CHAPTER IV. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



IMBURG. — MaastricJd (29,083 inhabitants), a dismantled fortress 

 which the Dutch insisted upon retaining when Belgium was 

 granted its independence, stands upon the left bank of the Meuse, 

 and is joined by a bridge to its suburb Wyk. Of its many sieges 

 that of 1579 is the most famous. There are glass houses, paper- 

 mills, and other factories, and a brisk trade is carried on. Roermond (9,730 inha- 

 bitants), lower down on the Maas, boasts a fine abbey of the thirteenth century 

 and numerous other churches. Its chief industry consists in the manufacture of 

 images and other ecclesiastical objects. Venlo (8,496 inhabitants) was formerly 

 of great importance as a fortress, and carries on a brisk trade in cattle and 

 agricultural produce. Weert (7,268 inhabitants), on the skirts of the Campine, is 

 an important market town, whilst Kerkrade (5,817 inhabitants), near the Prussian 

 frontier, has coal mines. 



North Brabant is in the main an agricultural country, but also carries on a 

 flourishing woollen industry. ' 's Hertogenhosch (Bois-le-Duc, 24,529 inhabitants), 

 the capital, is named after a magnificent park, of which not a vestige remains. It 

 has important manufactures, but is better known as a fortress. Tilburg (26,103 

 inhabitants) is the centre of the Dutch woollen industry, and increases rapidly. 

 Breda (16,085 inhabitants), its neighbour, is a famous fortress, lying in a swampy 

 plain, whilst Bergen-op-Zoom (4,839 inhabitants) stands commandingly upon a 

 hill overlooking the Schelde. Its harbour, however, is no longer accessible, and 

 oyster- breeding has superseded maritime commerce. Other towns in this province 

 are Grave (3,011 inhabitants), an old fortress on the Maas; Geertriddenburg, a 

 small port near the Biesbosch ; Eindhoven (3,565 inhabitants) and Helmond (7,066 

 inhabitants), small manufacturing towns near the sterile tract of the Campine. 



Zealand (Dutch Zeeland) consists of six detached portions, viz. Dutch 

 Flanders, to the south of the Schelde ; the islands of Walcheren, North and South 

 Beveland, between the two main branches of the Schelde ; and the islands of Tholen 

 and Schouwen, to the north of the Ooster Schelde. 



Neuzen (4,446 inhabitants), the port of Ghent, is the only place of note in Dutch 



