The ancient ruins in Wiltshire, England. Below, a diagram showing their original construction.] Mother Nature had been away for quite a long time now, for she did not have to bother so much about her children as she had at first. In every direction she saw them following her great laws, conquering the winds, the sea, the rivers, the mountains, the plains, using the woods of the forest, the fruits and grains of the fields, the metals, the clay and the rocks to suit their needs. North and South and East and West they spread out, increasing year after year in accordance with God's great laws. When Mother Nature came back she looked at the Sun and smiled. "They have made a good beginning," she said. "Is that only a beginning?" asked the Sun. "Yes. So far they have hardly done anything at all. But they are on the right track. With every thousand years that go by they will learn a little more, and some day, far in the future, they will begin to be really civilised. That time will come when they have conquered everything else in the world, and begin to conquer themselves." "Why is it," asked the Sun, "that some of them, like the ones on the island, are going ahead so fast, while others are still just savages?" "It is because of the climate, and the kind of country they live in. Look at those savages down there in the hot jungle. All they have to do is stretch out their hands and pick some nice juicy fruit. There is always plenty for them to eat, and it is so warm all the time they don't need any clothes, or houses to live in, but can sleep in the trees, or in little bamboo huts. They will never learn to grow things, or to hunt animals to eat. Life is so easy for them that they will keep right on being savages for thousands of years." "They are getting brown and black," said the Sun. "Why is that?" "It is because they do not wear any clothes, and the hot rays you are shining down on them are turning their skins darker. Just look at those people up there in the north, where your rays are not so hot. They are getting lighter and lighter all the time, their hair is getting yellow and their eyes blue. They are stronger and quicker, too, and they know much more. In their cold country there is no food ready to be eaten all the year round. They have to fight very hard for a living, and this has made them strong and brave and cunning." "It is very wonderful," said the Sun.