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xxviii Dykes. HOLLAND,
in much lengthier titles, which perhaps appear peculiarly appro-
priate to the occupants, but cannot fail to excite a smile when read
by strangers. Few of these country-houses are seen from the rail-
way, and the traveller should therefore endeavour to visit some of
the more attractive of those mentioned in the following pages.
GASTHUISEN AND Horszs. A Gasthuis is a hospital. The number
of benevolent institutionsin Holland, dating from earlier centuries,
isremarkably great. Hofjes are groups of dwellings, arranged round a
court or yard, and occupied as almshouses by aged persons. Oudeman-
nen and Oudevrouwen houses, orphanages maintained by the various
religious denominations 1 similarinstitutions are very numerous.
The Village Feasts (‘kermis’, literally ‘church-mass’, 7. e. the
anniversary of the foundation of the church) form a substitute for
the Carnival of Roman Catholic countries, but the gaieties on these
occasions too frequently degenerate into scenes of drunken revelry.
The popular refreshments at these festivities are ‘Hollands’ and
‘Poffertjes’, a kind of cake sold in the booths erected for the purpose.
The picturesque national Costumes, which are fast disappearing
from the larger towns, are seen to advantage on these festive occasions.
8,
aT
WINDMILLS (molens) are a characteristic of almost every Dutch
landscape, and often occupy the old ramparts and bastions of the
towns, which they appear to defend with their gigantic arms. Many
of them are used in grinding corn, sawing timber, cutting tobacco,
manufacturing paper, etc., but one of their most important func-
tions is to pump up the superfluous water from the low ground to
the canals which conduct it tothe sea. The highly-cultivated state
of the country bears testimony to the efficiency of this system of
drainage. Many of the windmills are of vast dimensions, each
sail sometimes exceeding 60 ft. in length.
Dyxxs. Holland, as a whole, is probably the lowest country
in the world, the greater part of it lying many feet below the sea-
lev The safety of the entire kingdom therefore depends upon the
dykes, or embankments, by which the encroachment of the sea is
prevented. In many places these vast and costly structures are
equally necessary to prevent inundation by the rivers, the beds
of which are gradually raised by alluvial deposits.
The first care of the constructor of dykes is to lay a secure and
Massive foundation, as a preliminary to which the ground is
stamped or compressed in order to increase its solidity. The dykes
themselves are composed of earth, sand, and mud, which when
thoroughly consolidated are entirely impervious to water. The
surface is then covered with twigs of willows, interwoven with
elaborate care, the interstices of which are filled with clay so as
to bind the whole into a solid mass. The willows, which are
extensively cultivated for the purpose, are renewed every three or
four years. Many of the dykes, moreover, are planted with trees, |