110 



AMSTERDAM AMULET. 



tween l ' ; i>- and 16 13, rests upm five vaulted arches, 

 under which the .Vinstel flows into the Damrack 

 water; it is 250 feet long and I -Id feet wide. The 

 East India house, of which a whole wing, used tor 

 granaries, lately tumbled down, the nalioiiiil ship- 

 yard, and the magazine u|x>n the Kntenburg, attlie 

 V, are at present used for other purposes of com- 

 merce and navigation The beautiful Trippen- 

 house, where (lie acailciny of arts and sciences as- 

 sembles, is now a temple of the arts and science-. 

 The society t-'tti.r mt-ritix (estal)lished by the mer- 

 chants), which promotes the study of every thing 

 that can occupy and ennoble the mind ; the society 

 Doctrina ft amicitin ; the Tot nut van' I algemcen, de- 

 voted to the liberal arts and sciences ; the excellent 

 reading-room ; several musical societies ; the Dutch, 

 Krencii, and German theatres ; the hortus mcdicus, 

 belonging to the dthcneeum illnstre ; the famous 

 l^atin schools; the many excellent national poets 

 prove the taste of the citizens of A. for science and 

 learning. Their regard for religion, charity, and 

 order, is manifested by the numerous churches, by 

 the hospital for the aged, the poor-house and orphan 

 asylum, the houses of correction, the navigation 

 school, the many societies for humane objects, and 

 the work-houses of different descriptions. The 

 churches are numerous: among them, the Dutch 

 Reformed liave ten, the French one, the English 

 one, the Roman Catholics eighteen, and even the 

 Greeks and Armenians have a church. The most 

 splendid is the new church upon the Damm, in 

 which the pulpit and organs are master-pieces ; hene 

 you see the monuments of the admiral de Ruyter, of 

 I lie valiant von Galen, and of the great poet Von- 

 del ; here, also, after so many storms, the fabric of 

 the state was strengthened by the adoption of the 

 constitution, and by the allegiance sworn to the pre- 

 sent sovereign, March 29 and 30, 1814. In the 

 Oude Kerk monuments are erected by the naval 

 Heemskerk, van der '/aan, Zweerts, and van der 

 Hultz. The Western Kerk has a handsome steeple. 

 NVith so much that is beautiful and great, and with 

 a trade which affords the means of support to every 

 industrious man, A. has, indeed, the disadvantage 

 of a very damp air, and an offensive, mephitic smell, 

 which often rises, in summer, from the canals. It 

 suffers, also, from the want of good spring-water, 

 and from the inconvenience of very high and nar- 

 row dwelling-houses, occasioned by its crowded po- 

 pulation. The new canal, extending from its har- 

 bour to the extreme point of North Holland, 26 feet 

 in depth, is of great advantage to A. It removes 

 some of the chief impediments to the commerce of 

 the city, viz. the necessity which existed of unload- 

 ing large vessels, before they could enter the har- 

 bour, and of encountering the passage through the 

 Zuyder-zee, which was peculiarly difficult with con- 

 trary winds. The shipping of goods to and from 

 Amsterdam will, therefore, be effected in future 

 more promptly and cheaply. This canal extends 

 from A. to Niewe Diep. The distance between 

 the extreme points is 41 English miles ; but the ca- 

 nal is about 50 miles and a half long. The breadth 

 at the surface is 124 English feet ; the breadth at 

 the bottom 36 feet ; the depth, 20 feet and nine 

 inches. It passes through a somewhat marshy 

 country, and touches, besides several villages, the 

 cities of Purmerend and Alkmaar. Like the Dutch 

 canals generally, its level is that of the high tides 

 of the sea, from which it receives its supply of wa- 

 ter. The only locks which it requires, of course, 

 are two tide-locks at its extremities ; but there are, 

 also, two sluices with flood gates in the intermediate 

 space.' The locks and sluices are double, that is to 

 say, there are two in the breadth of the canal. The 



canal is wide enough to admit of one frigate passing 

 another. The tiimt spent in tracking vessels from 

 the Helder to A. is 18 hours. There is an excellent 

 account of this city, in a medical point of view, by 

 1). C. I. Nicmveiihuijs : I' mi rr li'itcr geneeskiindigc 

 plaacsbeschrijving der Stud .-li/islet-tliim, Amsl. I, >:;<>, 

 I \ols. l-'ur more particular details respecting the 

 commerce of Amsterdam, see H,,tl<m<l. 



A.MSTKKDAM ; an island of the South Pacific 

 ocean, in Ion. 70 5 1' K., and hit. 38o 42' S., first 

 \isited by van V laming, a Dutch navigator, in 1(>97, 

 and explored, in )79-'J, by the gentlemen attached 

 to lord Macartney's embassy to ( 'liinn. The length of 

 the island, from N. to S. is upwards of four miles; iU 

 breadth, from E. to W., about two and a halt' miles. 

 A fertile, but very soft and spongy soil covers the 

 island, which bears every where unquestionable 

 marks of a volcanic origin. Several springs of hot 

 water were visited by the travellers, of which the 

 average heat is about 21^ Kahr. The soil is evi- 

 dently a decomposition of lava, which is continually 

 spreading a rich mould over all parts of the island, 

 for the tall, rank grass that abounds in it. The 

 putrefaction of vegetable matters mixes with this 

 lava and with the mouldering ashes, while the long 

 roots of the grass form the principal tie of the whole. 

 The soil is so light, that the foot breaks in at every 

 step. Sea-birds abound on the island. Near the centre 

 is an area of about 200 yards square, where the heat 

 of the soil is so great, as to admit of no vegetation. 

 During the winter months, violent storms prevail in 

 A. On the shores of the island, immense numbers 

 of seals were formerly taken, of the phocourzina spe- 

 cies. The people of the U. S. have taken more of 

 these useful animals here than any other nation. 

 They are altogether the most active seal-hunters in 

 the South sea. The number of seals on the island 

 is now very much less than when it was first visited, 

 as is always the case in places where the animal is 

 actively hunted. At first it was immense, as it usu- 

 ally is in undisturbed resorts of this creature. The 

 American vessels, at present, generally leave a num- 

 ber of men on the islands frequented by the seal, and 

 return to take them after they have had time to col- 

 lect a sufficient number of skins. The neighbour- 

 hood of A. abounds in fish. 



AMSTERDAM; a small, uninhabited island in the 

 North sea, near the N. W. coast of Spitsbergen. 

 Dutch vessels resort thither towards the end of their 

 whale-fishery. Lon. 4W E. ; lat. 79 46' N. 



AMSTERDAM ; an island in the South sea. See 

 Tongataboo. 



AMSTERDAM ISLA.VD ; a small island on the N. 

 W. coast of Ceylon, five miles long and two in 

 breadth ; Ion. 8 1' E. ; lat. 9 5Q> N. 



AMSTERDAM, New; a town in Dutch Guiana, si- 

 tuated between the rivers Berbice and Canje ; Ion. 

 57 15' W. ; lat. 6 20 7 N. It is the seat of the go- 

 vernment of Berbice. 



AMUCK, or AMOK ; an Indian term for slaughter, 

 and an exclamation of certain Batavian slaves, who, 

 when irritated, intoxicate themselves with opium, 

 and run frantic about the streets. This is called 

 running a-muck, or a-mock. 



AMULET ; a piece of stone, metal, or other sub- 

 stance, marked with certain figures or characters, 

 which people wear alwut them as a protection against 

 diseases and enchantments. The name, as well as 

 the thing itself, is derived from the East. The 

 word comes from the Arabic hamail (locket, any 

 thing hung round the neck). The derivation from 

 the Latin amollire has less probability. Amulets 

 serve as a convenient substitute for the talismans of 

 stone or metal, and must be thought of more recent 

 origin. Among the Turks, and many people of 



