women may be seen standing in two long lines, with benches before
them.

The farms in Belgium are cultivated with great care and attention, and
much resemble the market gardens round London; they all have gardens,
and grow an ample supply of fruit and vegetables. The food of the
peasants, is rye-bread and milk, for breakfast and supper; potatoes
and onions, with bacon and beer, for dinner; they eat off pewter; and
although their fare is simple, it is good and plentiful. Their dress
is somewhat coarse, but it is neat and clean, the men wear blue linen
frocks; and the women have printed cotton gowns, linen caps, and
woollen petticoats.

The towns and villages of Belgium are numerous, and thickly peopled.
Brussels, the capital, is a fine city, and is celebrated for its
manufactures, particularly for lace, camlet, and carpets. Ten thousand
people are employed there in making lace. It is also famous for its
pottery and porcelain. The other articles made there, are cotton and
woollen stuffs, silk stockings, and earthenware. The carriages built
there, are superior to even those of London or Paris; there is a
specimen of Belgian carriages at the Exhibition.

There are numerous silk manufactories in Brussels; and the beautiful
linen, called damask, is exported in great quantities. There are
innumerable breweries, too; for no people in the world are so fond of
drinking beer as the Belgians. The people carry on a considerable
trade with foreign countries, by means of the various canals, on which
a vast number of steam-boats are constantly passing and re-passing.

The upper part of Brussels is magnificent, and has a splendid park