HOLLAND TO-DAY 89

friend traveling through the Netherlands. The other was
written by a young girl born and bred in Holland.

“Tur Hacur, March 28, 189-.

“ ,.. Heaven bless the Dutchmen! They are the
most delightful and sterling folk that we have found
in all Europe! And no more charming days have we
had anywhere than at Amsterdam, at Haarlem, and at The
Hague and Scheveningen. . . . At Amsterdam we saw the
Great Dike and the lesser dikes (worthy monuments to
the sturdy force of this brave race), and at Zaandam, near
by, we went through a perfect forest of windmills, of which
there are nearly four hundred within the town limits. A
more picturesque sight cannot be imagined. As the little
steamboat got into the thick of them, with those huge
arms whirling close by on every side, the whole land-
scape began to take on the motion, and I half expected
the boat would turn a somersault any moment. But
it was a fascinating spectacle.

“« ... And the little cottages alongside the stream—
how quaint and cozy! And every street in Amsterdam,
and every woman and child—how clean and fair and
tidy they look! And the delightful head-gear that the
country women wear! And the happy, healthy smiles of
the boys and girls! The virtues of these honest Dutch folk
shine out to eyes that have just seen the Italian paupers.
Small as it is, Holland can take care of itself For a
thousand years the Dutch have fought the sea, and for
eighty years they fought the greatest military power of
Europe, and always held their own.