FIRST CONDITION OF SHIPS 155 



most invariabl)- find that the maritime spirit was developed 

 in a measure (juite up to the progress in other arts. On the 

 other hand, wherever the shore was not deeply embayed or 

 fringed with islands the folk seem never to ha\c ac(piired the 

 mariner's craft, how^ever far the\- have advanced in other 

 constructive arts. Thus the Egyptians, though marvellous 

 builders on the land, never became a seafaring people ; their 

 marine commerce appears to have been managed by other 

 folk, bred in districts more favorable to the development of 

 seamen. The Peruvians possessed architectural skill, but 

 they were never tempted by the conditions of their coast line 

 to venture far upon the sea. We thus perceive that natural 

 harbors, or rather the conditions of a shore line affording, as 

 it were, a gradual passage from the conditions of the land to 

 those of the wide ocean, favor the development of sailors. 



The two most remarkable cradles of navigators are found 

 in the peninsulated and island-bordered shores of Europe and 

 in a somewhat similarly conditioned region in Southeastern 

 Asia. Both of these districts, where land and sea are much 

 entangled, have developed singularly maritime people. The 

 Malayan region, verging eastw^ard into the vast archipelagic 

 sea of the tropical Pacific, has bred a folk exceedingly skilful 

 in seafarinor. Althouorh the rancre of their arts as determined 



o o o 



by their share of natural ability has proved limited, they are 

 perhaps for their social estate the boldest voyagers in the 

 world. Their ventures, however, have been made in waters 

 tolerably exempt from severe storms, so that their relatively 

 frail vessels were insured from the graver perils of the deep. 

 The seafaring arts of Europe were developed under very 

 different conditions from those of the Malayan and Pacific 

 islands. All the shores of Europe are storm-swept. Even 



