e country is _Nederlanden_; the French name,
_Pays-Bas_; both of which have the same meaning--'low countries.' By
this time you have realized the literal significance of the term; for
nearly all the region consists of an immense low plain, intersected by
rivers or arms of the sea. A reference to the physical geography of
Europe shows you that the great northern plain, containing nine times
the area of France, or about one half the area of Europe, extends from
the Ural Mountains to the German Ocean.

"Doubtless the whole region now included in the Netherlands was once a
mere swamp, a wild and useless morass, unfit for the habitation of man.
Three great rivers, you perceive on the map, have their course, in whole
or in part, through Holland and Belgium--the Rhine, the Maas, or Meuse,
and the Scheldt.

"By a reference to your navigation charts, young gentlemen, you will
often find banks and bars thrown up at the mouths of rivers. At the
mouth of the Scheldt, several miles from the shore, there are Thornton's
Ridge, The Rabs, Schouwen Bank, Steen Banks, and others of similar
formation. At the mouth of the Mississippi, in our own country, you are
aware that large vessels find great difficulty in getting over the bar.
If we take a tumbler full of Mississippi water, after heavy rains in the
north-west, and let it stand a few moments, a thick sediment settles at
the bottom. This sediment forms the bar at the mouth of the river. The
sand and mud are carried down by the current, and when the water has a
chance to rest, it deposits its burden upon the bottom."

"But why in that particular place?" asked an interested student.

"Because the current of the river comes to a halt where it meets the
inflowing tide of the gulf, or when it has spent its force. These bars
are sometimes formed by currents resulting from the combined action of
the sea and the flow of the river, or by winds. A heavy gale has been
known to change the aspect of a coast, to shut up a harbor, or to open
one where there had before been no inlet. Cape Cod presents some
remarkable instances of these physical revolutions.

"The great rivers of the Netherlands, in like manner, have brought down
their sands and mud, and deposited them on what now forms the shore of
the country. The forces of the ocean, against which the Dutchman of
to-day has to contend for the preservation of his life and property,
assisted in making this country a habitable region. Certain wester