The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-08-31
1 HE DAILY DISPATCH
European corrsspoadencs Of The Dj.ns,cl,

iWo days ago wrote you n fesr H,aa s-,,,,
bremen; to-day, having some t;me - sn.ra -
nave presuning on your wen .knavr rooa
nature taken up my pen with the ;nton,;e. -
giving you an account of ot,r nroorass
pave shah commence with our denarture
,rom Antwerp for, if remember r;gh,,v :
.eH you IN that city of Churches and na;..
nss. IL was about halfpast three. ON . o,la
afizzly' disagreeable morning, that wa on,
parked on steamer having an uunrono,,saa
able name, for Rotterdam. OF the fra. -.
OF the journey ! can say but little g.. pa.' a.
cold and rain kept me below, and l. for wa
OF something better to do, snoo-ed avav a.
time until we arrived at the Holland sbo-s
where, the custom officers coming aboard oae, r.a
were compelled to go through the farce nf
navng our luggage examined, after u,b;ob
as the sun condescended just then to sbo,,,
h's face, took a turn on deck to view tba.
Jace OF the eountry-and very fiat face II
| was. The land. for the most part. seemed ~
| be below the level of the river, and urotected
| from it by very low bank covered with vii.
| lows. To prevent this bank from being
washed away, some halfdozen rows of piles
| are driven in the river, which break the force
| Of the waves that are created by the paddles
| VA AhC otSdnUUdtS W ulcn are c0IlSt3nfly
| passing up and down. The scenery. as vol,
| may well imagine, is far from interesting
water and marshy land not forming very
| picturesque landscape. Every now and then
we passed village consisting of low brick
houses with tiled roofs, and brick church
not possessing many presensions to architec-
| tural beauty.
Every journey, however long and dull it
| may be, will be brought to an end by con-
| stantly padding onward and ours proved
not to be an exception to the general rule
since we arrived at Rotterdam about one
o'clock, 7. Nj.
Rotterdam, beyonditself,has not much to in
| terest a stranger. There is here statue of the
| celebrated Erasmus, and the small house in
| which he was born. In the Cathedral, ''groote
| kirk, are the monuments of the famous ad-
| nlirals, De Witt and Cortenaer. There is
| also collection of paintings by Dutch mas
ters, scme of which are excellent. The city
itself, is, however, worthy of notice, being in
point of population and commerce, the Sc
| cond city in Holland. 1t is completely cut up
| by canals, which nearly equal the streets in
number. They are so deep that vessels of
| the largest burden can be brought to the very
| doors of the warehouses of their owners, and
their cargoes discharged with very little
trouble or expense. Innumerable draw
bridges cross the canals, to allow the passage
of vessels and afford communication be-
| tween different parts of the town. A walk
| through the town affords great amusement
| and every thing is novel. The strange ming
| ling of canals and streets-shipping in the
heart of large city-the masts blending with
the trees and chimneys-the drawbridges
| opening by the means of ponderous beams,
| which act as levers, carts running on sledges
instead of wheels, with barrows of water in
| front, which is jerked out to moisten the
pavements and thus lessen the friction. Wo
men with wooden shoes, so large that they
might well serve as substitutes for boats
| the houses, with gable ends presented to the
street, each with little mirror in front of the
windows, to give information to those inside
concerning the personal appearance of those
| who may be "knocking at the door" are only
| to be seen in a Dutch town. Rotterdam con-
| tains about 93 900 inha btants, and carries on
an extensive trade with the East Indies; it
also has large trade in provisions much
| corn being brought down the Rhine from the
| interior of Germany, and much timber is also
sent from the parts contiguous to that river
We remained in Rotterdam only long
| enough to see the town, and dine, and ut
o'clock left for the Hague, by railway. The
| appearance of the country between the two
cities is fiat land and water, and it is difficult
| to say of which there is the most Grass
| seemed to be the staple produce, and very
| heavy crops must have rewarded the labor of
| the farmer this year, if judgment can be
| formed from what saw from the window
| Cattle, all of which are black and white, were
also in abundance. The railway passes Schie-
dam, celebrated for its gin-the town is COM
| pletely surrounded by wind mills, which, by
| the way, compose one of the chief features
| of a Dutch landscape. In whatever part of
Holland you may be- and in whatever direc-
ton you turn your eyes, you will see some of
these mills fiinging their mighty arms about
| like giants having milling match They
| are made to answer all sorts of purposes
They grind corn, saw wood, beat hemp-and
are also employed to drain the land There
are nine thousand of these mills in Holland,
and the annual cost of them is valued at
| 100000 dollars At short distance from
Schiedam, we passed Delft, the town in which
William, Prince of Orange, WAS assassinated-
from thence to the Hague is but short ride.
The Hague is the residence of the Court,
and contains population of about 60, ,000-
Like Rotterdam it is intersected with canals,
which are filled with stagnant water-for
though near the sea, they do not empty into,
on the contrary if there is any current it is
from it. To stranger the odor from this
| water is very offensive. With this exception
| it is beautiful city, and would be- | should
| think, very pleasant residence.
The objects to which strangers turn their
| attention are the Picture Gallery and Muse
Hm the Gallery is almost entirely confined
| to the works of Dutch masters, and contains
| some of their finest pieces. The Museum con-
| tains very interesting collection of curiosi-
| ties, among which are many articles from
| China and Japan; the latter especially are
entertaining, as the Dutch are the only Eu-
| ropean nation having communication with
| that country, and these collections, therefore,
are ethe only ones in Europe. They give good
| insight into the manners and habits of the
Japanese, A plan of the Metropolis. Zeddo,
| of Japan, model of the Island of Desima,
| the Dutch Factory in Japan, made by the
| Japanese, introducing several hundreds of
| figures, representing their occupations, the
furniture of their houses, their dress. &c, &c.
| Among the historical relics is the dress of
| William Of Orange, which he wore on the day
| he was assassinated, the pistol used by the as
sassin, and the fatal bullets. We visited the
| Palace which contains fine collection of
paintings: the House of Parliament, which
was in session, and heard very good speech
| in Dutch, from the minister of Marine say
| good speech. for such | suppose it must have
| been. IRON the close attention TO which every
member paid TO it !, of course. could not
understand much. The Hall itself win not
compare with the Hall of Representatives Of
| the State of Nirginia-bnt the decoram OBJ
served by the members might serve as les
son to orr worthy members. There was no