184 



NETHERLANDS (STATISTICS.) 



high and expensive ilikes, the maintaining of which 

 in repair tilunu' the west const of the Zuyder-Zee and 

 tiie north coast of the Y, from \\ 'iriniterward to 

 Beverwyk,cost, in 55 years (1732 1788), 18,571,000 

 guilders. In this are not included the dikes of (he 

 south mid east coast of tin's gulf, nor those of Gro- 

 ningen, Frieskind, Zeeland, and South Holland, \viiii 

 the river dikes. In 1816,5,000,000 guilders were 

 expended on hydraulic works in those countries. The 

 lowest countries are Groningen, Friesland, Holland, 

 Zeeland, and West Flanders. From France, tlirough 

 Hainault, Nainur, and Luxemburg, extends the forest 

 of Ardennes. Limburg also contains some hills, and 

 Brabant, with East Flanders, several elevated forest 

 regions. The middle of the Low Countries is a 

 continuation of the great sandy heaths, extending 

 from the Baltic to the Scheldt, through Brandenburg, 

 Luneiiberjr, and Westphalia, interrupted by fertile 

 intervals, and then resuming its course through North 

 Brabant. To the south, the Peel and Kempen land. 

 consisting of heath, sand, and marsh, reaches far into 

 the former bishopric of Liege. The most fruitful 

 regions in grain are Flanders, South Brabant, Zee- 

 land, and Guelderland; in meadows and pasturage, 

 Holland, Friesland, and Groningen. In the more 

 elevated regions in the south-east, and in Brabant, 

 Liege, East Flanders, Guelderland, Utrecht, Over- 

 yssel, and Groningen, the climate is very salubrious. 

 On the contrary, in West Flanders, Zeeland, Holland, 

 and Friesland, the instability of the weather, the fogs, 

 the stagnant pools, the bad quality of the water, and 

 the continual use of fish, engender perpetual fevers. 

 Prior to 1788, the United Netherlands never supplied 

 more than one third of their consumption in grain ; 

 but, after the decline of commerce compelled the in- 

 habitants to pay more attention to agriculture, which 

 has, besides, been very much promoted by two socie- 

 ties for the improvement of husbandry, the deficiency 

 became comparatively small. Since the union of 

 Belgium, which, in South Brabant, Flanders, and 

 Hainault, produces more than a sufficient supply of 

 excellent wheat, large quantities have been exported 

 to England and Spain. Holland and Overyssel pro- 

 duce rye ; Groningen, oats ; the northern provinces 

 and Brabant, buck-wheat; the southern provinces, 

 particularly Flanders (which also produces flax of 

 superior quality), rape-seed ; Holland, Flanders, and 

 Brabant, hemp ; Zeeland, Flanders, and Holland, 

 madder ; Utrecht and Guelderland, and some districts 

 of Belgium, tobacco. Fruits and vegetables exist in 

 abundance almost everywhere throughout the king- 

 dom, and especially in the well-watered sections ; and 

 garden seeds and roots (especially hyacinth and tulip 

 roots) constitute a considerable article of export to 

 England, Spain, France, Germany, and the other 

 parts of the world. Wine is produced in Luxemburg, 

 not far from the Moselle, and in Liege. The only 

 woodlands are in Luxemburg, Hainault, Liege, and 

 Brabant. The republic of Holland was very desti- 

 tute of woods, which has been but poorly supplied by 

 the plantation of the soft species, especially those 

 from America. Among the productions of the ani- 

 mal kingdom, the chief are the Dutch cattle. In 

 1803, there were computed to be more than 900,000 

 head of black cattle, and 700,000 acres of pasturage 

 in the Batavian republic. Considerable quantities of 

 cattle are also raised in Limburg, and the eastern 

 part of Liege. Friesland, in particular, raises horses 

 wh'ch are rarely equalled in size, strength, and endur- 

 ance. Numerous flocks of sheep are bred in the 

 sandy districts of Brabant and Holland, especially on 

 the island of Texel. The breeding of swine is much 

 pursued, and pork is an important article of subsist- 

 ence for the lower classes. In the sandy plains near 

 the sea, there are innumerable wild rabbits : other 



four-tooted game is scarce in the northern provinces, 

 but abundant in the wooded provinces of the south, 

 Brabant, Hainault, Nainur, and Luxemburg. Wild 

 and tame fowls, especially water-fowl, exist in great 

 abundance. Bees are raised in considerable quanti 

 ties on the heaths in Guelderland and Utrecht. In 

 Drenthe are found snakes, but of a harmless kind. 

 The fineries are one of the branches of subsistence 

 in the Netherlands ; and, in 1804, it was calculated 

 that, notwithstanding the war with England, 20,000 

 families derived subsistence from them in the United 

 Netherlands. The whale and herring fishery seems 

 to be recovering from its decline. The 1500 vessels 

 called herring busses employed in 1601 in the herring 

 fishery, had diminished, in 1795 1807, to 30, but, in 

 1818, had increased again to 157. Oysters and mus- 

 cles, used for lime, as well as all kinds of fresh and 

 salt-water fish, exist in great abundance on the coast, 

 and in the numerous rivers and inland waters. Of 

 minerals, the northern provinces contain, for the most 

 part, nothing but peat, which is obtained in large 

 quantities in Holland and Friesland, together with 

 argillaceous earth and pipe clay. In the southern 

 provinces, Namur, Hainault, Liege, and Limburg, are 

 found iron, lead and copper, calamine, sulphur, fossil 

 coal, lime, marble, and mineral waters. The Nether- 

 landish manufactures are among the most important 

 in Europe, and furnish almost every thing that per- 

 tains to the wants and conveniences of life. The 

 Holland, and especially the Leyden, woollen manu- 

 factures, formerly so flourishing, as well as those of 

 Tilborg, in Brabant, have, indeed, very much de- 

 clined. On the other hand, the manufactures of 

 cloths at Verviers, in Liege of linen, in Flanders of 

 lace, gold and silver stuff's, and hats, in Brabant of 

 cambrics, in Hainault the famous linen bleaching at 

 Haarlem, and the Belgicand Dutch dyeing establish- 

 ments are still prosperous, and the Brabant lace manu- 

 factories alone put many millions of guilders in cir- 

 culation. The paper, wool, and saw-mills of North 

 Holland, the Holland smoking tobacco, and snuff 

 manufactories, and the brandy distilleries in the pro- 

 vinces of Holland, Brabant, and Liege, which are at 

 present as prosperous as they ever were, together 

 with the tobacco-pipe manufactories at Gonda, are 

 deserving of mention ; also the breweries in Bra 

 bant and Upper Yssel. Dutch commerce began to 

 flourish in the fourteenth century, at Bruges, in Flan- 

 ders, but, at the end of the fifteenth century, left this 

 city, in a great measure, for Antwerp, which became 

 the first commercial place in the world. But the 

 devastations of the war of independence with Spain, 

 and the capture of the city, in 1585, drove the richest 

 merchants to the Dutch Netherlands, and especially 

 to Amsterdam, whose commerce, at the end of the 

 sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury, rose to an unparalleled height, from which it 

 declined somewhat about the close of the eighteenth 

 century, till the revolution of 1795 inflicted its death 

 blow, and London, the rival of Amsterdam, rose to 

 be queen of the ocean, on the ruins of Dutch com- 

 merce. Since 1813, the commerce of the Nether- 

 lands has been much augmented, but it is yet very 

 far from its former extent. In 1818, 3800 vessels 

 sailed from their ports. In 1826, 1606 vessels, ex- 

 clusive of coasters, entered the harbour of Amsterdam. 

 In 17^JO,of 9734 vessels which passed the sound, 2009 

 were Dutch, and 3788 British; in 1796, of 12,113 

 vessels which pursued that route, 4456 were Bri- 

 tish, and one Dutch ; in 1815, of 8815 vessels, 2398 

 were British, and 450 Dutch. The commerce of 

 Belgium was destroyed by the decline of Antwerp, 

 and still more by the closing of the Scheldt ; and 

 these provinces flourished only by the fertility of 

 their soil, and by the increase of manufactures in 



