The fisheries of Holland consist of those which are ried on near the coasts, and those which are carried on at distance. The shores abound with excellent fish, larly tarb.at and soals ; but for other fish, in consequence of the shallowness of the sea near the coast, the are generally obliged to go to the distance of more than five miles. The village of Scheveling is particularly re markable for the number of fishermen whom it. contains ; they are distinguished by their ruddy countenances and athletic limbs. The principal foreign fishery of Holland, formerly, was that of herrings : it was carried on from the ports of Dort, Rotterdam, Delft, Schiedam, Briel, Enchuy sen, &c. The time of departure for the fishery was about the 24th of June. The cod fishery, which is still carried on to a considerable extent, commences in October and ends in April. It is carried on upon the Dogger Bank ; what is caught serves not only for the consumption of Hol land, but forms one of its chief exports. The city of Lon don consumes immense quantities of cod, caught by the Dutch. The whale-fishery was formerly vested in a com called the Northern Company; it afterwards became open and free ; but, like all the other branches of the fish eries and commerce of Holland, was destroyed by the revo lutionary wars, and has not yet revived. It was chiefly carried on upon the coasts of Nova Zembla, as far as Da vis Straits, and upon those of Spitzbergen, Greenland, &c. The vessels engaged in this fishery, during its flourishing state, were about 300 in number.
The chief manufactures of Holland are linens, (many of which, however, are made in Silesia) pottery and painted tiles, woollen cloth, leather, wax, snuff, sugar, starch, pa per, Ste. At Haerlem, there are considerable manufac tories for the fabrication of fine linen cloths, dimity, satins, &c. which, though they have fallen off considerably, in consequence of the war and the measures of Bonaparte, still give employment to a number of workmen, and carry on a profitable trade with Brabant and Germany. The bleacheries of Haerlem have long been famous for the de licate whiteness which they give to linen cloths, large quan tities of which are annually brought hither from all parts of the Netherlands and Germany to undergo this operation; and before the war between Holland and Britain, and the improvements made in the process of bleaching, by means of the oxymuriatic acid, much was sent from Ireland and Scotland. The principal inhabitants of Amsterdam, and other neighbouring places, also send their linen to be wash ed and bleached at Haerlem. The superior whiteness of the bleacheries of this town is attributed to some peculiar quality in the water of the lake of Haerlem. Some wool len cloth is manufactured at Delft, and other places, but Leyden is the principal scat of this branch of manufacture: here is a large building for examining and sealing the cloth. This manufacture is at present in a very decayed state; half a century ago, there were annually made upwards of 100,000 pieces : and many thousand industrious work men were employed. The woollen manufactures, in all Holland, at the beginning of the 18th century, amounted to about 200,000 pieces of broad cloth, serves, baize, stuffs, &c. whereas in the year 1802, they did • not exceed 20,000 pieces; and in 1804, the whole manufacture did not amount to 400,000 ells of cloth. The effects of this decay were strikingly evinced at Leyden, the population of which fell from 80.000 to 30,000. The manufactures of this city do not appear, even in their most flourishing condition, to have rivalled, in the fineness of their articles, the looms of England; but their coarse cloths found a ready sale on the continent,and the East and West India companies procured them ready markets in the other quarters of the globe. As
the commerce of Holland declined, that of Britain increas ed; and the manufactures of Yorkshire deprived the manu factures of Leyden of the foreign markets to such an ex tent, that the Dutch merchants discovered it was for their interest to export English cloths in preference to the manu factures of their own country. The woollen trade of Ley den also received much injury on the continent, from the establishment of extensive looms in various parts of Ger many and the Netherlands, which then ceased to draw any considerable supplies from Leyden. In the year 1808, the minister for the interior made a report to the king or Hol land, on the state of the woollen manufactures, from which it appears that attempts were then making to improve the Dutch wool, by the introduction of Merino sheep, and to revive the woollen manufactures of Leyden. The manu facturers of this city are extolled for the durability, beauty, and excellent quality of their cloths and kersey meres ; and, from a passage in the report, it appears that Louis had conferred the golden prize of honour on the Ley den cloth. This report also gives some information re specting other branches of woollen manufacture in Hol land. Bucking frize, formerly imported from England, seems to have been made at Amsterdam ; the blankets of Leyden are mentioned as of excellent quality; and the silver prize of honour seems to have been conferred on the cam let hall of that city.
Delft was formerly famous for its manufacture of earthen ware, which rivalled the porcelain .of China, and was generally sought after and esteemed throughout Europe, for its elegance and beauty. In the year 1800, there were scarcely 500 persons employed in the potteries of this place ; whereas, in their most flourishing days, they gave subsistence to upwards of 10,000. The principal causes of this astonishing decay, independently of those which have produced a general decay of manufactures and com merce in Holland, are the immense quantities of porcelain, which, ror a century and a half, have been imported into Europe from China ; and the rival manufactures, which, during that time, have been established in Germany and England. The earthen ware of Staffordshire was some years ago so much approved of in Holland, that the states general, in order to protect the manufactures or Delft from absolute ruin, were obliged to lay duties on its im portation into the republic, which were so severe as to amount almost to an entire prohibition. Glass, especially glass toys, are made in several parts of Holland. The glass house in Rotterdam was formerly deemed the best in the Seven Provinces. It made a number of glass toys and enamel led bowls, which were exported to India, and exchanged for china ware, and other oriental commodities. From the universal practice of smoking among the Dutch, it may na turally be supposed that manufactures of pipes are by no means uncommon. There is a noted manufacture of them at Gouda ; they are remarkably neat, and a very extensive trade of them is carried on. They make also in the neigh bourhood of this city a vast quantity of bricks and tiles, the latter principally what are called Dutch tiles. At En chuysen, salt brought from Brittany is refined.