THE OCEAN AS THE RESERVOIR OF HEALTH 29 



half-century, the surface of the country's wealth has 

 only just been scratched, as it were. 



Coming farther south, we have the great islands on 

 the west of the East Indian archipelago, Sumatra and 

 Java, which, in spite of their intensely tropical position, 

 are yet so favourably situated with regard to the sea 

 that it is marvellous how backward they are still in 

 point of wealth exploited for the service of man. 

 Perhaps the fact of their being in possession of so slow- 

 moving and phlegmatic a people as the Dutch has 

 not a little to do with this. Indeed, it is almost a 

 misnomer to speak of their being possessed by Holland, 

 since it is well known that a very great portion of the 

 islands has never yet been brought under the sway of 

 the nominal lords of the country, and desultory war is 

 ever being waged between the aboriginal owners of 

 the soil and their Western overlords. As far as health 

 is concerned, however, these islands will favourably 

 compare with any other part of the world, their tropical 

 heat being so finely tempered by the sweet sea breezes, 

 and their highly diversified contour admitting of the 

 enjoyment of all kinds of climates, even up to the very 

 cold. 



Farther south, on the same side of the Indian 

 Ocean, we come to the western shore of the great 

 Australian island continent, where there is room for 

 a great nation to assert itself. Australia, however, 

 can hardly be considered piecemeal, it must be taken 

 as a whole. It is an amazing country, whose career 

 is indeed hardly begun. Its climatic conditions are 

 of the very best, and here the white race can live and 

 breed without any of the disabilities attendant upon 

 them in India, Burmah, Malaysia and such places. It 



