sea.

But the curses of the despairing people had their effect. Far down in
the bed of the sea the grains of corn germinated, and a harvest of bare
stalks grew until it reached the surface of the water. The shifting
quicksands at the bottom of the sea were bound together by the
overspreading stalks into a mighty sand-bank which rose above the
surface in front of the town of Stavoren.

No longer were the merchant-vessels able to enter the harbour, for
it was blocked by the impassable bank. Nay, instead of finding refuge
there, many a ship was dashed to pieces by the fury of the breakers, and
Stavoren became a place of ill-fame to the mariner.

All the wealth and commerce of this proud city were at an end. Richberta
herself, whose wanton act had raised the sand-bank, had her ships
wrecked there one by one, and was reduced to begging for bread in the
city whose wealthiest inhabitant she had once been. Then, perhaps, she
could appreciate the words of the old traveller, that bread was the
greatest of earthly treasures.

At last the ocean, dashing against the huge mound with ever-increasing
fury, burst through the dyke which Richberta had raised, overwhelmed the
town, and buried it for ever under the waves.

And now the mariner, sailing on the Zuider Zee, passes above the
engulfed city and sees with wonderment the towers and spires of the
‘Sunken Land.’

Historical Sketch