1. Vianen is said to be the Fanum Dianæ of Ptolemy. Between Vianen and Kuilenburg there are sluices in the banks of the river, designed solely for laying the country under water in case of foreign invasion. If they were opened, the inundation would at once spread as far south as the Waal, as far as Dort to the West, and to the Noort in an opposite direction. A military inundation of this kind is a mode of defence peculiar to Holland. It effectually cuts off the means of approach from an army either by land or water; it covers both roads and canals, leaving an enemy in ignorance of their direction and course; and, while it is deep enough to check the march of troops or cannon, it is so interrupted by shallows and dykes as to render its navigation by boats equally impracticable. 7. Kuilenburg. Inns: Rose, Vergulde Hooft. A town of 3000 inhabitants, formerly a place of refuge for debtors. r. Wyk by Duurstede, supposed to be the Batavodurum of the Romans. The branch of the Rhine, which alone retains that name to the sea, here sepa r. ARNHEIM. Route VI. 7. Huissen. "Near Tollhuis the army of Louis XIV. crossed the Rhine, 1672, an exploit much vaunted by the French poets and historians of the time, though little risk was incurred but that of drowning, as there were very few, if any, Dutch troops immediately on the spot to oppose the passage " J. W. C. The river was not entirely fordable, and many regi.. ments had to swim across. PANNERDEN. Here the Waal first branches out from the main trunk of the Rhine, which above this spot flows in one undivided stream. The voyage to Cologne is described in Route XXXIV. Note. The two projects of draining the Lake of Haarlem, and constructing a Railroad from Amsterdam to Arnheim, were formally brought before the Dutch States General in March, 1838. 77 SECTION II. BELGIUM. INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION. 16. Passports. -17. Money. · 18. Posting.-19. Other Modes of travelling: Diligences,-Hired Carriages, ·Barrières,· Roads.-20. Railroads.-21. Inns. -22. General View of Belgium. 23. Belgian Cities and Architecture. 24. Chimes (Carillons).-25. Works of Art: Schools of Van Eyck and Rubens. 178 181 XXII. Ghent to Antwerp 123 XXIII. *Antwerp to Brussels by Mechlin 139 XXIV. Ghent to Brussels 150 Chapelle by Wa XXXII. Brussels to Paris by XXXIII. Brussels to Paris by * An asterisk marks the lines of the Belgian railroads. 16. PASSPOrts. THE Belgian minister in London issues passports only to Belgian subjects, but will countersign other passports, except the Dutch. A passport may readily be obtained from the Belgian consul in London (between the hours of 12 and 4 only), upon payment of 5 shillings. Excepting in the frontier towns, and at Brussels, the capital, passports are now seldom required by the police in Belgium. The under-functionaries of the Belgian police offices often display in their conduct instances of insolence, dilatoriness, and neglect of their duties, very annoying to the traveller, and which contrast singularly with the invariable politeness and punctuality of similar officers in Prussia and Austria. The mode of passing from Belgium into Holland, and vice versâ, until the disputes between the two countries are adjusted, is explained at the beginning of Route XVIII. 17. MONEY. The Dutch coinage, introduced during the reign of the King of Holland, has been getting into disuse since the separation of the two kingdoms; and, though much of it remains in circulation, the coins which Leopold has struck are similar to the French in name and value. Accounts are in some places still kept in guilders and stivers; but French money is so generally current, that a traveller who confines himself to Belgium need provide himself with no other. Dutch Money. See § 1., under the head of HOLLAND. Two Belgian or French leagues make a post (equal to nearly 5 miles English, or about 1 German mile). The precise length of the lieue de poste is 3,898 metres = 4,263 yards English 2.412 English miles. Posting in Belgium is arranged nearly upon the same footing as in France. The following tariff is extracted from the last "Livre de Poste," published at Brussels: The charge for each horse per post is 1 fr. 50 centimes, or 30 sous. postillion The charge It is usual to give at least 1 franc per post to the postilion; indeed, it is customary with English travellers to allow him 2 francs, or 40 sous, per post. He may, however, be restricted to the sum fixed by the tariff, when he has conducted himself improperly. To make a constant practice of giving the French and Belgian postboys 40 sous apiece appears a gratuitous piece of extravagance. Our countrymen who do this can hardly be aware that they are paying at the rate of 4d. a mile (English), in a country where the necessaries of life are far cheaper than in England - while at home the customary rate of payment for a postilion is only 3d. a mile. This extravagant remuneration is, besides, contrary to the express injunction of the French "Livre de poste,” which says, p. 37. "Les voyageurs conservent donc la faculté de restreindre le prix des guides à 75 centimes, à titre de punition; et ils seront invités par les maîtres de poste, et dans l'intérêt du service, à ne jamais depasser la retribution de 1 fr. 50 centimes par poste." The posting regulations allot one horse to each person in a carriage; but allow the traveller, at his option, either to take the full complement of horses, at the rate of 30 sous each, or to take 2 or 3 at 30 sous, and to pay for the rest at 20 sous, without taking them. Thus a party of 4 persons in a light britzka may be drawn by 2 horses, paying 2 francs extra for the 2 persons above the number of horses. Where the carriage is so light as not to require as many horses as there are passengers, it is, of course, a saving of 10 sous a post for each horse, to dispense with them. In Belgium, and by a recent law in France also, one postilion may drive 4 horses, "aux grandes guides; where 3 horses are required, they may be harnessed one in front of the others, or à l'arbalète. In France, 3 horses must be yoked abreast; and for this purpose, shafts must be put to the carriage, except on the road from Calais to the Belgian frontier, where this rule is not now enforced, and there is no difficulty in travelling with 3 horses and a pole, as in Belgium and Germany. Tariff for Belgium, France, Piedmont, Savoy, and Part of Switzerland; allowing 30 Sous for each Horse, and 40 Sous for each Postilion, per Post. The above table supposes that the full quota of horses are attached to the carriage: the following table is drawn up for cases in which some of the horses are dispensed with, and 20 sous paid instead. In fixing the number of horses to be attached, the postmaster also takes into account the nature, size, and weight of the carriage, and the quantity of luggage; a landau or berlin always requires 3 horses at least, generally 4; a chariot will require 3, while a britzka holding the same number of persons will need only 2. Royal Posts. Half a post extra is charged upon post-horses arriving at or quitting Brussels, and of a post extra on quitting Ghent, Liége, Mons, and Namur. No duty is paid on travelling carriages in Belgium. 19. OTHER MODES OF TRAVELLING: - DILIGENCES, HIRED CARRIAGES.BARRIERS.-ROADS. Diligences are conducted nearly on the same footing as in Holland (§ 4.): they belong to private individuals or companies. They are frequently ill managed, and uncomfortable, Hired Carriages. - Persons not travelling in their own carriages, and unwilling to resort to the diligence, may have a voiture with two horses at the rate of about 25 francs a day, and 5 francs to the driver; but they must, at the same time, pay 25 francs per diem back fare, making 50 francs per diem for carriage and horses. In 1836, at Antwerp, 2 carriages, for a party of persons, were charged to Cologne, a journey of 4 days, 400 francs, with an additional fee to the driver of 40 francs: 45 francs additional were to be paid for every day the party stopped at a place. At Brussels, for the same journey, the terms were from 460 to 500 francs. Barrières.-There is usually a toll-gate every league in Belgium, The tolls are fixed at 10 centimes for a 4-wheeled carriage, and 20 centimes for each horse, including the return; thus the charge for tolls amounts to 1 franc 20 centimes per post for a carriage with 2 horses. The barrier is marked by a lamp post at the road side. It is customary to pay the tolls to the post-boy instead of stopping at each, by which much time is saved. Roads. Most of the Belgian roads are paved, which renders travelling over them very fatiguing, especially for ladies. The effect produced by them on |