HOLLAND. 



77 



flag* prniauH the (urge from carrying away the sur- 

 face of the mound. This kind of defence appears to 

 have been discovered in the 17th century; for Mr 

 William Temple, in hi* observations on the Nether- 

 lands), expressly says, it was Lately found out. This 

 matting m held to the shore by bandages of twisted 

 nags naming horizontally, at the distance of three or 

 four yards from each other, and staked to the ground 

 by strong wooden pins. As thi* matting is worn by 

 every tide, a survey of it is frequently made. Farther 

 in the sea, it is held down by atone*. Above, there 

 are post* at every K) yard*, which are numbered, that 

 the spat may be exactly dcaciibed where repairs are 

 neceasenr The impost, for the maintenance of thffff 

 bank*, amomst* to nearly a* much a* the land-tax. Sir 

 am Temple aanrta, that these dyke* employ an* 



iii j * 



MiT BMMPC men tlKfl *JI tin? corn of tn*? province of 

 Holland could maintain. In the time of De Witt, the 

 waking of one rood's length of sea-dyke sometime* cost 

 GOO guilders. Beside* these sea-dyke., there are other 

 dyke* to keen out the waters of the riven. In the 

 time of De Witt, the annual charge* of the district of 

 which rontaias about 8000 morgena, and 

 eh fBumniaical'mi with the sea, nor with 

 but only with tending waters, paid as acredge 

 and inland thargai, at bast two guilder* for 

 besides for drawing out of the rain water 



!.':-)! >,, :.,! .iiulicv at Ic;..'. H ".i.rr, MM I ; 



bank* or dykes near Medenblick. in North Holland. 



near the Z order Zee, are stronger, broader, and higher, 

 than awy then in the cawatry ; for there being Botha** 

 to break the violence of the sea 



from the island* of 



Scheuin* and Vlieland to thia shore, the water beats 

 BO* runously uon it when the nuHhalj wind* blow. 



furiously 



and at iprinc-tide* these* rise* sometime* a* high as 

 the dyke*, and would even overflow and break them 

 down, did not the inhabitant* stop it* fury by laying 



-.11!. . .,r tU ,UUv luv!i prr^rv, tlirm in al.u.j- t 



Whe never the water of the sea. or the riven, break* 

 over upon the land*, they are drained by means of 

 wind-mill*, of which there are immense numbers for 

 that purpose. From what ha* been already said, it 

 well be rmaginad, that the general face of the 

 i* that ofTbrge marsh that ha* 

 nab, and even the sea, 

 ed by mud ; yet the eye ia not 



j read ; yet the eye is not unfreqwent 

 delighted by the groves, gardtus. aad 

 the creat riven, and the unaaenae * 



Holland; its course has been already mentioned. There Holland, 

 is another small branch of the Rhine called the Vacrt, -~*V - ' 

 or Vecht, which falls into the Zuyder Zee at Muvik n, 

 about eight miles to the east of Amsterdam. The little 

 Yssel tails into the Maes, a short way to the east of lU.t- 

 terdam. The Maes, packing bttbre Gorcuin, runs to 

 1 )ort, where it divides itelf into two large branches, 

 forming an island called Ysselmonde. The most north- 

 em branch runs to Rotterdam ; it is called the New 

 Mace, to distinguish it from the southern branch, which 

 is called the Old Maes. They reunite a little before 

 they reacli Vlardingen, and enter the ocean, by a wide 

 mouth, a little below Briel. The Anutel is not pro- 

 perly a river, but rather a collection of water* from the 

 Drecht, the Miert, and other rivuleU, the waters of 

 which are swelled by their communication with lakes 

 and riven, by means of canals. The Y, called by some 

 a river, is more prpjierly a branch of the Zuyder Zee, 

 from which it begiiu, at a sand bank called the Para- 

 put. Its channel here is half a mile broad, whir!. 

 breadth it continues to Amsterdam, but grows soon af- 

 terwards twice a* broad. It receives the waters from 

 the lake of Haerlem by a large canal, called the Sparen, 

 and from several lakes in North Holland. It . 

 ward* pease* northwards to Beverwyk, without dis- 

 charging itself again into the sea. 



n the town of Hat rltiu, the great lake called the HwHcm 

 Harrlrto licet, or Sea of Haerletn, derives its name. It M<xr. 

 is situated between Haerlem, Amsterdam, and Lcydi 11 . 

 and i* formed by the water* of several rivulet*, and of 

 the sea, with which, a* ha* just been noticed, it has a 

 communication by means ot the Y, which enters it by 

 a sluice, strongly built with brick-work, From its 

 communication with the sea, the water* of the Meer 

 are brackish. There are canal* from it* never*! gulfs 

 to the cities of Amsterdam, Leyden, and f laerlem On 

 the eaat side, there i* a gulf or branch called the New 

 Meer, from which a canal lead* to the suburbs of Am- 

 I Irrc there is a dyke, over which loaded 



are carried, by mean* of a wheel and roller*, into 



but to every 



ng not only to every 



* * 



,, ,. 



are. the 



Leek, which join* 

 Dart and 11111111 



gap and down pan 



The principal riven in Holland 

 When we come to treat of the 

 ofthi* province, the rhanges in the coarse of i 

 *o tar a* they are connected with it, will he I 

 at pi aunt, we shall conlaa oaraelv** to it* | 



lofland. According to 



northern mouth of thia river mint be sought in 

 the eatuary of the Menu, bet* 

 lam; according to other*, it run* 

 through I.cyden. where k divides itself into two canal*, 

 one of which run* into the Ukr ol Haerlem, and the 

 other !o**s itself, four miba beyond LeTdcn. in the 

 and hills between Catwyk on the Rhine.' and latwyk 

 on the sea, where wa* anoentiy the maat.'i bv u liich it 

 ocean. The Leek, if it be not the 



emptied itaelf into the 



. 



. . 



regarded a* 



river 



the north of the lake there is ano- 

 ther gulf, where there i* a aluice, which opens and 

 shut* itaeif by the weight of the water. This is the 

 sluice by which the lake communicates with thr Y. \n 

 one place, the neck of land which separate* thi 

 Meer and the Y i* to narrow, that a osnal cannot !>< 

 drawn through it. Both these waters have gained 

 siderably on their respective shore*, and if united 

 be irresistible. At the narrowest part, the neck of land 

 ;- wgrkand masonry to the thickness of about 

 the south and south-west, Haerlem Meer 

 i with several small branches of the Rhine, 

 one of which come* from Leyden. The Haerlem lake 

 is about )'J Bile* long, and nine broad ; and *> ground 

 is very dear and valuable in Holland, it has ulU-n 

 proposed to drain it : but the draining of it would pro- 

 bably be productive of great mischief, for it receive* 

 the waters when the violent north winds drive them 

 from the German Ocean into the Zuyder Zee and the 

 Y ; whcre.ui if, by the draining of the lake, they were 



the bank* of the Y, the city oi 



dam would be in great danger of being overflowed. 

 Beside* this, the lake of Haerlem affords a vast quanti- 

 ty of fish, and the conveniency of navigation not only 

 to the adjoining village*, but also to Ley dm, Haerlem, 

 .insterdam. There are some small lakes in North 

 Holland, but none deserving of particular notice. 



The climate of Holland i* humid, cold, and general- ciiaisie. 

 ly unwholesome ; the winters are sharp and very long, 



