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was made to the producing area of the province of North Holland (in which I write). The old maps show a large expanse of water, occupying the centre of this province: it is called Lake Haarlem. The traveller who seeks for it now will find that it has disappeared. He will see substantial houses, abundant herds of cattle, and luxuriant crops, on the ground once described as a lake, and which occupied no less than 18,000 bunders, or 9,000 acres. This change was effected by making a very wide and deep canal along the south side of the lake, and using the clay removed in forming the canal, for a bank against the return of the water. Three arterial minor canals, with smaller radiating branches, were then formed, and were quite sufficient to secure ample drainage; and at the end of each a powerful pumping-engine was erected; they pump up the water which falls upon this large surface, and discharge it into the canal. The difference of level between the water in the external and that in the internal canal is about twelve feet. The establishment which I visited consists of a boiler-house, with ten large boilers for the generation of steam, which accumulates in a steam chest. These furnaces consume about five-and-a-half tons of coal per hour. The steam is conducted into a vast cylinder, the piston of which moves perpendicularly, and attacneu o its head are a large number of strong radiating beams, each of which is at the other end attached to the pump. Thus each stroke of the engine sets all the pumps in motion, and raises fifty-six cubic yards of water. The motion is not rapid-six strokes per minute are made, but even at this rate upwards of 50,000 gallons of water are discharged every

RECLAMATION OF LAKE HAARLEM.

189

minute. The engine is equal to 345-horse power, and is made by Harvey of Cornwall. Three such engines were sufficient to pump out and keep down the water. In summer they are not required to work. The reclaimed land was let by Government at 10 guilders (16s. 8d.) per bunder, or about 33s. per acre; but it takes 9 guilders per bunder to pay the expense of pumping, and Government, which executed the work, has one guilder per bunder to pay interest on the outlay and rent for the land.

The drive to Ornguis, where one of the engines is at work, lies through a flat but exceedingly wellcultivated and well-planted district. The excellent houses which lined the road betokened the great wealth of the residents. The comfortable cottages of the smaller proprietors showed that they were well off, and their enclosed gardens, tilled with the utmost care, proved how much will be done by man to win food from the land if he is only secured of its possession. Why should not England do for Ireland that which the Dutch have done for their own country? She deprived Ireland of the power of governing herself, and in assuming the responsibility of governing that country, she became morally bound to promote the happiness of the people. Ireland is nearly three times the superficial extent of Holland. Ireland possesses a far more fertile soil, and as both countries lie in the same latitudes, there cannot be much difference of climate. Ireland has not double the population of Holland, though she has an area three times as large. If the land of Ireland were as productive as that of Holland— and I can see no reason why it should not be soEngland would be independent of foreign supplies:

thus her wealth would be promoted, in the exact ratio her importation of food would decrease, while her moral influence and material strength. would extend in the ratio of population.

Amsterdam.-The Zuider Zee may be said to divide the Netherlands into two parts. The provinces of Zeeland, South Holland, and Noord Holland have a seaboard to the North Sea or German Ocean. That of Noord (North) Holland has also a seaboard to the Zuider Zee. The provinces of Friesland, Overyssell, Guilderland, and Utrecht have a seaboard at the east and south of that inland sea. Groningen is bounded on the north by the German Ocean, but Dreuthe, which lies to the north, and North Brabant and Limburg, which lie south, have no frontage to the sea. This city, Amsterdam, which lies nearly at the south of the Zuider Zee, has therefore direct communication by sea with almost all the provinces, and thus had become the mart for their produce, long before railroads had introduced a new means of communication; they have not even yet superseded the vast intercommunication by water, existing in this very extraordinary country, almost every field of which may be reached by water, and the manure from the cities is thus, at very slight cost, spread over the most distant fields. The large barges which are used for the sea-voyage, as well as internal trade, carry about 100 tons. They are rigged with two masts, placed considerably apart; at sea, and sometimes inland, or on the rivers, they use their sails. At other times they are propelled with long straight poles, used by the athletic boatmen, who, placing one end of the pole

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against their chests, and walking backwards, urge the boats forward at considerable speed. Inland, when the sails cannot be used, they are drawn by men, or sometimes women. The tow-rope has a flat band at the end like a loop, which is placed over the chest, and thus the boat or barge is drawn along. Horses are seldom used: indeed, if a man can pull one of these boats along, it would be false economy to use a horse, which consumes as much food as seven men, to do the work. These boats, in order to turn in a small space, and to afford considerable stowage, are built square at the bows, and they have a very old-fashioned look, but they do a large amount of work. Amsterdam may be said to be built in the sea; all her buildings are raised on piles. The Palace alone required 13,695. In passing through the city I noticed the foundation which was being prepared for a house. Two sets of men were engaged driving piles, while a third set, with a centrifugal pump, were clearing out the water, a very copious stream of which was flowing from the pump. The pile-driving was done with the rudest machinery, such as would in England be superseded with the winch or the steam-engine. Here the object seems to be to employ men, not to supersede their labour with machines. This city has a population of 267,570, being about one-twelfth of that of the entire state. Rotterdam has 102,000; the Hague, 75,000; Utrecht, 50,000; Haarlem, 27,770; Dordrecht, 21,870; Nymengen, 24,000; Leyden, 30,000; Arnheim, 20,606; Delft, 19,132, and there are many other populous places. The civic population of the Netherlands is larger in proportion to the rural than

any country of Europe, except England and Scotland. This happens without her possessing any of the attraction of large coalfields, which draw people together, as Glamorganshire and Staffordshire in England, Lanarkshire in Scotland, or Namur in Belgium. The civic population of the Netherlands is about one-third (35 per cent.) of the entire population; in England and Wales it is 53 per cent., and in Scotland 65 per cent. The population of the Netherlands has been increasing more rapidly than that of the adjoining country, Belgium, than France, or than the United Kingdom. It is now nearly 3,500,000. Of these about 2,000,000 are Protestants, 1,200,000 Roman Catholics, and. the remainder Jews or Protestant Dissenters. The cathedrals are in the hands of the Protestant ministers, and present a very striking contrast to those of Belgium. The Protestant churches are without pictures, the walls white, or a few shades off it, and the windows-I speak of those of Haarlem and Amsterdam-plain clear glass. The cathedrals of Antwerp and Brussels are gorgeous in their illuminated windows, and possess some of the best pictures of the best masters. The latter, therefore, attract vast numbers of visitors, while the former have but few. The Roman Catholic churches are open at almost all hours. The passing penitent may drop in, perform his devotions, and go his way. The Protestant churches are rarely open except on Sunday, and even then it is difficult to get a seat. At Berne I found the church locked, and I was refused admission because I was not there within a quarter of an hour after the service had begun. In Amsterdam it was a little better. I was allowed

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