again, had excited so much terror and caused so much destruction. A
continued and violent gale from the north-west had long been sweeping the
Atlantic waters into the North Sea, and had now piled them upon the
fragile coasts of the provinces. The dykes, tasked beyond their
strength, burst in every direction. The cities of Flanders, to a
considerable distance inland, were suddenly invaded by the waters of the
ocean. The whole narrow peninsula of North Holland was in imminent
danger of being swept away for ever. Between Amsterdam and Meyden, the
great Diemer dyke was broken through in twelve places. The Hand-bos, a
bulwark formed of oaken piles, fastened with metal clamps, moored with
iron anchors, and secured by gravel and granite, was snapped to pieces
like packthread. The "Sleeper," a dyke thus called, because it was
usually left in repose by the elements, except in great emergencies,
alone held firm, and prevented the consummation of the catastrophe.
Still the ocean poured in upon the land with terrible fury. Dort,
Rotterdam, and many other cities were, for a time, almost submerged.
Along the coast, fishing vessels, and even ships of larger size, were
floated up into the country, where they entangled themselves in groves
and orchards, or beat to pieces the roofs and walls of houses. The
destruction of life and of property was enormous throughout the maritime
provinces, but in Friesland the desolation was complete. There nearly
all the dykes and sluices were dashed to fragments; the country, far and-
wide, converted into an angry sea. The steeples and towers of inland
cities became islands of the ocean. Thousands of human beings were swept
out of existence in a few hours. Whole districts of territory, with all
their villages, farms, and churches, were rent from their places, borne
along by the force of the waves, sometimes to be lodged in another part
of the country, sometimes to be entirely engulfed. Multitudes of men,
women, children, of horses, oxen, sheep, and every domestic animal, were
struggling in the waves in every direction. Every boat, and every