iin ie Mita, a 9 SEBO ct

And so I come to the Hague - a large
city of international character, It is
the capital of Holland in everything
but name - that it cedes perforce to
Amsterdam, The Court is at the Hague,
the foreign embassies are there and in-
ternational conferences are held in the
imposing Peace Palace, You can spend a
very gay evening in the Hague amid en-
tertaining surroundings, with the click
of glasses in one's ear as a background
to the music, At one cafe I visited,
the dance band “crooner” was a bit of a
linguist and sang his songs in several

languages for the benefit of the mixed
clientel!
Of course I visited the Mauritshius,

the great picture gallery of The Hague,
Here is reality -- the thing as the
Masters did it, Holland, with her great
painters of the past isa valuable trea-
sure trove for the art student and art
lover,

The present-day Ministers of Holland
now condust their affairs behind the
red bricks of the Binnenhof, This was
a most interesting building to visit,
and I remember I! sat in the place of
the Dutch "Butter King", as our guide
explained the various points of interest
of the Council Chamber, I stood also
in the Courtyard of the Binnenhof and
gazed atthat beautiful little building,
the Ridderzoal (Knights Hall) which has
been there since the year 1250, or be-
fore, and in which Parliament is now
opened. Near these buildings stands a
grim old Spanish Prison. The old imple-
ments of torture were extremely grue-
some to behold. Of course one cannot
leave The Hague without mentioning Sche
veningen -- a rather frightening name.
It is a lovely seaside place and I
should like to join the bathers there
in the summertime.

Next £ visited Retterdams It is 4
city mostly for shipping. The chimneys
get mixed up with the funnels and masts
and a liner towers over the roof tops.

And now Amsterdam, This city consid-
ers Ltvselfy -eand. fightly so, the most

ug

important place in Holland. I spent a
whole morning in the famous Ryksmuseum
and so obtained a fleeting glance of
the wonders which it contains. It was
here that I saw Rembrandt's "The Night
Watch" -- a huge canvass whose richness
and beauty dominated the whole room.
I wish I could pass on all I saw here
but I have not the power.

The canals of Amsterdam are surely
the most beautiful in Holland, They
are tree-bordered and the houses which .
look down on them are restful and sed-
ate. Their reflection on the still
water is.so amazingly clear one might
easily step into the canal in search of
a front daor? The bridges which cross
the canals are vaulted and the flower-
sellers who ply their trade upon themin
troduce an attractivenote of color with
their baskets full of blooms. Although!
was there in the winter, baskets fullof
white lilies were being offeredfor sale
at many street-corners, by the flower-
venders’.

There is a Jewish quarter in Amster-
dam, a quarter of old houses in narrow
streets,where the diamond merchants live.
Rembrandt lived among these people for
years. His house is now a museum, It is
curious to find many gay little flower
shops in the midst of such dreariness.
The Jew's Market is brighter and one can
buy there a great variety of things,

One delightfulmemory I have of Amster
dam were the bells in the spire of the
old Church across the way from where I
stayed. In London at night I can hear
the clock fromthe neighboring tower boom
the hour, slowly and firmly--but in Hol
land there was nothingsedate about those
bells. They would ring out in full song
as though many bluebells had been given
the power of sound in ecstasies of ring=
ing tinkling melody at every hour. At
each quarter hour they would chime such
gay, tinkly little airs--I cannever for

et their music and charm.

ED. NOTE: This delightful travelogue by
Miss E, Tweedie will be continuedin our
next issue).