44 HOW TO KNOW YOUR COUNTRY 



not rush headlong out of the ground and form a 

 navigable waterway without gathering strength 

 as it proceeds. 



Trace the beginning of the stream if you can 

 from its first commencement and follow it from 

 the time when it is a baby brook until, joined by 

 others of its fellows, it assumes the form of a wide, 

 deep river, and follow it up until you reach the 

 point where it flows into the sea. You may not, 

 of course, be able to personally follow^ the whole 

 length of the waterway, but by the aid of a good 

 map it should not be difficult for you to ascertain 

 from whence it comes, where it goes to, and the 

 direction it takes. 



By making careful inquiries you will be able to 

 ascertain that some modest streams of to-day 

 were in bygone years important waterways that 

 were largely utilised for transit purposes before 

 the scream of the railway engine whistle was 

 heard in our land, and at a time when barges and 

 road coaches held undisputed sway. I know, for 

 example, a sleepy little country town which once 

 upon a time was a most important and flourishing 

 city. There is to-day a fair-sized river there, but 

 in past days it was much mightier than it is now, 

 and most of our coal was brought inland by its 

 means to this sleepy little town of the twentieth 

 century. 



The advent of railways sounded the death-knell 



