were 170, yielding a good article. It is estimated that Holland has 249,000 horses and 828,000 sheep.

Horticulture receives much attention; 3,000,000 florins being devoted to it annually. As regards schools, there are three Universities, sixtyseven gymnasia (or high schools), and 3,350 primary schools, of which 870 are special. The Army numbers 63,000 men, and the Navy 103 vessels, with 540 guns.

A very agreeable Ten Days' Tour may be made in Holland at a very moderate expense. This country is usually slighted by tourists on account of the paramount attractions of the Rhine. It nevertheless abounds in novelty and interest. Wilkie and Mr Jameson have remarked that "there was nothing new to them in the country. It is a succession of reminders of Rubens, Teniers, Rembrandt, Wouvermanns." The Dutch style of architecture is our Queen Anne's, which began under Charles II. and William III.

Though no Passport may be demanded, it is desirable to carry one. At Rotterdam, the Hague, Leyden, and other places near the coast, every hotel and café is required to make daily returns

of visitors, stating their names, ages, destination, and so forth. At the principal hotels and railway stations English and French are spoken. The climate in summer is warmer than in England.

Money is decimal: five cents make a stiver (or penny); ten stivers make a franc; twenty stivers (100 cents) make a guilder or florin (one shilling and eight pence). There are notes for ten, twenty, thirty guilders, &c., but no gold. English sovereigns, and even £5 notes, can be changed for Dutch money at the hotels. You should not change more than you actually want, as in Holland you change to a disadvantage. A doit (duyt) was a half-farthing stiver.

The Dutch Flag is red, white, and blue, horizontal. Motto, Je Maintiendrai. This was William III.'s motto; the full meaning being, "I stand up for Truth and Right.

The journey from London to Rotterdam may be performed by steam boats in about 15 or 16 hours. (See BRADSHAW's Continental Railway Guide and Route 19.) Custom house officers come on board at Brielle, and examine luggage, but they are extremely civil, speak English, and give little trouble.

ROTTERDAM (Station).

Before landing, the traveller should decide on his hotel (for which see BRADSHAW'S Continental Guide). If the name of the hotel is called out, a man on the quay will at once come forward, take charge of the luggage, and conduct the traveller to the house. See Route 19 (page 92) for further particulars of Rotterdam, and for the way to it.

Railway.-Through communication open between Rotterdam and the lines to Flushing (page 24), Antwerp, Cologne, Utrecht, The Hague, Amsterdam, &c.

9 miles; The Hague, 14 miles; Leyden, 24 miles;
Haarlem, 43 miles; Amsterdam, 52 miles.
Delft (Station), or Delf (pronounced "Dellef").
Hotels: Balhenende; Heerenlogemeut; Scaap.
Café, at the steamboat and railway station.
Population (1881), 26,000.

If the canal route be preferred, next morning, after breakfast, at Rotterdam, drive to the quay, whence the canal boats (trekschuiten) start for Delft. The cab fare is 60 cents (1s.) The traveller should remember that if a cab (vigilante) is hired à la course, and if a stop is made at a shop or elsewhere, though but for a minute, a fresh fare will be expected to be paid. The Steam Trekschuit is a comfortable conveyance. The cabins are large and clean, and there is a space on the poop for those who prefer the open air. Outside the town the boat steams at the rate of 5 or 6 miles an hour; and although the pace is tedious, compared with British express trains, there is a special charm in the calm, silent motion, which harmonises with the flat pastures around, and the grave and courteous demeanour of the country people.

In about an hour after leaving Rotterdam the boat will arrive at Delft. The boat fare is about sixpence. As it is only necessary to spend a few hours here, the luggage may be sent on, directed to the hotel at the Hague, or may be left at a coffee house on the bank.

The State Arsenal, formerly the East India House, occupies an island on the outskirts of the town. The Old Church, with a leaning tower, will probably be the first object to attract attention in Delft, and hereabouts the entire interest of the town centres. The interior of this building is lofty, vacant, and dull, with tall white pillars, and a huge putty-coloured organ. Two or three monuments adorn the walls. One, with a bas-relief and Latin inscription, commemorates the death and services of Admiral Tromp. The tower reminds one of Caerphilly or Saragossa. It is considerably out of the perpendicular. In it Balthasar Gerards, the assassin of William the Silent, was imprisoned. The catastrophe took place beneath its very shade. Close opposite is the Prinsenhof, now a barrack, with soldiers sitting and standing about the entrance. Massive walls,

relief over the door, are its distinctive features.

This was formerly the palace of the Prince of Orange; and here that martyr of Protestantism, whose memory all Dutchmen revere, was sacrificed to the villany of a fanatic, July 10th, 1854. On the staircase an inscription points out the spot on which he fell, while the bullet mark is still visible in the wall; and the room in which the Prince died remains to be seen. His monument, which

is a monstrosity of bad taste, is the principal attraction in the New Church, in the square, opposite the Town House. Its only redeeming point is the introduction of the Prince's dog, a faithful animal, that is said to have once saved its master's life, and to have pined to death after the assassination. In the same church is the modest tomb of Grotius, who was a native of this town. Leeuwenhoeck, the naturalist, who improved the microscope, was also born here.

Little else remains to be seen in Delft except its Potteries, which were in existence as early as the beginning of the fourteenth century, and were very celebrated; they are now but a shadow of what they were. From 150 to 200 workmen only are employed, and the ware manufactured is very coarse and of little value. The cleanness and regularity of the streets, the narrow canals running close to the doors and windows of the houses, and the evident wonder with which the inhabitants regard the advent of foreigners, cannot fail to be noticed.

Dinner, or some kind of refreshment, may be obtained at the Coffee-house where the luggage was left; and afterwards the Hague can be reached either by trekschuit, or by the evening train; the fare in either case being but a few pence.

THE HAGUE (Station)

Or 'S GRAVENHAGE, in Dutch, the capital of Hol. land. A Station on the Rotterdam and Amsterdam line, with branch to Gouda, &c.

Population (1881), 117,860.

Hotels: Hotel des Indes, large, first-class, near the Park, &c.

Hotel de Belle Vue will be found deserving our best recommendation.

Hotel Paulez, well situated and good. Land< lord, Mr. Paulez,

Hotel de l'Europe, Lange Houtstraat. Large and well situated first-class hotel.

H. J. Bougers, proprietor; recommended.

Hotel du Vieux Doelen, first-rate. Mr. Van Santen, proprietor.

On the evening of arrival Boer's Bazaar, in the Zee Straat, might be visited. Here are many curiosities from China and Japan, and a fine collection of modern Dutch paintings on sale. The garden here is very pretty, and close opposite is the Public Park, where is a statue of Descartes, the philosopher, with the inscription "Cogito, ergo sum." The park remains open till eight o'clock.

The Hague will require at least two days. Never having been walled in, it was styled one of the biggest "villages in Europe. On arrival send to the director of the Westreenen Museum for an admission card for the morrow; this institution is only open to the public the first and third Thursday in every month. After breakfast devote a couple of hours to the Picture Gallery at the Maurits Huis. Open gratis every day, from 9 to 4.

It occupies about a dozen rooms. Here are portraits by Van Dyck; "Stag Hunt," by Snyders, &c. A "Young Man," by Rembrandt; a "Hay Cart," by Wouvermans; "Interior of a Farm," an admirable picture of Ostade, exquisite from its truth to nature, The "Lesson of Anatomy," by Rembrandt, is a perfect masterpiece (composed 1631). Others worth notice are Rembrandt's "Simeon in the Temple," and "Susanna at the Bath;" Jan Steen's "Oyster Feast, or Human Life," "Poultry Yard," and his "Family Piece" (portraits); Ostade's "Fiddler;" "The Strand of Scheveningen " by Adrian Van de Velde; "The Coast at Overseen," a delightful sea piece, by Ruysdael; a charming "Cattle Scene," of Paul Potter; and Gerard Dow's "Woman and Child in the Cradle," one of his best pieces; "A storm at Sea," by Backhuizen; "A Kitchen," by Teniers; above all "The Bull," of P. Potter, described as giving evidence of remarkable science, truth to nature, and minute accuracy. Various objects formerly to be seen here, are moved to the Royal Cabinet of Curiosities, in the Vyverberg; consisting of Japanese, Chinese, Indian, and other relics;

A Statue of William I., the Silent, is in the Noordeinde, opposite the King's Palace; and another is on the Plein, which you can next visit. Here is the Archives Office, containing a most valuable col lection of documents, open to the public every day from 10 to 3. Among the papers is a letter to Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland, announcing the birth of the late Emperor of the French.

Proceeding through the Binnenhof we would call attention to the noble Gothic Hall (180 feet by 60), which is the most ancient building in the city, and formed part of the old palace of the Counts of Holland. Here Pensionary Barnevelt was beheaded in 1618.

The Palace of the Estates, where the Dutch Parliament sits, is close by. Strangers are admitted, and should by all means avail themselves of this privilege. Admission cards may be obtained at the Register's Office.

Crossing the Buitenhof, where there is a Statue of William II., we come to an old gateway (Gevangenpoort), where the brothers De Witt were confined in 1672, on a false accusation of attempting the life of the Prince of Orange. On the Plaats, close by, they were literally torn to pieces by the blind and exasperated mob. A triangle of white stones with a block in the middle, also here, shews the spot where Adelaide, mistress of Albert, Count of Holland, was massacred, December 22nd, 1392. The De Witts' house is still standing on the Kneuterdyk, a very short distance off; there also is the Palace of William II., which contains a fine Gothic Hall and a miscellaneous collection of pictures. These can be seen daily on application and a fee to the servant.

The Cathedral, which is dedicated to St. James, should be next examined. To do this we pass down Hoog Straat to the Groenmarkt (Vegetable Market). where the front of the Town House will require attention for a moment. The architecture is curious,

and the city arms are carved above the door. It has a picture of Ravesteyn's "Arquebusiers." Two other pictures, viz., portraits of "Councillors," by the same artist, are now at the Town Museum, near the Groote Market; along with several antiquities. A few steps farther brings us to the Vischmarkt (Fish Market) which is covered in, and where some tame storks (now rare) may be seen marching about among the fishwives. The Cathedral is close at hand. Its tower, 365 feet high, is very ancient, and the body of the church, which is large and lofty, dates from the first half of the sixteenth century. It contains some fine tombs and a little stained glass, but nothing of consequence. The painted window at the end of the choir is by Crabet. In the Prinzengracht, beyond the Town Museum, is the Netherlands Museum of Art and Industry, opened 1875, containing pictures of old masters, pottery and stained glass, casts of figures and carvings from old churches, arms, furniture, and similar objects. Among them are Gerard of Nassau's tomb, of the thirteenth century; a statue of St. Gervais, from Maestricht, of the same date; tomb of Engelbert of Nassau, of the fifteenth century, with six life figures; and a statue of Charles of Egmont, from Arnhem. Statue of Spinoza, opposite his house.

By passing down School Street the hotel may be reached by a different road; turn to the left along

in 1617. The ocean makes vast inroads here, and it is said the ancient church formerly stood 2 miles farther seaward; it was destroyed and a large tract of land swallowed up in 1570.

A strong resemblance may be traced here to the fisher population of the Isle of Man. The Scheveningen, like the Manx sailor, is eminently religious. Prayers are offered and hymns sung when the boats depart: collections are made in church with the same curious little "warming pan" boxes. Herrings are common to both; and the same independent and manly demeanour is noticeable in each.

It is beautiful to observe the perseverance and industry which have here cultivated patches of the very sandhills (dunes) and turned these barren spots into vegetable gardens. Making the most of trifles appear to be the forte of the Dutch. This practical people employ thousands in the manufacture of rush mats and brooms, and in the harvest of seaweed (varech) with which they stuff mattresses, manure the land, caulk boats, and utilise in a hundred different ways. Sir William Temple says, "Holland is a country where the national character inspires more esteem than affection; but we ought to feel as great love as admiration for a people who have prevailed by their minute care and tenacity of purpose over the inexorable denials of nature.

At the Bath House (admission, 25 cents), a band

At the bottom stands the New Church (built in 1649), which has a spire resting on springers.

By rail or tram to Scheveningen (population, 6,000), passing the National Monument in Willem's Park. On the left hand side is the Palace, called Zorgvliet; a charming chateau, formerly the residence of Jacob Cats, the poet. In the garden a stone table on which he wrote, with a hole in it that served to hold ink, is still shewn. The road to Scheveningen is very delightful, being overarched with fine trees. Here will be met with, probably, many of the peasantry in their picturesque headgear, and the fish carts drawn by dogs three abreast are worthy of notice. The village contains neat shops and coffee houses, and a church with a pretty spire. In the Church are preserved the skull and ribs of a whale, stranded on the shore

cured. Prince Frederick's Pavilion is to the right, as is also the great Bath House of the Hague.

The next morning, supposing the King is not at the Hague, application should be made to see the Palace, in the Noordeinde. It is extremely plain outside, but contains fine rooms crowded with works of art. Just opposite is the beautiful space of turf and trees, called the large Voorhout. Here is the Cloosterkerk, which contains several ancient tombs, and is worth a few minutes' inspection. Close by is the Ministry of Finance, a portion of which was formerly the house of Pensionary Barnevelt. Across the Voorhout is the Ministry of Marine, or Navy Office, where is a most curious collection of models of telegraphs, ships, &c. One room here is devoted to the Willem Barends, or Barentz Collection; that is to 112 remnants of

articles left behind by Barentz and Heemskerk, the navigators, and their crew, after wintering at Yshaven, in Spitzbergen, or Nova Zembla, 1595-6, and re-discovered in 1872, pretty much as they remained. They include some instruments, MS. in a powder-horn, old clock, cup, flag, flute, trumpet, navigation books (one being out of print), and a Dutch history of China, the country which were it was the aim of the party to reach. Many brought over by Mr. Gardiner, in his yacht, the Glowworm.

From this it is not far to the Royal Library, which is very noble (160,000 vols.), and contains rare treasures of early typography, "The Bible of the Poor," (Biblia Pauperum) &c., of which Holland may justly be proud. The cabinets of medals and gems are superb; 40,000 of the

former are said to be treasured here, while the cameos are numerous and exquisite. This institution, we should observe, is only open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, from 10 to 3. Proceed now to the Lange Vyverberg, for the private Gallery of Baron Steengracht van Osterland; permission to see the beautiful pictures gathered together here is easily obtained. The servant who shews them should, of course, receive a fee. The Westreenean Museum, in the Princesse Gracht, will then occupy till dinner. This collection of medals, rare books, specimens of early printing, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities, is deeply interesting and instructive.

In the streets may frequently be noticed the quaint but picturesque figures of the children from the Orphan Asylnm on the Spire Quay, a large brick house with an escutcheon over the door, and the inscription, "Dyaconye oude vronwen in kinder huis." This excellent institution was founded in 1659, and the dress of the children is of that epoch; the boys, brown cloth with leather buttons, white neckerchief and gloves; the girls, black woollen frocks with short sleeves, long white mittens, neckerchief and close cap hiding the hair.

After dinner, walk past the Maliebaan and Botanical Garden to the Park (het Bosch) containing the Palace in the Wood (Huis ten Bosch); filled with pictures and fine furniture. At the "Societeit," in the Wood, among the fine beeches near the lake, ncerts are held during the sum mer evenings. Or ery agreeable drive may be taken to Ryswyk

and Wateringen. At the first village the Treaty of Peace was concluded in 1697; an obelisk marks the site of the house in which this document was signed by the representatives of England, Holland, France, and Spain. At Wateringen the great peat beds may be seen, whence so many tons of fuel are yearly excavated. The scenery about here is extremely pleasing; vineyards and orchards and neat country houses make this district (Westland) the garden of Holland.

There is a Theatre at the Hague, where French and Dutch plays are performed, which may be visited to fill up a wet evening.

LEYDEN (Station), or Leiden.

Population, 41,240.

Hotels: Levedag, the best; du Lion d'Or (Gouden

Leeuw); Rynland; Belle Vue. Café Zomerzorg.

The Lugdunum Batavorum of the Romans, called the oldest town in Holland, near the mouth of the Old Rhine, which falls into the sea at the Katwyk sluices. The Roman station is marked by the Burg, a high mound near Hotel Burg.

A train runs from the Hague to Leyden in less than half-an-hour. The contrast between the two towns is very striking. The Hague is comparatively gay and Frenchified; Leyden is German in style, quiet, if not dull. The luggage may be left at the station, in the care of a porter (the ticket need not be given up), and an omnibus runs into the town. The houses are lofty, the streets clean, and the fine canals are bordered with trees.

The Town House in Breede Straat, is a splendid structure of the fifteenth century. This, and the two large Churches which bear a strong family likeness to all the others in Holland, are the first things to be seen. Then comes the famous University with its noble library, where many curious MSS. and about 100 interesting portraits of the old professors may be noticed. Among the illustrious men who have been professors are Boerhaave, Lipsius, Gronovius, Voss, Heinsius, Descartes.

Here the Leyden Jar was invented, 1746. Its observatory is the oldest in Europe (1632). Among other objects here is a singular engraving of the old library, representing the books chained to the desks, as they used to be in English churches, This University was founded by that palladium of Protestantism, William the Silent, whose influence