Immediately after breakfast, we set off to take the treckschuyt for Leyden, to which the landlord’s daughter insisted on accompanying me, notwithstanding I was now kindly assisted by my countrymen. I took leave of her, of course, with feelings and expressions of gratitude for her uncommon attention. The barges on these canals are towed by horses, the rope passing from the top of a mast, in order to carry it clear of the ground, and which mast is fixed on a swivel joint to admit of its being lowered at pleasure in passing under bridges. There were in the present boat three cabins, the aftermost, which is considered the best, being occupied by a private party: we were in the middle one, which was very commodious, and had but few companions, and those not very loquacious, for the natives of this country shew little disposition to enter into conversation with strangers. We had a laugh or two at one of our companions, who, finding his seat too hard, requested a cushion, for which accommodation they afterwards made an extra charge; at another time, he got out to walk on the bank, and had much difficulty to keep up with the boat, before an opportunity offered of getting in again. The day was fine, and the country around us said to be highly luxuriant. At twelve o’clock we arrived at Leyden, being a distance of four leagues. Both this town and Haarlem are famous for the long sieges they supported against the Spaniards, under Frederic, son of the duke of Alva, in the year 1573. After ordering dinner at the Golden Lion, we sallied forth to examine the town, of which it is impossible I can give any thing like a description, from so slight a perambulation, as it is said to comprise eight gates, twenty-four canals, fifty islands, one hundred and eighty streets, and one hundred and forty-five bridges. It was here that the electric battery, named the Leyden Jar, was first invented, and that the illustrious Boerhaave, filled with an eclat never surpassed, the professorship of medicine in this celebrated university. This great man was born at Voorhoot, a village near this place, in the year 1688, and died in 1738. There is a proverb of his which deserves a marked attention, “The sparks of calumny will presently be extinct of themselves, unless you blow them.” I should have felt pleasure in staying longer at this place, but that I was desirous of getting to Brussels without delay. I therefore, in company with Mr. T—, one of the English gentlemen, the other staying behind with his lady, set off by the barge to the Hague. In our way, we passed the village of Leysendam, which we walked through to another barge, on the right of which is Catwick, where the last branch of the Rhine, which retains its original name, loses itself in the sands. At eight o’clock in the evening we reached the Hague, after a journey of three hours, and took up our quarters at the hotel of Marshal Turenne.