Water is everywhere: in the air, on the ground, under the ground.
It is the land of dampness, the kingdom of water. It rains three days out of four. The north-west winds, breaking off the tops of the stunted trees, making them bend as if with age, carry heavy clouds of cold rain formed in the open sea. As soon as the rain ceases to fall, thick white mists rise from the ground, giving a ghost-like appearance to men and things alike. (Le Goffic's, "Dixmude").
Line of Defence near Noordschote.
The Battlefield.
Water, which oozes up out of the soil, giving a blister-like appearance to the soft clay covering, is found at a depth of less than three feet.
This water was carefully drained off, under the control of the Belgian State, by associations of farmers and land-owners ("gardes wateringues"). Countless ditches and canals ("watergands") skirting the willow hedges and intersecting the entire plain, carried away this surplus water.
All the canals and ditches communicate with numerous water-courses, e.g. the Yperlée, Kemmelbeck, Berteartaart, Vliet and many other nameless ones, which run between embankments into the Yser.