Читать книгу The last travels of Ida Pfeiffer - Ida Pfeiffer - Страница 8

Table of Contents

Zaandam.—The little Village of Broeck, celebrated for its Cleanliness.—Strange Head-dresses.—The Hague.—Celebrated Pictures.—Leyden.—Rotterdam.—Departure from Holland.

On my return from Utrecht to Amsterdam, Herr van Rees took me to Zaandam and Broeck, an excursion which can be accomplished in a carriage in one day.

Zaandam is famous as the place where Peter the Great worked for several months as a carpenter in order to learn the art of ship-building. They still show the wooden hut where he dwelt, and this is kept in the same condition in which the great emperor left it. It consists of two plain little rooms with a few wooden chairs and tables. To defend it from the effects of the weather, a roof of brick-work has been built over it, and in winter this is covered in at the sides with wooden planks. Zaandam, with its thirteen thousand inhabitants, is a very cheerful little town. Nearly every house is surrounded by its garden.

No less celebrated than Zaandam, but for another cause, is the little village of Broeck, which has acquired fame by its exceeding cleanliness, and that, moreover, in a country where the streets of the towns are often cleaner than the interior of the houses in many other lands. I expected, of course, to see something extraordinary, but must confess that the reality surpassed my expectations.

The houses are all built of wood, and painted of some dark color. The roofs are covered with glazed tiles, and the windows adorned with handsome curtains, while every door-lock is so brightly polished as to look as if it had been just fixed. All the houses stand in little gardens, and each has three doors. One of these is never used but on the most important events of life: when the bridegroom and bride go forth to be married; when the child is carried to the font; and when man is borne forth to take possession of his last earthly dwelling. This strange fashion is found nowhere except in this village. Of the two remaining doors, one is used for daily purposes of entrance and exit; the other leads to the stable, which forms part of the building.

The somewhat narrow streets are bordered by wooden palings; behind the houses room is left to drive in the cattle, to stack the harvest of hay, etc. The streets were washed and swept so clean that, though they are skirted by trees, I did not see a single leaf on the ground. The people, I believe, keep no domestic animals except oxen and cows, for fear the streets should be dirtied. Verily, this is carrying cleanliness to extremes.

We went into several of the houses. The rooms showed the perfection of cleanliness and adornment. The floors were covered with plain carpets or mats, and every piece of furniture polished so highly that it looked like new, though, to judge from the shape of the different pieces, they evidently dated from the last century. The interior arrangements were handsome enough, with plenty of glazed cupboards, full of all kinds of rarities, particularly china, among which I noticed specimens of Chinese and Japanese manufacture. I saw no beds; their place was supplied by false cupboards in all the rooms, which are metamorphosed into couches at night; but great was the store of bed and table linen. The floors of these rooms must not be desecrated by shoes; like the Oriental, the Dutch peasant leaves his slippers at the door. It certainly does not cost him much trouble to divest himself of them, for they are of wood, and he has only to kick them off. Not but that he has better ones for Sundays and visiting days; it is only at his work that he is shod with wood.

The cow-stables were far handsomer than those I had seen at Herr Muysken’s establishment in the Lake of Haarlem. They consist of long halls, with handsome ceilings, resting on pillars of wood. But a stable of this kind is, in fact, only half a stable, for the cattle only live in it during the winter. On the first of May the beasts are driven to pasture, and there they remain until the first of November, and during this time the farmer may be said to make a summer residence of his stable. The hall is divided into compartments or rooms by partitions four feet high, and in these rooms the family lives the whole of the day, only using the real dwelling-house at night. The walls and pillars of the hall are hung with glittering paraphernalia of china, plates, dishes, and metal cans, and even pictures are seen there. The implements for making butter and cheese are ranged in perfect order in the various compartments, and every thing glistens and gleams as brightly as if it had never been used. Not a stain, not an atom of dust is tolerated any where.

It happened to be on a Sunday that we visited Broeck, and the villagers were at church. We proceeded there to see them in their Sunday garb. There was nothing peculiar in the costume of the men, who were all very neat and tidy; but all the women wore that unhappy head-dress, common throughout Holland, which seems to have been invented to deprive the female sex of its chief natural ornament, for it entirely conceals the hair.

This head-dress, probably invented of old by some dame of high degree who had lost her hair, is worthy of a particular description. A hoop of gilt metal encircles the head. This hoop is about an inch and a quarter in width at the forehead, increasing to two inches at the back of the head. This fillet is surmounted by a white cap, fitting tight to the skull, and trimmed with broad folds of lace, while a long strip of the same fabric hangs down over the shoulders. Chased gilt ornaments an inch and a half long, and an inch broad, are attached to each temple, producing very much the effect of the blinkers with which the bridles of carriage-horses are furnished. Three little locks of silk hang down over the eyes. This head-dress certainly has no pretensions to taste, but has the advantage of being subject to no change in fashion. It is expensive enough, costing generally from sixty to eighty Dutch guilders, and even some hundreds in the cases of rich people, who ornament their coifs with pearls and precious stones; but these are heir-looms, descending from generation to generation.

Many women absolutely place a structure of straw, with a broad brim bent upward in front and behind, on this wonderful cap when they go out, and this queer affair they call a hat. I was astonished to find that girls and women endowed by nature with beautiful hair subjected themselves to this foolish fashion—the motive could scarcely be vanity.

In the remaining costume of the women I found nothing very worthy of remark. On Sunday they all wear gowns of black merino. The fashionable world dresses as it does every where else; and some of the citizens’ wives paid homage to the present fashion so far as to wear a stylish bonnet over their hideous Dutch caps.

On the following morning, my indefatigable Mentor, Herr van Rees, took me to the Hague to see his family.

The Hague, a city of eighty thousand inhabitants, does not look so ancient as Amsterdam, but is very much cleaner, principally from the fact that the Hague is not such a manufacturing and commercial city as Amsterdam. Like all Dutch cities, it is intersected by numerous canals. The Hague is the seat of government and the abode of the court, the foreign embassadors, and officials generally. The king has several palaces, not remarkable either for size or for their architecture. They look merely like handsome private houses. The old chief palace, built in the town itself, is a fortress surrounded by moats, and built on a low mound or redoubt. The heavy gates, the tower, and especially the dark color with which it is stained all over, give this place an appearance of antiquity.

About the churches there is not much to be said. The cathedral is a very handsome building, dreadfully disfigured by being surrounded by a number of mean-looking little houses.

The picture gallery, here called the “Museum,” owes its celebrity chiefly to two pictures, which are reckoned among the great masterpieces of the Dutch school—a cattle-piece in life size, by Paul Potter, and Rembrandt’s “Doctor,” or “Anatomist.”

The cattle-piece is so true to nature, so warm in tone, and powerful in execution, that one almost wonders, after a lengthened contemplation of the work, to see the bull, the sheep, the cow, and the shepherd remain so still and motionless, expecting them to begin to move.

The other picture is just as extraordinary in its way, but I thought the subject less attractive. The surgeon is dissecting a corpse. He has just laid open the palm of the hand and the arm sufficiently to expose the whole system of veins and nerves, and he is explaining these to his audience. The calmness of the operator, to whom the business is familiar, and the rapt attention of his hearers, some of whom are hanging upon his words, while others gaze fixedly upon the dissected subject, are admirably rendered; in my poor opinion, this picture is the great painter’s masterpiece. Besides these two great paintings, there are many charming pieces by Steen, Ostade, Rubens, and others.

Herr de Boer’s bazar is well worth a visit. I have seen similar establishments in other great towns, but none to compare with this. The objects to be seen are innumerable, and are arranged in the most attractive manner in large halls. There is a great variety, in particular, of Chinese and Japanese objects. That Nature may not be forgotten amid the charms of Art, these halls are surrounded by beautiful green-houses, which, with their palms and cactuses, sugar-canes, and coffee-trees, remind the Hollander who has returned from India of the El Dorado he has left. Another arrangement, unfortunately not universal, is, that all who come to Herr de Boer’s bazar, whether purchasers or visitors, are alike treated with great civility and attention.

The Dutch seat of government possesses a very fine park, whose fresh verdure, glorious trees, and blooming slopes reminded me of the parks in England. Very charming, too, is the road from the Hague to Scheveningen, a fishing village on the coast, some half a dozen miles from the city, and a place much frequented by the townspeople in summer for bathing purposes. The action of the waves here is said to be particularly invigorating. Thick shady avenues for pedestrians, carriages, and horses extend to the entrance of the village. Scarce a sunbeam struggles through the thick foliage, so that there is coolness and refreshment on the hottest day of summer. Unfortunately, however, real summer days are very sparingly meted out to the Hollanders, the full power of the sun being felt only for a short period in this land. It was in June that I visited Holland, and yet it was only at noon that I found it agreeable to lay aside my warm cloak. In the evening and the morning the thermometer often showed only six to eight degrees Réaumur, and in the night the mercury must have sunk some degrees lower. They told me, however, that this year was an exceptionally cold one, and strong north winds were continually blowing.

From the Hague I made a few excursions—one to the city of Leyden, and another to the busy port of Rotterdam.

Leyden is a very dull place. In the busiest streets it is very easy to count the passengers, and it very seldom happens that one must step aside to avoid a passing carriage. But the place possesses great Art treasures. The museums of Leyden are celebrated for their great collections, particularly of specimens of animals, fishes, and reptiles, and likewise of skulls of men of almost every race. The Museum of Antiquities possesses many rolls of Egyptian papyrus, mummies, and Egyptian and Buddhist idols.

Messrs. Leeman and Schlegel, the curators of these museums, were obliging enough to conduct us through them in person. Unhappily, our time was so limited that we could only give a passing glance at all these wonders. The museums are separated, because it was impossible, we were told, to find a single building with the requisite number of great rooms. The collections are at present deposited in ordinary dwelling-houses.

The Japanese Museum, an exceedingly complete collection of the natural and artificial products of that country, is the private property of Dr. Siebold.

If Leyden did not appear very attractive to me as a city, I was much delighted with Rotterdam: if I had to fix my residence in one of the cities of Holland, it should certainly be here. In this rich commercial town there is business and bustle all day long, especially on the canals, which are broader and deeper than those of the other towns, and as navigable for great three-masted ships as for little cockboats.

Few towns offer such an aspect as Rotterdam, where marine colossi with high masts, as well as smoking steamers, are seen parading, as it were, through the middle of the city. I stood for hours at the window, and was never weary of gazing. Yonder a great East Indiaman is slowly getting under way; here a ship has just arrived from a long voyage, and the sailors are shouting, waving their caps, and calling to their wives, who, informed of the vessel’s arrival, stand waiting on the banks of the canal. Here weighty chests of sugar and bags of coffee are being dragged out of the hold of a ship and deposited in the huge warehouses; there they are loading a brig with Dutch produce for conveyance abroad; steamers of all sizes are swirling by every moment, and hundreds of boats dart to and fro among them. To be able to see all this from my own window seems so strange, that I rub my eyes, fancy myself in a dream, and refuse to believe in the reality.

Rotterdam has many great and handsome houses; some are particularly remarkable for having flat terraces instead of ordinary roofs. The park adjoins one of the best streets; though less spacious than the Haagsche Bosch, it is charmingly laid out.

In Rotterdam I took leave of my worthy and generous friend, Herr van Rees. The good-nature of this gentleman was so great, that he wished to take me through the whole of Holland, as far as Gueldres and Friesland; but it would have been more than encroaching on my part to take advantage of his liberal offer. I alleged that the time had come when I must embark on my new journey, and that I must proceed at once to London to make the necessary preparations.

My stay in Holland had been a brief one—about a fortnight. During this time I had seen many interesting things, but few scenes of natural beauty. In this respect Holland is poor. A great portion of the land, having been won from the sea, necessarily consists of a continuous plain, broken here and there only by low banks and “dunes,” about twenty or thirty feet high. In Gueldres and Friesland, these “dunes,” or sandy banks, are said to attain a height of from fifty to a hundred feet. The views, therefore, show the same features every where—green meadows, with cattle grazing, a few fields, pretty shrubberies, great massive trees, and neat farms and villages. The picture thus presented is cheerful enough, but when one has it continually before one’s eyes it soon becomes monotonous, and creates a craving for the sight of mountains, or, at least, of a range of hills.

The most striking objects to the traveler in Holland are the numerous canals, great and small, which intersect both town and country in all directions. Every patch of field, every meadow, is, as it were, a little island, surrounded in all directions by canals two or three feet broad.

The part of Holland through which I passed consists principally of marsh land. As far as the eye can reach, it rests upon pastures full of fine-looking cattle, which constitute the chief wealth of the country. In Holland there are about 1,130,000 head of cows, oxen, and calves, to a population of 3,200,000 souls, a proportion to which no other country presents a parallel. No wonder that Holland provides half the world with butter and cheese.

The soil is decidedly fertile—witness the fat pastures and meadows, the plentiful crops of great heavy corn-ears, and the strong, lofty trees. A fruitful land is Holland, I will not deny, but certainly not a beautiful one.