LEYDEN. 165 



minishcd in size, first supplies the canals about Utrecht, 

 and is then (as above remarked) literally lost among the 

 canals of Leyden, — for no part of this once majestic stream 

 enters the sea under the appropriate name of llhine. To 

 this curious distribution of the waters of this celebrated 

 river at its embouchure, it is not easy to find a parallel : 

 unless, perhaps, the anatomist may here recognise a picture 

 on the great scale, of the ramifications and interweavings of 

 the nerves ; while the occasional lake-like expansions may 

 represent ganglions, and the numerous small canals may be 

 likened to plexuses. 



The number of bridges over the canals of Leyden, sur- 

 prises a stranger not a little. They are said to amount to 

 140, and many of them are built of stone. — The High 

 Street of Leyden has a fine effect, which is increased by 

 the curvature of its line. In this respect, as well as in the 

 general aspect of the buildings, it bears no little resem- 

 blance to Foregate Street at Worcester. To the praise of 

 this English town, it may be added, that in neatness and 

 cleanliness it is not surpassed by its Dutch rival ; and it 

 must be admitted, that the Severn at Worcester is a much 

 finer river than the Rhine at Leyden. 



By the side of the Rapenburg Canal, the marks of the 

 devastation produced by a dreadful explosion, which took 

 place about ten years ago, were still very evident. A barge 

 passing from the powder-mills near Amsterdam, to the 

 magazine near Delft, with 10,000 lb. of gunpowder on 

 board, blew up : the nearest houses were wholly thrown 

 down by the shock, and the canal was choked up with the 

 rubbish; several hundreds of other houses were shaken 

 and shattered. Of the unfortunate inhabitants, about 

 130 were killed ; and more than double that number were 

 bruised or wounded, by being buried for a time among the 



