14 



and extent of the wonderful system of canals and em- 

 bankments which the kingdom of Holland presents. 



In a sketch of European agriculture, indeed, Holland is 

 deserving of distinguished mention. Above all other Eu- 

 ropean people the Dutch, though slow, have been patient 

 and persevering in their agricultural labors. Occupying 

 a few more elevated and fertile alluvial spots, in the midst 

 of downs and bogs, and marshes and lakes, and the end- 

 less ramifications of many rivers, they have century 

 after century struggled against nature. Draining marshes, 

 pumping out lakes, damming back seas and rivers, re- 

 claiming bogs, fixing by art the wandering downs, inter- 

 lacing their country with an interminable net-work of 

 gigantic canals ; — by such labors as these, they have ex- 

 tended the productive surface of their country, secured its 

 possession, and made its natural riches available. And 

 what makes their praise the greater and more deserved, is 

 the constant watchfulness and care which the retention of 

 their country demands. Exposed on the average of the 

 last thirteen centuries to one great sea or river flood, every 

 seven years, the possession of the land they have gained, 

 is never secure. Lying below the actual level of the sea, 

 large tracts of it are only preserved by the huge dykes 

 that surround them, and to maintain these dykes requires 

 unceasing vigilance, and a large yearly expenditure of 

 money. 



And though in past times the Hollanders have done 

 great engineering works, yet the spirit of the sires has not 

 degenerated in their living sons. The draining of the 

 Haarlem lake, now in progress, is the boldest mechanical 

 effort ever yet made in the cause of agriculture in any 

 country, and promises to add no less to the material 

 wealth, than to the engineering and constructive fame of 

 the United Provinces. 



