20 DELFT.

indulge in that indolence which the uniform movement of the treckschuyt contributes not a little to induce.

These boats are drawn by a single horse, which travels at the rate of three miles an hour, and carries on his back what we should perhaps call the postilion, but who here has the name of the huntsman(jauger). The number of these boats is very con- siderable, and the place and time of their departure, as well as the hour of their arrival at their destinations, 1s regulated with a precision that resemblesmechanism more than animal movement. The rules for slacking the tow-rope, on passing each other, are prescribed and adhered to with scrupulous accuracy, so that acei- dents or interruptions are almost equally unknown. These canals were more crowded with boats conveying goods than passengers, and the whole was both a novel and lively exhibition of a moving scene. Some boats of a small size were moved by a single man, who, instead of a tow-rope, had a long pole fas- tened to the bow of it, by which he drew it along. As there is no motion in these canals, when an impulse is given to the boat, its continued movement is easily effected, and perhaps, not having the slack of the rope to overcome, less exertion may effect the purpose with a pole than with a rope. For some hours the same rich but monotonous display of rural life is to be seen in passing from Delft to the Hague; but when approaching within an hour or two of the latter city, the trees begin to appear, and prepare the traveller for a change of scenery, by exhibiting a new character on the face of the country. The number of lofty trees that surround the Hague, as they are gradually approached, afford a most agreeable contrast to the naked country that is left behind, though the equality of the surface from which these trees arise, is such as