But the sea was not alive, then, with great ships and brave sailors, sailing to and from all parts of the world.

It was very lonely.

The Islands lay solitary, in the great expanse of water.

The foaming waves dashed against their cliffs, and the bleak winds blew over their forests; but the winds and waves brought no adventurers to land upon the Islands, and the savage Islanders knew nothing of the rest of the world, and the rest of the world knew nothing of them.
It is supposed that the Phoenicians, who were an ancient people, famous for carrying on trade, came in ships to these Islands, and found that they produced tin and lead; both very useful things, as you know, and both produced to this very hour upon the sea-coast.

The most celebrated tin mines in Cornwall are, still, close to the sea.