for several hours, but these blasted rows, the scene changed to vast
tracts of level country, buried in sand, and smothered with heath;
the particular character of which I had but too good an opportunity
of intimately knowing, as a tortoise might have kept pace with us
without being once out of breath.

Towards evening, we entered the dominions of the United Provinces,
and had all their glory of canals, track-shuyts, and windmills before
us. The minute neatness of the villages, their red roofs, and the
lively green of the willows which shade them, corresponded with the
ideas I had formed of Chinese prospects; a resemblance which was not
diminished upon viewing on every side the level scenery of enamelled
meadows, with stripes of clear water across them, and innumerable
barges gliding busily along. Nothing could be finer than the
weather; it improved each moment, as if propitious to my exotic
fancies; and, at sunset, not one single cloud obscured the horizon.
Several storks were parading by the water-side, amongst flags and
osiers; and, as far as the eye could reach, large herds of
beautifully spotted cattle were enjoying the plenty of their
pastures. I was perfectly in the environs of Canton, or Ning Po,
till we reached Meerdyke. You know fumigations are always the
current recipe in romance to break an enchantment; as soon,
therefore, as I left my carriage, and entered my inn, the clouds of
tobacco which filled every one of its apartments dispersed my Chinese
imaginations, and reduced me in an instant to Holland.

Why should I enlarge upon my adventures at Meerdyke? To tell you
that its inhabitants are the most uncouth bipeds in the universe
would be nothing very new or entertaining; so let me at once pass
over the village, leave Rotterdam, and even Delft, that great parent