In passing through certain of the straight, narrow streets one suddenly sees before him, as it were, a curtain that has fallen and cut off the view. It is immediately withdrawn, and one perceives that it is the sail of a ship passing down one of the canals. At the foot of other streets a network of ropes seems to be stretched between the two end houses to stop the passage. This is the rigging of a ship that is anchored at one of the docks. On other streets there are drawbridges surmounted by long parallel boards, presenting a fantastic appearance, as though they were gigantic swings for the amusement of the light-hearted people living in these peculiar houses. Other streets have at the foot windmills as high as a steeple and black as an ancient tower, turning and twisting their arms like large wheels revolving over the roofs of the neighboring houses. Everywhere, in short, among the houses, over the roofs, in the midst of the distant trees, we see the masts of ships, pennons, sails, and what not, to remind us that we are surrounded by water, and that the city is built in the very middle of the port. In the mean time, the shops have opened and the streets have become animated. There is a great stir of people, who are busy, but not hurried: this absence of hurry distinguishes the streets of Rotterdam from those of certain parts of London, which, from the color of the houses and the serious faces of the citizens, remind many travellers of the Dutch city. Faces white and pale--faces the color of Parmesan cheese--faces encircled by hair flaxen, golden, red, and yellowish--large shaven faces with beards below the chin--eyes so light that one has to look closely to see the pupil--sturdy women, plump, pink-cheeked, and placid, wearing white caps and earrings shaped like corkscrews,--such are the first things one observes in the crowd. But my curiosity for the present was not aroused by the people. I crossed Hoog-Straat and found myself in new Rotterdam. One cannot decide whether it is a city or a harbor, whether there is more land than water, or whether the ships are more numerous than the houses. The town is divided by long, wide canals into many islands, which are united by drawbridges, turning bridges, and stone bridges. From both sides of each canal extend two streets, with rows of trees on the side next to the water and lines of houses on the opposite side. Each of these canals forms a port where the water is deep enough to float the largest vessels, and every one of them is full of shipping throughout its length, a narrow space being kept clear in the middle which serves as a thoroughfare for the vessels. It seems like a great fleet imprisoned in a town. I arrived at the hour of greatest activity, and took my stand on the highest bridge of the principal crossway. Thence I could see four canals, four forests of ships, flanked on either side by eight rows of trees.