Thanks
to the fact that nowadays more and more books are digitized we are able to read
books that are some times for decades no longer available for the public for
several reasons. That’s quite a pity while these books contains useful
information while the archives are destroyed, incomplete or nor accessible.
P.
44: “We visited the dock-yard and arsenal; in the former was one ship, on the
stocks for so many years, that they have put in three new sets of timbers
already, and are now negociating a loan of £300 for a further repair! Their
naval officers are educated in a model ship, placed in the arsenal. How are the
mighty fallen!—think of the days when the Portuguese navy was the terror of the
world, and her mariners added rich store of knowledge to their children, and
incalculable wealth to their coffers.”
Source
William
Robert Wilde. Narrative of a voyage to Madeira, Teneriffe and along the shores
of the Mediterranean. Dublin, 1844.
