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But dams have appeared then. At first there were dunes - the natural sandy ridges lasting along seacoast. Far ancestors of present Dutches understood, that dunes are too fragile to resist to sea elements, in addition in a chain of dunes there were frequent and considerable ruptures. What was to do? People have accepted the reasonable decision is unique. In places of ruptures they drove in huge piles round which sand was late, forming new dunes and liquidating thus existing ruptures. But sand is too mobile, and in its this property new danger was concealed. It was blown by strong winds because of what not only the natural protective strip was weakened, but also river channels, meleli the rivers and harbours got littered. And people have learnt to strengthen dunes various plantings. Today, having climbed up a dune, you will feel a smell of fragrant mint and a tart wormwood, aroma of pine needles in fresh sea air.

And still ancestors of Dutches not too trusted dunes. They long since built the dwellings on raised places. At a dawn of our era the Roman historian Pliny the Senior wrote about it: В"the poor tribe Living here suited the settlements at natural heights or is artificial nasypannyh the hills which tops rise over crests of the greatest waves what were observed till now. When water fills in a vicinity, these huts remind the vessels forgotten in the seaВ".

В"The vessels Forgotten in the sea...В" Whatever beautiful these words, in them - not only a pain and tragedy, not only courage and difficulty of a survival, but also wisdom of the people, ability to adapt to the surrounding nature have seemed.

It would be possible to leave from the sea, to disappear from its foolish character. But fishery formed an existence basis, and people always aspired to coast, sea or river though here they were pursued by threat of flooding from which unstable chains of dunes could not protect. And Dutches have decided to carry out the grandiose project - to erect insuring protective strip. On an extent here already thousand - thousand!-Years, day by day they build behind djunnoj chains the artificial wall protecting them the earth from destructive influence of the sea. Today the total length of this wall representing a continuous chain of dams or - in some places - the strengthened dunes, exceeds three thousand kilometres! In some most dangerous places on certain distance double and even threefold protective constructions from each other are erected.