DOI Heft:
No. 11 (February, 1894)
DOI Artikel:Emanuel, Frank L.: Letters from artists to artists, [5], Holland from a Canadian canoe
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17189#0178
Holland from a Canadian Canoe
L
ETTERS FROM ARTISTS TO point by a hoary cathedral, at another by a fan-
ARTISTS. NO. V. HOLLAND tastic church steeple.
FROM A CANADIAN CANOE. Thus we proceed, quietly, through a fat, smiling
BY FRANK L EMANUEL. land deluged in golden sunlight. At Ouwerschie
we find that the canal is, as usual, considerably
above the level of the surrounding country, there-
fore, low on the water as we are, we see the land-
scape for miles around. First the glistening water
reflecting a clear blue sky, then a fringe of bowing
rustling rushes bordered by the canal bank, vibrat-
Dear A.,—She arrived at Rotterdam, on the
broad deck of the Maasstroom, safe and sound,
despite her having been sat upon by Dutch
emigrants and hauled about by eight Dutch sea-
men where the help of only two was needed. The
" she " referred to was the Roopitee, a Canadian
canoe hailing from the Upper Thames and bound
for Dutch waterways. The crew consisted of two.
who launched her down some steps on the
Boompjes and thus commenced the cruise. The
captain paddled us skilfully through rough water
past the ocean steamers on the Nieuwe Maas
river to the gates at the entrance of a broad
crowded canal, which we hoped would lead us
to Delft. We inquired our way of the bargees
as best we could, in a language of which the com-
ponent parts were German and just a smattering
of Dutch, sprinkled with a choice selection of
French and English parliamentary phrases. By
these means we successfully accomplished one or
two little circular tours, each complete in itself,
until at length, from one canal into another, we
arrived at an uncanny-looking archway, flanked
by heavy water-gates which marked the entrance
to a long tunnel lock. Into this we plunged at
the tail of a crowd of large sailing barges. The
gates closed behind us at the distance of a few
inches, leaving us almost in total darkness. To
be on a silent crowded thoroughfare under a great
city, in the dark, on board a canoe, with just
sufficient room to avoid being swamped by water "a fishing boat"
pouring through the gates'at our stern and by water
pumped out of a barge at our bows, was a novel ing in its turn with a wealth of rich green verdure
experience. At last the procession moved on, and the glow of yellow wild flowers, near us clumps
and after some time we were in the open again, of silvery willows, and further on the fields dotted
gliding along by the quaintest and most ancient of with lazy black and white cattle, with a distance of
streets, uneven lines of tottering, mouldering windmills and little villages, here and there a sail
gabled houses on either side of us, crowned at one gliding mysteriously between the pastures and on
166
• -•
L
ETTERS FROM ARTISTS TO point by a hoary cathedral, at another by a fan-
ARTISTS. NO. V. HOLLAND tastic church steeple.
FROM A CANADIAN CANOE. Thus we proceed, quietly, through a fat, smiling
BY FRANK L EMANUEL. land deluged in golden sunlight. At Ouwerschie
we find that the canal is, as usual, considerably
above the level of the surrounding country, there-
fore, low on the water as we are, we see the land-
scape for miles around. First the glistening water
reflecting a clear blue sky, then a fringe of bowing
rustling rushes bordered by the canal bank, vibrat-
Dear A.,—She arrived at Rotterdam, on the
broad deck of the Maasstroom, safe and sound,
despite her having been sat upon by Dutch
emigrants and hauled about by eight Dutch sea-
men where the help of only two was needed. The
" she " referred to was the Roopitee, a Canadian
canoe hailing from the Upper Thames and bound
for Dutch waterways. The crew consisted of two.
who launched her down some steps on the
Boompjes and thus commenced the cruise. The
captain paddled us skilfully through rough water
past the ocean steamers on the Nieuwe Maas
river to the gates at the entrance of a broad
crowded canal, which we hoped would lead us
to Delft. We inquired our way of the bargees
as best we could, in a language of which the com-
ponent parts were German and just a smattering
of Dutch, sprinkled with a choice selection of
French and English parliamentary phrases. By
these means we successfully accomplished one or
two little circular tours, each complete in itself,
until at length, from one canal into another, we
arrived at an uncanny-looking archway, flanked
by heavy water-gates which marked the entrance
to a long tunnel lock. Into this we plunged at
the tail of a crowd of large sailing barges. The
gates closed behind us at the distance of a few
inches, leaving us almost in total darkness. To
be on a silent crowded thoroughfare under a great
city, in the dark, on board a canoe, with just
sufficient room to avoid being swamped by water "a fishing boat"
pouring through the gates'at our stern and by water
pumped out of a barge at our bows, was a novel ing in its turn with a wealth of rich green verdure
experience. At last the procession moved on, and the glow of yellow wild flowers, near us clumps
and after some time we were in the open again, of silvery willows, and further on the fields dotted
gliding along by the quaintest and most ancient of with lazy black and white cattle, with a distance of
streets, uneven lines of tottering, mouldering windmills and little villages, here and there a sail
gabled houses on either side of us, crowned at one gliding mysteriously between the pastures and on
166
• -•