That was always the clear task, the single aim, the simple ideal, the
only problem for an unselfish solution. The terms of it have changed
with the years, its risks have worn different aspects from time to time.
There are no longer any unexplored seas. Human ingenuity has devised
better means to meet the dangers of natural forces. But it is always the
same problem. The youngsters who were growing up at sea at the end of my
service are commanding ships now. At least I have heard of some of them
who do. And whatever the shape and power of their ships the character of
the duty remains the same. A mine or a torpedo that strikes your ship is
not so very different from a sharp, uncharted rock tearing her life out
of her in another way. At a greater cost of vital energy, under the well-
nigh intolerable stress of vigilance and resolution, they are doing
steadily the work of their professional forefathers in the midst of
multiplied dangers. They go to and fro across the oceans on their
everlasting task: the same men, the same stout hearts, the same fidelity
to an exacting tradition created by simple toilers who in their time knew
how to live and die at sea.
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