Rollo in Holland Part 7

There were rows of trees on the sides of these raised roads, which formed beautiful avenues to shelter the carriage way from the sun. These avenues could sometimes be seen stretching for miles across the country.

"Now, pretty soon," said Rollo, "we shall come to the water, and then we shall take a steamboat."

"Then we do not go all the way by the train," said Mr. George.

"No," said Rollo. "The railroad stops at a place called Moerdyk, and there we take a steamer and go along some of the rivers.

"But I can't find out by the map exactly how we are to go," he continued, "because there are so many rivers."

Rollo had found, by the map, that the country all about Rotterdam was intersected by a complete network of creeks and rivers. This system was connected on the land side with the waters of the Rhine, by the immense mult.i.tude of branches into which that river divides itself towards its mouth, and on the other side by innumerable creeks and inlets coming in from the sea. This network of channels is so extensive, and the water in the various branches of it is so deep, that ships and steamers can go at will all about the country. It would be as difficult to make a railroad over such a tract of mingled land and water as this, as it is easy to navigate a steamer through it; and, accordingly, the owners of the line had made arrangements for stopping the trains at Moerdyk, and then transferring the pa.s.sengers to a steamer.

"I have great curiosity," said Rollo, "to see whether, when we come to the water, we shall go _up_ to it, instead of _down_ to it."

"Do you think that we shall go up to it?" asked Mr. George.

"I don't know," replied Rollo. "We do in some parts of Holland. In some places, according to what the guide book says, the land is twenty or thirty feet below the level of the water, and so when you come to the sh.o.r.e you go _up an embankment_, and there you find the water on the other side, nearly at the top of it."

When at length the train stopped at Moerdyk, the conductor called out from the platform that all the pa.s.sengers would descend from the carriages to embark on board the steamer. Rollo was too much interested in making the change, and in hurrying Mr. George along so as to get a good seat in the steamer, to make any observation on the comparative level of the land and water. There was quite a little crowd of pa.s.sengers to go on board; and as they walked along the pier towards the place where the steamer was lying, all loaded with as many bags, cloaks, umbrellas, or parcels of some sort, as they could carry, Rollo and Mr.

George pressed on before them, Rollo leading the way. The steamer was a long and narrow boat, painted black, in the English fashion. There was no awning over the deck, and most of the pa.s.sengers went below.

"I don't see what they are all going below for," said Rollo. "I should think that they would wish to stay on deck and see the scenery."

So Rollo chose a seat by the side of a small porch which was built upon the deck over the entrance to the cabin, and sat down immediately upon it, making room for Mr. George by his side. There was a little table before him, and he laid down his guide book and his great coat upon it.

"Now," said he, "this is good. We have got an excellent seat, and we will have a first rate time looking at Holland as we go along."

Just then a young man, dressed in a suit of gray, and with a spy gla.s.s hanging at his side, suspended by a strap from his shoulder, and with a young and pretty, but rather disdainful looking lady on his arm, came by.

"Now, Emily," said he, "which would you prefer, to sit here upon the deck or go below?"

"O George," said she, "let us go below. There's nothing to be seen on the deck. The country is every where flat and uninteresting."

"We might see the sh.o.r.es as we go along," suggested her husband.

"O, there's nothing to be seen along the sh.o.r.es," said she; "nothing but bulrushes and willows. We had better go below."

So Emily led George below.

"Rollo," said Mr. George, "if you would like to take a bet, I will bet you the prettiest Dutch toy that you can find in Amsterdam, that that is another Mrs. Parkman."

"I think it very likely she is," said Rollo. "But, uncle George, what do you think they have got down below? I've a great mind to go down and see."

"Very well," said Mr. George.

"And will you keep my place while I am gone?" asked Rollo.

"Yes," said Mr. George, "or you can put your cap in it to keep it."

So Rollo put his cap in his seat, and went down below. In a few minutes he returned, saying that there was a pretty little cabin down there, with small tables set out along the sides of it, and different parties of people getting ready for breakfast.

"It is rather late for breakfast," said Mr. George. "It is after twelve o'clock."

"Then perhaps they call it luncheon," said Rollo. "But I'd rather stay on deck. We might have something to eat here. Don't you think we could have it on this table?"

"Yes," replied Mr. George, "that is what the table is put here for."

"Well!" said Rollo, his eye brightening up at the idea.

"We can have it here, or we can wait and have it at the hotel in Rotterdam," said Mr. George. "You may decide. I'll do just as you say."

Rollo finally concluded to wait till they arrived at Rotterdam, and then to have a good dinner all by themselves at some table by a window in the hotel, and in the mean time to devote himself, while on board the steamer, to observing the sh.o.r.es of the river, or arm of the sea, whichever it might be, on which they were sailing.

The steamer had before this time set sail from the pier, and after backing out of a little sort of creek or branch where it had been moored, it entered a broad channel of deep water, and began rapidly to move along. The day was pleasant, and though the air was cool, Rollo and Mr. George were so well sheltered by the little porch by the side of which they were sitting, that they were very comfortable in all respects.

Before long the channel of water in which the steamer was sailing became more narrow, and the steamer pa.s.sed nearer a bank, which Rollo soon perceived was formed by a dike.

"See, see! uncle George," said he. "There are the roofs of the houses over on the other side of the dike. We can just see the tops of them.

The ground that the houses stand upon must be a great deal below the water."

"Yes," said Mr. George, "and see, there are the tops of the tall trees."

The dike was very regular in its form, and it was ornamented with two rows of trees along the top of it. There were seats here and there under the trees, and some of these seats had people sitting upon them, looking at the pa.s.sing boats and steamers. The water was full of vessels of all kinds, coming and going, or lying at anchor. These vessels were all of very peculiar forms, being built in the Dutch style, and not painted, but only varnished, so as to show beautifully the natural color of the wood of which they were made. They had what Rollo called _fins_ on each side, which were made to be taken up or let down into the water, first on one side and then on the other, as the vessel was on different tacks in beating against the wind.

Opposite to every place where there was a house over beyond the dike, there was a line of steps coming down the face of the dike on the hither side, towards the water, with a little pier, and a boat fastened to it, below. These little flights of steps, with the piers and the boats, and the seats under the trees on the top of the dike, and the roofs of the houses, and the tops of the trees beyond, all looked extremely pretty, and presented a succession of very peculiar and very charming scenes to Mr. George and Rollo as the steamer glided rapidly along the sh.o.r.e.

In some places the dike seemed to widen, so as to make room for houses upon the top of it. There were snug little taverns, where the captains and crews of the vessels that were sailing by could stop and refresh themselves, when wind or tide bound in their vessels, and now and then a shop or store of some kind, or a row of pretty, though very queer-looking, cottages. At one place there was a ferry landing. The ferry house, together with the various buildings appertaining to it, was on the top of the dike, and a large pier, with a snug and pretty basin by the side of it, below. There was a flight of stairs leading up from the pier to the ferry house, and also a winding road for carriages. At the time that the steamer went by this place, the ferry boat was just coming in with a carriage on board of it.

There were a great many wind mills here and there along the dike. Some were for pumping up water, some for sawing logs, and some for grinding grain. These wind mills were very large and exceedingly picturesque in their forms, and in the manner in which they were grouped with the other buildings connected with them. Rollo wished very much that he could stop and go on sh.o.r.e and visit some of these wind mills, so as to see how they looked inside.

At length the vessels and ships seemed to increase in numbers, and Mr.

George said that he thought that they must be approaching a town. Rollo looked upon the map and found that there was a large town named Dort, laid down on the sh.o.r.es of the river or branch on which they were sailing.

"It is on the other side," said he. "Let us go and see."

So they both rose from their seats and went round to the other side of the boat, and there, there suddenly burst upon their view such a maze of masts, spires, roofs, and wind mills, all mingled together in promiscuous confusion, as was wonderful to behold. In the centre of the whole rose one enormous square tower, which seemed to belong to a cathedral.

This was Dort, or Dordrecht, as it is often called.

As the steamer glided rapidly along the sh.o.r.es, and Mr. George and Rollo attempted to look into the town, they saw not streets, but ca.n.a.ls.

Indeed, the whole place seemed just level with the surface of the water, and far in the interior of it the masts of ships and the roofs of the houses were mingled together in nearly equal proportion.

The steamer threaded its way among the fleets of boats and shipping that lay off the town, and at length came to a stop at a pier. The pa.s.sengers destined for this place began to disembark. Mr. George and Rollo stood together on the deck, looking at the buildings which lined the quay, and wondering at the quaint and queer forms which every thing that they saw a.s.sumed.

"I should really like to go ash.o.r.e here," said Mr. George, "and see what sort of a place it is."

"Let us do it, uncle George!" said Rollo, eagerly. "Let us do it!"

"Only we have paid to Rotterdam," said Mr. George.