The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-04-30
Toretgm corresponding.
PARIS, lS42.

amphbious city, whose streets are IN great paf' ca
nails and where the Of vessels overtoP the chi
n~ys, in the very centre Of The town. Am'terl
dam exhibits the spectacle, bot on much larger
scale. The number Of canals which inersect each |
other every direction every where alike, and every
where lined by uniform { brick houses, sadly |
rerplexes the stranger and puts his ioca iy" t.
difficult trial. while the thick brown mixture of mud
and which forms their sluggish current, is |
eou,y offensive to his eyes and nose. Ans erdam |
is rendered by its canals quite much city of
islands as is Venice My guids-book Informs me
that there less than ninety of these islands
and they are i,iusd together by 800 bridges. The
foundation of Amsterdam, like that of Rotterdam, is
al,oge her artificial being formed by driving wooden
piles into the mud The whole of the surface now |
occupied by this great city great marsh,
altogether uninhabtsbe, except TO few fishermen,
who found place on it for lheil huts The building |
of city on such foundation, is of the thousand
pro. that meet the eye of the traveller every day in
Holland, of the indomtab!e perseverance, and al +
rable industry of the Dutch AMI the subsequent his
tory of erdan through all the stages of prosper
" and increase, until it became the Commercial
of the world is continued illustration of the
entorpr,sing and energetic character Of the people,
But a. the Ne hellands longer h,'d the high po-
litical and military rank which they formerly did,
when their navy COPIED successfully with that of Great
Britain, and their d,miniOns extended by colo
nzaton in almost every quarter of the globe, their
towns longer retain their pre-eminence in wealth
and commercial power. Amsterdam has still a large
commerce. and its port is we'll filed with ships, but
their number will hardly strike any one who has seen
the forests of masts at London, Liverpool, or New
York The port consists chiefly of vast basin shut
in from the Y, Gas the arm of the Zuyder Zee on
which Amsterdam stands is called by means of two
immense dams running far out into the stream, and
constructed Like the seadykes, Of stone imported from
foreign countries. These dykes are not only useful
in this way, but they also of great imp rance in
protecting the from nundation: for Amsterdam,
like the Dutch coast in general, belongs of right
to Neptune and he and then makes desperate
effort to regain his away If he had had any people
but the Dutch to deal with he would doubtless have
succeeded long ago. But they manage by perpetual
struggle to keep their heads above water, and grow
rich and powerful into the bargain. There is large
hayward at Amsterdam, and many other things Of
interest to the lover of ships and the sea- but for my
own part turned willingly aside from these to exa
mine the many curious and admirable things which
the interior of the city contains.
The foundation ofthe houses seem to be less secure
here than in Rotterdam. In Of the streets
walls santing TO singular degree, and seem
asiftbe slightest shake would make them tumble down
Heavy warehouses have even been known sink
down into the mud by the giving way of the wooden
foundation. 1t is curious to observe the precautions
which are taken to prevent these sinkings and tum
blings by removing far possible all causes which
nay be capable Of jarring the ground. The stranger
is surprised the comparative silence which reigns
in the streets of city which affords SO many evil
dences of activity and business. There are In fact,
very few wheeled vehicles of any kind, particularly
for carrying heavy weights; nearly all the heavy
carriage il done the canals and many of the vehi
cles which perform that Office in the streets,
on seds instead of wheels. In addition, the streets
paved with brick instead of stone, and the mon
gre vehicles glide along almost noiselessly as II
they were running snow To diminish the fric-
ton they have the fore end of the sleds little
key of water pierced with number of holes, through
which, at every jog, the water spouts out in JETS and
sprinkles the pavement. Many Of the hackney
coaches, too, placed on runners The driver, in
stead of sitting the box, walks by the side of his
horse and holds the reins in hand, while In the
other he hold rope, to the end of which hangs a
rag we'll soaked in OIL which he now and then filings
before the runners They are thus kept constantly
oiled, and the vehicle slips along the level pave
ment in a most even and comfortable jog-trot. The
canals are crowded with prodigous rumber of
round-sterned. clumsy looking barges, which
stir up the mud from the bottom they scrape along
like (excuse the comparson) so many hogs in mud
hole. Many of these boats are employed in bringing
of fho for he four
folks, the water of Amsterdam being absolutely
drinkable unless it be chosen as a substitute for
physc. The water-barge is moored to the shore,
and people go to with their buckets as they would
fountain But the sight of the water in which these
boats Aoated completely turned my stomach against
that which they contained, and could not persuade
myself to drink glass of water all the time that
was in Amsterdam. Not small number of families
find their only habitation in the barges which crowd
the canals. Their sole employment being in pushing
hther and hither their ugly boats with their daily
cargoes, they provide themselves board with all
the necessaries of family establishment and rarely
feel the necessity of going on terra Jfrma
The houses of Amsterdam are built exclusively of
brick, and have for the most part monotonous and
inelegaLt appearance, but the high and fantastica
gable-ends which crown their fronts and which meet
the eye at every turn in thousand curious varieties
of form, in part to relieve the sameness of the
perspective. Their gables sort of appendage
that do not recoect to have any where except
in Holland and Belgium; they are relic of the Span
ish regime, and are said to be of Moorish origin
From the frcnt of each house rises kind of shield
of woodwork painted white, which entirely conceals
the roof and sharp ridge, and which, sometimes
hv cIu IF min
ed like arch and decorated by carvings and orna-
If andc fnrnnc