I staid in Holland till the 2d of July, and had an opportunity of traveling through the greater part of this interesting country; but I will merely indicate what I saw in as few words as possible, for it does not come within the scope of my book to give detailed accounts of well-known lands and cities.
The thing that struck me most in Amsterdam was the architecture of the houses, which I can best liken to the old German style, as seen, for instance, in Magdeburg. The houses, inhabited generally by a single family, are very narrow, from two to four stories high, terminating in fronted or rounded gable roofs. They are built of brick stained with a dark brown tint, and in some instances ornamented with arabesques. The streets have a singular appearance. The houses stand in straight rows, but do not by any means rise in a perpendicular line. In some the under, in others the upper, and in others, again, the middle story, bulges out beyond the rest, the deviation from the perpendicular frequently exceeding a foot. It would seem that such houses were peculiarly liable to fall in; but, from the dates over the doors, I found that the majority had stood for one, and not a few for two centuries. The narrow steep staircase is a great drawback in Dutch houses. One ought to be a born Hollander, and accustomed from childhood to the task of climbing these stairs, to look upon them with equanimity, especially as in any of these lofty narrow houses one seems to be mounting and descending the stairs all day long. I need scarcely say that the houses of the rich, the hotels, and similar buildings, are free from this inconvenience.
Equally surprised was I to notice that in houses where the ground floor is arranged as a shop, the whole width of the front is thus occupied, and no room left for a private door. The cook with her market-basket, the water-carrier with his pails, the housewife and the visitors, have all to go through warehouses sometimes filled with costly wares arranged to the best advantage. Of course, too, the shop-door must be left open on Sundays and holidays as on ordinary occasions.
These inconveniences are all caused by the high price of the ground. Every one knows with what labor the greater part of the Dutch soil was won from the sea, and how expensive it is to build on ground where the foundation must be almost created, so to speak, by driving heavy piles. Generally the building below the ground costs quite as much as all the rest of the structure.
Amsterdam is intersected by numerous canals, all sufficiently broad, and crossed by 250 bridges. This town might indeed be called the Venice of the North, but that the marble palaces, the bustle and life of the southern people, the crowd of passing gondolas, and the melodious songs of the boatmen, are all wanting. Amsterdam has, however, one advantage over Venice in possessing fine broad streets running parallel with the canals, so that carriages can be used in traversing the city. Many of the streets are adorned with tall stately trees, which make the town look very fresh and pleasant.
There are some handsome buildings, but none of remarkable appearance except the royal palace—the council-house of old times. This is built in a grand style, and beautified with excellent sculpture.
I must farther mention a few peculiarities of Amsterdam which greatly surprised me. The first was, that in this great city of 200,000 inhabitants there are no stands for hired carriages; whoever wants to drive out must send to the stable-keeper’s house, and wait until the horses are harnessed. Another peculiarity struck me as very original: in the middle of summer people may be seen traversing the paved streets in sledges. These sledges—low carriage bodies mounted on frames of wood and iron without wheels—are called “steepkoets,” and are used chiefly by old people. The pace is very slow, but the traveling comfortable enough.
The Zoological Garden, adjoining the town, is spacious and tastefully laid out. The number of foreign animals is considerable, and had just been increased by the arrival of several giraffes. The classes of birds and reptiles were very fully represented.
The Museum contains a valuable collection of sea-shells and land-snails.
I visited two picture galleries, the Trippenhuis collection and that of Herr van der Hoop. The word van, by the way, unlike the German von, is not an indication of nobility; every Hollander may prefix it to his name. The principal pictures I saw were “The Watchmen and——,” by Rembrandt; Van der Helst’s “Meal;” Steen’s “Feast of St. Nicholas;” and the “School by Moonlight” of Dow. The two galleries can boast of many masterpieces by the above-mentioned artists and by various others, as Ruysdael, Wouvermans, Ostade, etc.