The climate of Holland is moist, but far from being unpleasant or unwholesome, although some travellers have thought proper to say it consists of six months of rain and six months of bad weather. The principal divisions of the country are at present the same as they were during the republic, namely, Holland, Overyssel, Zealand, Friesland, Utrecht, Groningen, Guelderland, and Zutphen, besides the Texel and other islands; but the king has it in contemplation, it is said, of speedily dividing the kingdom into ten departments. Holland contains 113 cities or large towns, 1400 villages, and nearly 2,800,000 inhabitants. The military force of Holland amounts to about 40,000 cavalry and infantry. A population and a force which cannot but astonish the reader, when he reflects upon the size, soil, and position of the country. I intended to have taken the treckschuyt to Utrecht, as the river Amstel is all the way lined with the most beautiful country-houses and grounds in Holland; but as some friends of mine in Amsterdam obligingly proposed accompanying me, and were strongly desirous that I should see Naarden, Soestdyke, and some other places in our way, the boat was relinquished for the carriage. I however recommend the traveller not to omit going to Utrecht by water. Excellent carriages and horses are always to be procured at a large livery stable keeper’s who resides near the Utrecktsche Poort, or Utrecht Gate, in Amsterdam, close to the house from which the Utrecht treckschuyts proceed: for these he must make the best bargain he can, as he will be wholly at the mercy of the proprietor. The inconvenience and imposition arising from travelling in Holland are frequently severely felt, on account of there being no regular posting. In Amsterdam the price of a carriage for the day is fourteen florins, and for this the coachman provides for himself and horses. The back of our carriage towards the horses, folded into two divisions, resting upon the fixed seat, so that when the cushion was placed upon it, the seat was only a little raised; thus the coach became either close or open: the roof was fixed. In this vehicle, with a pair of good horses, we set off for Naarden, a clean, pretty little town, and more skilfully and strongly fortified than any other town in Holland: here the same tranquillity reigns as in most of the other Dutch country towns. From the ramparts, which present a very agreeable walk, there is a fine view of the Zuyder Zee on the northern side, the water of which being in many places very shallow, at a distance resembled moving mounds of sand. Here, and throughout the journey, our coachman gave the preference to coffee, of which the Dutch are remarkably fond, instead of wine or spirits, with his dinner. From economy, as I observed at this place and elsewhere, the middling people keep a bit of sugar-candy in their mouth when they drink tea or coffee, instead of using sugar in the way we do.