The daily Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1841-1845, 1842-04-28
Foreign Correspondence.
pARrs, 1912.

PARIS, 1919
Iin,snd.a 10 continue at some length the narrative
of my travels, but the space which iha'e ie'' 'aAns
The usual allowance of three sheets, will not allow
me to make much progress
begin with my entry into Holland. Rolling out oil
INV berth in little cuddy Of place, that was bur-
,esoue on all steamboat cabins, went on deck, and
looked to either hank, to what sort of countr,
was that famous Holland. But saw nothing save
dyke beyond which could distinguish now and then
the top of house and the upper half OF tree the
surface of the country was altogether invisible
This simple remark will give you an idea of what
Holland is. 1t is vast plain or meadows which be-
longs by nature to the sea- but which the industry oil
man has reclaimed by dammng out the sea, and
damming in the rivers. If it were not for the dykes
very large part of the country would become once
more the bottom Of the "ln Holland the laws
of nature to be reversed the sea higher than
the land the lowest ground in the country Is twenty
four feet below high-water mark In no other coun-
Try do the kees of the ships float above the chmneys
of the houses and no where else does the frog croak
ing from among the bulrushes, look down upon the
swallow on the house top" These things are strictly
true and though Dutch perseverance struggles man
fully to reverse the laws Of Nature yet she some
times restores the level with terrible effect Now
and then the sea the rivers break through the mas
siye dykes and produce most terrible inundations-
Near the town Of Dordrecht, on the WAL, which
passed on my way to Rotterdam is great number
of low marshy islands, ntersected in every direction
by arms of the river and looking for all the world
like the tracts of marsh which line our coast. All
these islands were formed in 1921 by an inundaton
which destroyed 70 villages and 100000 inhabitants.
The land has been in great measure reclaimed, and
is now successfully cultivated. The Lake OF Haar-
lem which is eleven miles in diameter, has been al
most entirely formed by nundatons and the greater
part of the surface now occupied by the Zuyder Zee
was once dry land. To prevent these dreadful ca
amities to which large part of the country IS con-
stanty exposed the Dutch have constructed dykes of
earth and stone, of immense strength, which set
bounds upon the inroads of the and rivers, and
upon the integrity of which their safety entirely de-
ponds: for once the dykes broken, the sea resumes
her dominion and the Dutchmen become food for the
fishes. There is special corps of engineers employ
ed to superntend the dykes and the cost of keeping
these buwarks in repair is not less than three mil
lions of dollars annually. Such is the tax which this
people pay to render their country habltable! But
this terrible proximity of the sea- which is the source
of so many dangers is sometimes means of defence.
If beset by an invading army they have but to cut
the dykes, the lower parts of the country are laid
under water and the march of the enemy is at once
arrested The history of Holland furnishes several
examples of this voluntary nundation OF the country
to save it from the possession of its enemies, and in
1874, feet of armed boats was actually hoated
across the submerged territory to the relief OF the
besieged town Of Leyden. The dykes are construct
ed Of earth and stone and of various height and
strength, according to the degree of danger which
they are intended to avert. In the more exposed
parts of the sea-coas they vast walls Of earth,
faced towards the sea by masses of granite. But
there is no stone in Holland, and they are obliged o
import from Norway the materials of those stupen-
deus MS.
The dykes, which line both banks Of the WAL
from its separation from the Rhine nearly to its
mouth, concealed the country almost entirely from
my sight, with the exception of trees and housetops
and an occasional village, until reached Rotterdam
There set my foot for the first time upon Dutch SOIL
and beheld town such as had never seen before
1t is intersected in every direction by canals, and
large vessels find their way into the midst OF the city
The view along one of these canals is strange mix
ture of sails and masts, trees and houses. My room
overlooked the very edge of of these canals and
if had fallen from the window, should have tum-
bled plump into the water and such sweet bath
should have had The water is as dirty as that of
mud-hole, and its odor is of the pleasantest-
Rot erdam stands upon artificial foundatitn form
ed by driving piles into the mud and sand and by the
partial sinking of these foundations, many OF the
houses lean over as if tott ring their fall, as if
AZ ba;r ,ubh bp
way. In making my way through the muddy and
gloomy streets, in search of sights and novelties,
was struck with the prevalence of a custom which
had before observed to certain extent IN Germany.
At the windows Of almost all the houses are little
mirrors placed obliquely on the outside SO that the
persons placed within may command view OF what
is passing in the street, without showing themselves
at the window took peep at all these little tell
tale rehectors to catch glimpse if possible of what
was going on inside, and saw the image of many a
pretty face laughing at my weather-beaten straw hat
and my staring looks took eisurely gaze at ev-
cry object that attracted my attention.
Three or four hours quite satisfied us with Rotter-
dam. 1t is purely commercial town, and like all
Others of the same character offers few objects of in
terest to the traveller So the morning after my ar
rival set off in the diligence for Amsterdam. This
ride of fortyve miles comprises the most interest
ing portion of Holland, it passes through the towns
of the Hague, Leyden and HARLEM, but as did not
stop at these places, shall defer speaking of them
until my return from Amsterdam to Rotterdam.
was sufficiently occupied for the time in looking al
the strange and novel things that presented them.
selves on every hand along the whole route Which.
ever way looked l saw boundless expanse of yer
dant meadow, which seemed as If it had never been
broken by the plough the spade. | saw no sort OF
grain nor any thing else which seemed to be the re-
suit of cultivation it vast pasture dotted
9TH ;nprmerahle cattle With the exec nj ion NJ the