Nowadays, when travellers
are in such a hurry, the canals are only used for carrying coals,
timber, and other goods. They are largely used for that purpose. The
Belgians are very wise about their canals; they keep them in good
order, and send as many things as possible by water. It is not so
quick, but it is much less expensive, and a great deal safer, than
sending them by railway.
It is interesting to stand on the bank of a canal and watch a row of
barges moving slowly past. Sometimes a little steam-tug puffs along,
pulling three or four barges after it. Some are pulled by horses, and
often men or women labour along the towing-path dragging these heavily
laden vessels by a rope fastened to a short mast set up in the bows.
This is hard work, but the barge-folk seem to think nothing of it.
Whole families are born, live, and die on their barges. You often see
the wife or daughter of the bargeman steering, while the children are
playing on the top of the hatches, and the husband is doing some work
among the cargo, or just sitting smoking his pipe. These floating
homes are long and broad, painted in bright colours, with a
deck-cabin, the windows of which are often hung with pretty curtains.
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