AMERSFOORT. 48. Route. 423

farther on, commands a w'de view. — About 6 M. to the N.E. of Baarn
are the fishing-villages of Bunschoten and Spakenburg.

Utrecht, see p. 437. The train thence follows the line men-
tioned on p. 448 as far as (51/y M.) Bilt, whence it runs via (10 M.)
Soesterberg, with the pumping-station of Utrecht waterworks, to
(144 M.) Amersfoort, where the Amsterdam and Utrecht lines meet.

Amersfoort (De Ziraan, R. & B. 2, D., incl. wine, 2/5 fl., with
café-restaurant; Hot. Place-Royale, Korte Gracht19, R. & B. 13/4-2f1.)
is an industrial town, with 24,000 inhab., sitaated on the Hem, in
the midst of a sandy district. In 1787 the 44th cent. Church of
St. Mary was partly destroyed by an explosion of gunpowder; the
tower (Lieve-Vrowwetoren), 342 ft. high, which was not injured,
built about 1500 (top restored in 1655), is the finest Gothic pyramid
in the country. It has a chime of bells by Fr. Hemony. The Joris-
Kerk (St. George), originally erected in the 12th cent. but practically
rebuilt in the 15th cent., contains a fine rood-loft (after 1500). In
the Museum Flehité are antiquities from the town and neighbour-
hood. The mediaval gateways of the town are interesting, partic-
ularly the Koppel-Poort, spanning the Hem. The old ramparts were
levelled in 1829 and converted into pleasant promenades. Outside
the town, 11/, M. from the station, is an eminence (160 ft.) with a
pavilion, which commands an admirable panorama.

From Amersfoort to Zutphen and Rheine, see R. 50; to Arnhem and via
Kesteren to Nymwegen, see p. AA9.

The next station beyond Amersfoort is (6 M. from Amersfoort)
Nykerk, whence a branch-line runs to Ede (p. 444). In the old
church of Nykerk are the tombs of the Van Rensselaers, the patroons
who founded Rensselaerwick, now the city of Albany in New York
State. Here too are the tombs and coats-of-arms of the Van Curler
family, one member of wliom (Arendt) founded the city of Schenec-
tady, while a second (Jacobus) was one of New York’s early school-
masters, and a third (Anthony van Corlear) is immortalized as the
Trumpeter in ‘Diedrich Knickerbocker's History of New York’ (by
Washington Irving), with whose name Anthony’s Nose and Spuyten
Duyvil, on the Hudson River, are associated. — 11 M. Putten; 14 M.

Ermelo-Veldwyk. The soil is sandy and tobacco is extensively
planted here, This district is the Veluwe, lying between the Zuider-
zee and the Yssel, and is one of the highest parts of N. Holland
(300-350 ft. above the sea),

17 M. Harderwyk (Hétel Baars, R.41/4-2, B. 3/4, D., incl. wine,
2 fi.), a small fishing-town on the Zuiderzee, is the dep6t for the
Dutch E. Indian recruits (‘het Indische Leger). The university,
founded in 1648, was closed in 1841.

201/. M. Hulshorst; 24 M. Nunspeet (HOt. Schmidt, pens. 3-5 fl.),
a summer-resort; 30 M. Elburg-Oldebroek; 36 M. Wezep. — 38 M.
Hattem, with a Gothic church (45th cent.; tower of the 13th cent.)
and an old town-gate. The Yssel is now crossed by a long iron bridge,