f the boat!

But if that ever happened it was long ago. Nowadays, when travellers
are in such a hurry, the canals are only used for carrying coals,
timber, and other goods. They are largely used for that purpose. The
Belgians are very wise about their canals; they keep them in good
order, and send as many things as possible by water. It is not so
quick, but it is much less expensive, and a great deal safer, than
sending them by railway.

It is interesting to stand on the bank of a canal and watch a row of
barges moving slowly past. Sometimes a little steam-tug puffs along,
pulling three or four barges after it. Some are pulled by horses, and
often men or women labour along the towing-path dragging these heavily
laden vessels by a rope fastened to a short mast set up in the bows.

This is hard work, but the barge-folk seem to think nothing of it.
Whole families are born, live, and die on their barges. You often see
the wife or daughter of the bargeman steering, while the children are
playing on the top of the hatches, and the husband is doing some work
among the cargo, or just sitting smoking his pipe. These floating
homes are long and broad, painted in bright colours, with a
deck-cabin, the windows of which are often hung with pretty curtains.
The children run about, and seem never to tumble overboard. If they
did they would be easily pulled out, for the barges are very low in
the water.

As the country is so flat, bicycling is easy, and alongside most of
the roads there is a path made for this purpose, which is kept up by a
tax everyone who has a bicycle must pay. Always remember that if you
meet another person you keep to the right, and not, as in England, to
the left. The same rule applies to driving in a carriage or riding a
horse.

The Belgians have an excellent system of light district railways,
which run in all directions, some worked by steam and some by
electricity. These are very useful, for the trains stop at every
village, however small, and the country people can easily go to market
or to visit each other. Outside each carriage there is a platform, on
which you can stand and see the country. The fares are low, and you
can go a long way for a few pence. The carriages are open from end to
end, and if you travel in one of them you will generally see a crowd
of peasants in blue blouses, old women in long black cloaks and white
caps, priests, and soldiers (who only pay half-price), the men all
smoking, an