BOATS MADE FROM SHOES, HOLLAND (HAITÉ).
Edam cheese is one of Holland’s famous products. The people are wonderfully careful in making it. They take great care of the cows; when the weather is wet or the flies troublesome, they put blankets over them to protect them. The stables where they keep them are as clean as soap and water will make them; the stalls are made of handsomely planed wood, and there is a window at each one to let in light and to give the cows a chance to look out on the green meadows. The cheeses are made of cream and are pressed in clean, white, earthenware moulds, into the shape and size of cannon balls. They are then colored and sent to market. The greatest cheese market of Holland is at Alkmaar. Scores of boatfuls are there unloaded every market day. The market is at the water’s edge. The cheeses are colored orange or red, and are oiled and wiped till they shine. They are stacked in piles like cannon balls.
Among famous Dutch towns is Delft, where they make a beautiful white porcelain with blue designs, which is a favorite everywhere: then there is Schiedam, where they make “Schnapps,” or gin, which is as famous probably as the Delft ware, but not so praiseworthy; then there is Haarlem, famous for its flower gardens, its tulips and begonias; at Leiden there is a noble old university and a museum where one may see objects made and used by all the Strange Peoples we shall study and many more. Holland has had many great artists, and their works are preserved in the art galleries at Rotterdam, Leiden, The Hague, Haarlem, and Amsterdam. Holland was once the great commercial and naval nation of the world: that day is past, but her ships still sail all seas; the little kingdom is still a centre of intelligence, industry, and education, and the thrifty and wealthy Dutch are a worthy example of the Fair Whites.
VII.
DARK WHITES.
Among the dark whites of Europe the Portuguese, Spanish, Italians, and Greeks are conspicuous. In speech they are kin to each other, and to the fair whites. How different they are otherwise! They are handsomer in face, more lithe and graceful in body, more quickly aroused, more changeable in purpose, than the fair whites. Their faces, their gestures, their movements, more emphatically betray their emotions. They live more in the present than the somewhat sober and sombre northern peoples.
Just now people are apt to forget how much we owe to the dark whites. They have done much for the world. Greece taught Europe to think, developed an art and architecture which impressed the world, formed a literature and theatre that have never been surpassed; Rome taught mankind government and law; Italy has produced the greatest paintings; Spain discovered the New World. These are a few of the achievements of the dark whites. Nor are they idle now; in Greece and Italy to-day, in Spain and Portugal, art, invention, literature, and science are making rapid progress.
ITALIAN CHILD (MILN).
Every one has seen Italians. Those who come to us are mostly poor, and badly represent their people. They are dark skinned, dark brown or black eyed, black and curly haired, and have fine and regular features. They are, perhaps, the handsomest of European peoples. They love the company of others in their work and play. They delight in bright colors, and the women fasten bright kerchiefs about their dark hair, fold a brilliant cloth across the breast, and hang gaudy earrings in their ears. The Italian language is sweet and lively, and the people who speak it are impulsive and sunny in disposition, though easily angered, and quick to resent an injury.
Perhaps old Rome was the greatest city the world has known. The Roman people ruled the known nations, and their armies and governors were in all lands. Fine roads connected the city with every part of the Empire, and fragments of these roads still exist though almost two thousand years have passed. Rome was a centre to which flocked the painters, sculptors, poets, and orators of the world; there they produced their great works. At Rome were grand temples, great public buildings, the mighty Coliseum where public games were held. Ruins of these famous structures are still visited, and show the ancient grandeur of the dark whites of by-gone days.