AMSTERDAM. 941 



ripe and firm ; and arc much used for making hearth-be- 

 soms. The stems are employed for thatching barns, and 

 for lining the exterior of the wooden walls of out-houses of 

 different descriptions. This valuable reed is likewise used 

 for covering the numerous small stacks of peats for winter 

 fuel, which are every where to be seen ; and for forming 

 roofs to the equally numerous hay-stacks for winter fodder 

 for horses and cows. In this country, the hay-stack is ge- 

 nerally provided with a permanent thatched-roof, supported 

 on posts; which is probably a necessary precaution in a 

 moist climate, and where the hay is saved in small parcels 

 at intervals. The reed is likewise used in horticulture, for 

 making screens or brise-vents, which are found more du- 

 rable than those of straw. And it is, lastly, employed in 

 forming hassocks for the churches. 



The river takes a gently winding course, and af- 

 fords different favourable views of Amsterdam, as we re- 

 cede from the city. The meadows, on both sides, are 

 commonly five or six feet below the level of the river. 

 Some villas begin to appear, of larger dimensions than 

 those immediately adjoining to the city, and surrounded 

 with double and triple rows of tall trees. These belong 

 either to retired merchants, or to capitalists who live on 

 their money, here known by the name of renteeners. 



After passing the smiling village of Ouderkerkc, we got 

 a view of the ruinous Castle of Abkoude. Only a round 

 tower and some strong outer walls now remain : they arc 

 all built of brick, but are evidently of great antiquity. 

 The helms-man gave us to .understand, that the Castle was 

 destroyed in the time of the Spanish wars, when the States 

 were asserting their independence. He expressed this with 

 an air of reading and intelligence, not to be observed among 

 the boatmen of the Thames or the bargemen of Flanders, 



Q 



