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Show Holland's Way. In several places the rivers In Holland Hol-land make their entrances to the sea over extensive sand-beds, the water being so shallow that large vessels cannot sail in it. Rather than remove the sand-beds, which were looked upon in oldeu times as a defense, since they then kept men-of-war at a distance, the Dutch adopt the plan of sending out two large flat-bottomed crafi to the small trading vessels that wish to enter the harbor. Arrived ou either side the ship, three pontoons, as they may be called are partially sunk by admitting water, and when their sloping sides are well under the hull of the ship to be carried, the water Is pumped out, and they rise buoyantly with their burdens between them. Across the shallows they then benr it In triumph, and lower It gently into the deeper water of the harbor. With equal care the return journey is made when the merchantman is ready to sail away. |