1.
Island
–
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, an island in a river or a lake island may be called an eyot or ait, and a small island off the coast may be called a holm. A grouping of geographically or geologically related islands is called an archipelago, an island may be described as such, despite the presence of an artificial land bridge. Example, Singapore and its causeway, or the various Dutch delta islands, there are two main types of islands in the sea, continental and oceanic. The word island derives from Middle English iland, from Old English igland, Old English ieg is actually a cognate of Swedish ö and German Aue, and related to Latin aqua. There is a difference between islands and continents in terms of geology, continents sit on continental lithosphere which is part of tectonic plates floating high on Earths mantle. Oceanic crust is also part of tectonic plates, but it is denser than continental lithosphere, Islands are either extensions of the oceanic crust or geologically they are part of some continent sitting on continental lithosphere. This holds true for Australia, which sits on its own continental lithosphere, continental islands are bodies of land that lie on the continental shelf of a continent. A special type of island is the microcontinental island, which is created when a continent is rifted. Examples are Madagascar and Socotra off Africa, the Kerguelen Islands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, another subtype is an island or bar formed by deposition of tiny rocks where water current loses some of its carrying capacity. While some are transitory and may disappear if the volume or speed of the current changes, others are stable, oceanic islands are islands that do not sit on continental shelves. The vast majority are volcanic in origin, such as Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, the few oceanic islands that are not volcanic are tectonic in origin and arise where plate movements have lifted up the ocean floor above the surface. Examples are Saint Peter and Paul Rocks in the Atlantic Ocean, one type of volcanic oceanic island is found in a volcanic island arc. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction of one plate under another is occurring, examples are the Aleutian Islands, the Mariana Islands, and most of Tonga in the Pacific Ocean. The only examples in the Atlantic Ocean are some of the Lesser Antilles, another type of volcanic oceanic island occurs where an oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples, Iceland, which is the second largest volcanic island, and Jan Mayen. A third type of oceanic island is formed over volcanic hotspots. A hotspot is more or less stationary relative to the tectonic plate above it
2.
Victoria Harbour
–
Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour situated between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon in Hong Kong. The harbours deep, sheltered waters and strategic location on the South China Sea were instrumental in Hong Kongs establishment as a British colony, throughout its history, the harbour has seen numerous reclamation projects undertaken on both shores, many of which have caused controversy in recent years. Environmental concerns have been expressed about the effects of these expansions, in terms of water quality and it has also been proposed that benefits of land reclamation may be less than the effects of decreased harbour width, affecting the number of vessels passing through the harbour. Nonetheless Victoria Harbour still retains its role as a port for thousands of international vessels each year. Long famous for its views, the harbour is a major tourist attraction of Hong Kong. Lying in the middle of the dense urban region, the harbour is the site of annual fireworks displays. During the Taiping Rebellion, armed rebels paraded the streets of Hong Kong, on 21 December 1854, the Hong Kong police arrested several armed rebels who were about to attack Kowloon City. On 23 January 1855, a fleet of Taiping war boats was on the verge of a battle against Chinese imperial war boats defending the harbour. The Chinese defenders were ordered away by the British colonial authorities and these incidents caused rising tension that would eventually lead to the Arrow War. The harbour was originally called Hong Kong Harbour, but was renamed as Victoria Harbour. The subject of pollution came to the fore in the 1970s with the growth of the manufacturing sector. The water club races were stopped in 1973 due to pollution in the harbour, studies also showed excessive nitrogen input from discharges of the Pearl River Delta into the harbour for decades. After completion of the Central and Wan Chai Reclamation Feasibility Study in 1989 and it consists of three district development cells separated by parks, namely, Central, Tamar and Exhibition. The latest proposed reclamation, extending along the waterfront from Sheung Wan to Causeway Bay, faced public opposition, I believe an insightful and visionary chief executive would support our stance and work with us to protect the harbour. Reclamation work also led to the demolition of Queens Pier and Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier, structures of historic significance, Victoria Harbour covers an area of about 41.88 km2 as of 2004. The eastern boundary is considered to be the line formed between the westernmost extremity of Siu Chau Wan and A Kung Ngam. Among the best places to view the harbour are the Peak Tower atop Victoria Peak, rides on the Star Ferry, particularly the route between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, are another popular way to view the harbour and cityscape. As the natural centre of the territory, the harbour has played host to major public shows
3.
Land reclamation in Hong Kong
–
The reclamation of land from the ocean has long been used in mountainous Hong Kong to expand the limited supply of usable land with a total of around 60 square kilometres of land created by 1996. The first reclamations can be traced back to the early Western Han Dynasty, major land reclamation projects have been conducted since the mid-19th century. One of the earliest and best-known modern projects was the Praya Reclamation Scheme and it was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken during the Colonial Hong Kong era. In addition, as the city expands, new towns in different decades were mostly built on reclaimed land, such as Tuen Mun, Tai Po, Sha Tin, Ma On Shan, West Kowloon, Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O. Much reclamation has taken place in locations on the waterfront on both sides of Victoria Harbour. Hong Kong legislators passed the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance in 1996 in an effort to safeguard the increasingly threatened Victoria Harbour against encroaching land development
4.
Kowloon Peninsula
–
The Kowloon Peninsula is a peninsula that forms the southern part of the main landmass in the territory of Hong Kong. The Kowloon Peninsula and the area of New Kowloon are collectively known as Kowloon, geographically, the term Kowloon Peninsula may also refer to the area south of the mountain ranges of Beacon Hill, Lion Rock, Tates Cairn, Kowloon Peak, etc. The peninsula covers five of the eighteen districts of Hong Kong, Kowloon Bay is located at the northeast of the peninsula. The main rock type of the consists of a medium grained monzogranite with some fine granite outcrops. Early maps and photographs show flat, low-lying land behind the beach of Tsim Sha Tsui Bay with an area, Kowloon Hill. The peninsula has been expanded through land reclamation from the sea. In the south and west most of the reclamation was carried out before 1904, Reclamation in several other small areas along the main Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront was completed by 1982. The West Kowloon Reclamation was formed as part of the Airport Core Programme, before the actual Kowloon boundaries were established, the Kowloon Peninsula served as one of the first destinations for escape during Chinas dynastic times. In 1287, the last emperor of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Bing was fleeing from the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, taking refuge in a cave in the Kowloon peninsula, the inscription wrote Sung Wong Toi or Song Emperors Pavilion. In the 17th century, after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Kowloon Peninsula had a population of 800 when it was ceded to the British empire in 1860. In 1898 a resolution was passed by the Colonial Hong Kong Legislative Council to preserve the land where some of the caves stand, boundary Street Islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong Kowloon List of buildings, sites and areas in Hong Kong New Kowloon
5.
Sulphur-crested cockatoo
–
The sulphur-crested cockatoo is a relatively large white cockatoo found in wooded habitats in Australia and New Guinea and some of the islands of Indonesia. They can be very numerous, leading to them sometimes being considered pests. A highly intelligent bird, they are known in aviculture. In Australia, sulphur-crested cockatoos can be found widely in the north and east, ranging from the Kimberley to as far south as Tasmania and they are numerous in suburban habitats in cities such as Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane. Except for highland areas, they occur throughout most of New Guinea and on smaller islands such as Waigeo, Misool and Aru. Within Australia, sulphur-crested cockatoos of the race have also been introduced to Perth. Outside Australia, they have introduced to Singapore, where their numbers have been estimated to be between 500 and 2000. They have also introduced to Palau and New Zealand. In New Zealand the introduced populations may number less than 1000 and this species has also been recorded as established in Hawaii and from various islands in Wallacea, but it is unclear if it has managed to become established there. It has a length of 44–55 cm, with the Australian subspecies larger than subspecies from New Guinea. The plumage is white, while the underwing and -tail are tinged yellow. The bill is black, the legs are grey, and the eye-ring is whitish, males typically have almost black eyes, whereas the females have a more red or brown eye, but this requires optimum viewing conditions to be seen. The differences between the subspecies are subtle, C. g. fitzroyi is similar to the nominate race but lacks the yellow on the ear tufts and has slightly blueish skin around the eye. C. g. eleonora is similar to C. g. fitzroyi but is smaller and has broader feathers in the crest and it is similar in appearance to the three species of corellas found in Australia. However, corellas are smaller, lack the prominent yellow crest and have pale bills, in captivity, the sulphur-crested cockatoo is easily confused with the smaller yellow-crested cockatoo or the blue-eyed cockatoo with a differently shaped crest and a darker blue eye-ring. Their distinctive raucous call can be loud, it is adapted to travel through the forest environments in which they live. These birds are curious, as well as very intelligent. They have adapted well to European settlement in Australia and live in many urban areas
6.
Tropidolaemus wagleri
–
Common names, Waglers pit viper, temple viper, temple pit viper, more. Tropidolaemus wagleri is a venomous species native to South-East Asia. It is sometimes referred to as the temple viper because of its abundance around the Temple of the Azure Cloud in Malaysia, the specific name, wagleri, is in honor of German herpetologist Johann Georg Wagler. This species is dimorphic, the females grow to approximately 1 m in total length. They have a large triangular-shaped head, with a thin body. They are almost entirely arboreal, and the tail is prehensile to aid in climbing and they are found in a wide variety of colors and patterns, often referred to as phases. In the past, some researchers classified the different phases as subspecies, Waglers pit viper, temple viper, temple pit viper, bamboo snake, temple snake, speckled pit viper, temple pitviper. In a revision by Vogel et al. the Tropidolaemus wagleri species complex was differentiated into several taxa, the Western Philippine populations belong to T. subannulatus, but those from Mindanao include snakes assigned to both this species and T. philippensis. Tropidolaemus subannulatus has a distribution in Central Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines, T wagleri is restricted to mainland Southeast Asia, down to Sumatra and Bangka. Nocturnal and arboreal, they appear quite sluggish as they remain motionless for long periods of waiting for prey to pass by. When prey does pass by, or if disturbed, they can strike quickly and their primary diet consists of rodents, birds, and lizards. The pits on the sides of the head between the eyes and nostrils are capable of detecting temperature difference of as little as 0.003 degree Celsius, sexually mature females of T. wagleri bear live young by ovoviviparity. Litter size varies from 15 to 41, the venom of Tropidolaemus wagleri contains 4 novel peptides. The Waglerins produce fatal respiratory paralysis of adult mice, an initial study indicated that micromolar concentrations of Waglerin 1 act both pre- and postsynaptically to inhibit transmission across rat neuromuscular junctions. However, Waglerin-1 is a potent inhibitor of transmission across the mouse neuromuscular junction. A subsequent study demonstrated that Waglerin-1 inhibited the adult mouse endplate response to acetylcholine with an IC50 of 50 nanomolar, in striking contrast, transmission across neuromuscular junctions of neonatal or transgenic mice lacking the adult acetylcholine receptor was not altered by micromolar concentrations of Waglerin-1. The Waglerins and complementary conotoxins are useful tools to discover the contribution of acetylcholine receptor subunits to synaptogenesis, in addition, study of the Waglerins and related toxic peptides may lead to the discovery of novel molecular targets for drug development. While Waglerin-1 interacts with members of the ligand-gated superfamily of ion channels
7.
Black kite
–
The black kite is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors. It is thought to be the worlds most abundant species of Accipitridae, current global population estimates run up to 6 million individuals. Unlike others of the group, black kites are opportunistic hunters and are likely to scavenge. They spend a lot of time soaring and gliding in thermals in search of food and their angled wing and distinctive forked tail make them easy to identify. They are also vociferous with a shrill whinnying call and this kite is widely distributed through the temperate and tropical parts of Eurasia and parts of Australasia and Oceania, with the temperate region populations tending to be migratory. Several subspecies are recognized and formerly had their own English names, the European populations are small, but the South Asian population is very large. Black kites can be distinguished from red kites by the smaller size, less forked tail. The upper plumage is brown but the head and neck tend to be paler, the patch behind the eye appears darker. The outer flight feathers are black and the feathers have dark bars and are mottled at the base. The lower parts of the body are brown, becoming lighter towards the chin. The body feathers have dark shafts giving it a streaked appearance, the cere and gape are yellow, but the bill is black. The legs are yellow and the claws are black and they have a distinctive shrill whistle followed by a rapid whinnying call. Males and females have the same plumage but females are longer than males and their wingspan is around 150 cm. The scientific name is derived from Latin, the genus name Milvus was the name of the red kite in that language, and migrans meant migrating, from migrare to migrate. The red kite has been known to hybridize with the black kite. aegyptius and they occur throughout Africa except for the Congo basin and the Sahara Desert. There have been suggestions that the black-eared kite should be elevated to full species status as M. lineatus. M. m. migrans –, European black kite Breeds central, southern and eastern Europe, as well as the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa, to Tien Shan and south to northwest Pakistan. M. m. lineatus –, black-eared kite Siberia to Amurland S around Himalaya to N India, N Indochina and S China, northern inland birds migrate to E Persian Gulf coast and S Asia in winter
8.
Tamarind
–
Tamarind is a leguminous tree in the family Fabaceae indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus Tamarindus is a taxon, having only a single species. The tamarind tree produces edible, pod-like fruit which is used extensively in cuisines around the world, other uses include traditional medicine and metal polish. The wood can be used for woodworking, because of the tamarinds many uses, cultivation has spread around the world in tropical and subtropical zones. It grows wild in Africa in locales as diverse as Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, in Arabia, it is found growing wild in Oman, especially Dhofar, where it grows on the sea-facing slopes of mountains. It reached South Asia likely through human transportation and cultivation several years prior to the Common Era. It is widely distributed throughout the belt, from Africa to South Asia, northern Australia. Today, India is the largest producer of tamarind, the consumption of tamarind is widespread due to its central role in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and the Americas, particularly Mexico. The tamarind is a long-lived, medium-growth shrub, which attains a maximum height of 12 to 18 metres. The crown has an irregular, vase-shaped outline of dense foliage, the tree grows well in full sun in clay, loam, sandy, and acidic soil types, with a high resistance to drought and aerosol salt. The evergreen leaves are arranged and pinnately compound. The leaflets are green, elliptical ovular, pinnately veined. The branches droop from a single, central trunk as the tree matures and is often pruned in agriculture to optimize tree density, at night, the leaflets close up. The tamarind does flower, though inconspicuously, with red and yellow elongated flowers, flowers are 2.5 cm wide, five-petalled, borne in small racemes, and yellow with orange or red streaks. Buds are pink as the four sepals are pink and are lost when the flower blooms, the fruit is an indehiscent legume, sometimes called a pod,12 to 15 cm in length, with a hard, brown shell. The fruit has a fleshy, juicy, acidulous pulp and it is mature when the flesh is coloured brown or reddish brown. The tamarinds of Asia have longer pods containing six to 12 seeds, whereas African, the seeds are somewhat flattened, and glossy brown. The tamarind is best described as sweet and sour in taste, and is high in acid, sugar, B vitamins
9.
Banyan
–
A banyan, also spelled banian, is a fig that begins its life as an epiphyte, i. e. A plant that grows on plant, when its seed germinates in a crack or crevice of a host tree or human edifice. Like other fig species, including the edible fig Ficus carica. The syncarp of Ficus species supplies shelter and food for fig wasps and, in turn, frugivore birds disperse the seeds of banyans. The seeds are small, and because most banyans grow in woodlands, for this reason banyans bear the colloquial name strangler fig. A number of tropical species that compete for sunlight, especially of the genus Ficus. The leaves of the tree are large, leathery, glossy, green. Like most figs, the bud is covered by two large scales. As the leaf develops the scales abscise, young leaves have an attractive reddish tinge. Older banyan trees are characterized by aerial roots that mature into thick, woody trunks. Old trees can spread laterally by using these prop roots to grow over a wide area, in some species, the prop roots develop over a considerable area that resembles a grove of trees, with every trunk connected directly or indirectly to the primary trunk. The topology of this root system inspired the name of the hierarchical computer network operating system Banyan VINES. In a banyan that envelops its host tree, the mesh of roots growing around the latter eventually applies considerable pressure to, such an enveloped, dead tree eventually decomposes, so that the banyan becomes a columnar tree with a hollow, central core. In jungles, such hollows are very desirable shelters to many animals, the name was originally given to F. benghalensis and comes from India, where early travellers observed that the shade of the tree was frequented by banias or Indian traders. In the Gujarati language, banya means grocer or merchant, not tree, the Portuguese picked up the word to refer specifically to Hindu merchants, and passed it along to the English as early as 1599 with the same meaning. By 1634, English writers began to tell of the banyan tree, the tree provided a shaded place for a village meeting or for merchants to sell their goods. Eventually, banyan became the name of the tree itself, the original banyan, F. benghalensis, can grow into a giant tree covering several hectares. Over time, the name became generalized to all strangler figs of the Urostigma subgenus, the many banyan species include, Ficus microcarpa, which is native from Sri Lanka through New Caledonia, is a significant invasive species elsewhere
10.
Qing dynasty
–
It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted almost three centuries and formed the base for the modern Chinese state. The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria, in the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming vassal, began organizing Banners, military-social units that included Jurchen, Han Chinese, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci formed the Jurchen clans into an entity, which he renamed as the Manchus. By 1636, his son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of Liaodong and declared a new dynasty, in 1644, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital, Beijing. The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Central Asia, the early rulers maintained their Manchu ways, and while their title was Emperor, they used khan to the Mongols and they were patrons of Tibetan Buddhism. They governed using Confucian styles and institutions of government and retained the imperial examinations to recruit Han Chinese to work under or in parallel with Manchus. They also adapted the ideals of the system in dealing with neighboring territories. The Qianlong reign saw the apogee and initial decline in prosperity. The population rose to some 400 million, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, corruption set in, rebels tested government legitimacy, and ruling elites did not change their mindsets in the face of changes in the world system. Following the Opium War, European powers imposed unequal treaties, free trade, the Taiping Rebellion and the Dungan Revolt in Central Asia led to the deaths of some 20 million people, most of them due to famines caused by war. In spite of disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea, New Armies were organized, but the ambitious Hundred Days Reform of 1898 was turned back by Empress Dowager Cixi, a conservative leader. Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries competed with reformist monarchists such as Kang Youwei, after the deaths of Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor in 1908, the hardline Manchu court alienated reformers and local elites alike. The Wuchang Uprising on October 11,1911, led to the Xinhai Revolution, General Yuan Shikai negotiated the abdication of Puyi, the last emperor, on February 12,1912. Nurhaci declared himself the Bright Khan of the Later Jin state in both of the 12–13th century Jurchen Jin dynasty and of his Aisin Gioro clan. His son Hong Taiji renamed the dynasty Great Qing in 1636, there are competing explanations on the meaning of Qīng. The character Qīng is composed of water and azure, both associated with the water element and this association would justify the Qing conquest as defeat of fire by water
11.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
12.
Royal Navy
–
The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
