Page:Things Seen In Holland (1912).djvu/43

 The next étape is to Amsterdam, the “Venice of the North,” built on hundreds of thousands of piles, the old Stadhuis, used for ten days in the year as a royal residence, having been erected on 13,659 piles driven into the ooze. As one wanders along its thoroughfares, the names of the streets, grachten (canals), singels (moats, girdles, or encircling ditches), and kaden (quays), tell the city's history to those who care to delve into it. A notable feature of this city, composed of some ninety islands, is the unusual height of its houses when compared with those of other Dutch towns. It derives its appellation from Gysbrecht II., Lord of Amstel, who built a castle there in 1204, and constructed the dam from which it is named. At one time it was reckoned the third city in the French Empire. It is Holland's money-market, and many Amsterdammers