THE OCEAN AS THE RESERVOIR OF HEALTH 35 



immense (proportionately) acreage devoted to sport (so 

 called) which might under cultivation feed thousands 

 where it now only affords a few fleeting days' pleasure 

 to dozens, you are irresistibly led to inquire, " Where 

 is the overcrowding that I hear of ? " and you are led 

 to the inevitable conclusion that the territorial mag- 

 nate, drawing his revenues from the manipulations 

 of finance, who selfishly keeps from the people the 

 land wherefrom they might be fed, and compels 

 them to buy from the foreigner, is an enemy to his 

 species. 



When, however, we pass to other lands, with their 

 many millions of fertile acres still untouched by the 

 hand of man, a very little reflection will suffice to 

 show us how far from being over-populated is this 

 globe of ours. I have already spoken of the mighty 

 area of Australia, with its population only about two- 

 thirds of crowded London, of the vast untilled spaces 

 of South Africa, and of the almost limitless fields of 

 South America, and I feel struck with absolute 

 amazement at the careless dictum of the ill-informed 

 croakers who speak of the over-population of the 

 earth. This, however, as I have said, is purely by 

 the way. 



Turn we now to the mighty Pacific Ocean, whose 

 enormous area is so sparsely studded by islands, tiny 

 spots of land, just punctuating that wonderful sea as 

 do the stars the sky. These beautiful portions of earth 

 enjoy, as might be expected from their positions, an 

 almost perfect climate ; yet the majority of them, 

 owing to the nature of their soil, are not extremely 

 fertile, their vegetable productions being of a limited 

 order, and not nearly so valuable to man as are those 



