If you climb to the top of some dune, you will see before you a wide
plain stretching out as far as the eye can reach. This part of Belgium
is called Flanders. It is all flat, with canals, and long, straight
roads, paved with stones, running across it. There are rows of tall
poplar-trees or willows, which are bent slightly towards the east, for
the wind blows oftenest from the west, small patches of woodland,
gardens, and many sluggish streams. The fields, which have no fences
or hedges round them, are large and well tilled, some bearing fine
crops of wheat, rye, or potatoes and turnips, while others are rich
pasture-lands for sheep and cattle. The whole of this Flemish Plain,
as it is called, is dotted with farm-houses and cottages. There are a
great many villages, and in the distance rise the roof-tops and the
towers and spires of famous old towns.
Some of the villages are worth visiting. There is one called Coxyde,
which lies low among the sandhills, not far from the sea. The people
of this village live by fishing, but in a very curious way, for they
do it on horseback. They mount little horses, and ride out into the
sea with baskets, and nets fastened to long poles.
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