TOPOGEAPHY. 



479 



1864, and what remains of it is of little note. A statue on the " Great Market " 

 reminds us that Rotterdam was the birthplace of Erasmus. 



Charlois (6,896 inhabitants) and Delfshaven (10,042 inhabitants) are suburbs 

 of Rotterdam, whilst Vlaardingen (9,124 inhabitants), still farther down on the 

 Maas, and 3Inasslim (4,673 inhabitants), are the principal seats of the Dutch 

 herring fishery. The only town of importance on the " New" Maas, now aban- 

 doned by large vessels, is Brielle (the Brill, 4,205 inhabitants). It was the birth- 

 place of Admiral van Tromp, and the first town captured by the Water-gueux. 

 A canal joins it to Hellecoetsluis, an important naval station on the Haringvliet. 



Schiedam (21,880 inhabitants) is famous for its distilleries, which produce 

 annually 9,000,000 gallons of gin. Forty thousand cattle are fattened upon the 



Fig. 269.^RoTTERDAM AND ScHIEDAM. 



Scale 1 : 100,000. 



1 Mile. 



refuse of the distilleries. Delft (25,511 inhabitants), half-way between Rotterdam 

 and the Hague, is well known for its earthenware. It is the seat of a school of 

 hydraulic engineering. William the Silent was assassinated here in 1584, and, 

 together with Grotius, Heinsius, and other men of fame, lies buried in the " new " 

 church. 



The Hague ('.s Gravenhaage, 104,095 inhabitants), the ofi&cial capital of the 

 Netherlands, is one of those cities which owe their existence not to advantages of 

 commercial position, but to the caprice of their founders. It grew up around 

 a princely shooting-box, and owes its name to a game preserve, or haag. The 

 aspect of the town differs from that of all others in the country. Canals only 

 skirt it, and the large sheet of water in its centre is merely ornamental, ships 



