368
The National Geographic Magazine
from Dutch Queen Juliana's royal House of
Orange-Nassau. So does Orange, Connecti
cut, down the road from New Haven.
Another discussion brought out the almost
incredible story of Holland's conquest of the
sea. The Dutch, since the 13th century, have
taken 2,700 square miles of their territory,
some 17 percent of their homeland, not from
their neighbors but from the waters. Floods
meant only single battles lost; nearly always
the Netherlands retook the lost ground and
went on to capture more.*
Steward Doubles as Teacher
Jerry, a steward, inspired some of his
charges to learn at least a few Dutch phrases.
Charlie was sleeping late one morning after
a bull session. Barging into the cabin, Jerry,
with a flourish, set a steaming cup of coffee
on his middle.
"Wakee! Oops, oops!" he said.
"If you can't do any better than that,"
said Charlie severely, "I guess we'll have to
learn your language."
"Yah, OK," said Jerrv. "Wakee oops!"
So Charlie promptly joined a deck class
held by a young Netherlands doctor, a former
Yale student, and next morning sprang the
fruits of the first lesson on Jerry. Shocked at
his pronunciation, Jerry settled down to giving
some serious lessons of his own.
One day the white cliffs of Dover loomed
over the port bow. The next morning, while
a brass band especially turned out in honor
of our group's arrival rooted and tooted on
the pier, the Groote Beer docked in Rotter
dam.
Our schedule said we were to assemble at
the railroad station the next day for the trip
to Brielle. Deciding we could cram in a visit
to Amsterdam and still make it, we boarded
a train and soon found ourselves rattling
through the Rotterdam suburbs.
Beside the tracks clustered gardens, some
gay with flowers, some wearing the solid green
of the vegetable patch. In the center of each
plot stood a little wooden shack.
"Now what do you make of those?" asked
Charlie.
"These we call 'pe°ple's gardens,' spoke
up an elderly gentleman across the compart
ment. "City Dutchmen come out here on
week ends and enjoy themselves under the
sun. They have not many hobbies, and this
they like so much they sleep the nights
here. The gardens are little because land
costs much where one must make it out of
water."
The train flew across land unrelieved by so
much as one small hill. Every available acre
was under cultivation in this densely popu
lated country only twice the size of New Jer
sey. Cattle roamed in unfenced fields.
"No fences, yes, but do you overlook the
drainage ditches?" asked our Dutch friend.
"Like moats, they keep the beasts where they
belong."
Soccer fields were exceptionsthey had
fences, maybe to keep the cows out. Such
playing areas fairly dot the Netherlands. We
found that Dutch youthsindeed, most young
Europeanscount soccer, or association foot
ball, their national game (page 385).
"You wouldn't catch me playing wing on
that field," said Charlie, pointing to one with
a canal for a side line. "Chase the ball out of
bounds, and you land in the drink."
"Ja," chuckled our friend, "no Dutch boy
is a citizen until he falls one time in a canal.
Football is one way to make citizens."
Sailboats plied even the narrowest water
ways. Sometimes they gave the illusion of
sailing through pastures. One appeared about
to ram a grazing cow.
Amsterdam was a maze of canals and
bridges. Countless pilings, driven into the
marshy ground, support the buildings of the
old section.
Low Country Was Made for Cycling
Cyclists engulfed us as we walked the
streets. One reason there are so many bi
cycles in the Netherlands is that there are
few hills. Traffic cops ticket a bike rider or
a motorist with impartiality.
"Now there's an idea for you," Charlie said
to Gibbv (Gilbert M.) Grosvenor, indicating
a couple riding side by side. "Look how the
boy friend shoves her in the small of the back.
She doesn't even have to pedal!"
Bikes had lights powered by small genera
tors run by friction against the front tires.
The trouble is that when the bicycle stops,
the light goes out.
One night we were driving down a dark
road; ahead a dozen taillights, glowing like
rubies, suddenly vanished. Sensing a mass
See, in the National Geographic Macazine,
"Mid-Century Holland Builds Her Future," by Sydney
Clark, December, 1950; "Holland Rises from War
and Water," by Thomas R. Henry, February, 1946;
and "Behind Netherlands Sea Ramparts," by McFali
Kerbey, February, 1940.
