TRAVELLING IN BELGIUM
Travelling in Belgium is cheap and easy. The best way to see the
out-of-the-way parts of the country would be to journey about in a
barge on the canals. There are a great many canals. You could go all
the way from France to the other side of Belgium in a barge, threading
your way through fields, and meadow-lands, and villages, and stopping
every now and then at some of the big towns. If you read that charming
book "Vanity Fair," you will see that Mr. Thackeray, who wrote it,
says that once an Englishman, who went to Belgium for a week, found
the eating and drinking on these boats so good that he went backwards
and forwards on the canal between Bruges and Ghent perpetually till
the railways were invented, when he drowned himself on the last trip
of the boat!
But if that ever happened it was long ago. Nowadays, when travellers
are in such a hurry, the canals are only used for carrying coals,
timber, and other goods. They are largely used for that purpose. The
Belgians are very wise about their canals; they keep them in good
order, and send as many things as possible by water. It is not so
quick, but it is much less expensive, and a great deal safer, than
sending them by railway.
It is interesting to stand on the bank of a canal and watch a row of
barges moving slowly past. Sometimes a little steam-tug puffs along,
pulling three or four barges after it. Some are pulled by horses, and
often men or women labour along the towing-path dragging these heavily
laden vessels by a rope fastened to a short mast set up in the bows.
This is hard work, but the barge-folk seem to think nothing of it.
Whole families are born, live, and die on their barges. You often see
the wife or daughter of the bargeman steering, while the children are
playing on the top of the hatches, and the husband is doing some work
among the cargo, or just sitting smoking his pipe. These floating
homes are long and broad, painted in bright colours, with a
deck-cabin, the windows of which are often hung with pretty curtains.
The children run about, and seem never to tumble overboard. If they
did they would be easily pulled out, for the barges are very low in
the water.
As the country is so flat, bicycling is easy, and alongside most of
the roads there is a path made for this purpose, which is kept up by a
tax everyone who has a bicycle must pay. Always remember that if you
meet another person you keep to the right, and not, as in England, to
the left. The same rule applies to driving in a carriage or riding a
horse.
The Belgians have an excellent system of light district railways,
which run in all directions, some worked by steam and some by
electricity. These are very useful, for the trains stop at every
village, however small, and the country people can easily go to market
or to visit each other. Outside each carriage there is a platform, on
which you can stand and see the country. The fares are low, and you
can go a long way for a few pence. The carriages are open from end to
end, and if you travel in one of them you will generally see a crowd
of peasants in blue blouses, old women in long black cloaks and white
caps, priests, and soldiers (who only pay half-price), the men all
smoking, and the women talking about what they have bought, or what
they are going to buy. They are always talking about that, and,
indeed, seem never to speak about anything else. A few hours' journey
in one of these district railways, which are called the
_Chemins-de-fer-Vicinaux_, is a far better way of getting a peep at
the Belgian people than rushing along in an express train from one big
town to another.
The first railway on the Continent of Europe was in Belgium. It was
opened seventy-four years ago--in May, 1835--and ran from Brussels,
the capital of Belgium, to Malines, a town which you will see on the
map. There are now, of course, a great many railways, which belong to
the State and not, as in England, to private companies.
Season tickets are much used on Belgian railways. For instance, anyone
wishing to travel for five days on end has only to pay £1 4s. 7d. for
a first-class ticket, 16s. 5d. for a second-class, or 9s. 5d. for a
third-class. For these small sums you can go all over Belgium on the
State railways, stopping as often as you please, at any hour of the
day or night, for five days. All you have to do is to take a small
photograph of yourself to the station an hour before you intend to
start, and tell the railway clerk at the booking-office by which class
you wish to travel, and when you go back to the station you will find
your ticket ready, with your photograph pasted on it, so that the
guards may know that you are the person to whom it belongs. You then
pay for it, and leave 4s. more, which are given back at whatever
station your trip may end. There are also tickets for longer periods
than five days. You can send a letter instead of going to the station.
You can write from England, and find your ticket waiting for you at
Ostend or Antwerp, or any other place in Belgium from which you may
intend to start on your journey. This is very convenient, for it saves
the trouble of buying a fresh ticket each day. Besides, it is a great
deal cheaper. These tickets are called _abonnements_.
There are also _abonnements_ for children going to school, and for
workmen. It is quite common in Belgium to be in a railway carriage
where, when the guard comes round, all the passengers pull out season
tickets.
There is one thing about travelling by railway in Belgium which
English people don't always know, and that is the rule about opening
and shutting windows. The Belgians are not so fond of fresh air as we
are. They sleep with their bedroom windows shut, which makes them
soft, and apt to catch cold. So they are always afraid of draughts,
especially in a railway train. The first thing a Belgian does, as soon
as he enters a carriage, is to shut the windows, and the rule is that
if by any chance there were, say, five people who wanted a window
open, and only one who wanted it shut, that one can refuse to let the
others have it open. If you are sitting near a window, and open it,
you may be sure that someone, who is perhaps sitting at the other end
of the carriage, will step across and shut it. They never ask leave,
or, indeed, say a word; they just shut it.
One day, two or three years ago, there was a great crowd in a district
train. It was July, and very hot. All the windows of one first-class
carriage were, as usual, shut, and it was so stifling that some of us
stood outside on the platform so as to get some fresh air. A feeble
old lady chanced to be sitting next one of the windows, and wished to
open it. All the other passengers refused to allow her. She told them
she felt as if she would faint from the heat. Not one of the Belgian
ladies and gentlemen, who were all well-dressed people, cared about
that. They just shrugged their shoulders. At last the old lady, who
had been turning very pale, fainted away. Then they were afraid, and
the guard was sent for. He insisted on letting in some air, and
attended to the lady, who presently revived. The other passengers at
once had the window shut again, and the lady had to be taken into
another carriage, on which everyone began to laugh, as if it was a
good joke.
Some Englishmen are always having rows about this window question; but
the best plan is to say nothing, and remember that every country has
its own customs, which strangers ought to observe.