73 



HOLLAND. 



Soil. 



Progressive 

 geography 

 of the Zuy. 

 dsr Zee. 



the rivers being generally rendered unnavigable by the 

 ice for a considerable length of time. In the spring, 

 which is very short, and by no means agreeable, the 

 sharp cold winds frequently blast the blossoms of the 

 fruit trees. The summers are not unfrequently very 

 hot. The climate is also disagreeable and unwhole- 

 some, from sudden and extreme changes of tempera- 

 ture. The east wind generally blows nearly the whole 

 of the winter, and is extremely fierce ; but it serves to 

 drive away the fogs, with which this country is dread- 

 fully plagued. The moisture of the air is such, espe- 

 cially about Leyden, that all metals are apt to rust, and 

 even the wood to mould. The climate about William- 

 staclt is particularly unwholesome, from the extreme 

 flatness and marshiness of the ground ; whereas, about 

 Naerden, where the country is high and sandy, the air 

 is by no means bad. The soil of Holland is in gene- 

 ral uncommonly rich, being in fact alluvial, and con- 

 sisting of deep fat loam ; in some parts, however, it 

 consists of a barren sand. The soil of North Holland, 

 especially in the drained land called the Bemster, is 

 particula'rly rich. The country near the village of 

 Schagen is reckoned to possess the richest soil in Eu- 

 rope. Land is sold here at double the rate of any other 

 in Holland, there having been trees upon it, one of 

 which, upwards of a century ago, yielded the owner 

 as much fruit in one year as brought him \0 ster- 

 ling ; and a sheep, bred here, was sold, about the same 

 time, for the same sum. 



The progressive geography of Holland is so interest- 

 ing and important, that we have no doubt our readers 

 will pardon us for dwelling on it pretty fully and mi- 

 nutely. It naturally divides itself into what respects 

 the formation or extension of the Zuyder Zee, the al- 

 teration in the course, and the diminution of the size 

 of the Rhine, so far as it is connected with Holland, 

 and the changes which the breaking in, or draining off, 

 of the sea has produced in different parts of this pro- 

 vince. 



From the name of West Friesland, which is given to 

 North Holland, it is highly probable that part, at least 

 of this division of the province of Holland, was for- 

 merly united to East Friesland. How much of it be- 

 longed to the Frisia Occidentalis of the ancients is 

 not accurately known : some geographers are of opi- 

 nion, that only that part to the north-east, in which 

 Hoorn, Enchuyzen, and Medenblic are situated, was 

 the ancient Frisia Occidentalis. From the description 

 of Tacitus, it is evident that, in his time, no other dis- 

 tinction was known but that of greater or lesser Pri- 

 sons ; and that distinction arose entirely from the num- 

 ber of the forces which each could respectively bring 

 into the field. He informs us, that among the Prisons 

 were great lakes, evidently implying that they were of 

 fresh water ; and this is made yet plainer by the ex- 

 pression ambiunlque immensos lacus, which prove* that 

 these lakes were inhabited round by these nations. 

 Hence it is probable that the more inland part of 

 what is now the Zuyder Zee, was one of the lakes 

 mentioned by Tacitus, between which and the Texel 

 and Vlie islands, there lay anciently a large tract 

 of land. This opinion is strengthened by several cir- 

 cumstances. These islands lie still in a contiguous 

 line, and Hke the broken remains of a continued coast. 

 The sea here, -too, is remarkably shallow, and the 

 sands through the whoje extent very flat. From the 

 inspection of the accurate maps of the ancient and mid- 

 dle geography of Gaul, by D'Anville, it will be seen 

 that part of the present site of the Zuyder Zee was oc- 



cupied by a considerable inland lake called Flevo. HoilsnS- 

 This lay towards the southern part of the present Zuy- " VT"' 

 der Zee. The question then is, By what means, and P) 

 at what period, were the northern part of the Zuyder of^e^Zuy. 

 Zee formed, and the communication between this Sea der Zee. 

 and the ocean opened, or at least rendered so wide as it 

 is at present ? From the lake of Flevo ran a river of the 

 same name into the ocean. Formerly the Rhine divided 

 itself into two grand branches at Burginasiuin, the pre- 

 sent Schenck, about 5 miles north-west of the Colonia 

 Trajana, now an inconsiderable hamlet, called Coin, near 

 Cleves. The southern branch joined the Meuse at 

 the town of Meusa, while the northern passed by Ley- 

 den into the ocean. From this branch Drusus formed 

 a canal, bearing bis name, which originally joined the 

 Uliine to the Yssel, a river which flowed into the lake 

 Flevo. This car.al being neglected, the Rhine joined 

 the Yssel with such force that their waters increased 

 the lake of Flevo to a great extent, by which means it 

 was carried forward to the ocean by a wide gulf, in- 

 stead of having a communication with it only by means 

 of the river Flevo. It is probable, also, that the en- 

 trance of this river into the ocean was much widened 

 by the force of the waves ; for, at present, the violent 

 rage of the waves breaking in towards the mouth of 

 the Zuyder Zee, threatens the parts of North Holland 

 about Medenblick and Enchuysen, braving it over 

 the highest and strongest dykes of the province upon 

 every high tide and storm at north-west. The exact 

 period when the lake Flevo was extended into the Zuy- 

 der Zee is not positively known ; indeed it is proba- 

 ble that the increase took place at different periods. 

 We are informed by an old Dutch chronicle, published 

 by Vossius, that the increase on the south side, by the 

 breaking in of the inlet to the Texel, took place about 

 the year 1170; others say it was so late as the year 

 1400. The increase of the lake on its northern side 

 was probably at an earlier period, and also gradual. It 

 certainly was about the year 14-00 that the river Y be- 

 came navigable to Amsterdam by large vessels. 



In our account of the progressive geography of the of the 

 Zuyder Zee, we have partly noticed the changes which Rhine, 

 have taken place in the course of the Rhine. At the 

 same time that the lake Flevo gained its increase, the 

 northern branch of this river was weakened by the di- 

 vision of its waters; and even the canal of Drusus was 

 afterwards almost obliterated by the deposition of mud 

 in a low country. The Rhine seems to have been far- 

 ther divided and weakened by a canal cut by Civilis, 

 which, according to Cluverius, is the present Leek ; 

 though Pinkerton thinks the deviation of the Rhine into 

 the Leek was the work of natural causes. The same 

 author regards the Leek, which joins the estuary of the 

 Meuse between Dort and Rotterdam as the northern 

 mouth of the Rhine ; which, according to him, the 

 Waal continues to be the southern, both being lost in 

 a comparatively small stream, the Meuse. According 

 to other geographers, what falls into the sea near Cat- 

 wyk is not the Rhine, but a canal bearing the name 

 of that river. In the sea at low tides, are to be seen, 

 near this village, the foundations of an ancient Roman 

 castle, that commanded the mouths of the Rhine. The of the 

 Maese, running by Dort and Rotterdam, fell, as it Maese. 

 now does, into the sea, at Briel, with a powerful flow of 

 water ; but the sands, which are gathered for three or 

 four leagues upon this coast, having obstructed the exit 

 of the river, have caused or increased those inunda- 

 tions, out of which so many islands have been recover- 

 ed, and of which that part of South Holland is so much 



