"Then here we are in Amsterdam," said the Count to the Baron, as they
sauntered out of their hotel after breakfast. "I wonder whether all
these people have come to do us honour on hearing of our arrival."
"They probably have not heard of our arrival," said the Baron. "They
are, as you will perceive, market people, and others who have come in
these boats surrounding the landing-slips;" and he pointed across the
crowd which thronged the quay to the canal, on which boats of various
sizes were coming and going, mostly laden with cheeses and other
merchandise to supply the city of Amsterdam.
"Ah, yes; you are probably correct," remarked the Count. "Now let us
set forth and inspect this great city."
A guide, who had noticed them leaving the hotel, offered his services to
conduct them through the streets, and to give them the information which
as strangers they would naturally require.
"Thank you," said the Baron, who, thinking him a very polite gentleman,
made him a bow. "We accept your services."
"Come then, Mynheers, come then," said the guide; "with me as your
conductor, you will see more of the city in a few hours than you would
by yourselves in as many days. You will understand that Amsterdam is
the largest town in Holland," he commenced. "It is built in the shape
of a crescent, or horse-shoe, and is situated at the influx of the
Amstel into the Y; the latter, though it is called a river, is in
reality an arm of the Zuyder Zee, and forms our harbour; hence the name
of Amsterdam--the dam of the Amstel, or Amster. Now I will lead you to
the docks, close to which we now are--they are capable of accommodating
a thousand vessels; the locks, you will observe, are of enormous
strength, which it is necessary they should be, so as to resist the
inroads of the sea. We take great precautions to keep it out, and with
good reason, for our streets are much below its level, and were it to
break in they would be completely flooded. Our city is nine miles in
circumference, while canals of various sizes intersect it in every
direction, and divide it into ninety islands, which are connected by
means of nearly three hundred bridges. A broad moat, or canal, also
runs almost completely round it, a portion of which is flanked with
avenues of elms, which have a handsome and picturesque appearance. Our
houses are constructed on foundations of piles, and as some of these
give way, either destroyed by worms or becoming rotten by age, the
houses are apt to lean about in various directions, which artists say
look very picturesque, but are not so pleasant to the inhabitants, who,
however, live on in them, hoping that, as they have been in that
condition for some years, they will not tumble down just yet. Now and
then they do come down, but people get accustomed to that sort of thing.
Many years ago our great corn magazine sank into the mud, the piles on
which it stood being unable to support the weight of three thousand five
hundred tons of grain, which were stored in the building at that time.
You will observe the style of the houses, many of them built of Dutch
brickwork, which foreigners justly admire. Our canals are not quite as
deep as they should be, although we have dredging machines constantly
engaged in removing the mud, which is thus apt to be stirred about in an
unpleasant manner as every barge comes up, and strangers declare that an
excessively offensive odour rises from them, especially on hot days; but
we who live here are not inconvenienced, in fact we rather doubt the
statement; there may be a smell, but it surely cannot be an unpleasant
one."
"As to that," answered the Count, holding his pocket-handkerchief to his
nose, "it must depend upon what people consider unpleasant; for my part,
I prefer the scent of orange blossoms or eau de Cologne to it."
The guide, who seemed anxious to fulfil his promise of enabling them to
see the city in a brief period of time, trotted them along the quays at
a rapid rate, pointing out to them the great dyke which prevents the
Zuyder Zee from washing into the town; then he conducted them up one
street and down another, over bridges and along banks of canals
innumerable, till they had not the slightest idea of where they were
going or what they were seeing. He poured out his information also at
so rapid a rate that the Count could with difficulty make the shortest
notes. Museums and picture galleries of various sorts were pointed out
to them.
"You will be able to see those by and by," observed the guide; "at
present my object is to exhibit to you the outside of the city."
The whole day was expended in viewing the city, and even then a large
portion remained to be seen, which they flattered themselves they should
do on another occasion. They then, pretty well tired, returned to their
hotel.
"Now, Count, in what direction shall we next bend our steps?" asked the
Baron. "If we were at sea the wind might settle that point, but on
shore the matter is more complicated."
"Come with me, Mynheers, to Zaandam," said a gentleman, who was seated
opposite to them at table and heard the Baron's question.
"I suppose there's something to be seen there?" the Baron asked.
"Certainly there is something to be seen," said the gentleman. "There's
the house of Peter the Great, who lived there while he was working as a
shipwright, and there are windmills."
"There are a good many windmills in other parts of Holland," observed
the Count.
"But the windmills of Zaandam beat them all hollow," answered the
gentleman. "There are no fewer than four hundred in and about Zaandam,
employed in all sorts of labour: some grind corn, some saw timber,
others crush rape-seed, while others again drain the land, or reduce
stones to powder, or chop tobacco into snuff, or grind colours for the
painter. Those of Zaandam are of all shapes and descriptions, and many
of them are of an immense size--the largest in the world."
"We will go to Zaandam," said the Count; and the next morning he and the
Baron accompanied their new friend, whom they took care to ascertain was
not a professional guide, down to the quay, whence a steamboat was about
to start to their intended destination.
In little more than an hour having crossed the waters of the Y, they
landed at Zaandam. They were not disappointed with respect to the
windmills, which, as there was a fair breeze, seemed to be all very
busy, the sails whirling round and round and doing their duty with all
earnestness, as duty ought to be done. When the wind slackened it was
not their fault if they did not go as fast. They could distinguish the
flour mills, which generally had a balcony running round half-way up;
but the draining mills were smaller, and had no balcony. Zaandam,
however, did not look like a town, it more resembled a straggling
village; the houses--small, painted a bright green, with red roofs--
peeping out on the banks of the river amid the trees in all directions.
Suddenly the Count began whirling his arms about in a way which made the
Baron fancy he had gone mad.
"What is the matter?" he exclaimed.
"I cannot help it," answered the Count, still looking up at the
windmills. "How they go round and round and round in all directions; it
is enough to turn one into a windmill. I feel inclined already to
become one."
"Don't, don't!" cried the Baron, seizing his friend's arms and holding
them down. "Don't look at those whirlabout sails, but come let us go
and see the house of Peter the Great, which was the chief object of our
visit to this place."
"Peter the Great, ah, I have heard of him; how long did he live here?"
asked the Count.
"Not very long," said their friend. "Zaandam was in those days a great
ship-building place, and he came here to instruct himself in the art;
but the people found out who he was, and shocked his modesty by staring
him out of countenance, so he went away to Amsterdam, where among the
crowd he was less likely to be discovered."
Proceeding along a canal bordered by a few dilapidated houses, they
arrived before a zinc building, which has been erected to cover the hut
in which Peter the Great lived. An ancient individual, who had charge
of it, admitted them within the outside covering.
"Peter of Russia was a great man, there's no doubt about that," observed
the Baron. "But from the appearance of this edifice he must have been
contented with a very inferior style of accommodation; for there appear
to be but two small rooms, and every plank of the walls is out of the
perpendicular, and every beam far off the horizontal, while the floors
resemble the surface of a troubled sea."
The hut was constructed of wood, old planks nailed roughly together,
some running in one direction, some in another. As the travellers
entered they rolled about as if they had suddenly become giddy. The
furniture too was limited; it consisted of a couple of curiously shaped
old chairs, a table and a bedstead of antique form and simple
construction. The walls were adorned with portraits of Peter the Great
and his wife, who certainly, judging by her picture, was no beauty.
"I observe that a number of persons of celebrity have carved their names
on the walls; I think we ought to do the same, to let it be known to all
the world, who come after us, that we have been here," said the Baron,
taking out his penknife. "Here are some names, great persons
undoubtedly, and, as far as I can judge, English; let me see, one is
Jones, the other is Smith, and a third Brown--we will add ours."
"Have the kindness to put mine, then," said the Count. "I should wish
to appear in such excellent company, but carving on wood is not one of
my talents."
The Baron accordingly with the tip of his penknife wrote, or rather
carved, "Count Funnibos and Baron Stilkin," putting the date of their
visit. Well satisfied with his performance, he took another glance
round the room, about which the Count had been staggering, looking at
the various corners and crevices, as if he expected to find the Great
Peter in one of them, sawing or planing, or perhaps supping off a bowl
of porridge. The ancient keeper informed them that the building was
erected by a former Queen of Holland--a Princess of Russia--to prevent
this relic of her ancestor being swept off the face of the earth. On
one of the walls was a marble tablet, placed there by the Emperor
Alexander to commemorate a visit he paid to the hut, which showed to the
Count and Baron that another great person had been there before them.