| Show 4 I 1 1 jass sw 11 r M SM I 1 gaet cwb an a ot at iho th becq r anre alro on headland when ships are am salling sailing upon um the ocean the ma lights of heaven are am audr waft gaidek the even in the dark ices ages 1 when cor compass aDass and sextant were nn known instruments the seemingly mo tio tl onless Wess pole pol polestar estar e star hung like a beacon light in the northern heavens and the rising ne and setting of 0 the sua son and aca distinguished the east from f the west says the st nicholas when however S come near the land the lights of heaven are not sufficient wely safely to guide hem rocks bocks ue in their paths unseen in the night reefs and shoals spread under the water while unsuspected currents sweep the trail frail craft all blindly upon these cangem dan gera nevertheless chips were sailed along dangerous coasts tor for centuries before a plain system of marking dangerous places was invented lae early marines rines were bold anci ana reckless rovers more than half virte pirates vir te who seldom owned a rood of the coasts along which they sailed and could not have established lights and landmarks on them had they cared to do so go the rude beginning then of a system saem of lighthouses was when the merchants with whom the 0 reckless mariners marinero ma traded in those dark ages built beacons new near the harbor mouths to guide the ships into port by day and lighted fires for their guidance at night As such a harbor guide had to be a sure landmark in the day time and a light by night it soon took on a settled shape a tower on which could be built a fire and such a tower was usually built of stone this method of guiding ships into the ports which they sought was scarcely established before human wickedness used it as a means of their destruction bands of robbers or as they came to be called wm wreckers kirs 11 would hide themselves somewhere near the haven sought by a richly laden vessel and after overpowering the fire keepers would extinguish the bea con fire on the night on which the ship was expected then they would light another fire near some treacherous reef the mariner wiling sailing boldly toward the false light would dash his vessel to destruction on the reef whereupon the robber band would plunder the wreck and make off with the booty |
