APPENDICES. 419

way. A little garden connects them with the houses, which are not much larger, and in the midst of which, towering high over all, rises the church spire. I have before alluded to the practice of giving a name to every resi. dence which can raise a koepel. It prevails here as elsewhere, and each one has its designation accordingly painted upon it, such as Vrede Vecht, Vechten dorp, Vecht en hof, Boom en bosh, and the like. Some have names of a Greek origin apparently, as Hodorama and Potorama. Oil the side of the river—he east side, which we had now reached—and directly opposite the village, stands the ancient Castle of Gunsterstein—the abode formerly of Oldenbarneveld—venerable martyr to party vengeance. It has been modernized, the towers and turrets have been removed, and it now presents a perfect pattern of one of that class of buildings in our country which delights in white paint and a cupola in the middle of the roof. It is, however, surrounded still by a moat, and has fine large trees in the park behind it.

“Breukelen cannot be considered a celebrity, unless it may acquire a reflected lustre from its greater namesake. It has given birth to no genius whose name is great even within the circumscribed limits of these provinces. It is, however, famous for its antiquity, if we may credit the marvellous, but still well authenticated fact that, in rebuilding the tower of the church, one hundred and fifty years ago, they discovered, under the foundation, coffins of stone, eight, ten, and twelve feet long, containing the bones of a gigantic race of men, whose existence is more ancient than tradition. The town lies in the midst of a marshy district, and hence its name; for Breukelen—pronounced BrurkelerÑmeans marsh land. And on this point I may quote a writer, with whom all the Dutch authorities on the subject concur, inasmuch as our home chroniclers have labored under a misapprebension upon the subject. ‘In all probability,’ says the author of the Kabinet van Nederlandsche en Kleefsche Outheden, ‘the name has the same origin as Maarssen, namely, from its marshy and watery turf lands—(van de drassige en broeckactige veen landen); and, although the name is spelled in ancient documents and letters Bracola, Broecke, Broeckede, Broicklede, and Brocklandia, they all indicate one and the same origin.’

“There are some curious points of coincidence both as regards the name and situation of the Dutch Breukelen and our Brooklyn. The name with us was originally applied exclusively to the hamlet which grew up along the main road now embraced within Fulton Avenue, and between Smith street and Jackson street, and we must, therefore, not confound it with the