IN THE LOW COUNTRIES

Otago Witness, Issue 1932, 30 November 1888, Page 30

IN THE LOW COUNTRIES

Busy Cities of Belgium and Holland-Antwerp Cathedral-Eural Scenes in the Netlier-lands-A city on Piles.

"There's Lizard Point; there's Dover." But the Bed Star steamer Westernland kept on her way as if England were of no account. We were soon through the channel, sighting Ostend and other seaside resorts till we reached Flushing (VHssingen) at the mouth of the Scheldt ; then up that river to Antwerp. We bad begun to see the dikes and the windmills of the Netherlands ; the latter with four monstrous arms, never more.

Scenes In Antwerp.

Antwerp is a pleasant surprise to ignorant travellers. We have thought of it as a second-rate port, purely commercial. One soon finds it to be a comely, even elegant city of over 200,000 inhabitants, with fine buildings and pleasant drives. W has had its ups and downs, its greatest relative prosperity having been fo the sixteenth century. In 1790 its population was but 40,000. During the last 25 years its commerce has increased with marvellous rapidity. The Bed Star line makes this its European port, because it is so central and easily accessible from the chief Continental cities. This line is already a great favourite with American travellers' In Antwerp one easily finds English speaK* ing people at the railway stations, at the hotels, and in the shops. But the sights are novel. In the streets most of the women go bareheaded. They are remarkably strong and fresh-looking, and at times groups ana processions sing as they go, or talk arid Kn» while taking rapid strides. The children play noisily;, indeed, the genus jom America and the species hoodlum seem 1111 * 1 have close imitators in" 'those- older lanej The shops are small and quietly condactea

Men wheel merchandise, even large piece of furniture, in hand-carts, but the mpst common motive-power for the carts carrying vegetables, fish, &c, is furnished by longsuffering dogs. Sometimes one big fellow pulls and barks alone, sometimes there is a team of two or three. The older streets are narrow, with scanty sidewalks. There are several lines of street railroads— tramways, they say here, in imitation of London English —carrying one for 2£ cents of our money. Cabs are reasonably cheap. But the very cheapest thing you can do is to store your trunks a few days at the railroad station ; a big trunk costs less than one cent a day. Hotels make smaller charges than in Amsterdam.

The chief glory of Antwerp is its beautiful cathedral, the largest and finest Gothic church in the Netherlands. It was begun in the fourteenth century and not completed till the seventeenth. Here are the masterpieces of Rubens, "The Descent from the Cross " and " The Elevation of the Cross " the former the more celebrated. Rubens lived in Antwerp and has a statue in the Place Verte. Other pictures abound, and there are very many statuettes, most elaborately carved in wood. Very striking are the stained-glass windows, ancient and modern, the former by far the more interesting. The tower is 400 ft in height, very elaborate in detail and very beautiful in its whole effect. These great cathedrals are best appreciated as seen from a distance, when they dwarf all surrounding buildings. Antwerp has its share of local attractions, but the one unique thing is the Musee Plantin, the old house and printing establishment of Christopher Plantin. It contains the printing presses used from the sixteenth oontury, fonts of type, blocks of engravings, antique furniture and tapestry, many paintings by Rubens and others, and large collections of books, manuscripts, &c. The engravings used in some of the old editions of costly books are exceedingly fine. The city of Antwerp bought the large building and its contents, and preserves it for the curiosity and admiration of the public.

Through the Dutch Country.

The ride from Antwerp to Amsterdam takes from five to six hours, and is of rare interest. On the Holland frontier you are bundled out, with all your traps, for the Customs examination. A long procession marches to the official room ; tho examiners put a mild query as to the contents of bags, shawl-straps, baskets, &0., and mark every thing you present. After a considerable delay you are marched back by a different passage, and seek your former car. You can not find it, or, if you do, you are forbidden to re-enter it— the guard points you to another. At last you start again, thankful that California and Oregon, New York and New Jersey are not separate nationalities. On returning from Holland to Belgium, the officials are said to be a little more particular ; the hidden contents of your grip-sack are brought to light. Into Holland is smooth railroading. Cities and towns are passed, with varying objects of attention, but the most attractive thing is the Dutch country, level as a floor, marked off into separate holdings by ditches, now and then a canal with boats, crops of hay half harvested and of grain uncut—oats, buckwheat, &c— ranges of green pasture with cattle and sheep, here and there a solid windmill tower, with the four great arms lazily swinging. The cattle are chiefly black-and-white, and the herds look picturesque. If the Holsteins show equally well on the brown pastures of California, Jerseys and shorthorns will run a losing race. A few women were at work in the fields ; only in a single instance did we see one harnessed to a harrow, and then her yoke-fellow was a man. Rotterdam is the first large city on the route, and it is a very large one as seen from the cars passing over the heads of the people. It seems to have no special interest for the sightseer. The Hague is more attractive, but Delft and Lejden are, for different reasons, more likely to win the traveller's notice.

The Northern Venice.

And now we have reached Amsterdam, a city both large and unique. It has about 400,000 inhabitants, some 30,000 beiDg Jews. In times of persecution it was for the Jews a sort of city of refuge. It has a flourishing commerce, much less, however, than that of Antwerp. The principal feature of the place is found in its water-ways, reminding one of Venice, but the canals do not wash the foundations of the buildings; each "gracht" has a narrow street-way on either side. In the older part of the city the "grachten " are almost of horseshoe form, bearing the same name after turning several angles. In^ the newer quarter the canals and streets radiate from the former boundary. Boats abound ; at rest, or propelled slowly by man power. We saw one poor fellow harnessed and tugging beyond his strength; but ordinarily one or two men on the boat use long poles with a cushioned top'against their shoulders, thrusting these through the shallow water and walking one boat length after another. Some of the waterless streets are narrow, but all are crowded with men, women, and children. Wherever one goes in this big city he is impressed with the teeming population. In the poorer Jewish quarters there were throngs through which one could scarcely force his way.

Dutcli Business Ways.

As is well known, Holland is largely below the level of the sea, and Amsterdam is built on piles. It costs nearly as much to lay the foundation of a fine building as to put up the superstructure. We noticed many houses, sometimes a half block, plainly out of plumb ; and we asked ourselves, what would an earthquake do to such a city ? But the buildings have a very solid look, and run up many storeys in height. The architecture of the city is imposing, if not elegant. Here again one notices the small shops and the quiet way of transacting business. A banking firm, correspondents of the Bank of California, occupies a modest upstair counting room, reached by a narrow passage from the street. There is no name on the outside of the building; nothing to indicate that it is not a private residence. A leading jeweller has a shop of less size than an ordinary drawing room ; yet he deals largely in costly brilliants. Diamond polishing is the distinctive accomplishment of Amsterdam, and is mostly in the hands of the Portuguese Jews. A friend of ours took in his hand an Indian diamond, unpoUshed, valued at 6400d01. It will pro-

bably find its way baok to some Indian Princess, as even extravagant Americans call a halt at such a price.

The language of Holland is, of course, Teutonic, closely akin to German and the Anglo-Saxon side of English. But it takes a Dutchman to understand it. On shopsigns one sees names curiously like those with which he is fanriliar. But our friend Cox would find his namesakes writing Cockx, and Hendricks is here Hendrickx. The same, or like peculiarities, are seen in the Flemish names of Antwerp. Faces, too, are very much like American faces. You almost fancy you see some old acquaintance. At least he looks English-speaking, and you step briskly up to him and make some inquiry about the way. When he coolly shakes his head and keeps his information to himself you feel disappointed and injured. If the man couldn't speak English what right had he to look so much like Professor H., or the Rev. Dr B. ?— San Francisoo Bulletin.