| 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 |
| 1 | 23 | 47 | 70 | 93 |
|
www.freeclassicebooks.com
Chapter 4
It was during the morning of July 6, 2137, that we entered the mouth of the
Thames--to the best of my knowledge the first Western keel to cut those historic
waters for two hundred and twenty-one years!
But where were the tugs and the lighters and the barges, the lightships and the
buoys, and all those countless attributes which went to make up the myriad life
of the ancient Thames?
Gone! All gone! Only silence and desolation reigned where once the commerce of
the world had centered.
I could not help but compare this once great water-way with the waters about our
New York, or Rio, or San Diego, or Valparaiso. They had become what they are
today during the two centuries of the profound peace which we of the navy have
been prone to deplore. And what, during this same period, had shorn the waters
of the Thames of their pristine grandeur?
Militarist that I am, I could find but a single word of explanation--war!
I bowed my head and turned my eyes downward from the lonely and depressing
sight, and in a silence which none of us seemed willing to break, we proceeded up
the deserted river.
We had reached a point which, from my map, I imagined must have been about
the former site of Erith, when I discovered a small band of antelope a short
distance inland. As we were now entirely out of meat once more, and as I had
given up all expectations of finding a city upon the site of ancient London, I
determined to land and bag a couple of the animals.
Assured that they would be timid and easily frightened, I decided to stalk them
alone, telling the men to wait at the boat until I called to them to come and carry
the carcasses back to the shore.
Crawling carefully through the vegetation, making use of such trees and bushes
as afforded shelter, I came at last almost within easy range of my quarry, when
the antlered head of the buck went suddenly into the air, and then, as though in
accordance with a prearranged signal, the whole band moved slowly off, farther
inland.
As their pace was leisurely, I determined to follow them until I came again within
range, as I was sure that they would stop and feed in a short time.
3
0
Page
Quick Jump
|