THE MIGHTY DEEP 



CHAPTER I. 

 "THE SEA! THE OPEN SEA!" 



" How cheery are the mariners, 

 Those lovers of the sea, 

 Their hearts are hke its yesty waves. 



As bounding and as free." — P. Benjamen. 



" Therefore also do men entrust their lives to a little piece of wood." 

 IVisd. of Sol. xiv. 5. 



/^NCE upon a time, over two thousand years 

 ^^ ago, our ancestors lived in a country smaller 

 than ours, to the north-east. 



They had not yet taken possession of two 

 Isles, which in the then distant future were to be- 

 come the Headquarters of a world-wide Empire. 

 Already one characteristic of the race was promi- 

 nent ; they delighted in the Sea. Within their 

 small limits of power they ranged the Ocean, 

 they wresded with its fury, they subdued it to 

 their will, they rejoiced in its strength, they 



