Jacob van Lennep route, Part 38 (Bergen op Zoom - Goes from July 1 to August 31)

Ferry
Friday 22 August. After a short tour, Van Lennep and Van Hogendorp leave Bergen op Zoom again. Walking over the Brabantse Wal, they look out over corn and forest to the right, and over lower meadows to the left. Suddenly it starts to rain and it gets dark. The ferry is nowhere to be seen, even though they have been walking for over an hour. At half past eight in the evening, they finally reach the harbour. After the crossing, they sleep in Tholen.

Madder
Van Lennep and Van Hogendorp want to walk across the island, but it starts raining again. They take a carriage and look at the land. The fields with straw and grain were hit by gigantic hailstones four weeks earlier. They also see fields with madder: a plant that was grown at the time to make dye. Later in the nineteenth century, madder disappeared from the Zeeland fields: a cheaper alternative had been found. You will hear more about this in the ninth radio episode.

Slow trot
Via Sint Annaland they drive to Stavenisse. Here they visit the church to see the tomb of Baron Tuyll van Serooskerken. In Gorishoek Van Lennep and Van Hogendorp have to wait two hours for the boat to Zuid-Beveland. This means that they will not arrive at their destination before dark: a rarity during their journey. Van Lennep kills time with a novel, as he had done more and more often in the days before. Arriving in Yersekendam, the young men arrange a carriage and drive at a slow trot to Goes in the light of the full moon.

Please note: the ferry from Gorishoek to Yerseke only sails from 6 July to 31 August, only on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. You must book this crossing in advance!

In-depth sources
-Jakob van Lennep," The Summer of 1823": part 3, chapter 4.
-Geert Mak, The Summer of 1823 as a television series : episode 9.
-Maya Schepers, The summer of 1823 as a radio series : episode 9.