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HOLLAND. Canals. xix
the roots of which contribute materially to the consolidation of the
structure. Others are provided with bulwarks of masonry, or
protected by stakes against the violence of the waves, while the
surface is covered with turf.
The most gigantic of these embankments are those of the Hel-
der (p. 344), and of Westcapelle on the W. coast of the island of Wal-
cheren (p. 245). The annual cost of maintaining the latter alone
amounts to 75,000 fi., while the total expenditure through-
out Holland for works of this description is estimated at six
million florins. A corps of engineers, termed De Waterstaat, is
occupied exclusively in superintending these works. The con-
stantly -imminent nature of the danger will be thoroughly ap-
preciated by the stranger, if he stands at the foot of one of the great
dykes at high tide, and hears the breakers dashing against the other
side of the barrier, at a height of 16-18 ft. above his head. The
force of the old Dutch proverb ‘God made the sea, we made the
will also be apparent.
Aus intersect the country in every direction. They serve a
old purpose: (1) as high-roads, for purposes of traffic ; (2)as
drains, by which superfluous water is removed from the cultivated
land; (3) as enclosures for hous s, and gardens, being as
commonly used for this purpose in Holland as walls and hedges in
other count The Dutch canals differ from those in most other
countries in being generally broader, but variable in width, while
locks are rare, as the level of the water is nearly always the same.
Those canals, however, which are connected with the sea are closed
at their extremities by massive flood-gates, to prevent the en-
croachment of the sea when its level is higher than the water in
the canal.
The principal canals are about 60 ft. in width, and 6 ft. in
depth. Not only the surface of the water, but the bed of the canal
is often considerably above the level of the surrounding country.
The three most important works of this kind in Holland are the
great North Holland Canal (p. 336), 42 M. in length, 43 yds. in
width, and 20 ft. in depth; the North Sea Canal across ‘Holland
op zyn smaalst (p. 337), connecting Amsterdam and the North
; and the Willems-Canal in N. Brabant.
PoupER is a term applied to a morass or lake, the bed of which
has been reclaimed by draining. A great part of Holland and
Flanders has been thus reclaimed, and rendered not only habit-
able, but extremely valuable for agricultural purposes.
The first step in the proc of drainage consists in enclosing the
marsh with a dyke, to prevent the admission of water from with-
out. The water is then removed by means of water-wheels of pecu-
liar construction, formerly driven by windmills, now by steam-en-
gines. The marsh or lake to be reclaimed is sometimes too deep to
admit of the water at once being transferred to the main canals, and
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