They expect to see civilisation
cross the American continent and find a new home in the
Pacific. But I doubt this.
The westward trip was accompanied by a steady increase in
the size of ships and a broadening of the knowledge of the navigators.
The flat-bottomed vessels of the Nile and the Euphrates
were replaced by the sailing vessels of the Phoenicians, the
AEgeans, the Greeks, the Carthaginians and the Romans.
These in turn were discarded for the square rigged vessels of
the Portuguese and the Spaniards. And the latter were driven
from the ocean by the full-rigged craft of the English and the
Dutch.
At present, however, civilisation no longer depends upon
ships. Aircraft has taken and will continue to take the place
of the sailing vessel and the steamer. The next centre of
civilisation will depend upon the development of aircraft and
water power. And the sea once more shall be the undisturbed
home of the little fishes, who once upon a time shared their deep
residence with the earliest ancestors of the human race.
BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS
CONCERNING BUDDHA AND CONFUCIUS
THE discoveries of the Portuguese and the Spaniards had
brought the Christians of western Europe into close contact
with the people of India and of China. They knew of course
that Christianity was not the only religion on this earth. There
were the Mohammedans and the heathenish tribes of northern
Africa who worshipped sticks and stones and dead trees.
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