168 Sea Sands 



which is rugged and almost mountainous. The 

 dunes which protect the coast of North Holland, 

 with their abrupt slopes and hanging crests, have a 

 fantastic attraction of contrast as they loom across 

 the level meadows and bulb gardens. They are 

 notable hills, for their strictly modest height, with 

 a boldness of outline which would disgrace no loftier 

 range. In all weathers these sand-dunes have their 

 own characteristic scenery ; but they never make a 

 gayer or more inspiriting landscape than after a 

 crossing from England on a fine night in summer, 

 when the sun rises as we draw near the Dutch coast. 

 Sunrise is a natural accompaniment of North Sea 

 landscapes, as sunset is of those of the Atlantic. 

 But as the light gathers on the golden heaps of the 

 dunes, and pours between them down the slopes 

 on the nearer side, over a sea still in shadow, 

 we seem to be approaching the very land of the 

 morning sun. 



In grey weather the colour of sandhills sinks to a 

 dull white or sullen dun. In the darkness of a storm 

 almost all colour dies out of them, and they loom 

 like denser clouds of the driving sea-fog and spray, 

 accentuating the whiteness of the surf. When a 

 strong, easterly wind at nightfall drives the turbid 

 North Sea billows against the dunes on our own east 

 coast, the attack and repulse of the sea is full of 

 contrasts with the craggy shore of the west. The 

 waves themselves are shorter and more chaotic ; 

 and they pound among the pits in the sandhills 

 with a muffled thunder unlike the crash of billows 

 bursting on rock. The surf of the spent waves 



