THE OCEAN AS THE RESERVOIR OF HEALTH 27 



powerless to prevent the healing of the sea from saving 

 them from that extinction they court. Eemembering, 

 as we must, the havoc wrought among them by self- 

 invited pestilence, by the failure of the life-giving 

 monsoon sometimes to arrive in due time, to the 

 strange apathy in the presence of disaster so character- 

 istic of these mild millions, we cannot refrain from 

 wonder at the marvellously recuperative power of 

 Nature in keeping the population of India at its present 

 density ; and this, too, while giving full credit to 

 our own countrymen for their labours in saving the 

 Indian in spite of himself, not grudging life or labour 

 in the herculean efforts to rescue these fatalistic folk 

 from the apparently incurable habit of lying down 

 effortless to die. And if it be a good deed to save 

 human life, to give yourself up freely to the task of 

 rescuing thousands who do not care for rescue, who 

 have no will to live or care for the morrow, if there 

 be any heroism in these self-sacrificing labours, then 

 surely the records of the Indian Civil Service are truly 

 a roll of honour as bright as can be found in the history 

 of mankind. A certain class of politician, solely for 

 the basest of party purposes, has seen fit from the 

 comfortable seclusion of English homes to malign these 

 men, to belittle their work, to rant about their rewards ; 

 but I hold it a shameful thing to do. As if any wages 

 could pay for such service as "we have seen rendered 

 in plague and famine times in India ! 



But this is somewhat beside the question. These 

 heroic men would be the first to admit that but for the 

 aid which Nature has afforded them, principally by the 

 inrush of the clean rain-laden gales from the sea, their 

 labours would have been brought to naught, and India 



