HOLLAND. 



771 



Skipper of Friesland. Skipper of Fricsland's IJ'ifc. IFoman of JVorth Holland. 



beverage, and takes the place of cider or beer, though some beer is used. The Dutch, how- 

 ever, from a phlegmatic temperament, and from the humidity of the chmate, can take much 

 spirits without injury ; they are not an intemperate people. No sign is more frequent over shops 

 than that of tobacco, for no Dutchman is long without his pipe. Even the females of the com- 

 mon class are addicted to smoking ; the rooms of a public house, or of a trekscinnjt, are filled 

 with the thickest smoke, from never-dying pipes, which, says Professor Siliinian, the Dutch 

 "maintain, with vestal vigilance, under their noses." 



21. Diseases. The diseases of Holland are not peculiar, though rheumatism and the mala- 

 dies of a humid climate are common. 



22. Traveling. Posting is less expeditious and convenient than in France ; but the roads 

 are not more numerous than the canals, and a general method of traveling is, therefore, by the 

 trekschmjt, or drag-boat ; this is 10 feet wide, and 5:) long ; and in shape it resembles the 

 common representations of Noah's ark. The expense does not exceed three cents a mile, and 

 the rate of traveling is three miles an hour, which is so invariably the result, that distances, as 

 in the East, are reckoned by hours, and not by miles. When frozen, the canals are traveled 

 over by sleighs and skates. All persons skate ; the peasant girl skates to market, with her 

 nierchatidise on her head, the senator to his assembly, and the clergyman to his church. 



23. Character.! Manners., and Customs. If we estimate the national character fron) the de- 

 scriptions of the English, we should do it injustice ; for the commercial islanders are never just 

 to commercial competitors, and the Dutch have often been their successful rivals. The Dutch 

 are distinguished for frugality, neatness, and industry ; they are of a cold, phlegmatic tempera- 

 ment, but, when roused to passion, have as much ardor as any people. They are giave and 

 heavy in appearance, and even children are sedate. They are quiet and domestic, and enjoy 

 much happiness in their family circles. Generally they prefer gain to ambition, but in their 

 dealings they are honest. The very soil the}' till is a monument of their perseverance and in- 

 dustry ; they live in a country of meadows reclaimed from the sea, and the acquisition is main- 

 tained only by continual vigilance, toil, and expense. In Holland, neatness is carried to ex- 

 cess ; in their kitchens, every metallic utensil is as bright as scouring can make it, and hung 

 upon the walls for show, for neatness here is ostentatious ; the very tongs and shovel are "hung 

 up for monuments." The principal utensils are of pewter and copper. One room in the 

 house is held too sacred for common intrusion ; and the neatness and arrangement of this, is a 

 peculiar study. In some of the villages, wagons are not permitted to pass through die streets ; 



