GENEEAL FEATURES, ETC. 385 



hemmed in by cavernous cliffs ; the Ourthe, which attracts numerous visitors from 

 Liège in summer, and its tributary the Ambleve, abounding in cascades, rocks, 

 and ancient castles ; and the Yesdre, of which the travellers by railway obtain 

 occasional glimpses — all these rivers, no less than the Meuse itself, abound in 

 picturesque scenery. The Yesdre disappears twice in subterranean channels, first 

 between Limburg and Yerviers, and subsequently near Pepinster. 



The Meuse w^as a formidable river formerly, hardly inferior in volume to the 

 Mississippi. In the quaternary period its level was 200 feet higher than it is 

 now, and above the gorge of Dinant it was 5 miles Avide, instead of 200 feet. 

 That such was the case is proved by lateral terraces, the accumulations of gravel 

 and silt which cover the old banks of the river, and the fluviatile deposits dis- 

 covered in the caverns high up the cliffs. Documents prove that even four or five 

 hundred years ago the river was far more considerable, and yet our modern 

 engineers only succeeded with difficulty in giving the Meuse an average depth of 

 6 feet 10 inches, which renders its navigation with small steamers possible. The 

 Meuse can now be navigated between Sedan and Liège throughout the 3^ear, and a 

 canal, excavated alongside it, continues this water highway as far as Maastricht. 

 Where the Meuse leaves Belgium its volume is hardly one-twentieth of that of the 

 Rhine, which it joins lower down.* 



The basin of the Schelde (Scheldt), or Escaut, embraces the greater portion of 

 Belgium. On first leaving France that river flows through a plain as far as 

 Tournay, where it washes the foot of a few hills. At that town its bed only lies 

 52 feet above the sea, and it was easy, consequently, to convert the whole of its 

 lower course into a navigation canal, more especially as the tide ascends as far 

 as Ghent, where it is joined by the Lj's. The tide at Ghent rises 4 feet, and 

 it would ascend beyond that town if its progress were not stopped by a lock. The 

 Schelde below Ghent presents all the features of an estuary, and its water, a short 

 distance bej'ond Antwerp, is brackish. The tide ascends not only the Ru]3el, which 

 flows into the Schelde to thé south of that town, but also the three head-streams of 

 that river, viz. the Nethe (as far as Lier), the Dyle (as far as Malines), and the 

 Senne (as far as Yilvorde), within 7 miles of Brussels. The Rupel owes its 

 width and depth to the sea, being a marine channel rather than a river. Formerly 

 herrings were caught in such numbers in it that the inhabitants used them as 

 manure, and even now seals are occasionally caught near Antwerp. 



The rivers throughout the lowlands of Belgium have been canalised, and the 

 number of connecting canals is so large as to render it difficult to unravel the 

 hydrographical system of the country. The Schelde, IjJs, Byle, and Bender 

 actually discharge their waters by the same mouth, but according to M. Yifquain 

 and others they originally drained distinct basins. The Lieve, which joins the 

 Schelde and Lj's within the city of Ghent, is believed to be an old arm of the Lys. 

 So large is the number of natural water-courses and artificial canals that the most 



* Length of the Meuse to its confluence -with the Ehine or Waal, 491 miles ; length within Belgium, 

 120 miles. Average delivery where it enters Belgium (according to Guillery), 1,413 cubic feet; at Liège, 

 2,295 cubic ftet; where it leaves Belgium, 3,178 cubic feet a second. 



99 



