During the siege of Haarlem, there were frequent combats of an almost amphibious character, partly in boats, partly on the causeways, between the Dutch and the Spaniards, exactly like those which took place between Cortez and the Mexicans. The Dutch had a second time occasion to resort to the like expedient of flooding this part of the country, to resist the armies of Louis XIV.; and, more recently, the same thing was done in the war of the French revolution, Jan. 1795. AMSTERDAM. Inns: H. des PaysBas, Doelen Straat; good and comfortable; Oude Doelen, same street, very good; Nieuwe Doelen, in the Gainalen market, on the Singel, also good. Ron. deel, Doelen Straat; H. du vieux Comte, in the Kalver Straat, a quiet house. The principal city of Holland is situated at the confluence of the river Amstel with the arm of the Zuider Zee called the Y (pronounced Eye), which in front of Amsterdam is from 8 to 9 fathoms in depth, and forms a At Halfweg half-way between well sheltered road. It has 212,000 Haarlem and Amsterdam (famed for inhabitants. Its ground-plan has somewater zootje, p. 41.)—there is a port- what the shape of a crescent, or halfage in the canal, owing to an interrup- bent bow; the straight line, repretion, in consequence of the enormous senting the string, rests on the Y, and sluices, which separate the waters of the curved line forms its boundary the Y from those of the Haarlem lake. on the land side. Its walls are surThe effect of opening them, and allow-rounded by a semicircular canal or ing the waters of the Y to enter the wide fosse; and within the city are Haarlem Meer, would be to submerge a great part of the province of Holland to a distance of 30 miles, with an inundation covering not only the meadows, but even the dykes themselves. "The relative height of the two waters is regulated by means of sluices and gaugeposts, marked with very minute divisions; and the greatest attention is paid to the state of the waters at this particular spot: it is one of the principal stations of the Waterstaat (§ 9.); the safety of Amsterdam and the surrounding country from inundations depending much upon the management of these two inland seas. Family Tour. 99 The road passes over the sluices, close to an old chateau, called Zwanenburg; it then makes a bend, after which it continues in a straight line on to Amsterdam. The most conspicuous objects on approaching the town from the land side are the windmills, one of which is perched on each of the 26 bastions, now no longer of use as fortifications; they serve to grind the flour which supplies the town. The fosse surrounding the town is 80 feet wide. Amsterdam terminus is a long way off from the centre of the town. Omnibuses convey passengers for 4 stiand vigilantes for 15 stivers, or 1 guilder the hour. vers, 4 other great canals, all running in though not equalling that of the Sea | Cybele, may be said to approximate to it, but the houses are almost all of brick, and the canals differ from those of Venice in being lined with quays. The whole city, its houses, canals, and sluices, are founded upon piles; which gave occasion to Erasmus to say, that he had reached a city, whose inhabitants, like crows, lived on the tops of trees. The upper stratum is literally nothing more than bog and loose sand; and until the piles are driven through this into the firm soil, below, no structure can be raised, with a chance of stability. In 1822, the enormous corn warehouses, originally built for the Dutch East India Company, actually sank down into the mud, from the piles having given way. They contained at the time more than 70,000 cwt. of corn: a weight which the foundation beneath was incapable of supporting. A kind of hackneycoach called Sleepkoets, still seen, though less common than formerly, in Amsterdam, consists of the body of a coach or fly, mounted upon a sledge, drawn by one horse, while the driver walking beside him holds in one hand a bit of cloth or rag dipped in oil and fastened to the end of a string; this he contrives to drop, at intervals, under the runners of the sledge to diminish the friction. It has been often said that a police regulation restricts the use of wheels, from fear lest the rattling of heavy carriages over the stones should shake and injure the foundation of the buildings: this, however, is not true. Heavy burdens are almost entirely transported along the canals, and from thence to the warehouses on similar sledges. Omnibuses ply through the town, and to the railway station. The havens and canals are shallow, being about 8 ft. deep at ordinary water. They are, therefore, fit for the Rhine vessels and Dutch coasters, but do not admit vessels for foreign trade. These lie along the booms and in front of the town, and the goods are transferred by means of the numerous canals of the city. There is a good deal of mud deposited at the bottom of the canals, which when disturbed by the barges produces a most noisome effluvia in hot weather, when the water is said to "grow." Dredging machines are constantly at work to clear out the mud, which is sent to distant parts as manure. Mills have also been employed to give an artificial motion to the waters, and prevent their becoming stagnant; but the same object is now attained by more simple means. To effect a circulation in the canals is most essential to the health of the inhabitants. The Amstel at its entrance into the city, is 11 inches below the mean level of the German Ocean, the lowest tide is only 1 foot lower than the Amstel. It is therefore evident that the canals can be emptied, and that partially, only at low water. The Damrak is the point of discharge; at high water the sluices which admit the Amstel into the town are closed for a short time, and the sea water allowed then to circulate through the town, until it is again expelled by the river. The vast dams thrown up within a few years, in front of the town, for a great distance along the side towards the Y, resist the influx of the sea into the mouths of the canals, and are provided with flood-gates of the strongest construction, to withstand the pressure of high tides. The Palace (het Palais), formerly The Stadhuis, is a vast and imposing edifice of stone, standing upon 13,659 piles driven 70 ft. deep into the ground. The architect was Van Campen; the first stone was laid 1648, and the building finished 1655. It was originally occupied by the magistracy, for town councils, judicial tribunals, and the like. During the reign of Louis Buonaparte, it became his palace, and the late King resided in it whenever he visited Amsterdam. The main entrance is behind. The treasures of the once celebrated bank of Amsterdam, which used to regulate the exchanges of Europe, were kept in the vaults below the building. It is chiefly remarkable for one grand Hall, occupying the centre of the building, lined with white Italian marble, 120 ft. long and 57 ft. wide, and nearly 100 ft. high. The sculptured bas-reliefs which adorn the building are by Arthur Quellin, and deserve notice as works of art, those especially which adorn the two pediments; many of those in the interior are appropriate and well executed: thus over the door of the room which was the secretary's is a dog watching his dead master, and a figure of Silence with her finger on her lips, as emblems of fidelity and secrecy. The Bankrupt Court contains a group representing Dædalus and Icarus in allusion to rash speculations and their ruinous consequences. In the Audience Chamber is a large picture by Wappers, of Van Speyk blowing up his ship. It is worth while to see the View from the tower on the summit of the building. This is the best place to obtain a tolerably correct idea of this wonderful city, with its broad canals, avenues of green trees, running through the heart of the town; houses, with forked chimneys and projecting gables, many of them bowing forward or leaning backwards, from subsidence in their foundations. These form the foreground of the picture. The horizon extends cn the N. side over the Zuider Zee, over the Y, to the numerous windmills and red roofs of Zaandam, the N. Holland canal and the towers of Alkmaar; S. over the expanse of the Haarlem Meer about shortly to disappear, and to be ploughed by the share and no longer by the keel; S. E. appear the towers of Utrecht and Amersfort, and W. the spire of Haarlem with the straight canal and railway pointing towards it. The present Stadhuis, or Town Hall, on the Achter Burgwal, (formerly the Admiralty,) contains good pictures portraits of burgomasters and citizens of Amsterdam, by Van der Helst, Frans Hals, Govert Flinck, &c.; also a capital Lingelbach, a view of the Palace while building; and a view of it finished by Van der Ulft. The New Exchange stands in front of the Palace: its construction was a work of great difficulty on account of the looseness of the soil, a mere turbary or bog, which caused the founda tions to give way when the building was hardly above ground. past 3 o'clock is the daily hour of high change; those who enter after the time must pay a small fine. The Churches of Amsterdam, stripped of almost every decoration at the Reformation, are in themselves rather barren of interest, forming a complete contrast to the richly ornamented structures of Belgium. The Oude Kerk (Old Church), in the Warmoes Straat, has 3 fine windows of painted glass, executed between 1549 and 1648; the tombs of several Dutch admirals; and a list of the persons killed in Amsterdam by the Anabaptists, 1535; and a fine set of chimes. The organ is esteemed by many not inferior, as to tone, to that of Haarlem. "It is as gorgeously framed as if it had been contrived for some Jesuits' church. The gallery in which it stands is richly inlaid with porphyry and white marble: its case is florid, with the most heavy and profuse carving and gilding. The tones are rich, firm, and brilliant. It has 68 stops, 3 rows of keys, and a full complement of pedals. In short, it is a first-rate instrument. Dr. Burney, in his Musical Tour,' mentions that this organ - in his day a celebrated instrument—had been finished 12 years before his visit (or about 1760) by Batti, of Utrecht, in completion of an organ begun in 1736."-H. F. C. The Nieuwe Kerk (so called, though built in 1408), on the Damrak, close to the palace, is one of the finest churches in Holland: it has a fine open screen of brass. It contains, among many public monuments, those of Admiral de Ruiter, the commander who sailed up the Medway, and burnt the English fleet at Chatham; who at different times contended with the English admirals Blake, Monk, and Prince Rupert, and who commanded the Dutch at the battle of Solebay. He is styled, in his somewhat pompous epitaph, "immensi tremor Oceani." There are also monuments to Captain Bentinck, killed in the battle of Doggerbank, 1781, and to the poet Vondel. The |