HOLLAND, one of the provinces of the kingdom of the Netherlands, and, before the formation of that kingdom, the most considerable of the united provinces of the Nether lands, is bounded on the west by the German Ocean, or North Sea; on the north by the Zuydet Zee, which sepa rates it from the province of Friesland ; on the cast, by the same sea, which separates it from the province of Overysscl, and by the province of Utrecht, and part of Guelderland ; and on the south by the province of Zealand, and part of Brabant. It is situated between the latitude of 51° 40' and 53° 10° north, and the longitude of 3° 56' and 5° 30' east of London. Its greatest extent, front south to north, including the isle of Texel, is abou* 90 miles, and from east to west not above 25 miles in some places, and above 40 in others, it being of a very irregular figure, and extremely narrow towards its northern extremity. Ac cording to the calculation taken in the year 1554, there were upwards of 300,000 morgens of land in this province, each morgen being about two English acres. The states of Holland and Zealand, in a remonstrance made soon after this year to the Earl of Leicester, contended, that these two provinces, with all their heath, downs, and grounds delved out, could make in all but about 500,000 morgens ; and De Witt, in his work on the true interests of Holland, calculates that there cannot possibly be more than 400,000 morgens of land in this province, clown and heath not in cluded.
This province is divided into South Holland, commonly called Ug Holland ; and North Holland, generally called West Friesland, and sometimes Waterland ; there are also subdivisions, the principal of which will be afterwards noticed. Both South Holland and North Holland contain a great many considerable cities, besides a vast number of large and beautiful villages. In South Holland the prin cipal places are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague, Leyden, Haerlem, Dordrecht or Dort, Delft, the Briel, Gorcum, Gouda, ftc. Rhineland is a subdivision or dis trict in South Holland, the capital of which is Leyden : it contains within its jurisdiction 45 large boroughs and villages. This subdivision is bounded on the west by the. coast of Holland ; on the cast by part of the province of Utrecht, and by Amstelland ; on the north by part of the river Y, along the course of the dyke that goes from Haerlem to Amsterdam, and by the shallows and washes as far as Beverwic ; and on the south, by a line drawn from Montfort through °tidewater and Gouda to the Hague : it has its name of Rhineland from the middle branch of the Rhine running through it. All the inhabi
tants of this district are obliged by law, agreed to among themselves, to provide for the maintenance and reparation of the dykes, sluices, and canals within the district ; and they have a council which meets every Saturday at the Rhineland House, in Leyden. This council is composed of the Dyke•graaf, and seven assistants, called Heemraden. There are several islands belonging to South Holland : The island of Voornlees, between the mouths of the river Maese ; Briel is the capital : This island, along with the small adjoining islands of Goree, and Overslackee, form the territory called Voornland, which was anciently part of Zealand. The isle of Ruggonhill, to the east of that of Voorn, of which \Villiamstadt is the principal town, together with the isle of formerly belonged to Brabant.
North Holland is divided from South Holland by the river Y. The principal towns in it are Saardam, Edam, Morokendam, Alcmaer, and Hoorn. Across the mouth of the Zuyder Zee lies a row of islands, belonging to North Holland. The Texel island is separated from the North Cape of North Holland by a very narrow channel ; it is about eight miles long and five broad; it is defended from the sea by sand hills and strong banks ; there are several villages in it, and a large town on the east side, called Burgh, which enjoys the privileges of a city. As this island lies at the mouth of the Zuyder Zee, and commands the only passage to Amsterdam, the States have built a strong fortress on it, in which a considerable garrison is always kept. The island of Vlieland lies towards the north-east of the Texel ; it is about nine miles long, and two broad ; it has only two small villages ; and is chiefly remarkable for the great quantity of muscles found on it. The island of Schelling lies to the north-east of Vlieland ; and is about 10 miles long, and three broad ; there are five villages on it. These islands, together with several large sand-banks, break the rage of the ocean, and form two good harbours, or rather roadsteds, at the Texel and the Vile ; the first being a noted station for ships bound to the south, and the other for those bound to the north. The Wierengen, thus called from the great quantity of sea weed, named in Dutch, as in Scotch, Trier, is a number of little islands, n hich lie more to the south, on the coast of North Holland ; the principal of them is five miles long, and two broad, and contains several villages.