SUGAR-BAKING IN AMSTERDAM.

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diamond-dust has been strewn. The great art consists in making the facets and corners perfectly even, whereby the fire and beauty of the diamond are greatly increased.

The turning of the grinding machine (by steam power) is so rapid that the steel disk does not seem to move at all; it makes two thousand revolutions per minute.

A great deal is lost by this grinding; thus the English crown diamond Kôh-i-Noor was reduced one fourth in size on being cut the second time. The first cutting of this beautiful diamond had proved a failure, and in 1852 the English government sent for a Dutch workman from Herr Costa's establishment to cut the stone artistically. The work occupied the lapidary for six months, and the mere working expenses, apart from any profit, which indeed the proprietor of the factory, Herr Costa, would not accept, amounted to four thousand Dutch guilders, or something more than £330 sterling. In Herr Costa's works, of which he is sole owner, 125 workmen are employed, of whom five are planers, thirty cutters, and ninety grinders. These men earn each from thirty to seventy and eighty Dutch guilders per week.

In Amsterdam I saw also the sugar-refining works of Messrs. Spakler, Neoten, and Fetterode. The sugar is refined by means of steam-engines. I have seen the same thing done in other countries. This manufactory turns out about 5,000,000 kilos (about 4885 tons, English weight) of sugar every year. The greatest establishment of the kind in Holland manufactures 16,000,000 kilos, and the entire produce amounts to 80,000,000.

Very near Amsterdam lies the famous Haarlem Lake, the draining of which may be certainly reckoned among the most gigantic undertakings of the present century. Where a few years ago great ships sailed, and where the fisherman spread his nets, thousands of cows now graze, and beauteous fields and meadows smile with verdure; nay,

scattered houses, already fast increasing, will soon probably expand into towns and villages.

The pumping out of this lake, which was about thirteen feet deep, was begun in February, 1849, and the whole great work was completed in four years. Engines of 400-horse power were set up in three different places; each of these engines raised the pistons of eight pumps six times a minute, and poured out the water into the canals leading to the sea. The twenty-four pumps of the three engines discharged 20,340 kilderkins of water per minute.

The area of land thus gained amounts to no less than 60,000 English acres. The cultivation of this great tract was begun as early as 1853.

Herr Muyskens, who had the kindness to show me this new wonder of the world, is the owner of a fair tract of the land, from which he carried the first harvest last year. His house, too, was finished, and had been built with much taste. Here I first saw how far the Hollanders' predilection for cattle-breeding leads them; the cow-stable was indisputably the handsomest part of the house. It must be borne in mind, however, that the greater part of the Dutch soil consists of rich pastures and meadows, and that stock-breeding is the chief source of the Dutchman's wealth; it is thus reasonable enough that every possible effort should be made to develop this branch of farming. But I had scarcely expected that their anxiety should go so far as to procure for the cows cleaner and more comfortable dwellings than many well-to-do people can boast in the less civilized countries of Europe, to say nothing of other quarters of the world. The cow-house monopolized the greater part of the building: its windows, of a handsome oval form, were absolutely festooned with white curtains, looped up with gay ribbons. The entrance door, of which the upper part was glazed, also boasted of a curtain of dazzling whiteness. The interior of this establishment was in the form of a lofty spacious

A DUTCH COW-STABLE.

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hall. The stalls were just broad enough to allow the hind feet of the cows to rest on the edge of a canal or gutter a foot in depth, so that the straw might be kept perfectly clean. Just over this gutter, and parallel with it, a rope had been stretched, and to this rope the tails of the cows were tied, to prevent them from whisking their sides and raising a dust. All these arrangements were pleasing enough to the eye; but I fancy, if the poor animals had been consulted, they would have voted for a little more freedom, although at some sacrifice of neatness.

One compartment of the stable was partitioned off by a wall of planks three feet high: it had a boarded floor, and formed quite a neat little room, for the use of the farm attendants. The store-houses for milk, cheese, and similar farm produce were as scrupulously clean as the stable itself. The walls of the entrance halls, staircases, kitchen, store-rooms, etc., in almost every house, are covered, to the height of three or four feet from the ground, with tiles of white porcelain or green clay, which are not so difficult to keep clean as whitewashed walls.

It was at Herr Muysken's house that, after a long abstinence, I enjoyed the luxury of good milk to my coffee; milk pure and fresh as it comes from the cow. One would think that in a country like Holland, where there are so many cows, good milk could be had in abundance; but it is not so; for the Hollander is such an enthusiast in making butter and cheese, that, like the Swiss, he scarcely allows himself enough good milk for domestic purposes. Almost every where, even in the wealthiest families, the coffee was very indifferent.

While I am speaking of coffee-drinking, that most important subject for us women, I can not help mentioning a custom prevalent throughout Holland, which, in my humble opinion, is not very seemly or worthy of imitation. As soon as the coffee or tea-drinking is over, the lady or daugh

ter of the house, or one of the female authorities, washes the tea-service at the table, in presence of the company. She pours a little hot water in each of the cups, rinses them out, wipes them on a cloth, and the business is done.

Herr Muyskens was kind enough to lead me right across the drained lake to one of the three machines used for pumping out the water, and one or other of which is occasionally put in requisition when there has been an accumulation of rain-water. We came just in time to see one of these machines at work.

We went on to Haarlem, where we saw the fine park, with the elegant royal palace, and likewise a portion of the town. I noticed over the door of a house an oval disk, about a foot and a half in length, covered with pink silk, and ornamented with rich lace in ample folds. They told me this was a sign that one of the inmates had recently become the possessor of a baby. A strip of paper projecting above the disk indicates that the new arrival is a girl. The custom dates from the old warlike times, when the rough soldier respected the house where the suffering mother lay, and the practice once prevailed throughout Holland. It has now fallen into disuse, and is only kept up in Haarlem.

Besides Colonel Steuerwald, who paid me the kindest attention during my stay in Holland, I was fortunate enough to meet another very amiable friend, the "Resident” van Rees, whom the readers of my "Second Journey round the World" will recollect I had encountered at Batavia. Herr van Rees lived at the Hague; but as soon as he heard of my arrival in Holland he came to Amsterdam to invite me to make a short tour through his native country.

We began by an excursion to Utrecht, where a great Students' Festival happened to be going on when we arrived. The students are in the habit of celebrating the foundation of the University by an annual commemoration. The festivities are kept up for a whole week. They com

STUDENTS' FESTIVAL AT UTRECHT.

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prise masked processions, concerts, balls, races, dinners, illuminations, and much more of the same kind. This year the affair was to be particularly brilliant. The worshipful students, it appears, were divided into two factions, the aristocratic and the democratic. Each party wished to outshine the other, and had stipulated for an entire week to carry out their laudable purpose.

We arrived in Utrecht during the aristocrats' week. The concourse of visitors was so great that we could not find room in any hotel; fortunately for us, Herr and Frau Suermondt, friends of Herr van Rees, received us with friendly hospitality in their house.

In the afternoon there was a procession. The students were all decked out in the most costly dresses; nothing was to be seen but velvet, satin, lace, and ostrich feathers. Some groups represented characters of the sixteenth century; others figured as princes from Java, Hindostan, etc., with their splendid retinues. There was even an Indian deity, carried in a palanquin, and accompanied by a Malay band of music. Whole scenes were represented in enormously long wagons, and some of these were really very artistically arranged. Thus, for instance, a whole house was shown, with the side walls taken out. A married pair sat at a table; the wife had a child in her lap, and a second was playing about at her feet; the family doctor and another friend were paying a visit, chatting and drinking tea, while the maid was scouring the step in front of the house.

On another wagon a wind-mill was perched; in front sat a man building a boat, while a second mended his nets.

A third wagon showed the interior of a peasant's farm, where butter was being churned, sail-cloth woven, and ropes twisted. Next came a hunting procession, the huntsmen carrying falcons on their wrists, and the whole thing really capitally carried out. The procession was headed by military music, and a second band brought up the rear. In