HOW THE BRITISH NAVY WON THE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

BOOK I THE ROWING AGE

BOOK II THE SAILING AGE

PART II

THE DUTCH WAR

PART III

THE FRENCH WAR

BOOK III

FOREWORD

THE HUMAN SIDE OF ANIMALS

I ANIMALS THAT PRACTISE CAMOUFLAGE

II ANIMAL MUSICIANS

III ANIMALS AT PLAY

IV ARMOUR-BEARING AND MAIL-CLAD ANIMALS

V MINERS AND EXCAVATORS

VI ANIMAL MATHEMATICIANS

VII THE LANGUAGE OF ANIMALS

VIII IN THEIR BOUDOIRS, HOSPITALS AND CHURCHES

IX SELF-DEFENCE AND HOME-GOVERNMENT

X ANIMAL ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, AND HOUSE BUILDERS

XI FOOD CONSERVERS

XII TOURISTS AND SIGHT-SEERS

XIII ANIMAL SCAVENGERS AND CRIMINALS

XIV AS THE ALLIES OF MAN

CHAPTER XV THE FUTURE LIFE OF ANIMALS

The HUMAN SIDE of BIRDS. By ROYAL DIXON

Thy way is in the sea, and
Thy path in the great waters,
and Thy footsteps are not known.
—Psalm LXXVII. v. 19.

The Sea is His: He made it,
Black gulf and sunlit shoal
From barriered bight to where the long
Leagues of Atlantic roll:
Small strait and ceaseless ocean
He bade each one to be:
The Sea is His: He made it—
And England keeps it free.

By pain and stress and striving
Beyond the nations' ken,
By vigils stern when others slept,
By lives of many men;
Through nights of storm, through dawnings
Blacker than midnights be—
This sea that God created,
England has kept it free.

Count me the splendid captains
Who sailed with courage high
To chart the perilous ways unknown—
Tell me where these men lie!
To light a path for ships to come
They moored at Dead Man's quay;
The Sea is God's—He made it,
And these men made it free.

Oh little land of England,
Oh mother of hearts too brave,
Men say this trust shall pass from thee
Who guardest Nelson's grave.
Aye, but these braggarts yet shall learn
Who'd hold the world in fee,
The Sea is God's—and England,
England shall keep it free.

—R. E. VERNÈDE.