My guide turned up his nose contemptuously, and said something (so far as I could comprehend him) about VAN TROMP being in "de odder kirsher." Later on, when I asked the use of a sort of vestry, he murmured something about "Balaclava." From this I took it that he could not make himself understood. But I was wrong. I did not know much about the Dutch coinage. When I bought anything I invariably kept my hand waiting for change until the supply was exhausted. Sometimes I put forth my hand a second time with the result of getting a few extra coins. There are guilders, little pieces that look like a doll's silver pennies, and a showy coin that suggests a sixpence in a decline. These latter are worth, I fancy, about three halfpence a dozen. I gave the cathedral custodian one of these sixpences in a decline. But it was not enough, not nearly enough, so I exchanged it for a doll's silver penny, when he beamed with gratitude. Would that I could tell of the other attractions of Amsterdam, of the Royal Palace, the Zoo, the theatres, and the canals. But exigencies of time and space say "No." Those who want to see and hear have only one thing to do. Let them hie to the Hook of Holland, ho, to the Dutch capital, and further description will be unnecessary. * * * * * During a severe thunderstorm at Bjelina, in Bosnia, according to the _Pall Mall Gazette's_ "Science Notes," there fell a remarkable "shower of whitebait." This phenomenon has been easily eclipsed at London, in England, where it recently rained cats and dogs. * * * * * CHEEK! ["Blackberry or strawberry juice rubbed slightly on the cheeks, and then washed off with milk gives a beautiful tint. The garden-beet is also an excellent cosmetic: the beet is cut and the juice applied gently with a camel's hair brush."--_Announcement quoted by Mr. James Payn in "Our Note Book," "Illustrated News."_] Alas for the bard's and the _ingénue's_ dream!-- Even Nature, it seems, joins Art's plot to betray us. We've heard cheeks compared to strawberries and cream, But that earth's sweetest fruit such a false trick should play us, In conspiracy base with fresh milk from the cow, Brings the red flush of wrath to the snowiest brow. What, sweet Mother Nature lend aid to a cheat, And play Madame RACHEL in faking complexions! Arcadia's vanished, naught's native or sweet, The daintiest Beauty wakes doubtful reflections, When for ought we can tell her ingenuous blush Is--a compound of beet and a camel's-hair brush! * * * * * ROUNDABOUT READINGS.