Original . the moft northern people o f Belgic Gaul, and ïhconteftibly a German
t.iönt* ' o r Gothic-progeny. T h e Franks paffed the R h in e to th e fouth o f th e 1
B a ta v i; who appear- to have been fecure in their-marfhes and iflands,
| till the Frifians, t h e ^ x t adjaceht p e o p lem o v e n o rth , in the feventh
c entury extended themfelves even down to the Scheld. In th e eighth
century th e Frifians were fhhdued b y the .F ranks under Charles M a r te l; -
y h u t the Frifians and Franks may be regarded as paingled in the population
with the ancient Batavians.71
Trogreffive - , T h e progreffive geography o f this region becomes curioks and in te - '
Geography. re j^jng } from the fingular p h e n om e n o n 'o f ' the increafe o f th e ; fea.
U p o n in fp eö in g the accurate maps o f the ancient and middle: geography
7 o f G aul b y D ’Anvïllë| it- will be .perceived' th a t.th e Rh in e divided itfelf
in to two grand branches a t Burginafium or Schenkj about five miles
N . W . o f th e ' Colonia Trajana, ..now. an inconfiderable hamlet; called
Koln near Cleve's.
o fM o f a 'p r Meuvi ; while* th e n o rth e rn ' pafled by Durftadt, Utrecht,
and LeyjiePf ioto th e ipcean. From the northe rn ,hmnch was led the
canal- o f Drufus, which originally- lom e a .the Rh in e to ihe.rffil, ^.hiyer
th a t flowed, into a epnfiqerahle in la n d laké catiea Flevo, now A 'fèk th en t
portion o f the Xuyder X te . T h is canal o f Drufus'mj^rffg' rl^gltfited,
and left to the operations o f n ature, th e 'R h in e j oined th e Iffi I with fuch
force th a t th e ir conjuhdt waters incfeafed' the lake of Flevo to a -great
e x te n t; and inftead o f a" riv e r ó f theTanife n am e / wftreh VaW fór'rièai?
5 0 Roman mïTës'from th a t lake to the fea, tnefe was HjjSeSéd the'' Wide
gulph which now forms the entrance. Thismo'rthefn tó d c h ie f mêtith
ó f the RhiiW wasmat th e fame hifie/ wéaheöëa ana alttióft f c f tf b y fh ë
divjfioh o f its waters, and 'even the- ~canal Of D rkfus h v a ^ f t e f wafds
almoft obliterated b y th e depofition o f mud in a low country, in ’ the
fame .manner as lomé o f the ancient mourns o f th e Nifé 'have difap -
peared in th e Delta o f Egypt. '
T h e fout-hern. branch o f th e Rhine, which flotved ititO th e eftuary o f
the M eufe, as above m entioned,“was anciently called' '^ a h a lts , <a name,
retained in. th e modern W a a l; the ancient ifle ó f the Batavi being 'in cluded
-between the two branches ö f the Rhine, and thus extending
. 1 D ’Anville Etats form, in Europe, p. 26 .
about
about Roman milés^hi.iöngth by about 22 at,*thte^greateft bjeadth.
T h e eftuaries o f idle Meufe and .the* Scheld have alfo: been opened to
great in ro a d s from the o c e an : and the latter . in particular, which anciently
formed a mere delta, with four or five final! branches, now
prefents the iflands o f Zealand, and the. m.oft fouthern o f thofc o f H o lland,
divided b y . wide creeks o f the fea. Th is remarkable1 irruption- is
fuppofed to havé happened at the time th a t the Goodwin Sands arofe,
b y the diflfufion andiëonfequent ihallownefa;p f the 'water... Tnefe great
Changes may. be conceived to have made a flow and gradual progrefs;
and none, o f them feem fo ancient as the time o f Charlemagne. Some
o f them are fo recent as the fifteenth century,; for in 1421 the eftuary
o f ïfie M eu fe '1 h r «M^efe, fofm§dr4v’Y%ft, lgke fofthib. p. E. o f
D o rt, vi,llage]5x tp p ,o o a mhabit^pf^, who
p e tiih e d in the
^ By a fubfe^picnt -chan^e. th e R h inm jv a s ;^ am v fo b fdiv-ided; and ,a
■chief b ranch fell in to rth e Leek, w h lc lf jo in s the oiluaryjof the Meufe
between, D orp and, Rotterdam, and .tap&itpw, l ^ j e g ^ d e ^ a l th e no rth e
rn mouth .oRthat noble river ; while th e ^ ^ h a lis or Waal cmarpi-iiesj to
B e ?thejjfonthern-r b p . t b ■< bfi.ng^Xe^fln a cqmfiar^tively Tin all
fiteam th e Meufe. T h e l-efe- im p o s a n t variations* m ^nie1 gfogi apHy
m a y ^ t r a c e d - w^th. feme, jprecifion{ iu the-gr&ncic hifto'rians, and ophpr
writers o f the middle ages., '
, Amo n g (the chief hiftoricaleppchs.in.ay be n um be red,, r>
1. T h e actions o f the Batavi,451 th e >Rpmaa nm-pd, fröm, the Erft-
m en tio n pf-that nation by Julius <pasfar. ,
2. T h e cou.qu.eft by the Friifiapsy and afterward"^ b y the Danes? and
b y s ^ e )i r|'%hs>.;;
1, 3. T h e countries watered by the Meufe and the Rhine were m r a
long timp divided int% fmall earmpifig;; b u t ,Uheq4eiiLc
opJDiedrio, brpthexmf H e rm a n d u k e ,o f S a x o n y and o f WickmanlJkrl
o f G h en t, was appointed count of,Holland', fly Charles thé; 'Blmpie k |n ^
o f Franc e , and the ti'tle^became te r e a h iry , “ Z e a la n d atift. Trrflknd
. .* Cluver. ; 0S. iGuicciaidinij 2 7 1 . Sortie, authors, arbitrarily, affigó ïhéfe changes to violent
temperts, A . D.. S.6o ; others to il^Q. Gwcflar.dintp. 13. A Zeakndic chrohicler-, quoted b j
' the-fame author,-' 346; fays that the illauitsi o f Zealand were formed b y violent temjtefts in the
J ear 938, a date which feems to d'eferve the preferente. ‘ :
4
P ro G a e s |
sive G eography.
f liilo ricri
Epochs. '
were