The small tjalk 'De Jonge Dirk', low in the water, is worked out of the lock with boat hook and poles. In the background two large tjalks are pulled on the river Zaan by a steam tug.
The Dutch riverships had no motor in those days. Everything had to be done by human power or by sail. The small diesel engine was not yet available, and steam was impractical in the small ships. The Zaan region was the first industrial area in Holland, in the seventeenth century hundreds of windmills could be seen here. Mills were sawing wood, making paint, pressing oil, milling chalk, etcetera.
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