Peeps at Many Lands: Belgium | Page 5

these small sums you can go all over Belgium on the State railways,

stopping as often as you please, at any hour of the day or night, for five
days. All you have to do is to take a small photograph of yourself to the
station an hour before you intend to start, and tell the railway clerk at
the booking-office by which class you wish to travel, and when you go
back to the station you will find your ticket ready, with your
photograph pasted on it, so that the guards may know that you are the
person to whom it belongs. You then pay for it, and leave 4s. more,
which are given back at whatever station your trip may end. There are
also tickets for longer periods than five days. You can send a letter
instead of going to the station. You can write from England, and find
your ticket waiting for you at Ostend or Antwerp, or any other place in
Belgium from which you may intend to start on your journey. This is
very convenient, for it saves the trouble of buying a fresh ticket each
day. Besides, it is a great deal cheaper. These tickets are called
abonnements.
There are also abonnements for children going to school, and for
workmen. It is quite common in Belgium to be in a railway carriage
where, when the guard comes round, all the passengers pull out season
tickets.
There is one thing about travelling by railway in Belgium which
English people don't always know, and that is the rule about opening
and shutting windows. The Belgians are not so fond of fresh air as we
are. They sleep with their bedroom windows shut, which makes them
soft, and apt to catch cold. So they are always afraid of draughts,
especially in a railway train. The first thing a Belgian does, as soon as
he enters a carriage, is to shut the windows, and the rule is that if by
any chance there were, say, five people who wanted a window open,
and only one who wanted it shut, that one can refuse to let the others
have it open. If you are sitting near a window, and open it, you may be
sure that someone, who is perhaps sitting at the other end of the
carriage, will step across and shut it. They never ask leave, or, indeed,
say a word; they just shut it.
One day, two or three years ago, there was a great crowd in a district
train. It was July, and very hot. All the windows of one first-class

carriage were, as usual, shut, and it was so stifling that some of us
stood outside on the platform so as to get some fresh air. A feeble old
lady chanced to be sitting next one of the windows, and wished to open
it. All the other passengers refused to allow her. She told them she felt
as if she would faint from the heat. Not one of the Belgian ladies and
gentlemen, who were all well-dressed people, cared about that. They
just shrugged their shoulders. At last the old lady, who had been
turning very pale, fainted away. Then they were afraid, and the guard
was sent for. He insisted on letting in some air, and attended to the lady,
who presently revived. The other passengers at once had the window
shut again, and the lady had to be taken into another carriage, on which
everyone began to laugh, as if it was a good joke.
Some Englishmen are always having rows about this window question;
but the best plan is to say nothing, and remember that every country has
its own customs, which strangers ought to observe.
CHAPTER IV
SOME OF THE TOWNS: THE ARDENNES
England, as you know, is not a very big country. But Belgium is very
much smaller. It is such a little bit of a place, a mere corner of Europe,
that in a few hours the train can take you from one end of it to the other.
I suppose that from Ostend to Liége is one of the longest journeys you
could make, and that takes less than four hours. So it is very easy to go
from one town to another.
Suppose we land at Ostend, which, as you will see on the map, lies in
the middle of the Belgian coast. It is the largest of the seaside towns,
and one of the oldest. In ancient times it was fortified, and during the
wars between the Spaniards and the Dutch the Spaniards defended it for
three whole years. It must have been very strong in those days. But
now it is quite changed, and has no walls, but just a long digue, and a
great many