"
Holland seems alive with immense windmills. They grind corn, they saw
wood, they pulverize rocks, and they are yoked to the inconstant winds
and forced to contend with the water, the great enemy of the Dutch. They
constantly pump water from the marshes into canals, and so prevent the
inundation of the inhabitants. The Hollander furnishes good illustration
of the practical value of Emerson's words, "Borrow the strength of the
elements. Hitch your wagon to a star, and see the chores done by the gods
themselves."
To the west are seen the church spires of Haarlem, and its long canal,
which like a silver thread ties it to Amsterdam. To the east the towers
of Utrecht are visible, and to the north glitter in the morning sun the
red roofs of Zaandam and Alkmaar.
Far away stretched the waters of the Zuider Zee, which Holland plans to
reclaim by an enbankment from the extreme cape of North Holland, to the
Friesland coast, so as to shut out the ocean, and thereby acquire 750,000
square miles of new land; a whole province. At present 3,000 persons
and 15,000 vessels are employed in the Zuider Zee fisheries, the revenues
of which average $850,000 a year. It is proposed to furnish equivalents
to satisfy these fishermen.
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