FROM ANTWERP TO ROTTERDAM. 119 



the mud-roads when darkness came on ; and it was be- 

 tween 9 and 10 at night before we arrived at the Katten- 

 dregt ferry opposite to .Rotterdam. Having crossed the 

 Merwe, or principal branch of the Maese, we drove, by 

 our own desire, to the hotel called Mareschal de Turenne. 

 In default of more important remarks, we may here give 

 our readers two cautions, founded on the experience of this 

 day : In the first place, Not to think of travelling this road 

 soon after a heavy fall of rain, for it is then all but impas- 

 sable : and, in the next place, if, like us, they happen to 

 have no carriage of their own, To lay in some store of pro- 

 visions for the journey ; for, in this respect, the custom of 

 a Dutch post-wagen forms a perfect contrast with that of an 

 English stage-coach. In England, the most exact arrange- 

 ments are made for the supply of the traveller's wants ; a 

 well spread table every where awaits him, and both postilions 

 and innkeepers would be very loath to allow him to go on 

 without partaking of all the usual refreshments of the day. 

 Here, however, we pleaded in vain for a few minutes respite 

 for breakfast in the morning ; the proposal of dining in the 

 afternoon was equally resisted : our conductor and driver 

 would not be treated with any beverage we could devise for 

 them, from coffee to geneva ; and it was only by a sort of 

 rebellion that we were suffered to enter a herbergje by the 

 way-side, and procure some brood en kaas, en Ivud vleesch, 

 from the landlady. Here, however, if our repast was 

 homely, our curiosity was amply gratified ; for our hostess 

 presented us with the first specimen of the true Dutch cos- 

 tume, of which the head-dress seemed the most remarkable 

 part Her cap was fixed by two ridiculously large clasps 

 (apparently gold), which hung at her temples like cork- 

 screws ; and her ear-rings, also of gold, were somewhat of 

 the shape, and approaching the size, of hens' eggs. 



