4 .€ HOLLAND. 409 



After the expulsion of the stadtholder, and the introduction of a 

 new form of government under the influence of the French, the Ba- 

 tavian republic was divided into eight departments, as follows : 



Ancient Provinces. Departments. Chief Towns. 



Groeningen and Friesland . . Ems. .... Leuwarden. 



Overvssel, and part of Guelder- } ~,, „ , r, ., 



,„ J A \ ry . t 5-OldYessel. . . Zwoll. 



land and Zutphen .... 3 



Remainder of Gueldeiiand andPn,. . , . 



v . , j . f-T, , ,. J* Rhine. . . . Arnheim. 



Zutphen, and part of Utrecht 3 



Part of Holland Amstel. . . . Amsterdam, 



North part of Holland, and south } ™ . ... 



^.^ fTQ , -i- e iexel. . . . Alkmaar. 



part or Leyden inclusive . ^ 



Remainder of south part of Hoi- ? ^ lf( . TTt , t 



, j , • 1 r tt. if- Delft Utrecht. 



land and remainder of Utrecht $ 



Eastern part of Dutch Brabant . Dommel. . . Bois le Due. 

 Western part of Dutch Brabant, > r. , , ,, c ■*. M .,„ , 



and Zealand '£ Scheldt Sc Meuse. Middleburg. 



Each of these departments was divided into seven circles or dis- 

 tricts. 



Face of the country... .Holland is situate opposite to England, 

 at the distance of 90 miles, from the east side of the English Chan- 

 nel ; and is only a narrow slip of low swampy land, lying between 

 the mouths of several great rivers ; and what the industry of the in- 

 habitants have gained from the sea by means of dykes, which they 

 have raised, and still support with incredible labour and expense. 

 Here are no mountains, nor rising grounds, no plantations, purling 

 streams, or cataracts. The whole face of the country, when viewed 

 from a tower or steeple, has the appearance of a continued marsh or 

 bog, drained, at certain distances, by innumerable ditches : and ma- 

 ny of the canals 1 which in that country serve as high roads, are in 

 the summer months highly offensive to the smell. 



Rivers, lakes, canals. ...The chief rivers of Flolland are the 

 Rhine, (one of the largest rivers in Europe,) the Maese or Meuse, 

 the Dommel, the Waal, the Issel, the Scheldt, and the Vecht. There 

 are many other small rivers that fall into these. 



The principal lake of Holland is the sea of Haerlem ; there are al- 

 so some small iakes in the north of the province of Holland, and in 

 Friesland and Groeningen. 



The canals of these provinces are almost innumerable. The usual 

 way of passing from town to town is by covered boats, called treck- 

 scuits, which are dragged along the canals by horses on a slow uni- 

 form trot, so that passengers reach the different towns where they are 

 to stop precisely at the appointed instant of time. This method of 

 travelling, though to strangers rather dull, is extremely convenient to 

 the inhabitants, and very cheap. By means of these canals an exten- 

 sive inland commerce is not only carried on through the whole coun- 

 try, but, as they communicate with the B.hine and other large rivers, 

 the productions of every country are conveyed at a small expense 

 into various parts of Germany and Flanders. A treckscuit is divid- 

 .ed into two different apartments, called the roof and the ruim ; the 

 first for gentlemen, and the other for common people. Near Am- 

 sterdam and other large cities, a traveller is astonished when he be- 

 holds the effects of an extensive and flourishing commerce. Here 



Vol, T. 3 G 



