THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



pluck the olive branch of peace from her 

 plant of arbitration. 



In opposition to Napoleon's pretext for 

 annexing Holland to the Empire, which 

 was that what land existed was the al- 

 luvium of French rivers — the Rhine, the 

 Scheldt, and the Meuse— an old proverb 

 runs, "God made the sea, but the Dutch 

 made the shore." 



Such were some of the thoughts which 

 filled our minds when the train bearing 

 us from Hamburg entered the capital of 

 the Netherlands, The Hague. He who 

 has formed impressions of the country 

 from the attractive posters advertising 

 steamship and chocolate companies must 

 be quite disappointed in finding that the 

 buildings of the city are ordinary in ap- 

 pearance, and that the people do not all 

 wear awkward-fitting clothes of wonder- 

 ful colors and clumsy wooden shoes ; nor 

 do they stand on the dike watching the 

 yellow-funneled steamship as it passes, 

 while sipping their cocoa. However, the 

 disappointment will be short-lived. 



Having been deprived of fresh milk 

 and cream during the several months of 

 our sojourn in Japan and China, the 

 many beautiful cows seen from our car 

 window as we approached The Hague 

 had prompted the craving for a glass of 

 genuine half and half, cream and milk. 

 So we set out to obtain it and devoted a 

 full hour hunting over the town to gratify 

 the desire. Had our quest been for a 

 high mountain in this low-lying land, the 

 search would have been quite as success- 

 ful. Cream and milk are a commodity 

 altogether too valuable in the manufac- 

 ture of cheese to be sold for use as bev- 

 erages. 



THE OLD DUTCH PRISON 



Our first visit was to the old city gate, 

 used centuries ago as a prison. It marks 

 the scenes of the most bloody events in 

 the history of Holland. Its dismal dun- 

 geons and array of accessories are indis- 

 putable evidence that the early Dutch, 

 like all other Europeans of that time, 

 were past masters in ingenious methods 

 of torture, and the rough crudeness of 

 the instruments exhibited prove that little 

 time was wasted in their construction and 

 finish. 



the; winter palace 



The Winter Palace, built four hundred 

 years ago, and now occupied by Queen 

 Wilhelmina, contains furniture and bric- 

 a-brac of almost priceless value. The 

 exterior is ordinary in appearance and 

 does not in the least resemble the popu- 

 lar idea of the home of royalty. It was 

 the square in front of this building on 

 which the people gathered and anxiously 

 awaited the announcement, from the bal- 

 cony just above the main entrance, of the 

 birth of their beloved Queen's presump- 

 tive successor. Princess Juliana, which 

 event occurred April 30, 1909. 



The forest of The Hague forms one of 

 the most magnificent parks in the world. 

 The dearth of trees in other parts of the 

 kingdom has been more than made up 

 by this grand collection, which includes 

 elms, oaks, alders, and the largest beech 

 trees to be found in Europe. The value 

 of this wood is so great and the bond of 

 afi:'ection between the people and these 

 monarchs of the forest so strong that 

 on occasions when the government ex- 

 chequer has run low and the sale of the 

 trees been under serious consideration, 

 the people by repeated sacrifices and vol- 

 untary offerings have averted this catas- 

 trophe. 



From The Hague a drive of a few miles 

 through the forest proved a delightful 

 route by which to reach Scheveningen, 

 once a little fishing village, now Holland's 

 most popular watering place and resort 

 of fashion. On this wide expanse of 

 clean sand beach crowds of spectators 

 gathered daily at the bathing time. Many 

 of them reclined in the comfortable wil- 

 low chairs with peculiar bath-tub-shaped 

 backs, which entirely enveloped the oc- 

 cupants and furnished protection from 

 sun and wind while they enjoyed the 

 frolic of the great rolling surf as it tossed 

 the bathers in its final tumble on the 

 smooth sand. The hotel buildings here 

 are commodious and handsome, and a 

 substantial iron pier connects the steam- 

 boat wharf with the cement promenade 

 above the beach (see page 8). 



AMSTERDAM AND ITS BRIDGES 



An hour on the train brought us to 

 Amsterdam, Holland's greatest city and 



