Explorers and the British Empire

Following the drinking of toasts to the King and to the newly married Duke and Duchess of Kent, the following resolution was moved by Mr. Featherstonaugh, seconded by Mr. Gale, THAT The Empire Club of Canada forward a cable to the Duke and Duchess of Kent, expressing the good wishes of the Club on the occasion of their marriage. Carried unanimously.

MR. DANA PORTER: Your Grace, and Gentlemen During the Great War the attention of the world was so focussed upon the Western Front that at that time little was known generally of the happenings of the British forces in Persia. Our guest today, Sir Percy Sykes, was in command of those forces and as we know, was successful. The success of the British forces in Persia was one of those incalculables which had a much greater effect, perhaps, upon the winning of the war, and also upon the unity of the British Empire than the actual numbers of the forces engaged and the news value of those activities at the time might have indicated.

Sir Percy Sykes is a Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society, and a Gold Medallist of the Royal Empire Society, and he also has won a gold medal, known as the MacGregor Memorial Gold Medal for special war service.

It is a great privilege to have Sir Percy Sykes with us today and we.are very much indebted to the National Council of Education for bringing Sir Percy to Toronto. It is with great pleasure that I introduce Sir' Percy Sykes.

SIR PERCY SYKES, K.C.I.E., C.B., C.M.G.: Mr. Chairman, Your Grace, and Gentlemen: The Roman Empire and the medieval world centred round the Mediterranean Sea. Suddenly, a few years before the close of the fifteenth century, by the practically simultaneous discovery of the ocean route to India and of the immense New World that lay beyond the Atlantic, Europe burst the shackles of the Middle Ages and, mainly through her development of sea power, gradually evolved the might, the wealth and the civilization of the present day. These events dwarf all others in world history.

In 1492,, Columbus discovered the New World, albeit the never realized it. Upon his return to Spain, negotiations with Portugal were initiated which culminated in the Treaty of Tordesillas, by which the two Powers divided the world especially the ocean routes outside Europe, between them and among the most important articles of that Treaty of Tordesillas, as it is termed, was one which threatened death to all interlopers.

Such was the position when our ancestors decided to start exploring. Bristol had traded with Portugal and Spain for many centuries and also with Iceland, and thus possessed experienced seamen. When John Cabot, the Venetian navigator settled at Bristol, at some date before 1490, he succeeded in interesting its merchants in his scheme of exploration in the New World. Henry VII was approached and he issued a patent for the discovery of "heathen islands or countries„ hitherto unknown to Christians," with the proviso that such discoveries must be made in the latitude of England., that being the area he intended to stake out.

Cabot sailed on his great expedition on May 2, 1497.

The voyage across the Atlantic took fifty-four days and he finally struck Cape Breton. Like Columbus and other, explorers of the period, he was convinced that he had reached the coast of Asia and he thought he had struck somewhere on the north of China. He sailed southwards along the coast across the Bay of Fundy to Maine. During the homeward voyage, Newfoundland, our first colony, was sighted but not explored and Cabot finally reached Bristol safely, having made most important discoveries, including that of the cod fisheries.

In his second voyage„ undertaken in the following year, Cabot, probably reached the mouth of the Delaware River, but his supporters obsessed with the quest for the Spice Islands, were bitterly disappointed at the failure of the expedition to show any commercial results and, consequently, the venture was abandoned.

Forty years passed and no attempt was made to follow up the discoveries of Cabot, although the cod fisheries were regularly visited by French, Spanish, English and Portuguese vessels but, in 1534, Jacques Cartier sailed from St. Malo, to discover a new route to China. He struck Newfoundland, sailed through the Belle Isle Strait and examined the coast of Labrador. He attempted to sail up the St. Lawrence but the tides ran so strong that the vessels only lost way. Consequently, satisfied with the results of his first voyage, he returned home to report.

On the following year he ascended the St. Lawrence to Stadacona, the site of Quebec, and to Hochelaga, where Montreal was subsequently to be built. Here, I am on ground you know much better than I do. It is noteworthy that both Cabot and Jacques Cartier were bound for the Spice Islands and that while Cabot discovered cod, and Cartier found furs, in neither case was the quest followed up.

My interest in Jacques Cartier is deep. I happen to own a villa at St. Briac, a few miles from St. Malo and before starting for Canada I visited the cathedral where Jacques Cartier was blessed by the Bishop before starting on his voyage. The exact spot is marked by a mosaic, presented to the cathedral by the late Honourable Mercier, who was Premier of Quebec, and is dated 1891.

Some sixty years later, Champlain appeared on the scene and founded Quebec in 1608. He was thus the founder of this great Dominion. The explorers of this period include La Salle whose greatest exploit was the descent of the mightly Mississippi to the ocean, and I understand that the La Chine rapids, which were discovered and given the name included the word "Chine" or "China", is evidence that the quest of China was still the great quest of all European nations. The quest for China remained until the end of the seventeenth century, a great obsession.

Among the leading explorers of Canada at this period were the heroic Jesuit fathers. Other, eminent explorers were the fur-traders of the North. Greatest among them was Alexander Mackenzie who, in 1789, determined to discover whether the waters of the Great Slave Lake reached the Arctic or the Pacific Ocean. As you all know, he descended the river subsequently called by his name, for a thousand miles and thus performed one great exploit, but his greatest feat was undertaken in 1792. Making his way up the Peace River he constructed a fort and halted for the winter. In the spring he crossed the Rocky Mountains, floated down the Fraser River for some distance and finally reached the Pacific Ocean by the Bella Coola River. In spite of Indian hostility, he took his observations and then mixing some vermilion, he painted on the rocks: "Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty-second of July 'one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three."

It remains to add that Captain Bishop, a leading explorer of British Columbia has recently not only followed in Mackenzie's track but has checked his observations. He has fixed the famous rock at Edward Point at the entrance to Elcho Harbour and states that Mackenzie, writing his book some years later, confused it with Point Menzies. I may say that I have written, a History of Exploration and I made this mistake but I am in good company as the author of the book made it first. Captain Bishop's identification has been accepted, the immortal inscription has been cut on the rock, which has been photographed and a memorial stone has been erected. Perhaps, when prosperity returns to Canada, as it assuredly will, a statue to Alexander Mackenzie will be erected in Canada.

The exploration of the Arctic by the English in the sixteenth century was undertaken with a view to reaching China where it was hoped to find a market for English broadcloth, our only export, practically, and without incurring the danger of breaking the monopoly of the southern ocean routes, and being put to death simply as an interloper by the first Spanish or Portuguese ship that was met with. In 1553, Sir Hugh Willoughby and Richard Chancellor sailed to discover the north-east passage. Willoughby and his crew died of cold on the coast of Lapland. The ship was finally brought back and it was found that every one was frozen to death. Chancelor finding his way into the White Sea, was more fortunate, and landing at Archangel, he went by sled to the court of Ivan, the Terrible, at Moscow, who received him very well and he opened up a most profitable trade in marine products, tallow and timber, between England and Russia. Apart from this success our heroic sea-captains were unable to penetrate further east than the River Ob, and so the quest was abandoned.

Attempts to find the North-West Passage were made by Frobisher and by Davis. Hudson made the great discovery of the bay called after him which now forms part of the Dominion of Canada and Baffin, sailing farther north than his predecessors, discovered Lancaster Sound in 1616. The quest for both passages failed, but these great English navigators had marked out the routes which, some two centuries later, led to final success. They had failed, but failed gloriously.

During this period the power of Spain and Portugal was waning and in 1580, lion-hearted Drake, sailed through Magellan Straits into the Pacific. There he won great booty from the Spaniards and crossing the great Ocean to the Spice Islands he loaded a valuable cargo with which he reached Plymouth safely, after circumnavigating the world.

Eight years later, the Spanish Armada was defeated. That broke down the monstrous monopoly of the southern ocean routes claimed by Spain and Portugal. Our ancestors despatched expeditions to the Spice Islands but at first with scant success, The Dutch were more fortunate. Supported by the entire strength of their Government they drove out the Portuguese and established themselves in the Spice Islands. They then created a monopoly in pepper with the result that its price suddenly rose in the London market from three to eight shillings per pound. This was too much for our sluggish ancestors and brought them into action. They petitioned Queen Elizabeth who granted them a royal charter which led in due course to the Empire of India.

Our pioneers, Newbery and Fitch had previously reached India by Aleppo and the Persian Gulf. Did not the first witch in Macbeth say, "Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master of the Tiger?" Shakespeare evidently thought that Aleppo was a port. In 1601, Lancaster in a second voyage secured a rich cargo of pepper at Bantam, while Hawkins landed at Surat and travelled inland to the court of the Emperor Jahangir. This early period culminated in the capture of the island emporium of Hormuz from the Portuguese in 1622. We captured that fort and it was a very fine achievement and that was the first great feat of English arms in eastern waters. That dated our prestige and we finally, through our sea power defeated all comers and we won the Empire of India.

We now turn to the epoch of Captain Cook, who first won distinction as a surveyor of the St. Lawrence. In 1768, he sailed from. England to observe the transit of Venus and to explore the Pacific for the Southern Continent, the existence of which the ancient geographers had assumed as the necessary counterpoise to the Arctic land masses. Cook completely disproved this theory but of far greater practical importance, was his survey of the Coast of the two islands of New Zealand, and of the eastern and northern coast of Australia. Our greatest navigator was a great empire builder. Anchoring on Botany Bay, he says, "as soon as we approached the rocks two men came down each armed with a lance to dispute our landing"--two naked savages. Cook, whose humanity was exceptional for the period fired a charge of small shot at them which put them to flight, without any blood shed, and this dramatic landing took place. There is a very fine picture of it in the collection of pictures at Melbourne. Cook also charted the Pacific coast of Canada and reached latitude 70 on the northern coast of Alaska, which he suitably named Icy Cape. To quote from the inscription on the base of his statute in London: "He laid the foundations of the British Empire in Australia and New Zealand; he charted the shores of Newfoundland and traversed the Ocean Gates of Canada both East and West." A very fine inscription.

The successor of Captain Cook was Vancouver, who had taken part in his third voyage. Sailing from England in 1791, he struck the south-west coast of Australia, which he carefully surveyed. He then sailed to the west coast of America and spent three seasons in surveying it from 39 deg. of latitude northward and was able to report: "I trust that the survey will set aside every opinion of a North West Passage."

I may say he also settled another question and I heard a good deal about it from Captain Bishop, who has read all the documents. It appears the Spaniards had arrived and turned out the British whom they ill-treated and Pitt, when he heard of it--I suppose a year or two later--told them they must not only pay an indemnity but they must apologize and they weren't keen on doing it. So he brought into exhibition the greatest English Fleet ever brought into exhibition and was supported by fourteen Dutch ships. The Spaniards decided to evacuate, and thereby conceded the western Pacific Ocean, too. I never realized its very great importance before.

The successor of Cook in Australia was Flinders who circumnavigated Tasmania in 1798 and then explored the coast of what is now Victoria, and which he thought was a peninsula. Cook sent one of his captains to find out but he was beaten back by adverse winds, so it was still believed to be a peninsula in Flinders' time. In 1803 he completed the circumnavigation of Australia.

The first great land explorer of Australia was Stuart who, in 1828, discovered the Darling River. In the following year he launched a boat on the Murrumbidgee and sailed down its unknown waters to its junction with the equally unknown Murray River and reached the Southern Ocean. But the greatest feat of all was that of Stuart who in 1860 traversed Australia from near Adelaide right to Port Darwin, after being baffled in two attempts, by the bush in one case and by natives in the second case.

Lastly, we come to the dark continent of Africa which has been neglected by explorers seeking the wealth of the Spice Islands. At that time the exploiting of Africa and the drains of slaves from Africa initiated by all Christian nations was, I think, perhaps the darkest stain ever inflicted on Christianity. Among the most important problems calling for solution was that of the Niger and, in 1795, Mungo Park was despatched to discover it. There was a great doubt as to whether it flowed east or west. At first one opinion was that it was the Senegal River that flowed into the Atlantic. Another was that it was lost in the interior. Mungo Park was sent especially to find in which direction it flowed. He landed on the River, Gambia and spent some months with the British merchants, learning the language. He started on his great venture, first of all passing through districts which had trade relations with the British. He was well treated but they all told him he would have trouble further in. As soon as he got further in, somewhere near the Sahara, a Moorish chief seized him, taking everything he had-his interpreter and his slave--and he escaped with difficulty absolutely without resources and almost naked, but he continued the quest and one happy day he struck the Niger and was able to write: "I saw the majestic Niger, as broad as the Thames at Westminster and flowing slowly to the eastward." That adventure, I think, is one of the most moving in the whole history of exploration. He returned home to be feted and was sent off a year or two later with a large expedition to explore the Niger River and follow it down to its mouth.

You know in those days they never realized that only a youth could do those things. They sent a lot of middle aged tommies with them and they nearly all died. He reached the Niger with a few who were half dead-the rest had died on the way. He then apparently rebuilt a native craft and sailed down the Niger and was drowned in the Bussa Rapids.

Now we come to the epoch of Livingstone who served as a missionary in Bechuanaland, crossed the Kalahari Desert and discovered Lake Nigami in 1849. Two years later he penetrated north and discovered the upper reaches of the Zambezi in the centre of the continent, entirely unknown in those days. He then conceived the very bold idea of travelling westward. He made great friends with the warlike Makolo--he had no money and no backing and he got natives to come along with him without payand decided to cross Africa through the great Congo District and finally he reached Loando. There, by very good luck, an English cruiser called in and though Livingstone was very ill, he conceived the gigantic scheme in those days, of traversing the whole continent to the Indian Ocean. He went back to the Makolo country where as he recorded, "the most skilful of their diviners had pronounced us dead long ago". They were very pleased to see him again. Probably the natives were pleased--it is to be hoped their wives were. He marched down the Zambezi where he discovered the wonderful Victoria Falls. He finally reached the Indian Ocean, having performed these astounding feats of exploration with practically no resources. On another expedition he discovered Nyasa Lake where we now have Nyasaland and when be died at Lake Bangwealo, he had established himself, without the least doubt, as the greatest of land explorers. Equally great were his services to humanity. As we all know Wilberforce and Burton had worked in parliament against the slave trade but Livingstone was the first man to carry out the active suppression of slavery on land.

I may say that one of the greatest treasures of the Royal Geographical Society is the tree under which Livingstone died. His servant cut in rude characters on the tree his name and the date and we heard that it was tumbling down so we sent out and had the part cut down and put a very suitable, I think, cement memorial in its place and around that are grouped the irons of the slaves which Livingstone took off.

Further north in Africa at about the same period Burton and Speke discovered Lake Tanganyika. Later, in the same year, Speke went off alone and discovered Victoria Nyanza, the chief source of the Nile, and thereby solved a puzzle that had baffled mankind since the days of Herodotus in the fifth century, B.C.

To conclude this epitome, our explorers have sown, but others have reaped. Time and again they have been outstripped in the race by Death, but they founded the British Empire, and it is for us to maintain and develop the priceless heritage which they, greatly daring, greatly enduring, have bequeathed to us.

Gentlemen, I have been asked to give a few words on the present situation in Persia. I understand one or two of you are interested in the Persian oil fields.

Today, in Persia, "the old order changeth, yielding place to new". The slogan of Shah Riza, Pahlair is westernization in a generation, coupled with the determination of replacing Europeans by Persians as far as possible. Large numbers of young Persians are studying in Europe. The education, generally, in Persia, is improving. Hospitals are being opened and the brigands are being killed off so the individuals are safe. In my day, I may say, you went about armed; if you didn't you got dropped and we had a sentry at night.

The most important enterprise is the construction of a railway from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea, a distance of some 750 miles in length. The central plateau is very high. All the towns are in the south, and as the plateau averages some 5,000 feet above sea level, you may imagine that the rim of this plateau is considerably higher. Up in the north in the Capsian Province there is a great ridge which has to he tunnelled through and I understand--at least some people have said--the distance is fifty miles. I won't guarantee that; anyway it is a most enormously expensive undertaking and I doubt if it will pay expenses. In Canada you have had some experience in expensive railways and the difficulty in paving expenses. However, in this I sincerely hope I am mistaken. The financial anchor of Persia is the royalty from the Anglo Persian Oil Company. I thought you might like to know a little about its history. I happen to know a little about it. The right to bore for oil was first granted to an Armenian by old Nasir-u-Din, the there Shah, some forty years ago. The concession was worked by an Englishman called D'Arcy in the Perso-Turkish frontier, who had made his money in a mine in Australia. He asked me to call on him. I was a humble Consul in those days, a captain, and he was a millionaire and quite well aware of the fact, may I say, to put it mildly. He told me what he was doing, but I explained to him if he found oil he could not get it out of Persia since the Turks would not allow a pipe-line across Iraq, nor would the then independent Persian states permit a pipe-line to the Persian Gulf. I told him that he would not be able to do it, that the people there were very warlike nomads and anyone who laid a pipe-line there would have his throat cut. He was very much annoyed. I said to him, "I have no axe to grind; I have no shares in it or anything of the sort and I don't mind telling you, you may find the oil-I know nothing about that-but if you do,, you will screw it down and you won't be able to use it." I was for once a true prophet. About eighteen months later they found a gusher and screwed it down. They couldn't do anything with it. He spent a third of a million. If he had stopped when I told him, he would probably have spent only a quarter.

Then the Burmah Oil Company and Lord Strathcona took over the concession and I believe I was the first official to report the existence of the tremendous field. I believe I was the first official--I was told so, but I won't claim it. Anyway, a lot of Canadian boys, as you know, came out in the most frightful heat-the climate is around 124 and that sort of thing in the summer-and for a long time there seemed no likelihood of success. They wrote out saying to close down unless something turned up very quickly. Something very big did turn up, as we all know, and I should say, speaking as a man who knows nothing about it, that it is one of the richest oil fields in the world.

During the World War, we were given instructions to report seepages and I think we reported twenty-seven altogether in different parts of Persia„ showing what a very rich oil field it is. The British Government, as you probably know, holds some two million of the ordinary shares which it took in 1914 and the company did very valuable work during the Great War. They supplied liquid fuel to all the ships in the Indian Ocean and the Eastern Mediterranean. They also repaired a great many of the river craft and built some, I think, for us, up the Tigris.

However, as I guess those of you interested in oil know, there was a certain amount of friction with the Persian Government in regard to royalties. I think the Persian Government, to put it plainly, were perfectly justified in wanting an up-to-date document or agreement. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company were also in favour of it, but the Persian Government asked enormous sums--I won't mention them,, they were fantastic figures-and of course there was nothing doing. The Shah gave an ultimatum and went to the League of Nations and so on and finally good sense prevailed and a new contract was made by the terms of which they gave the Shah better terms and the new concession has been given for sixty years, and I think the arrangement is equally satisfactory! to the Persian Government and also to the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

I may say a tremendous amount of good which has been done by the Anglo-Persian Oil in Persia for civilization is almost indescribable. They employ 15,000 Persians who for the first time in their lives have been taught how to work steadily and regularly. They look after them extremely well, give them free education, they give education to the young men and supply free medical treatment. They built a thousand miles of road and altogether South-west Persia is by far the most civilized area of Persia and incidentally, I think the Shah finds it quite a big advantage to collect the taxes. You see, they get good pay.

In concession, my interest in Persia is life-long and it gives me intense pleasure to see that Persia is steadily moving up in the scale of civilization. (Applause.)