CHAPTER III. 



INHABITANTS. 



HE fauna and flora of the Netherlands are less varied than in 

 Belgium, and this is only what might be expected in a country- 

 exhibiting such uniformity in its physical features. The wild 

 beasts have perished with the forests that sheltered them. The 

 last wolf and bear were shot a century ago, the stag had disap- 

 peared long before, and a beaver has not been seen since the floods of 1825. 

 Even the marine fauna is getting poorer, for an indiscriminate pursuit has 

 driven away the sturgeon and salmon which formerly enriched the fishermen 

 on the Zuider Zee. 



A brown stock inhabited the country before the arrival of Germanic settlers. 

 The short skulls discovered in the old burial-ground near Saaftingen differ 

 widely from the long skulls of the Frieslanders. Prehistoric remains, including 

 stone implements, abound, and weapons, ornaments, and pottery have been dis- 

 covered beneath the hunnebedden, or giant beds, in Drenthe, the most remark- 

 able amongst which stands near the village of Tynarloo. Ancient monu- 

 ments of a different kind are the artificial mounds known as terpen, or ivierden, 

 on the coast of Friesland, to which the inhabitants fled with their cattle when 

 the lowlands were flooded. Amongst the articles discovered in these mounds 

 are bone pipes, in which the predecessors of the Frieslanders smoked hemp or 

 some other narcotic. 



The Frisians appear to have been the first settlers of Germanic origin who 

 arrived in the country, and formerly they extended as far as the Zwyn, near 

 Bruges ; but when their country was cut in two by the formation of the 

 Zuider Zee, those in the south became gradually amalgamated with the rest of 

 the population. In their original district they formed a confederation, and until 

 the fourteenth century they virtually remained independent, although owing 

 allegiance to the German Emperor. The Frieslanders are taller and less burly 

 than other Dutchmen, have large noses, elongated faces, and a retreating chin. 

 Their eyes are blue or grej^ the hair yellow or pale brown, the complexion fair. 

 Their women are distinguished for good looks and a noble carriage. There 



