12 ALL AFLOAT 



It would be natural to suppose that some 

 knowledge of the sea was widely diffused among 

 the British peoples in general and Canadians 

 in particular. But this is far from being the 

 case. Though there is three times as much 

 sea as land in the world, it is safe to say that 

 there is three hundred times as much knowledge 

 of the land as there is of the sea. The ways of 

 the sea are strange to most people in every 

 country, excepting Norway and Newfoundland. 

 Seamen have always been somewhat of a class 

 apart, though they are less so now. Ignorance 

 of everything to do with the water is exceed- 

 ingly common, even in England and Canada. 

 The British mercantile marine is one of the 

 biggest commercial enterprises of all time. It 

 is of very great importance to Canada. It is 

 absolutely vital to England. Yet it is less 

 understood among the general public than any 

 other kind of business that is of national 

 concern. Some people even think that the 

 mercantile marine differs from every other 

 kind of business in being under the special care 

 of the government. They are probably misled 

 by the term ' Merchant Service,' which, when 

 spelt with capital letters, has a very official 

 look and reminds them of the two great fighting 

 ' services,' the Army and the Navy. In reality 



