The country being below the level of the sea, there are no spring-wells of fresh water in it. The rain that falls on the roofs of their houses is conveyed into a cistern, built of brick, sunk in the ground at the side of the door, or under one of the corners of the house, and some of them have an opening into the cistern both within and on the outside of the house. The Dutch are proverbial for their cleanliness and ingenious industry. I admired, among other things, their way of churning their butter. A large wheel, with a broad rim, the spokes of which were fastened to the one side of the rim, was fixed upon a nave in the wall, at one of the corners of the house, with the spokes next to the wall; small pieces of wood were nailed across the inside of the rim; a belt that was upon the rim turned a crank that was above it; the churn stood on the floor under the crank which lifted the churn staff up and down; there was a close lid upon the churn, with a slit in the centre, in which the churn staff moved, so much of which was flat as allowed it to move in the slit. The wheel was turned round by a dog, who was put into the inside of the rim upon the open side; he catched the small cross pieces of wood, that were on the inside of the fore part of the rim, at some height, with his feet, and the weight of his body turned the wheel. The poor dog was tied by a cord round his neck at such a height, to an upright post at the side of the fore part of the wheel, that if he did not work he would be hanged. There were generally two dogs employed, the one relieving the other. The Dutchmen wear large small-clothes and cocked hats; the women wear stays and hoops in their petticoats, and low crowned broad brimmed straw hats; but I did not see any that were gaudy, or ragged, in any part of the country I was in.