M æ

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and butter-milk, or skimmed milk, and they provide themselves with lodging.

The preservation of the game seems much attended to, for at the end of every estate, often of those of small extent, boards are fixed with notices to prevent intruders from sporting over the lands. The hares are said to be abundant; the accounts of the number of partridges were too various to be depended upon. The madder, the colewort, and the turnips, afford excellent cover for birds; but 1 should think the ground too damp, and the extent of corn land too small for the par- tridges to multiply much. I believe there are few, if any, pheasants; snipes are very abundant, and seemed to be very tame. In the markets I observed very ample supplies of the aquatic wild fowls.

The neatness of the treckschuyts, or water-diligences, deter- mined me to proceed in one of them to the Hague. The fore part of these vessels, with accommodation for a considerable number of passengers, is tolerably fitted up; but the after part, where the price is higher, and which holds only six or eight persons, almost approaches to elegance, and yet the expense is very trifling. As the canals are considerably elevated above the surrounding country, and the dykes that bound them but a few inches higher than the level of the water, as good a view of the prospects can be gained whilst travelling in these vessels, as when on the road by their side. Beautiful houses of opulent proprietors, large farming establishments, with every door and window painted in lively colours, gardens with pro- fusion of fruits and vegetables, and a back ground of extensive and luxuriant meadows, studded with grazing cattle, stretching to an unbroken horizon, tire the eye, and dispose one to