PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2056, 20 July 1893, Page 42

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, and Egypt to lie Given Up.

A writer in one of the current magazines makes the boll proposal that Gibraltar, Malta, Cyprus, and the control of Egypt should all be given up to those desiring them, a consideration, of course, to be received for them in other quarters. He maintains that these are only hsld that Britain may control Suez, and tbat if the free passage of the cansl could be guaranteed in war time, then the reason for holding these would no longer exist. This, however, caunot be guaranteed even if Britain maintains her present positiocs and garrisons, for a couple of pounds of dynamite or a vessel laden with iron and sunk, or even a cavalry corps, could render it useless for navigation, and to efficiently guard the canal it would have to ba lined with troops from end to end— an impossibility. So when the matter is looked at squarely it resolves iteelf into this : in war time the Gape of Good Hope route is the only one available for transport of troops to or from India and the East, and this being 30, to maintain stations in the Mediterranean is worae than useleps, because they absorb more soldiers than Britain can at present, apart from them, and the Indian troops, place in the field for active foreign service. • When Gibraltar was taken there was, as 1 have written before, very lifctle enthusiasm ehown in England, and more than ones it has actually been proposed to sell it back to Spain. But before the manufacture of the present long range guc?, and the introduction of steam power and steel clads, its possession to Eogland, as a maritime natioD, wa3 an absolnte necessity. Now, however, steam has made shipping independent of wind and tide, and modern ordnance has put the town pretty well at tbe mercy of the Spaniards holding the opposite side of the bay, so that it and any shipping in the harbour can be harassed with a heavy fire. Moreover, the harbour cannot .fit out or repair an ironclad in case of necessity. So that, except as a monument of British pluck and endurance, the fortress is worthless and a needless expense to the British Government. Malta is exceedingly strong, perhaps impregnable,, and has a Bplendid dock and naval arsenal. But what is the use of them if the Suez Canal can so easily be made impassable? Cyprus is only valuable as a sentinel to the canal, and the troops in Egypt are there to protect it. But the writer omits to say that tens, perhaps hundreds, of millions of British money are invested in Egyptian debentures, and Britain is in the land of the Pharaohs tbat stockholders may be sure of their interest. To suggest the surrender of all the Mediterranean vantage points is a staggerer to most Englishmen, yet there is much to commend the proposal. What is to be got in return ? France and Italy, would likely bid for Maltff, so put it up to auction and sell it to the one who is willing to pay the more for it is the writer's proposition. If Britain withdraws from Egypt of course France will step in. Well, let her, only askirig in return the cession of Madagascar, which is a plague to her and always will be, and the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon off the south coast of Newfoundland which England in a weak moment allowed her to retain. These concessions she will willingly make for Egypt, which for a century has had a fascination for Franco. As for Gibraltar, that can be handed over 'to Spain, who hankers after it as longingly as France does after Alsace and Lorraine In exchange Spain would be quite willing to give the Canaries, which are 10 days nearer India than London. To Spain they are of no value, because Spaniards have not the capacity for successful colonisation; while to Britain they would be of immense strategical importance, could bs rendered impregnable, mads into first-rate naval arsenals just about where one is badly needed, and could be used as a station for seasoning troops for India. Beside', the. islands are fertile, and under British energy and capital could be made profitable uee of for trade if for nothing else.

By this general interchange Britain's position would be strengthened in times of war and 40,000 more troops— fully 100,000 if the canal is to be at all adequately guarded, and then no absolute immunity certain — would be available for foreign service under present conditions.

What do you think of the picture ? Does the writer see it in a more favourable light than he ought to ?

Scaling in the Benrins Sea.

It is a good while 6ince I wrote on this subject, so I have made a few notes containing now matter, got from an article in the May numbor of the North American Eeview. Tho islands called S. Paul and Sfc. George, known aa the Pribyloff Islands, are the eeallug islands. They were purchased from Itaeula with Alaska in 1867 for 7,00q,000d01, nud are the only islands inhabited in Alaskan torritoiy. Seven hundred and fifty miles nearer Siberia are tbo Commander Islands, also frequented by seals, bnt their skins are of a considerably inferior quality. The seals of the two groiips never mix, and are easily identified by the colour of the hair. Seals aro carnivorous, warm-blooded, furbearing animals that suckle their youtg, and they have highly-organised natures. In all these respects they resemble the bear, dog, &0., the main difference between them and

other mammalia being that they are equally at home on land and in the sea. The seal has none of the characteristics of fish, for it is born on land, is reared on land, and would become extinct without land. Briefly, it may be described as a land animal whose food is found in' the sea.

In winter time the Beals that are able— those, say, over two years old— leave the islands and make an excursion south, returning in the late spring headed by the bulls. Young bulls are^not fully developed until they are seven "yeara old, when they take up a place in the rookery with the reßt of the bulls, but they have to fight for their wives, generally dispossessing one getting weak wich sga. They practise polygamy, for each one has from 15 to BO cows as wives. The males not old enough for breeding and the females not fully matured, live apart from the older one 3. Soon after landing the cows give birth to their young or pups, which are fed entirely on milk every two or three days for a couple of months, when they take their first lessons in swimming, for they have to learn this art like any other land animal. When about four months old they forage for themselves, but still swim very clumsily. It is not until they are about throe years old that they can ■ swim at the average rate — 12 miles an hour—and keep it tip for a day or so. , ' SEAL POACHING. In 1886 this - question first attracted general attention, for in that year Canadians for the first time fitted out vessels on a large scale for the special -purpose of capturing seals in the open waters. Canadians say they have a right— and so has any one else for that matter— to seal_ ont£ side of, I suppose/ the five ■ mile limit, but the United Stapes deny this right, both on the grounds of equity and expediency, and that 1 .hy : IjagU6h law. The islands without? the seals are of no value, and the islands are the natural home of the seals, therefore no one except the owners of the islands have any more right to catch seals than, say, I ba've^to shoot a goose belonging to my neighbour when J know it i 3 his, whether it is on my property or on a noman's land. This statement of law, but more fully expressed than I have done ih, is taken from Blackstone. The United ' States Govern-ment,-then, on grounds of equity, claim that these seals cannot be taken by anyone with? out authority because the islands are their home and the surrounding seas their feeding ground?. x Bat as a question of expediency, and of. .interest to all wishing to wear sealskin in any form, Canadian poaching must be , objected to, because poaching is really a war of extermination. The United States Government only - allows 100,000 to be slaughtered yearly, and the last few years the 50 or GO families living on the islands have not been able to kill nearly that number. They are restricted to killing males between two and seven years, that is as soon as the skin becomes of value and until the animal matures and can take unto himself bis wives. As long as a" twentieth or thereabouts of the males survive breeding can go on, but to kill the females means a rapid extermination of the species. 1 Now the females nave to leave the islands more frequently than males, and to cruise about perhaps 100 miles from the islands, even when not migrating, in order to pro* vide food not only for themselves, but also to nourish the pups. These mostly fall into the hands of the poachers, but as they are shot from the decks it is said not more ihan ore in five killed are grot. A simple calculation will show the tffjet upon the seals. Ooly about 60,000 were kilied lawfully last year, and they were of course male?. Now ifc is known that poacher's got at least 21,000 skins, and about 126,000 must have been shot, mose of these being females. Bat these again represent perhaps 126,000 pups on land, most of which perish because not nourished by their mothers' milk, aad there is a further loes of 126,000 unborn one". Ifc is calculated that there must be about hale a million seals killed unlawfully every seasod. This simply means if a check is not put on 'this wholesale slaughter that a sealskin jacket will'be one of the impossibilities of fcha future, unless new sealing grounds are found.' From a rational point of view it seems to me that the Canadians are in the wrong. _ '

— The pulsation of an infant is from 130 to 140 beats a minute-; of an old man 75 to 80.

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