such as we have in America, are rarely met with in Holland. As for stone fences, a Dutchman would lift his hands with astonishment at the very idea. There is no stone there, excepting those great masses of rock that have been brought from other lands to strengthen and protect the coast. All the small stones or pebbles, if there ever were any, seem to be imprisoned in pavements, or quite melted away. Boys with strong, quick arms may grow from pinafores to full beards, without ever finding one to start the water-rings, or set the rabbits flying. The water-roads are nothing less than canals intersecting the country in every direction. These are of all sizes, from the great North Holland Ship Canal, which is the wonder of the world, to those which a boy can leap. Water-omnibusses, called trekschuiten,[1] constantly ply up and down these roads for the conveyance of passengers; and water-drays, called pakschuyten,[1] are used for carrying fuel and merchandise. Instead of green country lanes, green canals stretch from field to barn, and from barn to garden; and the farms, or polders as they are termed, are merely great lakes pumped dry. Some of the busiest streets are water; while many of the country roads are paved with brick. The city boats with their rounded sterns, gilded prows, and gayly-painted sides, are unlike any others under the sun; and a Dutch wagon, with its funny little crooked pole, is a perfect mystery of mysteries.
"One thing is clear," cries Master Brightside, "the inhabitants need never be thirsty." But no, Odd-land is true to itself still. Notwithstanding the sea pushing to get in, and
- ↑ Canal-boats. Some of the first-named are over thirty feet long. They look like greenhouses lodged on barges, and are drawn by horses walking along the bank of the canal. The trekschuiten are divided into two compartments, first and second class; and, when not too crowded, the passengers make themselves quite at home in them: the men smoke, the women knit or sew, while children play upon the small outer deck. Many of the canal-boats have white, yellow, or chocolate-colored sails. This last color is caused by a preparation of tan, which is put on to preserve them.
