A HIGH-ROAD IN THE SEA.
559
and falling into the runlets of creeks. All
the while he was trying to obtain guidance
from the lights, with which he was thoroughly
familiar ; but, owing to fog, they could be
seen at intervals only, and their colours were
indistinguishable. All this time, the tide was
rising, and he knew well that, if he failed to
reach the shore, his position was hopeless.
At last, however, during a clearance of a few
minutes, he was able to identify one of the
lights with certainty, and this enabled him
to ascertain the direction of the shore. Then,
after floundering for some time through
the rising tide, he reached land safely,
climbed upon the sea-wall, walked along it
till he came to one of the landing-places,
and thus ascertained his whereabouts. He
reached his rectory about midnight, with
absolutely nothing dry about him except
his bags of books, which he had never once
been able to put down, owing to the rising
tide.
Others, whose adventures have ended less
happily, have left, for an obvious reason, no
record whatever. Benton's pages show that
several medical men have lost their lives
during professional visits to the island.
Thus one Thomas Jackson, an " apothe-
cary," of Rochford, was drowned in 1711 ;
as also was Thomas Miller, a surgeon, of
Great Wakering, aged forty-five, in 1805.
Later, a policeman of Irish birth perished in
the performance of his duties, having had a
paper to serve on the island. In 1836, two
poor girls, wishing to visit their sweethearts
on the island, attempted to cross from
Wakering after dark, and were overtaken by
a severe thunderstorm. Their bodies were
found next day, their deaths having resulted,
it is said, more from cold, wet, and fright
than from drowning. As recently as March
1917, a leading farmer on the island, having
attended Rochford Market, disappeared
when crossing the Broomway on his return
home in the evening. His body was washed
ashore a fortnight later, but his horse and
cart were never found.
Yet another class of accident was due
(according to Benton) to a kind of sporting
competition against the tide in which some
of the Fowlness farmers used to engage.
They were accustomed, he says, to stay
on the mainland (attracted by the delights
of the local inns) until the last moment,
when they would race the tide on horseback,
swimming the fast-filling creeks. Naturally
some of those who were not quite sober, or
in whom familiarity with the danger had
bred contempt for it, paid the penalty:
others escaped solely through the intelligence,
sobriety, and remarkable direction-sense of
horse or pony. It is generally different with
strangers, who (as the local publican told
Walter White) " somehow don't get into
trouble, because they are more particular
in asking about the state of the tide."
But the range of modern artillery has
increased enormously, and the entire length
and breadth of the Maplin Sands now
scarcely provide sufficient space for test-
firing. The Admiralty authorities have
already acquired control over some of the
islands. Havengore has been purchased
outright, together with large portions of
Fowlness. It is the intention to bridge
Havengore, New England, and Shelford
Creeks, and thus to carry a land road on
to Fowlness Island. This done, the Broom-
way will probably cease to be used, and the
world will lose one of its strangest roads.
A SEA SIGN-POST ON THE BROOMWAY,