Aldous Huxley in “Point Counterpoint” on the British Empire

There was no breeze except the wind of the ship’s own speed; and that was like a blast from the engine-room.  Stretched in their chairs Philip and Elinor watched the gradual diminution against the sky of a jagged island of bare red rock.  From the deck above came the sound of people playing shuffle-board.  Walking on principle or for an appetite, their fellow passengers passed and repassed with the predictability of comets.

‘The way people take exercise,’ said Elinor in a tone positively of resentment; it made her hot to look at them.  ‘Even in the Red Sea.’

‘It explains the British Empire,’ [Philip] said.