Page:A Tour Through the Batavian Republic.djvu/166

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154
TOUR THROUGH

the apex of the building. The front wall of the upper apartments projects so from the roof as nearly to hide it, unless viewed in profile; and the exterior of each room diminishes till that of the attic story is two-thirds less than the basement. To the aperture of the upper room, which is closed with a wood shutter, is commonly fixed a small crane, for the purpose of hoisting up wood and turf; and these cranes sometimes have grotesque heads carved upon them. The windows and doors of most houses are painted green, and the brick-work often white or black, where there are projections or diversity of masonry.

The principal streets of Leyden are broad, long, and well paved, rising in the middle, so that no water can remain upon them, and the same rigid cleanliness prevails here as in other parts of Holland. The street in which the stadthouse is placed, is accounted by the inhabitants of this city one of the finest in Europe. It extends, with an inconsiderable curve, from one extremity of Leyden to the other, and is about two miles in