Dr. Winstock had heard quite enough on the subject, and it was a great relief to him when the dinner-bell rang. At this moment three times three rousing cheers came over the water from the Josephine. It was not difficult to determine the occasion of this demonstration; but Mr. Hamblin declared it was another evidence that the students in the consort were all in league, and that the captain of her, instead of being cheered, ought to be in the brig.
Before the dinner was finished, a Dutch steamer, which Mr. Fluxion had engaged, came alongside the ship, and all hands were piped on board. She then went to the Josephine, and received her company.
"This steamer does not seem to be much different from those we saw in England," said Paul, as he seated himself with Dr. Winstock where they could see the country on both sides of the river.
"Not very different, but it is very unlike an American boat," replied the surgeon.
"The steering apparatus is not like anything I ever saw before," added Paul. "The helmsman stands on a raised platform, and his wheel revolves horizontally."
"All the Rhine steamers have that arrangement."
"I think a wheel-house forward is ever so much better. I see the cook is a woman."
"Yes; all the Rhine steamers have female cooks. This boat, I believe, belongs to the Moerdyk line. Passengers from Antwerp come by railroad to Moerdyk, and there take the steamer to Rotterdam. This country is very favorable to railroads in being level, but very unfavorable in the number of rivers and cut-offs to be crossed, which it is impossible to bridge."
The steamer stood up the Leck, and turned into the Merwe, which is a branch five or six miles in length, connecting the Leck and the Waal. On each side was a dike, of course; but the view from the steamer showed only an ordinary bank. The top of it was broad, and occasionally there was a neat cottage or a little inn upon the top of it. The roof or chimney of a house beyond it was frequently observed, otherwise the uninformed traveller would not have suspected the character of the country. The embankment was studded with windmills, placed on the highest ground, to give the sails the full benefit of the wind. Some of them were used for grinding grain, some for sawing lumber, and others for forcing the water up from the low ground into the river.
The steamer passed from the Merwe into the Waal, and stood up the river. There was but little variation in the scenery. The wall of dikes on either side was uninterrupted. Sometimes they were lined with rows of trees, between which was the common road; at others they were bare and naked. The captain of the steamer told them that a portion of the country in the vicinity was lower than the bottom of the river. The whole region seemed to be saturated with water, and the wonder is that the people can go to bed at night with any assurance that they will not be drowned out before morning.