288 OUR HERITAGE THE SEA 



notions of honesty and fair dealing (for that period), 

 such, at any rate, as the other nations were strangers 

 to. These were Britain and Holland, and after the 

 collapse of Spain with the Armada it seemed as if they 

 would divide the oversea commerce of the world 

 between them. This appeared the more probable 

 because Britain's chief objective was the Americas. 

 She fought for a footing there and wrested it from 

 Spain ; she was still prepared to attack Spanish ships 

 wherever they might be found as knowing that they 

 were an easy prey and that much wealth was to be 

 gained from them as well as from the countries whence 

 they drew that wealth. But the Dutch, with their 

 plodding enterprise, had made the East Indian seas 

 their El Dorado, and, except for an occasional brush 

 with the original European exploiters of that far-off 

 region, the Portuguese, were amassing wealth with 

 about the minimum amount of bloodshed for those 

 days. It is true that they did reach westward to 

 North America, curiously mixed up with Englishmen, 

 who, for faith's sake, were exiles from their country, 

 but still, taking all things into consideration, the 

 two growing maritime powers developed side by side 

 with quite a small amount of friction. Of course, 

 if gratitude were an ordinary human attribute, this 

 should have been very strongly marked, seeing that 

 Britain had practically crushed Holland's bitterest foe 

 and not relentless persecutor, Spain. But, as quite 

 recent years have reminded us, the virtue of gratitude 

 need not be looked for either among nations or 

 individuals. 



Another great nation, however, was making a bold 

 bid for the empire of the seas, not so much in a 



