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ISLANDS AND ISLANDERS. 455
are, therefore, the wide continental plains which look out over the sea toward neighboring islands and archipelagoes. These fertile regions, which
also, in most cases, have formerly been gulfs now filled up with marine or
fluviatile alluvium, attract a numerous population. These countries with
level soils are the spots in which agriculture develops itself, and the adjacent ports are those to which commerce is directed, where commodities
are exchanged, and where men learn to know men, and thought mingles
with thought. Nearly all the mightiest cities are founded on the points
where the sea-shore and agricultural regions come in contact; crowds
gather there because all the great interests of humanity are there united.
By a singular contrast, an agricultural population, which is the most sedentary, and, by its mode of life, no less regular* than the return ofthe seasons, and disposed to be the greatest slave to routine, is often found in
immediate contact with the maritime class, the most unsettled, the quickest in action, and the fondest of travels and adventures. This juxtaposition of men so different in manners is one of the most important facts in
the history of human progress.
There are maritime nations whose life is one continuous voyage, having
made, as it were, the ocean their home. Thus the Normans, who called
themselves the " kings of the sea," were in the habit of sailing from shore
to shore, carrying with them terror and destruction, and conquering nations as they passed along; then re-embarking in their light vessels, and
crossing the vast tract of sea, they discovered the continent of America,
which, after their time, remained five hundr#d years wholly unknown.
A similar case is presented by the pirates of the Sunda Archipelago,
whose countless boats infest the waters of the Pacific, and who, although
massacred in numbers, never cease to multiply, as if they sprang from the
waves. And where do those who are born on the shores of England pass
the greater part of their lives ? On the deck, under the mast, amidst the
rigging and the waves, scanning the clouds and the blue sky. Maritime
peoples are always intrepid; they engage in too many terrible conflicts
wTith storms, gusts of wind, and. death under its thousand aspects, for them
ever to tremble before their fellow-men; they are endowed with coolness
and perseverance, for their struggle against the elements must often be a
severe one; and, in order to conquer nature in all its fury, they require
the courage of reflection more than that of enthusiasm. Their ideas are
calm and energetic, but commonplace, like the sea they sail upon; they
rarely suggest to them either grace or gentleness, but strength and sometimes violence. As a child ofthe ocean, the sailor presents in his life something like a reflection of the mighty billows on which he has been cradled
since his infancy.
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000500 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | ISLANDS AND ISLANDERS. 455 are, therefore, the wide continental plains which look out over the sea toward neighboring islands and archipelagoes. These fertile regions, which also, in most cases, have formerly been gulfs now filled up with marine or fluviatile alluvium, attract a numerous population. These countries with level soils are the spots in which agriculture develops itself, and the adjacent ports are those to which commerce is directed, where commodities are exchanged, and where men learn to know men, and thought mingles with thought. Nearly all the mightiest cities are founded on the points where the sea-shore and agricultural regions come in contact; crowds gather there because all the great interests of humanity are there united. By a singular contrast, an agricultural population, which is the most sedentary, and, by its mode of life, no less regular* than the return ofthe seasons, and disposed to be the greatest slave to routine, is often found in immediate contact with the maritime class, the most unsettled, the quickest in action, and the fondest of travels and adventures. This juxtaposition of men so different in manners is one of the most important facts in the history of human progress. There are maritime nations whose life is one continuous voyage, having made, as it were, the ocean their home. Thus the Normans, who called themselves the " kings of the sea," were in the habit of sailing from shore to shore, carrying with them terror and destruction, and conquering nations as they passed along; then re-embarking in their light vessels, and crossing the vast tract of sea, they discovered the continent of America, which, after their time, remained five hundr#d years wholly unknown. A similar case is presented by the pirates of the Sunda Archipelago, whose countless boats infest the waters of the Pacific, and who, although massacred in numbers, never cease to multiply, as if they sprang from the waves. And where do those who are born on the shores of England pass the greater part of their lives ? On the deck, under the mast, amidst the rigging and the waves, scanning the clouds and the blue sky. Maritime peoples are always intrepid; they engage in too many terrible conflicts wTith storms, gusts of wind, and. death under its thousand aspects, for them ever to tremble before their fellow-men; they are endowed with coolness and perseverance, for their struggle against the elements must often be a severe one; and, in order to conquer nature in all its fury, they require the courage of reflection more than that of enthusiasm. Their ideas are calm and energetic, but commonplace, like the sea they sail upon; they rarely suggest to them either grace or gentleness, but strength and sometimes violence. As a child ofthe ocean, the sailor presents in his life something like a reflection of the mighty billows on which he has been cradled since his infancy. |
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