78 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



upon the north-western coast with such energy that they de- 

 stroj^ed a very large tract of the country, and formed the 

 Zuider Zee, where farms and villages had previously existed. 

 At a still later date a terrific storm raged for many days, and 

 then rushed into the laud along the south-western coast with 

 such disastrous results that lives were lost by the hundreds, 

 cattle by the thousands and property destroyed by the mil- 

 lions. Previous to this time Dordrecht had been an interior 

 city, but it now became a seaport, in consequence of the in- 

 roads which the sea had made upon the land. 



The Hollanders were thus forced to suffer from the attacks 

 of two great natural enemies, appearing upon opposite por- 

 tions of their country, — the rivers from the .south and south- 

 east, and the North Sea with its storms upon the north and 

 west. There was still another and perhaps a greater danger 

 which threatened them in the occupation of the territory. 

 The land was sinking beneath them. We well understand 

 that some portions of our present coasts are slowly rising, 

 while others are gradually sinking. But the movement is so 

 very slow that when the shore is firm and rock-bound it 

 makes but little difference during the period of a generation. 

 This, however, was not so in the case of Holland. With a 

 surface that was already too low, and with a soil that was 

 very soft and easily disturbed, the subsidence of a very few 

 inches was enough to involve the resources of a nation. 



Under these adverse circumstances, it might seem as if the 

 country and its people were doomed to destruction. We 

 may well ask. Is there any power which can rescue such a 

 land? The answer is. Yes ; for there was a power that did 

 save it, and that was human industry ; and Holland stands 

 as she does upon the map to-day, the best geographical 

 monument to human effort the world can anywhere show. 



The accomplishment of this result has been obtained by 

 three processes. They first constructed and proceeded to 

 maintain substantial embankments along the rivers, to keep 

 them in their proper places. They also built strong and ex- 

 tensive dykes along those portions of the coast most threat- 

 ened by the action of the sea. Finally, they pumped out 

 the waters of the interior lakes and seas, and thus reclaimed 

 the lands for agricultural purposes. The extent to which 



