DRAINING OF THE ZUIDERZEE. 493 
not less than two thousand square miles, or about one million 
three hundred thousand acres. The seaward half, or that por- 
tion lying north-west of a line drawn from Enkhuizen to Sta- 
voren, is believed to have been converted from a marsh to an 
open bay since the fifth century after Christ, and this change 
is ascribed, partly if not wholly, to the interference of man 
with the order of nature. The Zuiderzee communicates with 
the sea by at least six considerable channels, separated from 
each other by low islands, and the tide rises within the basin to 
the heicht of three feet. To drain the Zuiderzee, these chan- 
nels must first be closed and the passage of the tidal flood 
through them cut off. If this be done, the coast currents will 
be restored approximately to the lines they followed fourteen 
or fifteen centuries ago, and there can be little doubt that an 
appreciable effect will thus be produced upon all the tidal 
phenomena of that coast, and, of course, upon the maritime 
geography of Holland. 
A ring-dike and canal must then be constructed around the 
landward side of the basin, to exclude and carry off the fresh- 
water streams which now empty into it. One of these, the 
Ijssel, a considerable river, has a course of eighty miles, and is, 
in fact, one of the outlets of the Rhine, though augmented by 
the waters of several independent tributaries. These prepa- 
rations being made, and perhaps transverse dikes erected at 
convenient points for dividing the gulf into smaller portions, 
the water must be pumped out by machinery, in substantially 
the same way as in the case of the Lakeof Haarlem.* No safe 
calculations can be made as to the expenditure of time and 
money required for the execution of this stupendous enter- 
prise, but I believe its practicability is not denied by compe- 
tent judges, though doubts are entertained as to its financial 
* The dependence of man upon the aid of spontaneous nature, in his most 
arduous material works, is curiously illustrated by the fact that one of the 
most serious difficulties to be encountered in executing this gigantic scheme is 
that of procuring brushwood for the fascines to be employedin the embank- 
ments. See Diggelen’s pamphlet, ‘‘ Groote Werken in Nederland.” 
