4 - THE LAND OF PLUCK

quarter of the globe. An account of its colonies is a
history in itself. In the East Indies alone it has under
its authority more than thirty million people.

It is said that the Greenlanders, in spite of the discom-
forts of their country, become so very fond of it that even
the extreme cold is considered a luxury.

  
   
  
 

In some such way, I suppose, the Hol-
lander becomes infatuated with water.
He deems no landscape, no pleasure-
spot complete without it. It is
Yu.) funny to see the artificial pond
that a Dutchman will have be-
neath his very window; and
funny, also, to see how soon the
pond will try to look like land,
by filming itself over with a coat
of green. Many of the city peo-
ple have little summer-houses,
or pavilions, near the outskirts
— _ of the town. They are built
: just large enough for the

family to sit in. Each
zomeriuis, as it is called,

is sure to be surrounded
by a ditch, if indeed it is not built out over the water.
Its chief ornaments are its little bridges, its fanciful roof,
and its Dutch motto painted over the entrance. Hither
the family repair on summer afternoons.. Mynheer sips
his coffee, smokes his pipe, and gazes at the water. His
vrouw knits or sews; and the children fish from the win-