The Dikes of Holland 



22 



ZEELAND ABOUT THE YEAR 1200. 



posited, building up the claybanks little 

 by little, until the}' became exposed at 

 low water in the shape of mudflats. 



As early as the year looo enterpris- 

 ing individuals had begun to build small 

 levees along the edges of these flats, in 

 order to prevent the tides from washing 

 over them, and gradually there arose 

 from out of this shallow body of water 

 a number of islands, the nuclei of the 

 present archipelago. As the banks be- 

 came larger, built up by the river de- 

 posits, aided b}^ artificial devices for 

 catching silt, new dikes were built fur- 

 ther out into the sea, and the islands 

 grew slowly as piece after piece was 

 added to them. (See diagrams, p. 226. ) 



The growth of these islands is an ad- 

 mirable illustration of the untiring and 

 steadfast persistenc}^ so characteristic of 

 the Dutch people ; for the work of re- 

 claiming land from the capricious North 

 Sea was fraught with much danger and 

 tribulation. Again and again during 

 severe storms the sea broke through the 

 dikes and invaded the land acquired 

 with so much painstaking labor, and in 

 several instances areas were irrevocably 

 lost. It must be remembered that this 

 land was obtained b}^ draining the water 

 from an exceedingly humid, clay-like 

 soil. This drying-out process, for such 

 it really was, entailed as a natural result 

 a shrinkage of the solid materials, which 



