16 Hans Brinker

Great flapping windmills all over the country make it look as
if flocks of huge sea-birds were just settling upon it. Every-
where one sees the funniest trees, bobbed into fantastical
shapes, with their trunks painted a dazzling white, yellow or
red. Horses are often yoked three abreast. Men, women
and children go clattering about in wooden shoes with loose
heels; peasant-girls who cannot get beaux for love, hire them
for money, to escort them to the dermis;1 and husbands and
wives lovingly harness themselves side by side on the bank of
the canal, and drag their pakschuyts to market.

Another peculiar feature of Holland is the “ dune,” or sand-
hill. These are numerous along certain portions of the coast.
Before they were sown with coarse reed-grass and other plants,
to hold them down, they used to send great storms of sand
over the inland. So, to add to the oddities, farmers sometimes
dig down under the surface to find their soil; and on windy
days dry showers (of sand) often fall upon fields that have
grown wet under a week of sunshine!

In short, almost the only familiar thing we Yankees can
meet with in Holland is a harvest-song, which is quite popular
there, though no linguist could translate it. Even then, we
must shut our eyes, and listen only to the tune, which I leave

you to guess.
¢¢ Yanker didee dudel down
Didee dudel lawnter ;
Yankee viver, voover, vown,

pr?

Botermelk und Tawnter

On the other hand, many of the oddities of Holland serve
only to prove the thrift and perseverance of the people. There
is not a richer or more carefully tilled garden-spot in the whole

1 Fair.