What shall be said, then, of the great importance of the many barrages which we have had to raise; of the dykes--some of them more than a kilometre long--of the strengthening of the banks along the canals and water-courses that furrow the country in all directions? The embankments are of two main kinds: the solid and those with sluices. The second are used in places where the free play of the water must be allowed and regulated. It will easily be believed that the construction of these artificial barriers, able to withstand heavy pressure, needed the piling up of 100,000, 200,000 and even 300,000 sand-bags apiece; that not fewer than a _million_ bags were required for the largest dyke, the contents of which were a trifling 30,000 cubic yards! We cannot say more on the subject here; but the few figures given will, we think, convey an adequate idea of the vast work entailed in controlling the inundations. (_b_) _The Trenches._ When the first dyke, running continuously along the front, had been finished, and the waters were sufficiently under control to relieve all fears of a serious catastrophe, and when the water-posts disputed with the enemy had been occupied in the midst of the floods, we had to give immediate attention to improving the lines, completing earthworks and organising the depth of the positions in accordance with the general principles set forth above. There was no time to be lost. With the return of fine weather we had to expect a renewal of activity on the part of the enemy, who apparently had not given up his ambitious designs on Dunkirk and Calais. In each of the sectors which our depleted divisions had to guard, operations were organised on a systematic plan, with the firm determination of carrying them through in the shortest time possible. Work of any importance could not, of course, be done in broad daylight, for, as we have already said, nothing escaped the enemy's notice. Though far away, his guns never ceased to plough up the grounds, and to what losses should we not have exposed ourselves had we attempted to strengthen our positions in daylight, close up to his fines and before his very eyes! So in the depths of a wet and severe winter our men had to toil during the night, under the most trying conditions imaginable. Now that these have been considerably improved, thanks to a perfect organisation which extends to the smallest details, it is difficult to realise the enormous efforts and the real physical suffering which the defenders of the Yser had to face during those long months of the early part of the war. [Illustration: A SECOND-LINE TRENCH] [Illustration: A CONCRETE REDOUBT _Forming the point d'appui for a First-line Trench_.] [Illustration: A FRONT-LINE TRENCH, WITH SANDBAG PARAPET]