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A. J. Sargent
The Sea Road to the East, Gibraltar to Wei-hai-wei
Six Lectures Prepared for the Visual Instruction Committee of the Colonial Office
Published by Good Press, 2021
EAN 4066338072122
Table of Contents
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LECTURE I GIBRALTAR AND MALTA
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In the great land mass which is formed by Europe and Asia is included upwards of a third of the land surface of the Globe and about two-thirds of the total population. Grouped at the western end are the three hundred and fifty millions of Europe, while the majority of the seven hundred millions of Asia are crowded into the southeastern corner. Between the two, from the Red Sea coast of Arabia to the western boundary of China, lies a broad band of desert and steppe, mountain and plateau, thinly peopled and difficult to cross. On the north, the sea passage is barred by the ice of the Arctic; while the only land link between west and east is the thin line of the Siberian railway. But on the south, from 1 the Baltic to the Sea of Japan, is a broad highway, free to all and within easy reach of the great trading nations of Europe and Asia. From end to end we see it running along the coasts and through inland seas; so that ships are rarely out of sight of land for many days together. At frequent intervals are straits to be passed and corners to be turned by every ship; and here, where the sea road must touch the land, are the key points for trade in time of peace or strategy in time of war.