a town of the United Provinces, in Holland, situated in E. Long. 4° 10' N. Lat. 48° 49'.—In Latin it is called Haga Comitis; in French, La Haye; in Dutch, der Haag, or 's Graavenboge, i.e. the Earl's Grove or Wood, from the wood near which it is built, and in which the earls of Holland had a country-house. Though it sends no deputies to the States, it is one of the most considerable towns in Holland, pleasantly situated, and exceeding beautiful. It may indeed compare with almost any city in Europe, though geographers account it but a village. The inhabitants also breathe a better air than those of the other cities, as it stands on a dry soil, somewhat higher than the rest of the country. It has no gates or walls, but is surrounded by a moat over which there are many draw-bridges. Two hours are required to walk round it, and it contains about 40,000 or 50,000 souls. It is a place of much splendor and business, being the seat of the high colleges of the republic and province of Holland, and the residence of the stadtholder and foreign ambassadors; and there are a great many fine streets and squares in it. In the inner court all the high colleges and courts of justice hold their assemblies: there also the foot-guards do duty, as the horse-guards in the outer, when the States are sitting. De Plaats is an open airy place, in form of a triangle, adorned with neat and beautiful buildings: the Vyverberg is an eminence, laid out into several fine shady walks, with the Vyver, a large basin of water, at the bottom: the Voorhout is the most celebrated part of the Hague, and consists of the mall, and three ways for coaches on each side, planted with trees, being much the same as St James's park at Lon-

Vol. VIII, Part I. Hai-Tang, tiful effect to the eye. The flowers grow in bunches at the extremities of the branches. Each flower is composed of four petals, two great and two small, resembling in colour the bloom of a peach-tree, and which have almost the same figure as the blossom of our cherry-trees. The two large are cemented one upon the other, in the form of a purse; and when they blow, the two small blow also in their turn; and then the whole four represent a cross. The pistil is composed of very bright yellow grains, which separate gradually one from another by the lengthening of the filaments to which they adhere; they then open into little bells, and compose a small yellow tuft, supported by a slender stalk, which rises above the petals. The calyx, which sustains each of the flowers, is composed of two purple-coloured leaves, united in form of a purse. In proportion as the flowers grow and increase in size, the two leaves of the calyx open, become pale and dry, and drop off. The flowers, supported by small stalks, separate one from the other, and produce of themselves other flowers, which rise up from a new calyx.

This plant is propagated from seed, but with difficulty. It thrives best in a sandy soil; dung or mould destroy it; and great care must be taken to refresh it only with the purest water. As it cannot endure the sun in any season, it is always planted below walls that are exposed to the north. It generally begins to flower about the end of August. After it has produced seed, all its branches are cut; and it commonly shoots forth new ones before the spring following; but it is necessary to heap up gravel and pieces of brick round its roots, to prevent them from rotting. Notwithstanding all the care that is taken to cultivate this tree at Peking, it does not thrive so well there as in the southern provinces. The smell of its leaves has an affinity both to that of the rose and the violet; but it is weaker, and never extends to any great distance.