Observations upon the Polders of Flanders. 67 



appeared ; and secondly, the expenses necessary to get rid of tlie water, 

 and to repair and maintain the dykes and sluices, depending of course upon 

 variable circumstances, and not reducible to any general rule. 



With respect to Eastern Flanders, ten years is considered as necessary 

 for the complete recovery of the greater share of its Polders, five years for 

 a smaller share, and two years for a very small remainder. 



The English reader, perhaps, is scarcely aware, that these Polders, of 

 such immense agricultural importance, are no less valuable as a military 

 defence. During the struggles between the Spanish and the inhabitants 

 of the Netherlands, in which the unconquerable spirit of freedom was so 

 nobly displayed by the latter, they with their own hands cut down the 

 dykes which they had with so much skill and labour constructed, the more 

 eflfectually to bafDe the invader ; and there are in truth few modes of 

 defence more effectual than such a measure. Too shallow for ships of 

 war, and too deep or muddy for land troops, the annals of the wars in the 

 Netherlands prove the inundated Polders to have provided a barrier which 

 it required no little skill and perseverance to overcome, and which enabled 

 the Dutch, though the weaker party, to prolong the national contest, until 

 the Spaniards were finally disheartened and beaten. 



In later years, the agricultural wealth of the Polders has been sacrificed 

 for a similar purpose. In 1832, the whole of that extent of country, called 

 the " Tete de Flandres," extending for miles along the Scheld opposite to 

 Antwerp, was laid under water ; only a few forts, a village, and a solitary 

 causeway remaining visible. This inundation was the work of the Dutch, 

 and was effected by means of a cutting, or "coupure," in the dyke opposite 

 to the citadel of Antwerp. These lands, which had been injured in 1830, 

 remained until a short time ago, still under water ; and from the long 

 continuance of the inundation, and the quantity of saline matter with 

 which the Scheld is there impregnated, it seemed to be the opinion of 

 practical men, that upwards of twenty years must elapse before they could 

 be restored to their former productiveness. Those who remember the 

 high tide which some thirty years ago laid the low grounds below Kings- 

 weston under water, can form some idea of the serious and lasting con- 

 sequences of such an influx. 



We add the following calculation, reduced from more extensive tabular 

 returns, drawn up for Eastern Flanders, under the direction of the govern- 

 ment ; it contains the average of three Polders, Calloo, Clara, and Pas- 

 segueille, the two latter of which formed part of the contested territory. 



Of these Polders, the total content is about G,328 acres; the total in- 

 undated, 3,837 acres. The duration of the inundation was, upon an 

 average, thirty-nine days, in the months of August, September, or October, 

 J 830 — 31. The expenses of repairing tlic dykes were estimated at about 

 362,071 ; of the sluices, at ^62,24.5; giving a total of 364,3 1 6 for the 

 amount of repairs. The average time required before the Polders would 



