The children run about, and seem never to tumble overboard. If they
did they would be easily pulled out, for the barges are very low in
the water.
As the country is so flat, bicycling is easy, and alongside most of
the roads there is a path made for this purpose, which is kept up by a
tax everyone who has a bicycle must pay. Always remember that if you
meet another person you keep to the right, and not, as in England, to
the left. The same rule applies to driving in a carriage or riding a
horse.
The Belgians have an excellent system of light district railways,
which run in all directions, some worked by steam and some by
electricity. These are very useful, for the trains stop at every
village, however small, and the country people can easily go to market
or to visit each other. Outside each carriage there is a platform, on
which you can stand and see the country. The fares are low, and you
can go a long way for a few pence. The carriages are open from end to
end, and if you travel in one of them you will generally see a crowd
of peasants in blue blouses, old women in long black cloaks and white
caps, priests, and soldiers (who only pay half-price), the men all
smoking, and the women talking about what they have bought, or what
they are going to buy.
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