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 The fisheries, especially the herring fishery, are now on the decline, owing to foreign competition. It is not necessary to waste any sentiment over what will happen to the Marken and Volendam fisherfolk when the Zuider Zee shall have been partially drained. These good people have practically taken from that fishing-ground all fish fit to be put on the dining-table, and they admit it. In the future they will, like the hardy islanders of Urk, who chaff the others as “pond-fishermen,” have to sail out into the North Sea, or become “cow-milkers,” as the Dutch style landlubbers.

Peat-cutting is another industry which is locally profitable, as peat is the fuel used in the land for warming and cooking purposes. There are two kinds of peat—hard peat, or harde turf, as the Dutch call it, used in the stoves of houses and in my