s crowds the river. In
other towns, especially in Friesland, which is the classical land of
the art, there are clubs of men-and women-skaters who institute public
races for prizes. Stakes and flags are set up all along the canals,
railings and stands are raised; immense crowds come from the villages
and the country-side. Bands play; the elite of the town are present.
The skaters present themselves dressed in a peculiar costume, the
women wearing pantaloons. There are races for men and races for women;
then both men and women race together. The names of the winners are
enrolled in the annals of the art and remain famous for many years.

In Holland there are two different schools of skating, the so-called
Dutch school and the Frieslander school, each of which uses a peculiar
kind of skate. The Frieslander school, which is the older, aims only
at speed; the Dutch school cultivates grace as well. The Frieslanders
are stiff in their motions; they throw their bodies forward, and hold
themselves very straight, looking as though they were starched, and
keeping their eyes fixed on the goal. The Dutch skate with a zigzag
movement, swaying from left to right and from right to left with an
undulating motion of the body. The Frieslander is an arrow, the
Dutchman a rocket.

The women prefer the Dutch school. The ladies of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and
the Hague are, in fact, the most fascinating skaters in the Netherlands.
They begin to skate as children, continue as girls and wives, reaching the
height of beauty and the summit of art at the same time, while their
skates strike out sparks from the ice which kindle many fires. It is only
on the ice that Dutch women appear light-heeled. Some attain a marvellous
perfection. Those who have seen them say that it is impossible to imagine
the grace of movement, the bows, the glides, the thousand pretty delicate
arts that are displayed. They fly and return like swallows and
butterflies, and in this exercise they grow animated and their placid
beauty is transformed. But all are not so skilled: many dare not show
themselves in public, for those who would be considered prodigies with us
are scarcely noticed there, to such perfection has the art been carried.
The men, too, perform all kinds of tricks and feats, some writing words of
love and fantastic figures in their twirls, others making rapid
pirouettes, then gliding backward on one leg for a long distance; others
twist about, making numbers of