Scheldt

Scheldt (Lat. Scaldis, Fr. Escaut), a river that rises in the French dept. of Aisne, flows north past Cambrai and Valenciennes, and, entering Belgium, passes Tournai, Oudenarde, Ghent, Dendermonde, and Antwerp, having received among other tributaries the Lys, Dender, and Rupel. Arrived opposite the island of South Beveland, it divides into two arms. The left or southern, called the Wester Scheldt, flows south of the islands of Beveland and Walcheren, and meets the North Sea at Flushing; the northern or right arm, called the Ooster Scheldt, passes to the north of the same two islands. The river is navigable to Cambrai, 211 miles from its mouth and 56 from its source. From the middle of the 17th to the end of the 18th century the Dutch monopolised the navigation of the lower Scheldt and levied tolls upon all foreign vessels sailing on its waters. When Belgium was separated from Holland in 1831 the rights passed to the former, though they were vainly disputed by the latter. Belgium in 1863 finally renounced her rights for an indemnity of three-quarters of a million sterling paid by the foreign nations using the Scheldt, Great Britain contributing £175,650.