ard is irregular and broken, and the low, flat nature
of the country necessitates the construction of dykes, in many places,
in order to prevent the ocean from making inroads. There are few
rivers, and these are small and not of value commercially. Timber is not
abundant, and minerals are scarce and of little value. The climate is
generally moist and cold, fogs are frequent and the winters generally
severe. Cereals, potatoes, wool and dairy products are the principal
products. Cattle raising is carried on extensively, much of the beef
being exported.

The Danes, physically, are sturdy, and represent the truest physical
characteristics of Scandinavian types. The people are brave, sober and
industrious, and the sailors from this country are among the leading
navigators of the world. The government is a constitutional monarchy,
with the executive power vested in a king and a ministry, who are held
responsible to the Rigsdag, which is the parliament.

LANDSTHING AND FOLKSTHING.

This parliament consists of a Senate, or Landsthing, and a lower house,
or Folksthing. The Evangelical Lutheran Church is the State religion,
but all other persuasions are fully and freely tolerated. Education is
compulsory, and is largely disseminated. The army consists of 60,000
men, while the navy is quite small, having a personnel of about 4000
officers and men.

The authentic history dates from 1385, the year of the accession of
Margaret, the "Semiramis of the North," and wearer of the triple
Scandinavian crowns. The latest monarch, Frederick VIII, came to the
throne in 1906.

Holland, the most picturesque of the neutral countries, aside from
Switzerland with its wonderful scenery, is credited with having profited
very largely by the war. It rests along the North Sea and adjoins the
German Empire on the east and borders Belgium on the South. It contains
about 11 provinces, with a total area of 12,582 square miles and a
population of about 6,000,000.

Always one thinks of windmills, dykes, fat cattle, butter, eggs, ducks
and green farms when Holland is mentioned, and it is in many respects
one of the most highly developed commercial countries in the world. The
country manufactures many articles of world-wide distribution, including
chocolate, linens, fine damasks, pottery, chemical and pharmaceutical
products, and Amsterdam is a center of diamond-cutting.

It has a large mercantile marine and was at one time a tremendous
maritime powe