302 THE OCEAN RIVER 



the world might well have come to a dead end in its ability 

 to handle its own affairs; and that once more a phase of his- 

 torical advance might futilely grind to a stop in general blind 

 confusion. The exact date doesn't matter; but his diagnosis 

 is important, though far from hopeless, for with the end of 

 each phase of development the seeds of a fresh way have 

 been planted. Which way the human race turns when it comes 

 to an apparent dead end of social or economic adjustment 

 has never been predestined or inevitable for all men. The 

 whole point that Adams, Acton, and at present Toynbee as 

 social historians are trying to make is the perpetual necessity 

 of man to meet new challenges with fresh ideas and free 

 adaptation to the changes of his environment. Our study of 

 life within the waters of the Ocean River, and the history 

 of the River's influence on the lives of men and around its 

 shores, fall into this pattern. 



In the preceding chapters we have tried to chart the Ocean 

 River in relation to our present scientific knowledge of the 

 life within its waters and the forces that shape its course and 

 drive its currents. We have also sketched historically the influ- 

 ence of the River on the great movement of European peoples 

 in their conquest of the last frontier, that of the New World. 

 That kind of conquest is now a thing of the past on this 

 planet. Let us briefly retrace these forces through their various 

 phases of expansion. They are represented by the histories of 

 Spain, Portugal, France, Holland, and England, all countries 

 with open access to the life-giving influence of the Ocean 

 River. 



Spain, consolidating her power at home in fixed and auto- 

 cratic patterns, discovered the pot of gold at the western end 

 of the rainbow. With some interference she brought her treas- 

 ure back to Europe and supported armies and built armadas 

 in a bid to dominate Europe. When this bid failed her power 

 failed, because she had not successfully colonized either the 



