194 



NATURE FOB ITS OWN SAKE 



every broken wall and water-worn step, from 

 post and stunted tree and marshy shore, are 

 thrown off those indescribable tints that seem 

 always identified with decay. Everything about 

 Venice seems to reek with color. It is the hec- 

 tic flush of the dying. But how very beautiful 

 it is! 



The canals of Holland are quite as artificial 

 as those of Venice, but they are different in 

 appearance. They have a more even surface, 

 little or no motion, and are often foul in their 

 stagnation. Nor has the local color of the water 

 the life about it of the Venetian blue-green. 

 It is dull, dark, often brownish in hue, and 

 perhaps for that reason makes an excellent re- 

 flector, throwing back the houses, the trees, 

 the great white clouds, and the blue sky with 

 superb effect. Again, the Holland canal land- 

 scapes in their arrangement are not so varied 

 as those of Venice, and the waters of the back 

 country are quite different from those in Am- 

 sterdam. The country canals, with their low 

 banks and their rows of willows, the slow-mov- 

 ing boats with lazy sails, the ditched meadow- 

 lands, the groups of cattle, the long-armed 

 windmills, lend to a quiet pastoral effect and 

 make Holland one of the most restful places in 



