THE GREAT CANAL.
The commissioner knocked at Mr. George's door at the time appointed. Mr.
George and Rollo were both ready. Mr. George counted out the fifteen
guilders on the table, and James put them in his pocket. The party then
set out.
Mr. George wished to stop by the way to put a letter in the post office,
and to pay the postage of it. He desired to do this personally, for he
wished to inquire whether the letter would go direct. So James led them
by the way of the post office, and conducted Mr. George into the office
where foreign letters were received, and the payment of postage taken
for them. Here James served as interpreter. Indeed, it is one of the
most important duties of a commissioner to serve as an interpreter to
his employer, whenever his services are required in this capacity.
When the letter was put in, the party resumed their walk. The
commissioner went on before, carrying Mr. George's travelling shawl and
the umbrella, and Mr. George and Rollo followed. The way lay along a
narrow street, by the side of a canal. There were a thousand curious
sights to be seen, both among the boats on the canal and along the road;
but Rollo could not stop to examine them, for the commissioner walked
pretty fast.
"I wish he would not walk so fast," said Rollo.
"Ah, yes," said Mr. George, "he is right this morning, for we want to
get to the pier in time for the boat. But in walking about the town to
see it, it would be a great trouble to us."
"To-morrow we will go about by ourselves," said Rollo, "and stop when
and where we please."
"We will," said Mr. George.
At last the party came out to what may be called the front of the city,
where they could look off upon the harbor. This harbor is a sheet of
water called the Y, which has been before referred to. The morning was
bright and beautiful, and the water was covered with ships, steamers,
barges, boats, and vessels of every form and size, going to and fro. The
steamers passed swiftly, but the sailing vessels scarcely moved, so calm
and still was the morning air. The sun was shining, and the whole scene
presented to Mr. George's and Rollo's view, as they looked out over the
water, was extremely brilliant and beautiful.
The commissioner led the way out over a long pier supported by piles, to
a sort of landing platform at a distance from the shore. This place was
quite large. It had a tavern upon it, and a great many different offices
belonging to the different lines of steamers, and piers projecting in
different directions for the different boats and steamers to land at. It
stood at some distance from the shore, and the whole had the appearance
of a little village on an island. It would have been an island indeed,
if there had been any land about it; but there was not. It was built
wholly on piles.
Here were crowds of people going and coming on this stage, some having
just landed from the different steamers that had just arrived, and some
about to embark in others that were going away. Small boats were coming,
too, over the water, with passengers in them, among whom were many
peasant girls, whose foreheads and temples were adorned with a profusion
of golden ornaments, such as are worn by the ladies of North Holland.
Rollo looked this way and that as he passed along the stage, and he
wished for time to stop and examine what he saw; but the commissioner
walked rapidly on, and led the way to the ferry boat.
"You will walk on board," said James, "while I get the tickets."
So Mr. George and Rollo went over the plank on board the boat, while
James turned to a little office that stood near to get the tickets.
There was a man standing at the end of the plank to collect the tickets
as the passengers came on board. Mr. George, as he passed, pointed back
to the office where James had gone. The man bowed, and he and Rollo
passed on.
"How independent we are!" said Mr. George. "I shall have nothing to do
with making any payments all day to-day, and it will seem as if we were
travelling free."
The ferry boat was of a very singular construction, and most singular
looking people they were who were on board of it. It had a great flat
deck, which was of an oval form, and was spreading out very wide at the
sides. There were seats here and there in different places, but no
awning or shelter of any kind overhead. Rollo was glad of this, for the
morning was so fine, and the view on every side was so magnificent, that
he was very much pleased to have it so wholly unobstructed.
As soon as the chimes of the city clocks began to strike for nine, the
various steamboats began to shoot out in different directions from the
piers of the landing, and soon the ferry boat began to move, too. She
moved, however, very slowly.
"What a slow and clumsy boat!" said Rollo.
"I'm glad she is slow," replied Mr. George, "for I want to look about. I
should be willing to be an hour in going across this ferry."
The prospect on every side was, indeed, very fine. On looking back they
could see the buildings of the town extending far and wide for miles,
with domes, and towers, and spires, and tops of trees, and masts of
ships rising together every where above the tops of the houses. The
water of the harbor was covered with ships and steamers passing to and
fro--those near glittering in the sun, while the distant ones were half
lost in a smoky haze that every where softened and concealed the
horizon. Mr. George and Rollo gazed earnestly on this scene, looking now
in this direction, and now in that, but not speaking a word.
When they were about half across the Y, James came to Mr. George, and
said,--
"This ferry boat connects with a steamer on the canal, which goes to the
Helder, and also with various trekschuyts. We shall take a trekschuyt to
go for a short distance?--as far as to the place where we shall get a
carriage."
"Very well," said Mr. George. "Arrange it as you think best. Then we
shall go a short distance on the great canal."
"Yes, sir," said James. "You will like to see a little of the canal."
"I shall, indeed," said Mr. George.
The great canal of which James here spoke is the grandest work of the
kind in Holland, and perhaps in the world. If you look at the map you
will see that Amsterdam stands somewhat in the interior of the country,
and that the only approach to it, by sea, is through a great gulf called
the Zuyder Zee. Now, the water in the Zuyder Zee is shallow. There are
channels, it is true, that are tolerably deep; but they are very winding
and intricate, and they are so surrounded with shoals and sand banks as
to make the navigation very difficult, especially for ships of large
size.
The people, accordingly, conceived the plan of digging a canal across
the country; from Amsterdam to the nearest place where there was deep
water on the sea. This was at a point of land called the Helder.
The reason why there was deep water there, was, that that was the outlet
for the Zuyder Zee, and the water rushing in there when the tide is
rising, and out again when it goes down, keeps the channel deep and
clear.
So it was determined to make a canal from the Helder to Amsterdam. But
the land was lower, almost all the way, than the sea. This rendered it
impossible to construct the canal so as to make it of the same level
with the sea, without building up the banks of it to an inconvenient
height. Besides, it was just as well to make the canal lower than the
sea, and then to build gates at each end of it, to prevent the sea water
from coming in.
"Then how were the ships to get in?" asked Rollo, when Mr. George
explained this to him.
"Why, there were two ways," replied Mr. George, "by which ships might
get in. You see, although the canal is lower than the sea is generally,
there is an hour or two every day when the tide goes down, in which the
two are about on a level. Accordingly, by opening the gates when the
tide is low, a communication would be made by which the vessels could
sail in and out."
"But that would be inconvenient, I should think," said Rollo, "not to
have the gates open but twice a day."
"Yes," said Mr. George; "and so, to enable them to admit ships at any
time, they have built _locks_ at each end."
"Like the locks in a common canal in America?" said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George; "and by means of these locks, ships can be
taken in and out at any time."
"I don't exactly understand how they do it," said Rollo.
"Let me explain it to you, then," replied Mr. George. "Listen
attentively, and picture to your mind precisely what I describe, and see
if you understand.
"First," continued Mr. George, "imagine that you are down by the sea
shore, where the canal ends. The water in the sea is higher than it is
in the canal, and there are two sets of gates, at a little distance from
each other, near the mouth of the canal, which keep the water of the sea
from flowing in."
"Yes," said Rollo, "I can picture that to my mind. But how far apart are
the two sets of gates?"
"A little farther apart," said Mr. George, "than the length of the
longest ship. Of course one pair of these locks is towards the sea, and
the other towards the canal. I will call the first the sea gates, and
the other the canal gates. The space between the two gates is called the
lock."
"Yes," said Rollo, "I understand all that."
"Now," continued Mr. George, "a ship comes in, we will suppose, and is
to be taken into the canal. First, the men open the sea gates. The sea
can now flow into the lock, but it cannot get into the canal, because
the canal gates are still shut."
"Yes," said Rollo.
"And, now you see," continued Mr. George, "that as the water in the lock
is high, and on a level with the sea, the ship can sail into the lock."
"But it can't get down into the canal," said Rollo.
"No," replied Mr. George, "not yet. But now the men shut the sea gates,
and thus shut the ship in. They then open the passages through the canal
gates, and this lets the water out of the lock until it subsides to the
level of that in the canal, and the ship settles down with it. But the
sea cannot come in, for the sea gates, that are now behind the ship, are
shut. When the water in the lock has gone down to the canal level, then
they can open the gates, and the ship can sail along out of the lock
into the canal.
"Thus they lock the ship down into the canal at one end, and when she
has passed through the canal, they lock her up into the Y again at the
other."
"Yes," said Rollo. "I understand it now. And shall we go into the canal
through the locks in this way?"
"I don't know," said Mr. George. "I'll ask James."
So Mr. George beckoned to James to come to him, and asked him whether
they should enter the canal through the lock.
"No," said James. "The ferry boat does not go into the canal at all. We
go into a little dock or harbor by the side of it, and the passengers
walk over the dike, and down to the canal, where they find the boats
ready for them that they are to take."
"Why don't they pass from those boats through the locks, and let them
come across to Amsterdam?" asked Rollo, "and then we might get on board
them there, and so not have to change from one boat to the other."
"Because it takes some time, and some trouble," said James, "to pass any
thing through the locks, and it is not worth while to do it, except in
case of large and valuable ships. So the boats and steamers that ply
along the canal are left inside the lock, and the passengers are taken
to and from them by the ferry boat."
The ferry boat, by this time, began to approach the shore. It entered
into a little opening in the land, which formed a sort of harbor. Here
the passengers were landed at a wharf, which was surrounded by small
buildings. Thence they ascended what was evidently a large dike. When
they reached the top of the dike they saw below them, on the other side
of it, the beginning of the canal. It lay several feet lower than the
water of the harbor in which they had left the ferry boat; but it was
quite wide, and it was bordered by broad dikes with avenues of trees
upon them, on either side. On one side, under the trees, was a tow path,
and on the other a broad and smoothly gravelled road.
Two boats were lying moored to the wharves at the side of the canal. One
was a long, sharp, and narrow steamer, which was going through the whole
length of the canal to the Helder. The other was a trekschuyt, or canal
boat, which was going only a short way, to the nearest village.
The passengers that came in the ferry boat divided into two parties, as
they came down the dike. One party went to the steamer, the other to the
trekschuyt. Mr. George and Rollo, of course, went with the last.
The trekschuyt was a curious sort of boat. It was built like the Noah's
ark made for children to play with; that is, it was a broad boat, with a
house in it. The roof of the house, which formed the deck of the boat,
was flat, and there were seats along the sides of it, and a railing
behind them on the margin, to keep people from falling off. At each end
of the house were two flights of steps, leading up to the roof or deck,
and below them another flight, which led down to the little cabins
below.
As soon as Rollo got on board, he first ran up on the deck. He sat down
on the seat upon one side, and then, after looking about a moment, he
ran over to the other side, and sat down there. Then he got up, and said
that he was going below to look at the cabins.
Mr. George, all the time, stood quietly on the deck, looking at the
canal, and at the country around. He could see the canal extending, in a
winding direction, across the country; but the view of it was soon lost,
as the winding of its course brought the dikes on the sides of it in the
way so that they concealed the water. He could, however, trace its
course for some distance, by the masts and sails of vessels which he saw
at different distances rising among the green trees. Along the dike, on
one side, was a high road, and on the other, a tow path. Different boats
were coming and going in the part of the canal that was near. They were
drawn by long and slender lines, that were fastened to a tall mast set
up near the bows of the boat. Some were drawn by men, and some by
horses.
[Illustration: THE TREKSCHUYT.]
Before the trekschuyt had gone far, after it commenced its voyage, a
great ship was seen coming on the canal. She was coming from the Helder.
It was a ship that had come from the West Indies, and was going to
Amsterdam. The wind was contrary for her, and they could not use their
sails, and so they were drawing her along by horses. There were two
teams of horses, eight in each team. The view of these teams, walking
along the tow path, with the immense ship following them in the canal,
presented a very imposing spectacle.
The trekschuyt started before the Helder steamer; but it had not gone
far before Rollo, who had now ascended to the deck again, saw her coming
up behind very rapidly.
"I tell you what it is, uncle George," said he, "I wish you and I were
on board that steamer, and were going along the whole length of the
canal."
"So do I," said Mr. George.
"Could not we get on board?" asked Rollo.
"No," said Mr. George. "We cannot change our plan to-day very well. But
now that we have found the way, we can come over here any morning we
please, and take the Helder steamer."
"Let's come," said Rollo, eagerly. "Let's come to-morrow."
"We'll see about that," said Mr. George. "See, here comes a market
boat."
"Yes," said Rollo. "The man is towing it, and his wife is steering."
"Now we will see how they pass," said Rollo.
There was no difficulty about passing, for as soon as the man who was
towing the market boat found that the trekschuyt had come up to his
line, he stopped suddenly, and the advance of his boat caused his line
to drop into the water. The trekschuyt then sailed right over it. By
this simple manoeuvre, boats and vessels could pass each other very
easily, and generally the manoeuvre was executed in a prompt and very
skilful manner. But once, when they were passing a boat, the woman who
was steering it put the helm the wrong way, and though the captain of
the trekschuyt, and also the husband of the woman, who was on the shore,
shouted to her repeatedly in a loud and angry manner, she could not get
it right again in time to avoid a collision. The trekschuyt gave the
boat a dreadful bump as it went by. Fortunately, however, it did no
harm, except to frighten the poor woman, and break their tow line.
After going on in this way for fifteen or twenty minutes along the
canal, the trekschuyt arrived at its place of destination, and Mr.
George and Rollo disembarked at a little village of very neat and pretty
houses, built along the dike on one side of the canal.
[Illustration]