ly and
south-westerly winds drive the waters of the Atlantic into the German
Ocean. The coast of the country, you see by the map, is exposed to the
longest sweep of the wind from the north-west, and the most violent
tempests to which Holland is exposed come from that direction. Now, what
is the effect of these storms?"

"They pile up the sand-bars," replied Captain Kendall.

"Precisely so; the dunes and ridges of sand which border the country
from the straits of Dover to the Texel are caused by these violent winds
from the north-west. The effect of this piling up of the sands was
eventually to limit, in a measure, the boundary of the sea. The dunes
and ridges formed the foundation for the dikes which the industrious and
persevering Dutchman has erected upon them, and by which he has made
his country. For the want of time, I shall defer the physical features
of Holland, and a more particular description of its dikes and ditches,
to a future occasion. In what country are we now?"

"In Belgium, sir," replied McLeish, who always answered when he could,
though in general knowledge he was far behind his American classmates.

"What is the French name?"

"_La Belgique._"

"The German?"

"_Belgien._"

"What is the French adjective?"

"_Belge._"

"There is a liberal newspaper published at Brussels, the capital of
Belgium, which is often quoted as political authority in the United
States, called the _Independance Belge_. What does the term mean?"

"'The Belgian Independent,' or 'The Independent Belgian,'" laughed
Pelham.

"But the first word is a noun."

"'The Belgian Freeman,' or something of that sort."

"Doubtless it will bear that rendering, though it means literally
'Belgian Independence.' Belgium is bounded on the north, and partly on
the east, by Holland; mostly on the east by the Rhenish provinces of
Prussia, forming a part of Germany; on the south-west by France; and on
the north-west by the German Ocean. It has an area of eleven thousand
three hundred and thirteen miles; that is, it is about the size of
Maryland, or of Massachusetts and Connecticut united.

"Its population in 1863 was about five millions, equal to the aggregate
of New York and Massachusetts. In New England, in 1860, there were fifty
persons to the square mile; in Massachusetts, which is the most densely
peopled of the United States, one hundred and seventy; but Belgium has
four hundred and forty souls to the square mile, and is the mo