THE RYKS MUSEUM, AMSTERDAM
VEEN KADE, THE HAGUE
STREET SCENE, ROTTERDAM
STREET SCENE, AMSTERDAM
MONTALBANS TOWER, AMSTERDAM
SCENE IN HAARLEM
Holland has been described as a “country of unpainted pictures.” That is
the artist’s point of view; for his eye takes in the picturesque
possibilities of the subject. To us it seems as if Holland is of all
countries the one most often seen in pictures. While, no doubt, there
are many “untouched pictures” in the miles of level Dutch landscape, art
has surely shown a generous recognition of Holland’s attractive scenery,
and has celebrated its picturesqueness to all the rest of the world.
Holland is a country of dikes and level meadow lands, of windmills and
canals. From the point of view of an aëronaut the Dutch cities look like
a map of Mars. This is especially true of Amsterdam, which, viewed from
above, appears to be a network of canals. These canals are an attractive
feature of the cities. In some cases the whole street is canal; in other
cases the street is both “wet and dry”--a canal flanked by a street.
[Illustration: Copyright, American Press Association
“THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD,” THE HAGUE
This is Queen Wilhelmina’s favorite place of residence. It is located in
the forest park about one and a half miles from The Hague, and was the
meeting place of the first International Peace Conference, held in 1899]
Imagine a country, in some spots lower than the sea, maintaining its
existence only by constant vigilance and industry, fighting for its very
life through the changing seasons against the one great enemy, water.
The dunes or sand hills which line the coast serve as a barrier against
the sea. These are reinforced by coarse grass, which holds the sand
together. In some places the dikes are made of earth, sand, and clay,
held together by willows, which are carefully planted so as to form a
binder. In other places dikes are built of stone. The dikes are the
fortifications against the inroads of the ocean, and also the floods in
the rivers that flow through Holland to the sea.
[Illustration: Copyright, American Press Association