Dr Broion on Marine Denudation of the Friesian Islands. 271 



After the destruction of Nordstrand, the church of ISTord- 

 strandischmoor, with the neighbouring graveyard, was just 

 within the destroyed part of that portion of the island. 

 When the inhabitants returned, they petitioned the Duke of 

 Gottorp (an extinct twig of the Schleswig-Holstein stock who 

 then ruled them) for means to erect their church anew. His 

 Serene Highness graciously gave them permission to have a 

 church and a parson, and, touching the cost of the ecclesiasti- 

 cal establishment, suggested that they should sell the ruins of 

 the old church in order to get funds to build the new one, 

 and that the parson might be paid by the sale of the old 

 tombstones ! Submerged churchyards are common all over 

 the destroyed districts. Between the Hamburger Hallig and 

 tlie mainland there is an extensive old burial ground, where 

 a brisk business is done in fishing up the old tombstones — 

 generally made of sandstone, and of an elaborate description. 

 Indeed, as the strait between the mainland and this Hallig is 

 very shallow, it is proposed to dyke off the water and drain 

 the intervening space, for no other purpose than to allow the 

 tombstones to be recovered with greater ease. Tombstones 

 are indeed used in those parts for the most temporal of pur- 

 poses. I lived for some time in a house where the doorstep 

 was one of these memorials of the departed islanders. It 

 might be improving, but was, to say the least of it, not cheer- 

 ful to be daily reminded that " Hier ruhet was gewesen, Hen- 

 ning Eschels, geboren 1623," his three "frauen" and thirteen 

 " kinder." The Friesians, though speaking their own language 

 whilst living, always insist on being treated to a little Ger- 

 man when dead. On the western side of Sylt there is also a 

 sunken land, which got so gradually sanded up, that the last 

 time the church was used the congregation crept in by the 

 window, and the parson stood on a sandbank in front of the 

 altar. This was carrying the joke too far. Accordingly, the 

 sea stopped all such nonsense, and in the course of the week 

 took possession of the church and churchyard. For long, 

 however, the steeple stood above the surface, and the beU 

 rang dolefully as the waves beat against it, until it was 

 stolen by some sacrilegious sailors passing by. In the Hallig 

 of Oland the graveyard is on the same werft as the houses. 



