THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



Photo by N. .1. ,!/. S/eiiimetz] [The Ifuffue. 



A DUTCH MARRIED WOMAN, NORTH HOLLAND. 



HOLLAND. 



THE Dutch people are maiuly descended from 

 the Germanic branch of the great European families 

 of nations. Teutonic hordes overran the country at 

 different times. The latest of these were the Franks 

 and the Saxons, who became the dominant peoples 

 about the third century. Holland has been the 

 home of freedom from the earliest times to which 

 historic records ascend, and the persecuted in other 

 lands sought refuge there at different periods. 

 Portuguese and German Jews in great numbers found 

 safety there. On many occasions also Britons, 

 Scandinavians, and Frenchmen settled in the Nether- 

 lands in large numbers, and were finally absorbed 

 in the population. The result is that the original 

 Dutch type of race has been so much modified 

 that it is now difficult to trace the distinctive 

 physical traits of the Teuton among the Dutch. 



Holland is a maritime country, containing 

 12,648 square miles. The land is flat and low, 



intersected by numerous canals and connecting rivers. In the Middle Ages it formed part of 

 the Low Countries, and at the present day it has the alternative name of Netherlands. In 

 1898 its population was returned at 5,075,000, showing that, after Belgium and Saxony, it is 

 the most densely peopled country in Europe. 



In character the Dutch are brave, stubborn, and honest. Taciturn and cold in their manner, 

 they are particularly reserved towards strangers, and at the same time remarkably blunt and 

 outspoken. They are as a rule hearty feeders. Even among the poorer classes starvation is 

 less common than in any other civilised country. Salt herring is one of the most highly 

 esteemed of their articles of diet. Smoked eels may also be mentioned as a favourite dish. 

 They are usually sold from barrows in the street, with pickled cucumbers and hard-boiled 

 eggs. Gin and tobacco are consumed freely, but their ill-effects are counteracted by the 

 open-air life of the people and the hard work they get through. It is chiefly at the kermis, 

 or fairs, which play a large part in the life of the Dutch, that intemperance shows its 

 usual signs. 



The well-known Dutchman of the caricaturist, the man with wide breeches and a build 

 which requires all their amplitude, is nowadays seen more frequently in pictures than in the 

 streets of Dutch towns, although he is far from being extinct. The town-dweller is rather 

 spare of habit, but his wife generally makes up in her comfortable proportions for his lack 

 of flesh. The Hollander is fond of his home. A farmer's house can generally boast of 

 good furniture, while the citizens frequently live in a luxurious style. 



The Golden Age of Holland was the first half of the seventeenth century. At that time 

 the carrying trade of the world was in the hands of the Dutch, while Amsterdam was regarded 

 as the most important commercial centre. In their long wars with Spain they gradually 

 succeeded to the Portuguese possessions which had fallen to the Spanish. In Cromwell's time 

 and in the earlier part of the reign of Charles II. the English were engaged in a protracted 

 struggle to put down Dutch monopoly. England in turn acquired the supremacy of the sea, 

 and replaced Holland as mistress of a great colonial empire. The Dutch still retain considerable 

 possessions in the East Indies. 



With such a past history it is not surprising to find that the Dutchman is fond of 

 travel, and takes a broad interest in the doings of the outside world. He is consequently 

 much less narrow and pedantic than his natural characteristics would lead one to suppose. 



