Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/286

228 the European shops were closed, but there was much to interest and amuse strangers.

As I stood on the wharf an impudent native came up to me and said, “All German man now; Englishman no good now.”

“Try the toe of an English boot,” I answered, “and see how you like that!”

But mark the words. What is happening is all summed up in them. Throughout the East, where once we held sway, where once they knew only of the Great White Queen, in their eyes the greatest ruler on earth, where our name and influence was spread far and wide, there is now but one idea, and that is that our day is past, our power and influence gone, and that Germany has taken our place. How has this idea so quickly spread and been accepted as true? Partly because it is true, and partly because the Germans in the East and on their big liners are carefully, quietly, zealously doing all they can to spread the idea and make people believe it. As they never see a British ship now, nor a British flag, but everywhere the German flag and German people, what can they do but believe it? All honour to Germany for her clever foresight and her successful endeavours to push her fortunes; it is not Germany we are to blame but ourselves. This is no little thing, no matter of slight importance—it is only by our name we hold India and govern such countless varied races. The great British Raj was everything, the name of it carried weight everywhere—now, not only is that name on the wane, but in many places it is gone. “All German man now; Englishman no good now.”

We actually find a Chinese author of to-day, Wang-shu, writing a thoughtful book on The Decline and Fall of the Anglo-Saxon Race!