276 OUR HERITAGE THE SEA 



awful passion for cruelty wherein man has excelled the 

 most terrible carnivorous animals. Crowning horror 

 of all, these deeds were done in the name of Christ, 

 and ostensibly for the extension of His kingdom and 

 love. The very thought makes one physically sick 

 with disgust and shame, for that these were men 

 calling themselves Christians, and their ships by the 

 names of saints and angels, even more sacred names 

 still, such as El Salvador del Mundo, El Espiritu 

 Santo, Madre de Dios, or Santissima Trinidada. 



Meanwhile in the blood-stained Mediterranean 

 there was approaching a conflict which would vie with 

 the most gory battles of ancient times, and the issue 

 of which was to be fraught with much farther-reaching 

 consequences to mankind. The sea-fights of Salamis, 

 Platsea, and Actium, to mention only three out of the 

 many that were continually taking place in those 

 days, were between heathen, who made no pretensions 

 to humanity, whose gods were bloody monsters, and 

 whose pastime was destruction of human life and 

 happiness. True, matters were not much bettered 

 by the advent of Christianity, but the ideal of good 

 was there, and promised in the fulness of time to bear 

 fruit, for scattered about Europe and some part of 

 Asia, like leaven in the lump, were holy men, ready 

 to sacrifice life with a smile if only they might spread 

 the good news of peace on earth, good will towards 

 men. Then arose in the East the awful portent of the 

 Mohammedan power, actuated by the fiercest fanati- 

 cism, which, with consummate skill, welded many 

 races into one homogeneous body, impelled irresistibly 

 forward to the conquest of the world. And these 

 superb warriors, who welcomed death as a glorious 



