hey had a fine view of the city. The harbor
is enclosed by two rows of piles, with occasional openings to admit the
passage of vessels, which are closed at night with booms armed with iron
spikes. In various parts of the Ij were seen little pavilions, built
upon piers, which are the summer houses of wealthy citizens, who own
pleasure-boats, and repair in them to these cosy little temples, to
drink wine and coffee and smoke their pipes.

At Sardam the curious students visited the cottage of Peter the Great,
in which he lived while he worked as a shipwright. The shanty is of
rough plank, and cants over on one side; but it was surrounded by
another building by the Queen of Holland, to protect it from further
decay. It contains but two rooms, one above the other, the former
reached only by a ladder. Alexander of Russia placed over the
chimney-piece a marble slab bearing the inscription, "Nothing is too
small for a great man." The walls of both rooms are covered with the
autographs of visitors, including that of the Emperor of Russia.

From this point the tourists were conveyed by the steamer to Waterland,
from which they were to proceed by _trekschuit_ to Broek. This peculiar
craft is a kind of drag-boat, much used for passengers and light freight
on the canals of Holland. It is a long, narrow barge, nearly the whole
of which is taken up by a low cabin. Above it is the hurricane deck,
provided with a railing and benches to sit upon. At each end is a flight
of stairs, by which the main deck is reached and the cabins entered. The
_ruim_, or forward cabin, occupying the greater part of the space, is
appropriated to the common people, while the _roef_, or after-cabin, is
for the better class; but as genteel people seldom patronize the
_trekschuit_, this apartment is very small. It was drawn by horses,
attached to a long rope made fast to the pole or mast, near the bow.
Like everything Dutch, the boat was fitted up very neatly, and the
students were much interested in exploring it.

"Here we are, all on the raging canal!" said Terrill to his captain, as
the team started. "If it comes on to blow, we can take a reef in the
forward horse."

"Or in the _het jagertje_," laughed Paul, who had been talking with Mr.
Fluxion.

"We'll take a reef in that now. Don't your teeth ache, captain?"

"No; that's the boy that rides one of the horses."

The canal was filled with boats loaded with market produce, drawn by men
and women harne