SEVEN LECTURES
ON THE
UNITED KINGDOM
FOR USE IN
INDIA.
_Reissued for use in the United Kingdom._
BY
H. J. MACKINDER,
_Lately Director of the London School of Economics and Political
Science: Author of “Britain and the British Seas.”_
With Lantern Illustrations.
_ONE SHILLING NET._
PUBLISHED FOR THE VISUAL INSTRUCTION COMMITTEE
OF THE COLONIAL OFFICE,
BY
WATERLOW & SONS LIMITED, PRINTERS, LONDON WALL.
1909.
The Slides to accompany these Lectures are sold on behalf of the
Committee by Messrs. Newton & Co., of 3, Fleet Street, London, E.C.,
from whom the books of lectures can also be obtained. The complete
set of 377 Slides, many of them coloured, may be had for £35. 0s.
0d. The Slides to accompany the several Lectures will be sold at the
following prices: First Lecture, £6. 0s. 0d.; Second Lecture, £5.
15s. 0d.; Third Lecture, £4. 15s. 0d.; Fourth Lecture, £2. 15s. 0d.;
Fifth Lecture, £10. 15s. 0d.; Sixth Lecture, £3. 0s. 0d.; Seventh
Lecture, £4. 0s. 0d. Single Slides will not be sold.
* * * * *
Many of the slides in this series are copyright.
_ENTERED AT STATIONERS’ HALL._
THE VISUAL INSTRUCTION COMMITTEE,
APPOINTED BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR
THE COLONIES.
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF MEATH, K.P., Chairman.
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SIR CECIL CLEMENTI SMITH, G.C.M.G.
SIR PHILIP HUTCHINS, K.C.S.I., late Member of the Council of the
Secretary of State for India.
SIR CHARLES LUCAS, K.C.M.G., C.B., of the Colonial Office.
SIR CHARLES HOLROYD, Director of the National Gallery.
H. F. HEATH, Ph.D., Director of Special Enquiries at the Board of
Education.
H. J. MACKINDER, M.A., late Director of the London School of
Economics and Political Science.
R. D. ROBERTS, D.Sc., Secretary of the Gilchrist Educational Trust.
PROFESSOR MICHAEL E. SADLER, LL.D., Professor of the History and
Administration of Education in the University of Manchester.
JOHN STRUTHERS, C.B., LL.D., Secretary to the Scotch Education
Department.
PREFACE.
The component parts of the British Empire are so remote and so
different from one another, that it is evident that the Empire can
only be held together by sympathy and understanding, based on widely
diffused knowledge of its geography, history, resources, climates,
and races. It is obvious that if this knowledge is to be effective it
must be imparted to the coming generation. In other words it must be
taught in the Schools of the Empire.
In the Autumn of 1902, a Committee was appointed by the Secretary of
State for the Colonies to consider on what system such teaching might
best be developed. The Committee came to the conclusion that children
in any part of the Empire would never understand what the other parts
were like unless by some adequate means of visual instruction; and,
further, that as far as possible the teaching should be on the same
lines in all parts of the Empire. It was decided to make a beginning
by an experiment on a small scale, and for this purpose to invite
the three Eastern Colonies of Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, and
Hong Kong to bear the expense of a small book of Lantern Lectures on
the United Kingdom for use in the Schools in those Colonies. Other
parts of the Empire were afterwards invited to have editions which
would be suited to their own special requirements prepared at their
own expense, and up to the present date editions have been issued
for the Eastern Colonies, for the West Indies, for West Africa, for
Mauritius, and for India. Editions are now in preparation for Canada
and for South Africa.
The lectures contained in this little volume are identical with those
prepared under the foregoing scheme for use in India. It has been
represented to the Committee that it would be stimulating to children
in the United Kingdom to have presented to them an account of their
own land as seen from the point of view of children in another part
of the Empire. The effort on the part of English children to imagine
themselves in the position of Indian children should tend to arouse
and impress a valuable feeling of political sympathy.
The Committee, however, have always had in mind the preparation
of illustrative lectures on the Colonies and India as well as on
the United Kingdom. The experience which they have now gained has
convinced them that if this part of the work is to be done as
well as it can be done, it is advisable to have the illustrations
prepared on a uniform system by a highly skilled artist or artists
specially commissioned for the purpose. They were so fortunate as to
interest Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales in their work, and
through her powerful and gracious support, and that of Lady Dudley
and a Committee of ladies who were good enough to collect a sum of
£4,000 for the purpose, they have been able to make a beginning of
a work which will take some years to complete. The Committee desire
me to record their warm gratitude to Her Royal Highness, to Lady
Dudley, and to the Committee of ladies for making this part of the
undertaking possible.
During the past year an artist, Mr. A. Hugh Fisher, has been
travelling through India collecting material for the Committee,
and it is hoped that before another twelve months have elapsed a
course of lectures on that country, well illustrated by means of the
lantern, may be published. Ceylon, Somaliland, and Cyprus have also
been visited, and Mr. Fisher is now in Canada, and will presently go
to the Far Eastern Colonies. Other parts of the Empire will be dealt
with successively, and in the course of three or four years, the
Committee intend to have available for purchase by public educational
authorities and others a complete survey of the Empire, uniform in
method. Their hope is that with the aid of the various Governments
and the kindness of many official and private friends, they may put
together a series of illustrations rich in colour, suggestive of life
and incident, and artistic in composition. I shall be responsible
for the letterpress, and in that work hope to have the assistance of
the Directors of Education in the several Dominions and Colonies.
The Committee trust that in this way they may succeed in presenting
in their relative importance and proportion all the chief facts
essential to the popular understanding of the Empire.
H. J. MACKINDER.
LONDON,
_December, 1908_.
PREFACE TO THE INDIAN EDITION.
The object of these Lectures, and of the lantern slides which
accompany them, is to give to the school children of India, through
their eyes as well as their ears, a true and simple impression of
what the United Kingdom and its people are like. If this intention
has in any degree been realised, it is probable that with some
modification of the form of the lectures the interest of adults
may also be aroused. The changes necessary to suit particular
circumstances may be introduced in the process of translation into
the vernacular. In regard to children, each lecture may well supply
several hours’ lessons, being meant as the text for teaching, and a
guide as to the method of teaching, and not simply to be repeated
word for word in a single hour.
My thanks are due to many who have given me help, especially to the
Colonial Office Committee who debated at length the preliminary
scheme, and to the Principal, Staff, and Students of the Stockwell
Training College, before whom the lectures were experimentally
delivered. I am also under obligation to those who have supplied me
with material for some of the slides, particularly to Sir William
Abney (V. 49, 50), Sir Benjamin Baker (I. 40, 41), Mr. G. J. S.
Broomhall (VI. 39, 40), the Geological Photographs Committee of the
British Association (VI. 8), the Great Western Railway Company
(VI. 42), Messrs. Huntley & Palmers (VI. 41), Sir Walter Egerton
(VII. 28), General Kemball (VII. 29, 30), the London & North Western
Railway Company (VI. 43), the London & South Western Railway Company
(III. 19, 20, 21), Sir William Matthews, K.C.M.G., of Messrs. Coode,
Son & Matthews (I. 23, 24, 25, 26), Sir Andrew Noble, of Sir William
Armstrong, Whitworth & Company (VI. 26, 30), the Peninsular and
Oriental Steamship Company (I. 56, 57, 58, 59), Messrs. R. & J. H.
Rea (VII. 7), Mr. William Taylor (I. 9, 11, 47), Mr. Graham Wallas
(VI. 36), Dr. Lynden Macassey and the late Mr. Yerkes (VI. 46, 47).
The scheme which is here realised was carried through in the first
instance owing to the enterprise of the three Colonies, Hong Kong,
the Straits Settlements, and Ceylon. This is one of several Editions
adapted to the special points of view of other parts of the Empire.
I desire to thank for their kind suggestions Sir William Lee-Warner,
K.C.S.I., Sir Philip Hutchins, K.C.S.I., Sir Thomas Holdich,
K.C.M.G., Sir W. Curzon-Wyllie, K.C.I.E., and Mr. Theodore Morison.
H. J. MACKINDER.
LONDON,
_March, 1907_.
The following editions of these Lectures have been issued--
=1. Eastern Colonies Edition, Sept., 1905.=
In use in Ceylon, the Straits Settlements, and Hong Kong.
=2. Mauritius Edition, June, 1906.=
In use in Mauritius.
=3. West African Edition, Sept., 1906.=
In use in Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, and Southern Nigeria.
=4. West India Edition, Sept., 1906.=
In use in Trinidad, British Guiana, and Jamaica.
=5. Indian Edition, March, 1907.=
In use in the following Provinces:--Madras, Bombay, Bengal,
the United Provinces, the Punjab, Burma, Eastern Bengal
and Assam, the Central Provinces, and the North West
Frontier Province.
=6. Indian Edition for use in the United Kingdom, Jan., 1909.=
=Canadian and South African Editions are being prepared by direction
of the Governments of the Dominion of Canada and of the South African
Colonies.=
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
LECTURE I.--The Voyage from India to London,
with fifty-nine lantern slides 1
LECTURE II.--London, the Imperial City, with fifty-nine
lantern slides 17
LECTURE III.--The Scenery of the United Kingdom,
with fifty-three lantern slides 32
LECTURE IV.--Historic Centres and their Influence
upon National Life, with forty-four
lantern slides 46
LECTURE V.--Country Life and the Smaller Towns,
with sixty-one lantern slides 59
LECTURE VI.--The Great Towns, their Industries,
and Commerce, with forty-seven
lantern slides 73
LECTURE VII.--The Defences of the Empire, with
fifty-four lantern slides 84
SEVEN LECTURES on the UNITED KINGDOM.
LECTURE I.
THE VOYAGE FROM INDIA TO LONDON.
[Sidenote: 1. Map of the Indian Ocean.]
The British Empire consists of a number of lands scattered over the
whole world. Some of the most important of these lands are round the
Indian Ocean. In this map we see to the east Australia, to the west
South Africa, and to the north India, which are three out of the six
or seven great lands belonging to the Empire. Then there are smaller
lands; some of them so small that on the general map of the Indian
Ocean they hardly appear. We can only show their names and a dot
for their positions. Such, notwithstanding their importance in the
world’s trade, are Singapore, Mauritius, and Aden. There are other
lands of intermediate size, and notable of these is the Island of
Ceylon. Among the smallest of all the British Territories are the
Seychelles, a coaling station for the Fleet, placed nearly midway
between Mauritius, Zanzibar, and Colombo. On the mainland of Africa
in the neighbourhood of Zanzibar is also the considerable territory
of British East Africa, through which runs the Uganda Railway from
Mombasa to the great lake of Victoria Nyanza and the sources of the
River Nile.
[Sidenote: 2. Map of India.]
Of all these countries the most important is our own land of India.
As you know, it has three hundred million people. Here we have a
map of India and of the allied states, Afghanistan and Nepal. You
see upon it in the darker tint of red the territories which are
immediately under the British Government, and you see also in the
lighter tint the Native States, ruled by their own chiefs, although
protected by the British Raj. In no other part of the world do we
find peace secure from end to end of a vast territory, and yet within
it great states ruled by their own chiefs, as in Kashmir, Rajputana,
Central India, Haidarabad, and Mysore. Some of the principal
countries of Europe are little larger than some of the Native States
of India, yet the continent of Europe is full of armaments, and there
is always danger of war there. India owes to the British Raj peace
for a fifth of the human race, and yet the different laws, languages,
and religions have been preserved, so that the people of each part
and of each race are able to live according to their own historic
customs.
[Sidenote: 3. The Himalayas.]
India lies between the mountains and the ocean. Along one-half
of her land frontier the highest range of mountains in the world
makes a great rampart, defending her from invasion. The railways
which now extend through the whole land not only help to prevent
death from starvation when the harvests fail, but also enable the
Indian Government to concentrate the army quickly for the defence
of the only portions of the frontier of India by which invasion is
possible. In 1738, Nadir, Shah of Persia, invaded India, took Delhi
and slew one hundred thousand of the people. In 1761, Ahmed, Shah of
Afghanistan, invaded India and defeated the Mahrathas in the great
battle of Panipat, almost at the gates of Delhi. After that time
the British Raj grew up, and no foreign enemy has since been able
to disturb the peace of India. Who can measure the value of peace
for the millions of our people? There are nearly 730,000 villages in
India: without peace they could not reap their harvests. There are
over 2,000 towns in India: without peace their trade would be ruined.
[Sidenote: 4. The Ocean: The Surf at Madras.]
But we must not forget that more than one-half of the boundary of
India is washed by the waves of the great sea. Why is it that we
need not maintain great armies along the coast of India? The water of
the ocean spreads round all the lands of the world, and enemies from
many lands might come in ships to attack us. The reason why we need
give little thought to the defence of our shores is that the British
Fleet is strong, and is ready in distant parts of the ocean to fight
with any hostile fleet that might set out to invade India. No rule
in India has ever before had the advantage of peace on the ocean.
The Emperors at Delhi in former centuries were obliged to pay for an
Abyssinian Fleet to give some protection to their shores.
In three ways therefore India draws great profit from her share in
the British Empire. In the first place she is saved the cost of
defending her sea border from foreign invasion. In the second place
the sea road lies peacefully open for a vast commerce with the rest
of the world. And in the third place, by means of the railways from
her ports to her land frontiers she is able to defend those frontiers
not only by the Indian Army, but, if necessary, by all the strength
of the other parts of the Empire brought over the seas and carried
quickly to the threatened point. Never before has the peace of India
been so secure at so small a cost. This is the strength which comes
from standing not alone, but as one of the league of nations which is
known as the British Empire. It is a splendid thought to think of the
many separate races, each living their own lives according to their
own traditions, which are now held peacefully together within the
British Empire. In Britain itself you must remember that there are
the English, the Scotch, the Irish, and the Welsh, just as in India
there are the Rajputs, the Sikhs, the Mahrathas, the Bengalis, and
many other races. Once the English and the Scotch used to fight one
another; but now there is peace in Britain as there is in India. Yet
throughout the British Empire all men are free to think and say what
they like.
[Sidenote: 5. Map of the Railways of India.]
[Sidenote: 6. Sutlej Bridge.]
[Sidenote: 7. Bhor Ghat Reversing Station.]
The Empire is held together to-day chiefly by means of railways on
the land and steamships on the sea. The railways of India end at the
foot of the mountains. In the plains they cross the broad rivers by
long bridges. In the Deccan they descend to the sea by ways that are
cut into the mountain face. Here we have a bridge over the Sutlej, on
the Delhi railway, and here the curious Reversing Station on the Bhor
Ghat above Bombay, where the steepness of the ground does not allow
space for the railway to bend on its way down the mountain side.
The modern capitals of India are naturally on the coast, for it is
there that the life of India comes into contact with the life of the
world over the sea. In these capitals, protected by the Fleet, the
commerce borne by the railways connects with the ocean-borne commerce.
[Sidenote: 8. Map showing the Unity of the Ocean.]
Let us spend a moment considering why it is that trade over the
ocean is of such vast importance to India, and why, therefore, the
sea-ports are the greatest of her cities. In this map you see at a
glance that all the lands of the world are in truth islands, for even
the largest continent is surrounded by the ocean. Therefore a ship
can go from any coast you will to any other coast. But by road or by
railway it is possible to travel only from one part to another of
the same island or continent. Hence it is that ocean-borne commerce
is the most general, for land-borne commerce is limited by the coast
and can go no further. It would be impossible for us to trade over
the land with England. At some point or other we must cross the sea,
and traffic over the sea is much cheaper than on the land. Therefore,
in some cases it even pays to carry goods from point to point along
the coast of India, instead of carrying them by land. This map also
tells you why the one British fleet can defend all the coasts of the
British Empire. It is because the ocean is one, and the fleet can
sail from any part of it to any other part.
[Sidenote: 9. Ships of the time of Vasco da Gama.]
[Sidenote: 10. Sailing Ship.]
The voyage to Britain used to be a long one, and not without danger.
True that the same ship could go all the way from Calcutta to London,
carrying passengers, mails, and cargo; but in former times the
passage took many months, for ships, as you know, could then only be
moved by the wind, and at some seasons the wind blew in a direction
contrary to the course of the ship. Moreover, even the East India
ships were small, and we must remember the rough seas which they had
to traverse when rounding the Cape of Good Hope. Here, for example,
are the kind of ships in which Europeans first came round the Cape
to the Indies in the time of Vasco da Gama. And here is a sailing
ship of later times, much improved both in hull and sails, but still
liable to be delayed by contrary winds and by calms.
[Sidenote: 11. P. & O. s.s. “Caledonia.”]
In the present day, however, the British Empire is knit together by
means of large vessels, moved by steam, in which men come and go with
certainty over thousands of miles of trackless ocean. This is one of
the steamers of the great Peninsular and Oriental Company, which,
together with other companies, trades through the Suez Canal between
Britain and India. You will see, then, that by using steam instead of
the wind, by substituting large ships for small, and by cutting the
Suez Canal, so that the voyage may be through shorter and generally
calmer seas, men have brought London, the capital of the Empire,
within less than a month of India, whereas it used to be five months
away.
[Sidenote: 12. Dalhousie Square, Calcutta.]
[Sidenote: 13. The Hugli.]
[Sidenote: 14. Madras from the Sea.]
[Sidenote: 15. Arrival of the Viceroy at Madras.]
[Sidenote: 16. Bombay Rampart.]
We have seen that the modern capitals of India are the sea-ports. In
no age before this dared men place their great cities on the open
coast, for they were exposed to attack there by pirates as well as
foreign enemies. The present capitals of India are therefore new
towns. Calcutta is on a strip of low ground beside the bank of the
River Hugli. Only 200 years ago it was a small village. Yet here
to-day is a stately city, and in the river are ships from all parts
of the world. Madras was a stretch of open surf-beaten coast 270
years ago, but to-day it has half-a-million people, and a harbour
of stone piers built far out into the sea to break the force of the
waves, so that great ships may land their passengers and cargoes in
calm water. Bombay, also, some 240 years ago was an unimportant islet
with only some 10,000 inhabitants, and to-day, as you know, it is a
city which rivals Calcutta in its wealth and grandeur. Karachi has
grown similarly from a much later beginning on an utterly sterile
desert coast.
[Sidenote: 17. Queen’s Memorial, Bombay.]
[Sidenote: 18. Bombay Harbour.]
In these Lectures we are going to make a visit to the British Isles,
the land in all the world which, after our own land of India, should
be of the greatest interest to us, for it is the centre of the Empire
to which we owe so much. We may start on our voyage from any one of
the five great ports of India: Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Karachi,
or Rangoon, and we shall naturally leave by that port which is most
conveniently placed with reference to the particular part of India in
which we live. If we sail from Bombay we will visit before we start
the monument of the great Queen Victoria, who for more than 60 years
ruled both India and England.
[Sidenote: 19. Out at Sea, Deck scene.]
[Sidenote: 20. Saloon of P. and O. Steamer.]
[Sidenote: 21. Engines of P. and O. Steamer.]
[Sidenote: 22. P. and O. Steamer--a State Room.]
A mail steamer upon the ocean is now like a great moving hotel, which
goes from port to port with wonderful punctuality. Here you have a
scene on deck when out at sea. And here is the saloon with the tables
set for the dinner of several hundred people. Nor must we forget to
look at the engines, which turn the heat of burning coal into power
equal to that of ten thousand horses. And, lastly, we will glance
into a private cabin and see the comfortable berth. All this is very
different from the rough voyage of only fifty years ago.
Of steamers altogether--some of them fast mail boats, some slow cargo
boats--the British Empire possesses for ocean-going purposes 9,000.
These are parts of the Empire just as much as the land. Therefore you
must think of the British Empire as consisting of many countries,
which, together, make one-fifth of all the land in the world; and you
must think of it as consisting also of these 9,000 steamers upon the
ocean, which, as you know, measures three-fourths of the surface of
the globe. The whole Empire--lands, ships, and people--is protected
by the British Navy upon the ocean, and by the Army distributed
through the British lands.
[Sidenote: 23. Colombo Harbour and Breakwater.]
[Sidenote: 24. Colombo Harbour, North-West Breakwater in progress.]
[Sidenote: 25. Colombo Harbour, Diver at work.]
[Sidenote: 26. Colombo Harbour, Blockyard.]
But it is not enough to have swift, comfortable ships. Deep, calm
harbours are needed, where the great ships may lie close to the land
and discharge their burden. Here for instance we have a monument
of which British engineers may be proud. This is a view of Colombo
Harbour in the Island of Ceylon where the ships gather from Calcutta,
and Madras, and Rangoon before they leave the Indian seas. The slide
shows the main breakwater, built upon the bed of the sea, which
protects shipping from the rough waves of the south-west monsoon. And
here we have another view, showing a new part of the breakwater in
process of building. Observe the huge block which is being lowered by
the crane into the sea. Do you note that the crane itself is movable
upon wheels, which run upon two pairs of rails? Next we have the
diver descending to his work, with his head in a helmet, into which
air is pumped from above. He has to prepare the bed on which the
great blocks of concrete are laid. Lastly, we have the blocks shown
in the blockyard stored ready for use.
Before we start on our voyage, we will cable to our friends in
London, telling them to expect us. The electric cables are a very
important part of the British Empire, although they lie two and three
miles deep on the ocean bottom. Indian students and others who happen
to have no friends in London are welcomed and introduced by the
Northbrook Society or by the National Indian Association. The address
of the first is 185, Piccadilly, London, and of the second Caxton
Hall, Westminster.
[Sidenote: 27. Forest Scene in Ceylon.]
[Sidenote: 28. Aden from the Sea.]
[Sidenote: 29. Aden, the Tanks.]
Now let us go on our journey. We are traversing the ocean in a mail
steamer; we leave Colombo or Bombay or Karachi and steam westward
into the Gulf of Aden. Here we have one of the most remarkable
contrasts of climate to be found in the world. In Ceylon or at Bombay
rain and heat combine to produce a luxuriant tropical vegetation
capable of supporting much human and animal life. There are other
countries--and we are going to traverse some of them--which although
hot enough, have little rain. Let us realise this contrast; for in
taking a voyage from Colombo or Bombay to Aden we go from a well
watered country to one which lacks water. Here is a scene in Ceylon,
showing the rank vegetation which results from tropical heat and
monsoon rains. Here, on the other hand, is the British fortress of
Aden. It rains on an average in Aden only once in several years, but
when it does rain it rains very hard, and these great tanks were
constructed to gather the water from the naked rocky slopes around,
and to store it for use in the next few years. You see that two or
three shrubs are grown as curiosities beside the tank. But as Aden
grew into a populous settlement the tanks were not sufficient for the
wants of the people. The British distil fresh water from the sea.
[Sidenote: 30. Bumboats at Aden.]
Aden is a British fortress. It is not an island, but it is the
next thing to an island--it is a peninsula. It is therefore easily
defended by warships on the sea. The narrow isthmus connecting it to
the mainland has been fortified.
[Sidenote: 31. Routes from India to Suez.]
[Sidenote: 32. The Suez Canal.]
So we pursue our journey until we come to Suez. This map shows you
the routes from India across the Western Indian Ocean and up the
Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea to Suez, at the entrance to the Suez
Canal. On the right hand we see Mecca marked in the map. Peace on the
ocean, the traffic of steamships, and the British station at Aden
have rendered the Haj less expensive than it used to be and less
dangerous, so that many more Mohammedans now go to Mecca from India.
Next we see our steamer in the Suez Canal. The banks are brown and
desert, for a shower of rain is very rare, and the whole isthmus is
naked rock and sand. The sea way is now continuous from the Red Sea.
But the making of the Canal would have been impossible unless there
had been fresh water near at hand in Egypt for the nourishment of the
workers. The army of workmen who dug the Canal were supplied with
sweet water by means of a small canal from the Nile. So you see that
the Suez Canal was possible only because of the great river of Egypt,
which brings water through the desert from far off sources.
[Sidenote: 33. Map of Lower Egypt.]
In this map of Lower Egypt you will see named the Gulf of Suez,
which is the end of the Red Sea. Up the Red Sea come ships from Aden
and the Indian Ocean. Here, on the other hand, is the Mediterranean,
through which we shall pass to the Atlantic Ocean. And here is Suez,
and the Isthmus of Suez, with the line of the Suez Canal. All that
is shown yellow is barren, waterless desert, but the parts tinted
with green are fertile and cultivated. As you see from the map, the
isthmus is about 100 miles across. Remember that the voyage from
Bombay to Britain is some 7,000 miles long--3,500 miles as far as the
Canal and 3,500 miles beyond the Canal. Between the Eastern Ocean
and the Western Ocean is only the Isthmus of Suez, but this used to
compel men to take their ships far south through rough seas, round
the Cape of Good Hope.
[Sidenote: 34. The Overland Route through the Desert.]
Let us, therefore, cross into Egypt, and ask what it is that has
made possible this great change in the route of commerce and empire.
Before the Canal was cut, but when already steam had been applied to
the moving of ships, there were a few years in which passengers and
letters were taken by one ship from Bombay to the Isthmus of Suez,
and then on by another ship from the other side of the Isthmus to
Britain. They were carried across the desert on the backs of camels.
Here we have a picture of the thirsty desert. See the bones of a
camel which has fallen by the way; the flesh has been picked off by
vultures, and the sun and air have dried what remained to cinders.
The camel is often called “The Ship of the Desert,” and this camel
must have broken down just as ships are sometimes wrecked.
[Sidenote: 35. Cairo--The Citadel.]
[Sidenote: 36. The Road to the Pyramids.]
[Sidenote: 37. The Pyramids and the Sphinx.]
[Sidenote: 38. Climbing the Pyramids.]
At the end of their desert journey the travellers overland, before
the Canal was made, came to the city of Cairo. We see it here with
its citadel in the foreground. Notice within the citadel the great
Mohammedan mosque with its towering minarets. Cairo is now occupied
by the British, and there is freedom of religion for all races,
as in every part of the British Empire. Close to Cairo are famous
monuments, the Pyramids and the Sphinx, built some six thousand years
ago. We see the Pyramids first in the distance as we drive from Cairo
along this road. The trees which you see are watered daily, for rain
is very rare in Egypt. Here we have arrived at the Pyramids, which
are just on the desert edge, because the land watered by the Nile is
too valuable for purposes of cultivation to permit of their being
placed on fertile ground. The Pyramids and the Sphinx have hardly
changed in this intensely dry climate through the space of 6,000
years, although the Sphinx has been partly buried in the sand. In
order that you may appreciate the size of the Pyramids let us show
a party of tourists climbing the great Pyramid, and note the huge
blocks of stone of which it is built.
[Sidenote: 39. The Nile Valley in Flood.]
And now let us ask the question for which we are making this
excursion from the Suez Canal into Egypt. How comes it that here,
in the rainless desert, there is fresh water to make possible the
cutting of the Suez Canal? It is because the Nile, the river of
Egypt, comes from the South beyond the desert. There every summer
the rains fall in Abyssinia, and the Egyptian Nile, far away to the
north, rises in flood. Here is a view, taken from the edge of the
desert at the brink of the valley, in the time of the annual flood.
When the water subsides the crops are sown, and presently the harvest
is reaped without so much as a shower of rain to aid the growth.
[Sidenote: 40. The Assouan Dam.]
[Sidenote: 41. Opening of the Assouan Dam.]
Now, sometimes it happens, as it happens also in India, that the
rains fall short in Abyssinia. In such years the Nile brings down
to Egypt a much smaller quantity of water. The fertilising flood
is small, and there is danger of famine. As a precaution against
these droughts, and also to extend the cultivated area some way into
the desert, the British have constructed, near the southern end of
Egypt, a great dam right across the valley. Here the dam is shown
just when it was finished, and before the water had risen behind
it. Do you notice beside the dam the canal with locks, by which the
river traffic goes up and down notwithstanding the barrier to the
flow of water? Do you see also all the openings in the dam to let the
water through when it has risen high enough behind the masonry? Let
me show you this same dam on the day when it was opened by the Duke
of Connaught, brother of the King of England. This is he, wearing a
white helmet and with medals and orders on his breast. Beside him
are standing the Duchess of Connaught, the Khedive of Egypt, whom
you may distinguish by the fez which he wears, and Lord Cromer, the
great Englishman who has helped the Khedive to build the dam. You
can distinguish Lord Cromer by his tall white hat. The water in the
picture has risen to a high level behind the dam, the sluices have
just been opened, and the stream is pouring on once more towards the
sea. Every year the water now collects behind the dam during the
period of flood, and is then let gradually down during the period
of low Nile. Thus Egypt is becoming rich because its people are
saved from famine, and new land, formerly desert, is brought under
cultivation.
[Sidenote: 42. Port Said--Coaling.]
Let us return to our ship, which is waiting for us at Port Said, the
port at the northern end of the Suez Canal. Here is a great mail
steamer taking in coal for the remainder of her voyage from India. Is
it not wonderful to think of the thousands upon thousands of tons of
coal that are dug out of the ground in the British Islands and sent
over the seas to drive most of the 9,000 steamers which do the trade
of the British Empire?
[Sidenote: 43. Map of the Mediterranean.]
[Sidenote: 44. Malta.]
[Sidenote: 45. Gibraltar.]
And now we have come into the western seas and to the lands of the
white man. On leaving Port Said, we steer westward at first, through
the Mediterranean Sea. We call at Malta and Gibraltar, which are
British ports, like Aden and Colombo. Malta is an island. Here is a
view of its harbour, showing the fortifications. But the fortress of
Gibraltar is on a peninsula like Aden, and a low isthmus, to the left
of the picture, connects it with the mainland. The front of this tall
cliff above the isthmus is pierced with galleries, which every here
and there come out to the cliff front and allow place for a cannon.
So you see that in Europe, as in Asia, the sea power of Britain has
islands and little peninsulas for the calling places of its ships.
Close to Gibraltar was fought Trafalgar, the most celebrated of
British victories at sea.
[Sidenote: 46. Map of Western Europe.]
[Sidenote: 47. In the Bay of Biscay.]
We pass through the Strait of Gibraltar, which is only eight miles
across, and has Europe visible on the one hand and Africa on the
other. Now we emerge from the Mediterranean and steering northward
round the western lands of Europe, we at last approach the British
Isles. We cross the Bay of Biscay, a part of the broad Atlantic. Huge
billows often roll in from the ocean, and play with our great steamer
as a child plays with a toy, yet there is a busy traffic of ships on
these wide waters.
But there was a time when Britain had no Colonies, and consisted
only of British Islands. There were then fewer people in Britain
than there are now, and the English Channel, up which we are to
sail, protected the British people from invasion by enemies, so they
were able to develop the government and the freedom which have since
helped Britain to give peace and to give justice through so large a
part of the world.
[Sidenote: 48. Eddystone Lighthouse.]
As we steer into the home waters of Britain, the first object we see
is a famous lighthouse, built on the dangerous Eddystone rocks, ten
miles away from the coast of England. You will notice that there is
also the stump of an older lighthouse. The waves of the ocean are
sometimes very terrible, and this is the fourth lighthouse which has
had to be built on these rocks. Britain is surrounded by several
score of lighthouses placed upon all the dangerous points round its
shores.
[Sidenote: 49. Map of the Straits of Dover and the Thames Estuary.]
Passing Eddystone, we may call at Plymouth to land some of our
passengers, who will hurry to London by train. But we will proceed up
the English Channel. Off Dover we turn north and round the promontory
of Kent, with cliffs of white chalk on our left hand. Entering the
broad estuary of the Thames we are soon off Gravesend, having passed
Chatham, one of the chief stations of the Navy. At Gravesend we shall
probably have to anchor for a short time, because the river is tidal
and is deep enough for large vessels only at high water.
[Sidenote: 50. Channel Boat approaching Dover.]
[Sidenote: 51. Dover--Admiralty Pier, S.S. “Pas de Calais” unloading.]
[Sidenote: 52. Dover--Admiralty Pier, S.S. “Queen” loading the Indian
Mails.]
Dover, seen from our deck quite clearly as we came past it, is a
place of much interest to those who live in the East. You know that
nowadays the letters from India and the neighbouring lands are not
carried to Britain all the way round by sea past Gibraltar, but are
landed at a Mediterranean port and brought across Europe by rail.
They cannot enter England, however, without once more being placed
upon a steamer--this time a small packet, which rapidly crosses
the twenty miles of water between Britain and the Continent, known
as the Straits of Dover. You can see across the Straits of Dover.
There are white cliffs which glisten in the sunshine on both sides.
Here is one of the Channel steamers unloading at Dover pier. Do you
see the railway train drawn up alongside? It is about to leave for
London. Notice the crane lifting baggage from the steamer to the
train, so that there may be as little delay as possible. Here is
another Channel steamer at Dover. She is just about to leave for
the Continent. The railway train has arrived--a whole van, less the
wheels, is being raised on the crane and placed on the steamer. It is
full of baggage, and is lifted thus to save time--for every minute is
worth money. Some hundred bags of mails have to be carried on to the
vessel. Think of the many, many thousand letters written every week
in Britain which are going to the East--to India and to Ceylon, to
the Straits Settlements and Hong Kong and Mauritius.
[Sidenote: 53. Gravesend--Shipping waiting for the Tide.]
[Sidenote: 54. Sunset near Gravesend.]
[Sidenote: 55. The same ten minutes later.]
Let us now go back to our steamer. The tide turns, and we leave
Gravesend, passing slowly up the river towards London. The scene is
often very animated at Gravesend, as several score of vessels, great
and small, get up their anchors and begin to move with the running
stream. Sometimes as you look westward up the Thames in the evening,
the light in the sky is magnificent, for the clouds are dense with
smoke. You must remember that this city of 7,000,000 people has
a cold winter, and each room has a place for a fire to keep its
inhabitants warm. By good fortune we have been able to photograph
such a sunset from the hill above Gravesend. Do you see the river
shining on the dark ground below? Here is the same sunset taken ten
minutes later. These two slides have not been painted with a brush
according to an artist’s imagination, they have been photographed in
colour, and they are absolutely true in their effect.
[Sidenote: 56. Arrival in Dock.]
[Sidenote: 57. Welcome on Deck.]
[Sidenote: 58. Landing.]
[Sidenote: 59. Steamers in Dock.]
At last we enter one of the docks which receive ships from the river
at high tide. The dock gates are closed behind us, so that when the
tide falls in the river our steamer will remain afloat beside the
wharf. We see here the great vessel being pushed slowly into her
berth by steam tugs which were waiting for her. And here we have a
scene on deck when the gangways have been opened to the shore, and
friends have come on board to welcome our British fellow-passengers,
many of them returning home after years of absence. Now we set foot
on land, and run by train past miles of houses until we come into the
centre of the vast city, and reach our hotel. Meantime the captain of
the ship and the crew have gone to their homes, and the great ship
lies at rest in the dock--silent after her long voyage.
We will unpack our trunks and sleep for a night before we go into the
streets of London to see the metropolis of the Empire.
LECTURE II.
LONDON, THE IMPERIAL CITY.
[Sidenote: 1. Areas of India and the British Isles compared.]
Before we set out through the largest and most populous city of the
world, let us consider what it is that we are going to look at. Let
us try to understand the size of the United Kingdom and of London
by comparing them with India and its chief cities. First we have a
map showing the area of the British Isles compared with the area
of India. We see that the British Isles are small as compared with
India; but they have a far more dense population. There are more than
twice as many people to the square mile in the United Kingdom than
there are in India. This is due to the fact that the people of India
live for the most part in villages, whereas in the United Kingdom the
majority of the people live in the cities. In India only about ten
per cent. of the whole population live in towns with more than five
thousand inhabitants.
[Sidenote: 2. Populations of London, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Delhi,
Rangoon, and Karachi compared.]
Now let us compare the populations of our chief Indian cities with
that of London. We have here circles which represent by their areas
the population of London on the one hand, and on the other hand of
Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Delhi, Rangoon, and Karachi. We see at
a glance that London has a population greater than the combined
population of all these great cities.
We notice the words “Greater London” round the black circle. London
may be measured in three ways, for it consists of three zones, one
within the other. In the centre there is the oldest part, the City
of London, which is now the chief place of business. Round the
city there has grown up, in the course of centuries, a great ring
of population known as Inner London. Outside this again, there has
sprung up of recent years a still wider zone of suburbs, which is
called Outer London. These three, the City, Inner London and Outer
London, together make Greater London.
[Sidenote: 3. Areas of London and Calcutta compared.]
[Sidenote: 4. Areas of London and Bombay compared.]
[Sidenote: 5. Areas of London and Madras compared.]
We will next consider how much space the seven million people of
London take. On this slide we have two little maps, of which the
lower shows in pink the ground covered by the houses of London, and
above we have Calcutta shown in like manner. In the next slide the
map of the houses of London is repeated, but the outline above is
that of Bombay, set on its island between the harbour and the ocean.
Lastly, we have a comparison of the area of London with that of
Madras. In proportion to its population Madras covers a large area,
for as you know there are several spaces within it planted with trees
and without houses, but even Madras is small as compared with London.
[Sidenote: 6. The London Docks.]
Now let us start on our way through the town. The chief feature of
London is the River Thames. The time was when London was only a
small village on the banks of the Thames. To-day the Thames is the
harbour of London, the greatest port in the world. Let us go on a
little steamer along the river, and let us begin with the docks. An
immense quantity of food is needed to feed seven million people.
Great quantities of coal are required to keep them warm in their
cold winter, and to supply gas and electricity during their long
winter nights. Much material is, of course, also required for the
construction of their houses and public buildings. Of all these
commodities a large part is brought in by sea, and is discharged in
the docks. You will remember that at the end of the last Lecture we
told how the water is held up in the docks, even when the tide falls
in the river. Many of the smaller steamers, however, do not go into
the docks. They are able to lie in the river itself and rise and fall
with the tide.
[Sidenote: 7. The Tower Bridge.]
When we leave the docks and proceed up the river, we come presently
to a bridge, the nearest to the sea of many bridges which carry roads
and railways over the Thames. This is the Tower Bridge. It is a very
striking object, visible in any distant view of London, for as you
see it is borne on two lofty piers, between which there is an upper
and a lower way. The upper way is used by foot passengers when the
lower way is lifted, as in the slide, to allow of the passage of
ships with masts.
[Sidenote: 8. London Bridge.]
But, though the Tower Bridge is so remarkable a structure you must
remember that it is only new. The most celebrated bridge in London,
perhaps in the world, is called London Bridge. It stands next above
the Tower Bridge. Two thousand years ago there was no London; where
the houses are now were then forests and marshes. Some seventeen
hundred years ago the first London Bridge was built; it was rebuilt
afterwards more than once; but no second bridge was put over the
River Thames to connect the north and the south of London until a
century and a half ago. For all those centuries there was one London
Bridge. By means of this Bridge the traffic of the south of England
crossed the Thames to the north. But London Bridge stopped the ships
coming up from the sea and prevented them from going further into
the land, because in early days men could only build small arches
for a bridge, and these were neither broad enough nor high enough
for sea-going ships. So it was that London grew round London Bridge,
for here was not only the lowest bridge on the river but also the
most inland point to which sea-going ships could ascend. It was an
important place, therefore, both for land traffic and for water
traffic.
[Sidenote: 9. The Tower of London.]
On the north bank of the river, a little below London Bridge, the
Kings of England in old time built a fortress to defend the town,
and also to keep its population in order. This fortress is still
standing, although against modern weapons it would now be useless.
It is known as the Tower of London, and is a very interesting old
place, quiet and silent amid the noisy metropolis around. The King’s
Crown and Coronation jewels are kept here.
[Sidenote: 10. The River below London Bridge.]
The Tower Bridge is so called because it crosses the river beside
the Tower of London. Here we have a view taken from London Bridge,
looking down the busy river to the Tower Bridge. You can just see the
Tower of London on the left hand.
[Sidenote: 11. Plan of Greater London.]
On this slide we have shown again the map of the space covered by the
houses of Greater London. The red indicates the area of the houses
and streets. The green marks the pieces of tree-covered ground known
as parks, which have been retained for the pleasure and health of the
people of London. Note the River Thames, like a very broad street,
winding through the midst of the town. Note also the docks branching
from the river, and the bridges across it. Here, marked with their
names, are the two lowest of the bridges--the Tower Bridge and London
Bridge. You observe that there are no bridges lower than these, and
that all the docks open below bridge. Do you see that London Bridge
is still almost exactly in the centre of London? At first the river
curved through forests and marshes; then there grew up a little
town beside the bridge; that town went on growing larger and larger
until it is now as large as a small country. But the head of the sea
navigation is still at London Bridge, and the vast metropolis extends
in all directions round its harbour. Each day there enter some 700
ships from all parts of the world, many of them from the coasts of
England itself, but some from the most distant lands--from America,
Africa, the East, and Australia.
[Sidenote: 12. Greater London with Central London marked off.]
[Sidenote: 13. Central London with the City boundaries.]