the war of 1778 none of the
belligerents had such ports on this route, until by the accession of
Holland, the Cape of Good Hope was put at the disposal of the French
and suitably strengthened by Suffren. With this and the Mauritius on
the way, and Trincomalee at the far end of the road, the
communications of the allies with France were reasonably guarded.
England, though then holding St. Helena, depended, for the refreshment
and refitting of her India-bound squadrons and convoys in the
Atlantic, upon the benevolent neutrality of Portugal, extended in the
islands of Madeira and Cape Verde and in the Brazilian ports. This
neutrality was indeed a frail reliance for defence, as was shown by
the encounter between Johnstone and Suffren at the Cape Verde; but
there being several possible stopping-places, and the enemy unable to
know which, if any, would be used, this ignorance itself conferred no
small security, if the naval commander did not trust it to the neglect
of proper disposition of his own force, as did Johnstone at Porto
Praya. Indeed, with the delay and uncertainty which then characterized
the transmission of intelligence from one point to another, doubt
where to find the enemy was a greater bar to offensive enterprises
than the often slight defences of a colonial port.

This combination of useful harbors and the conditions of the
communications between them constitute, as has been said, the main
strategic outlines of the situation. The navy, as the organized force
linking the whole together, has been indicated as the principal
objective of military effort. The method employed to reach the
objective, the conduct of the war, is still to be considered.[234]

Before doing this a condition peculiar to the sea, and affecting the
following discussion, must be briefly mentioned; that is, the
difficulty of obtaining information. Armies pass through countries
more or less inhabited by a stationary population, and they leave
behind them traces of their march. Fleets move through a desert over
which wanderers flit, but where they do not remain; and as the waters
close behind them, an occasional waif from the decks may indicate
their passage, but tells nothing of their course. The sail spoken by
the pursuer may know nothing of the pursued, which yet passed the
point of parley but a few days or hours before. Of late, careful study
of the winds and currents of the ocean has laid down certain
advantageous routes, which will be h