ROTTERDAM. 129 



land. The different kinds of kitchen- vegetables (or moes- 

 kruiden, as they are here styled,) are not of such excellent 

 quality nor so plentiful as at Ghent. Although it is late 

 in the season, Cauliflower is still pretty good, and superior 

 to what we saw at Antwerp : the heads are large, and have 

 indeed stood too long in the garden. The plants had been 

 cut over close by the ground, and were now brought to 

 market with all the large leaves attached, and wrapped 

 around them. This precaution is perhaps judicious, on ac- 

 count of the extraordinary distance from which they are 

 often brought. From Mr Anderson we learned, that 

 though the best season for cauliflower was considered as 

 past, the cultivation of this article is so extensive, and the 

 supply poured into Rotterdam so great, that whole barge- 

 loads continue to arrive almost every day for several months ; 

 and that cauliflower is still to be found in the market du- 

 ring the first part of winter. Carrots and Parsnips were 

 plentiful, but not so large and clean as at Antwerp. Scor- 

 zonera seems to be rather a favourite. The green legu- 

 mens of the large white -flowered variety of Kidney-bean, 

 often called Dutch Runner, were plentiful, under the name 

 of the snyboonentjes. They were generally exposed for sale 

 in wide baskets, capable of holding several bushels each. 

 For the most part the legumens were so large and old, that 

 they would have been deemed useless in Scotland, as being 

 tough and stringy ; but in Holland they are nicely shredded 

 down, so as to render them, when cooked, extremely pa- 

 latable. Cucumbers were not uncommon ; but the white 

 variety was the only kind to be seen. The Brown Dutch 

 Lettuce was very plentiful, as well as the Berlin Cabbage- 

 lettuce : But the fine Green Coss seems unknown here ; at 

 least it did not appear in the market ; nor indeed did we 

 see it at Antwerp, or at Ghent ; we recollect only to have 

 observed it sparingly at Bruges. 



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