478 



THE NETHERLANDS. 



reaches Dordrecht (26,576 inhabitants) ; there it bifurcates, its branches giving 

 access both to the Maas of Rotterdam and the Schelde. At Dordrecht the Estates 

 met in 1572, the Synod at which the Calvinists overcame Arminianism was held 

 there in 1618, and William III. was proclaimed Hereditary Stadtholder in 1674. 

 Large vessels proceed to the quays of the town, and a considerable commerce is 

 carried on. Most of the rafts which float down the Rhine from the Black Forest 

 are broken up at Dordrecht, and sawn into timber. Spanish ores for the iron 

 works of Essen are amongst the imports. 



Rotterdam (136,320 inhabitants), at the mouth of the Rotte into the Maas, is 



Fig. 268. — Vlissingen, or Flushing. 



Scale 1 : 30,000. 



EoF Gr3°35° 



Half a IVIile. 



the piincipal port of Holland, and of the entire basin drained by the Rhine, being 

 annually frequented by 3,700 vessels of 2,000,000 tons burden engaged in the 

 foreign trade, about two-thirds of them sailing under the British flag. Colonial 

 produce takes the lead amongst articles of import, and the commerce with Western 

 Africa, where the merchants of the town have founded factories, is increasing 

 in importance. Rotterdam forms a rectilinear triangle, based upon the Maas, 

 and bounded inland by navigable canals. A railway crosses the river on a 

 magnificent viaduct, and passes right through the centre of the town, the lower 

 part of which is intersected by canals. The houses are curious, but not remarkable 

 for architectural beauty. The picture gallery was nearly destroyed by fire in 



