further find boats ready to set out immediately. By means of these useful vessels, an easy intercourse exists between the most distant parts of the republic, and the cheapness of the conveyance allows its benefits to be felt by the poorest people. To a Dutchman, a treckschuyt is the most agreeable conveyance imaginable. He smokes in it or sleeps in it, as his inclination leads him; and is neither shook by the agitation of the vessel, nor disturbed by the velocity of its motion. He knows to the eighth part of a penny the sum which his journey will cost him, and he can calculate with equal accuracy the moment when he shall arrive at the end of it. If his journey is long, he either carries with him a little store of provisions, or purchases a frugal dinner at the place where the boat usually stops for a few minutes at the hour of that meal. He does not then go on shore to eat his dinner, but a steak is expeditiously brought to him, with such other refreshments as the house affords, or he chooses to have; and when that matter is arranged, which never occupies more than five minutes, the
