Chapter V 



SAFEGUARDS OF THE SEA 



When once we study the sea and realise 

 the innumerable dangers which threaten ships 

 on every hand we wonder, not that so many 

 ships are lost, but that so few of them meet 

 with disaster. Reefs, rocks and shoals, ice- 

 bergs and ice-floes, floating derelicts, strong 

 currents, wind and waves, fog and haze, hur- 

 ricanes, tornadoes and waterspouts, as well 

 as other ships and fire, all add to the dangers 

 of navigation, and the captains and officers 

 must be constantly on the alert and must exer- 

 cise unceasing vigilance every moment they are 

 at sea. Even the greatest care would be of lit- 

 tle avail were it not for the safeguards of the 

 sea such as lighthouses, buoys, charts, etc., the 

 meaning and operation of which are, to most 

 people, as mysterious as Old Ocean itself. 

 Of all safeguards of the sea the lighthouses 



and lightships are the most in evidence and 



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