mer passed nearer a bank, which Rollo soon
perceived was formed by a dike.

"See, see! uncle George," said he. "There are the roofs of the houses
over on the other side of the dike. We can just see the tops of them.
The ground that the houses stand upon must be a great deal below the
water."

"Yes," said Mr. George, "and see, there are the tops of the tall trees."

The dike was very regular in its form, and it was ornamented with two
rows of trees along the top of it. There were seats here and there under
the trees, and some of these seats had people sitting upon them, looking
at the passing boats and steamers. The water was full of vessels of all
kinds, coming and going, or lying at anchor. These vessels were all of
very peculiar forms, being built in the Dutch style, and not painted,
but only varnished, so as to show beautifully the natural color of the
wood of which they were made. They had what Rollo called _fins_ on each
side, which were made to be taken up or let down into the water, first
on one side and then on the other, as the vessel was on different tacks
in beating against the wind.

Opposite to every place where there was a house over beyond the dike,
there was a line of steps coming down the face of the dike on the hither
side, towards the water, with a little pier, and a boat fastened to it,
below. These little flights of steps, with the piers and the boats, and
the seats under the trees on the top of the dike, and the roofs of the
houses, and the tops of the trees beyond, all looked extremely pretty,
and presented a succession of very peculiar and very charming scenes to
Mr. George and Rollo as the steamer glided rapidly along the shore.

In some places the dike seemed to widen, so as to make room for houses
upon the top of it. There were snug little taverns, where the captains
and crews of the vessels that were sailing by could stop and refresh
themselves, when wind or tide bound in their vessels, and now and then a
shop or store of some kind, or a row of pretty, though very
queer-looking, cottages. At one place there was a ferry landing. The
ferry house, together with the various buildings appertaining to it, was
on the top of the dike, and a large pier, with a snug and pretty basin
by the side of it, below. There was a flight of stairs leading up from
the pier to the ferry house, and also a winding road for carriages. At
the time that the steamer went by this place, the ferry boat was just
coming