“A country that draws fifty foot of water, “In which men live as in the hold of nature; “And when the sea does in upon them break, “And drowns a province, does but spring a leak; “That always ply the pump, and never think “They can be safe, but at the rate they stink; That live as if they had been run aground, And, when they die, are cast away and drown’d; That dwell in ships, like swarms of rats, and prey Upon the goods all nations’ ships convey; And when their merchants are blown up and crack Whole towns are cast away in storms and wreck; That feed like cannibals, on other fishes, And serve their cousin germans up in dishes, A land that rides at anchor, and is moor’d, In which they do not live, but go aboard.” The Duke of Alva, with more whimsicality and less bitterness, observed, “that the Dutch were the nearest neighbours to hell of any people on the earth, for they dwelt the lowest.” In consequence of the tide being always very rapid when going out, and the wind again falling, we came to an anchor in the mouth of the Maas. One of the first objects that saluted our eyes, in this state, was the telegraph, which was in a state of uncommon activity, and the glasses of its official attendants often came in direct opposition with ours. The balls flew up and down with wonderful rapidity for nearly an hour after we anchored, and sufficiently explained the motive which induced the captain of the smack to return to port. The signification of the word Briel, in Dutch, is _spectacle_, which is supposed to have given its name to this place, on account of the extensive view which its buildings command of the surrounding country. This town is celebrated for having given birth to the illustrious warrior I before mentioned, admiral Cornelius Van Tromp.