there banks make loans on diamonds as collateral.
During
the fourteenth century Amsterdam was an asylum for refugee merchants
from Brabant; but its enduring prosperity did not begin until the
sixteenth century, after the ruination of Antwerp by Spain. The
population of Amsterdam, according to a census taken in 1905, was
551,415 and it is now the chief Dutch money market, the home of the
Bank of The Netherlands, the diamond-polishing and cutting industry and
cobalt blue manufactories being its main industrial interests. The
principal square of the city is the " Dam," and canals and well-shaded
streets help to make the city picturesque. Places to see in Amsterdam
are the Royal Palace, a not particularly impressive building of four
stories and painted blue; the " Seaman's Loop," a kind of sailors' club
on one side of the " Dam," and the Ryk's Museum, which houses some
interesting evidences of Dutch industries as well as much
historical material. There are some exhibits of jewelry, gold and
silver plate, and art metal work that prove interesting to the visiting
foreign jeweller.
But the great feature of the city in the eyes
