470 THE NETHEELANDS. 



Humid is the atmosphere whicli hangs over the damp soil of Holland. Rain 

 falls in every month of the year, and most abundantly during the prevailing 

 westerly winds. The mean annual temperature is nevertheless mild, thanks to 

 the tepid, vapour-laden atmosphere of the sea which washes the shores of the 

 country, and even in January the thermometer but rarely sinks below freezing 

 point. Except in Friesland and in the eastern districts, which have a more 

 rigorous climate, the inland waters are only rarely ice-bound for several days in 

 succession. Skating is by no means practised to the extent that might be con- 

 cluded from the numerous Dutch paintings illustrating that graceful pastime. 

 But though the mean temperature is pretty equable, sudden changes in the course 

 of a day are by no means rare. Let a cloud but hide the sun, and a shiver 

 appears to pass through nature ; the wind agitates the tops of the trees and ruffles 

 the surface of the water ; and the sea breaks monotonously against the shore. Dense 

 fogs frequently cover land and sea, and the latter then fairly deserves the epithets 

 " heavy and slow " applied to it by Tacitus, who had in his mind's eye the bright 

 floods of the Tyrrhenian.* 



