352 GEEMANY. 



The dykes of the peninsula of Eiderstedt have a total length of 190 miles, and are, 

 on an average, 25 feet in height. They have nearly all been constructed since 

 the great flood of 1634, and no j^ains have been spared since to add to the 

 defences of the K'ôcje, or polders, and villages. The HalUgen are low islands not 

 protected by dykes, and rising but a few feet above ordinary high water. They 

 produce scanty herbage, and their inhabitants live in small cabins built upon arti- 

 ficial mounds, or "Avliarfs." At low water they are joined to the mainland by a 

 bank of ooze {Schlich), which it is dangerous to cross. They are gradually being 

 abandoned by their inhabitants, who are daring seamen. 



Amongst the rivers of Schleswig-Holstein there is but one which can claim 

 notice on account of the area of its basin, viz. the Eider. It flows in the depres- 

 sion which bounds Schleswig in the south, and the tide ascends it as far as 

 Rendsburg, which is nearer to the eastern coast than to the western. Its prin- 

 cipal tributary, the Treene, flows through an extensive swamp, connected by 

 means of a canal (the Kograben) with the fiord of the Schlei. This canal formed 

 the southernmost line of defence of Schleswig, and in its rear rose the famous 

 Dannewerk, an entrenchment thrown up in the ninth century, and defended with 

 some vigour in 1864. 



The idea of connecting the North Sea and the Baltic by a navigable canal is 

 an old one. In 1390 — 98 Liibeck constructed a canal which joins it to the Elbe, 

 and which is still in existence. In the following century Liibeck and Hamburg 

 were connected by a more direct water highway, which followed the course of the 

 Trave, the Beste, and the Alster, but was filled up in looO by the enemies of 

 the two cities. In 1784 a canal was constructed from the Upper Eider to the 

 Bay of Kiel, and vessels drawing 12 feet were by its means enabled to proceed 

 from the North Sea to the Baltic, thus avoiding the circuitous route around 

 Jutland. This canal, however, owing to the winding course of the Eider and 

 the delays caused by want of water, no longer responds to the requirements of 

 commerce, and the construction of a navigation canal has recently formed the 

 subject of much discussion. Several projects have been elaborated, all of them 

 requiring for their realisation a vast amount of money. 



Inhabitants. 

 The inhabitants of Holstein are more like the Germans described to us by 

 ancient authors than any other people in Germany. The Hokaten — that is, " Men 

 of the Woods " — occupied clearings in the woods and swamps, where they were 

 but rarely exposed to the attacks of strangers, whilst the DitmarscJifn, or Northern 

 Frisians, were secure in their trackless marshes and on their islands, and were 

 thus able to maintain their independence. The Baltic coast, with its bays and 

 fiords, was, however, readily accessible, and emigrants obtained a footing in 

 several localities. It was thus that Wendish Obotrites colonised the island of 

 Fehmarn and the peninsula of Wagria, Avhich extends from the Bay of Kiel to 

 that of Liibeck. In the twelfth century these Wends were pagans and inde- 



