8o TRANSACTIONS. 1 897-98. 



only one of the provinces of the Netherlands, only one of the 

 Low Countries, although probably the most important of 

 them. It adjoins the German Ocean, whereas the Province 

 that we have to visit, that of the North Brabant, is bounded 

 on the east by Westphalia, and is traversed by the river 

 Meuse, which takes its rise in the Ardennes, flows through 

 Belgium and the Netherlands, passes Rotterdam and reaches 

 the sea at the Hook of Holland. It was by the Hook of Hol- 

 land route from Harwich that I landed in Rotterdam, on the 

 morning of a foggy Saturday in December, 1892. My busi- 

 ness in the Netherlands was to study beer, moss and peat and 

 my first glimpse of the latter article was at the Weimar Hotel 

 where it seemed to be the only fuel in use After using my 

 letters of introduction diligently, I found that the chief pro- 

 ducers of peat and moss litter were the brothers Van Griendt, 

 the elder of whom invited me in the most friendly way to 

 accompany him to his works and extensive moors in the pro- 

 vince of North Brabant. 



Faithful to my appointment with Mr. Van Griendt, I 

 met him at the railway station in the morning, and was in- 

 troduced to Mr. C. W. Lancaster, accountant, of Birmingham, 

 England, who visited the moors at the same time. Our route 

 lay across the Meuse and past Dordrecht, Breda, Tilburg and 

 Boxtel to Helmond, where we arrived about 11 o'clock. From 

 here a carriage conveyed us along the Willems Faart, one of 

 the numerous canals of the country, to Asten at the edge of 

 Asten Moor. Strange to say, the Willems Faart Canal lies in 

 lower ground than the Asten moor, but the canals which 

 traverse the latter are connected with it and the gen- 

 eral canal system of the country. In order that sloops, 

 or scows may pass from the latter into the canals of the Asten 

 Moor they have to be locked up several feet, which, proves 

 that the Asten Moor is at present a high moor, and must have 

 been higher previous to its having been unwatered and con- 

 solidated. 



Here it may be profitable to point out the distinction 

 which the Germans have made betwixt two great classes of 

 moor lands, a distinction which might easily I think be 

 carried out in English also. There are first what they call 

 low lying, meadow or greenland moors, to which possibly 

 our word "marsh" would apply. They are always to be found 

 near creeks and rivers, follow the course of these and give rise 

 to the formation of wet and sour meadowlands. The peat 

 or turf which is formed in these is of a black color, and when 



