CHAPTER XXVI. 

 AN EMPIRE : OCEAN-WIDE 



" This Royal throne of kings ; this sceptred Isle ; 

 This earth of majesty ; this seat of Mars ; 



This happy breed of men ; this little world ; 

 This precious stone, set in a silver sea." 



King Richard II. 



" Never was isle so little, never was sea so lone, 

 But over the scud and the palm trees an English flag was flown." 



RUDYARD KIPLING. 



* ' See what a glorious throng they come, 

 Turned to their ancient Home, 

 The Children of our England." LEWIS MORRIS. 



T^\EEP down under the sea, on the sloping 

 ^^^ ocean-floor, amid dead vegetable and 

 animal remains, lie strange snake -like forms. 

 Not natural creations, but made by man and 

 placed there for his own benefit. 



Up to the year 1840 anything in the shape 

 of a submarine telegraph was not only non- 

 existent, but, so far as is known, it had not even 

 been thought of. 



Some wild dreams may have been indulged 

 in here or there ; but if so, the dreamers kept 



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