The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1842-04-28

PARIs, 1912


intended to continue at some length INC n"i'a
of my travels, but the space which ha'e i'A''
the usual allowance of three sheets, VIII mol anu"
me to make much progress i
Ihsv;, with INV entry into Holland Rolling out oil
NV berth in little cuddy OF place, that was Dur
lesoue ON all steamboat cabins, went on DECK ana
looked TO either hank to see what sort oil country
was that famous Holland But saw nothing save a
dyke, beyond which l could distinguish now and then
the top of house. and the upper half OF tree the
surface of the country altogether invisible
This simple remark will give you an idea oil what
Holland is Ii is vast plain meadow, which be-
longs by nature to the sea- but which the industry OF
man has reclaimed, by damming out the sea, and
dammng in the rivers. If it were not for the dykes
very large part of the country would become once
more the bottom Of the sea. " In Holland the laws
Of nature to be reversed the sea higher than
the land the lowest ground in the country twenty
four feet below high-waer mark. In no other coun-
try do the keels of the ships float above the chimneys
of the houses and where else does the frog, croak
ing from among the bulrushes, look down upon the
swallow the house top" These things strictly
true, and though Dutch perseverance struggles man
fully to reverse the laws of Nature yet she some
times restores the level with terrible effect. Now
and then the the rivers break through the mas
sve dykes, and produce most terrible inundatons.-
Near the town of Dordrecht, on the WAL, which
passed on my way to Rotterdam, is great number
of low marshy islands, ntersected in every direction
by arms of the river and looking for all the world
like the tracts of marsh which line our coast. All
these islands were formed in l42l by inundation
q al nhah
The land has been in a great measure reclaimed and
is now successfully cultivated. The Lake of Haar-
lem, which is eleven miles in diameter has been al
most entirely formed by foundations, and the greater
part of the surface now occupied by the Zuyder Zee
was once dry land. To prevent these dreadful ca
lamties to which large part of the country con-
stanty exposed the Dutch have constructed dykes of
earth and stone, of immense strength, which set
bounds upon the nroads of the sea and rivers, and
upon the integrity of which their safety entirely de-
ponds for once the dykes broken, the sea resumes
her dominion and the Dutchmen become food for the
fishes. There is special corps of engineers employ
ed to supernend the Dykes and the cost of keeping
these bulwarks in repair not less than three mil
lions of dollars annually. Such is the tax which this
people pay to render their country habitable! But
of so many dangers, is sometimes of defence
If beset by invading army, they have but to cut
the dykes the lower parts of the country are laid
under water and the march of the enemy is at once
arrested. The history of Holland furnishes several
examples of this voluntary inundation of the country
to save it from the possession Of its enemies, and In
1874, a feet of armed boats was actually hoated
across the submerged territory to the relief of the
besieged town of Leyden The dykes are construct
ed of earth and stone and of various height and
strength according to the degree of danger which
they are intended to avert. In the more exposed
parts of the sea-coast they vast walls OF earth,
faced towards the by masses of granite But
there is no stone in Holland and they are obliged TO
import from Norway the materials of those stupen-
dous WI rks
The dykes which line both banks of the WAL
from its separation from the Rhine nearly to its
mouth, concealed the country almost entirely from
my sight, with the exception of trees and housetoPs
and an occasional village, until reached Rotterdam
There set my foot for the first time upon Dutch soil,
and beheld town such as had never seen before.
It is intersected in every direction by canals, and
large vessels find their way into the midst OF the city
The view along of these canals is strange mix
ture of sails and masts trees and houses My room
overlooked the very edge Of Of these canals ano
if had fallen from the window, should have tum-
bled plump into the water and such sweet bath
should have had The water is as dirty as that OF a
mud-hole and its odor is none of the pleasantest-
Rot erdam stands upon artificial foundation, form
ed by driving piles into the mud and sand, and by the
partial sinking of these foundations, many OF the
houses lean if tottering to their fall, or as
trying to shake hands with their neighbors over the
way. In making my way through the muddy ant
gloomy streets, in search of sights and novelties
was struck with the prevalence of a custom which
had before observed to certain extent IN Germany
AT the windows of almost all the houses are lltt
mirrors, placed obquey the outside, so that tn
persons placed within may command view Of wha
is passing in the street, without showing themselve
at the window took peep at all these little tel
tale refectors to catch glimpse if possible of wha
was going on inside, and the image of many
pretty face laughing at my weather-beaten straw ha
and my staring looks, took leisurey gaze at e'
cry object that attracted my attention
Three or four hours quite satisfied us with Rottel
dam. 1t is purely commercial town, and Ike a
others of the character, offers few objects oil IN
terest to the traveller So the morning after my al
rival, set off in the diligence for Amsterdam Th
ride of forty-ve miles comprises the most lnteres
ing portion of Holland passes through the towr
of the Hague, Leyden and HARLEM, but as did nc
stop at these places shall defer speaking OF thel
until my return from Amsterdam to Rotterdam
was sufficiently occupied for the time in looking
the strange and novel things that presented then
selves on every hand along the whole route. Which
ever way looked saw boundless expanse of vel
dant meadow, which seemed as if it had never bee
broken by the plough or the spade. saw no sort {