ADVENTURES OF THE AGE OF DISCOVERY: COLUMBUS, CHENG HO AND VESPUCCI

Travel Narratives from the Age of Discovery

Columbus in America

Columbus’ discovery of America was accidental because he initially thought that, it would take him a lesser distance and time to discover the way to Asia. His estimations were about twenty-four hundred miles while it was actually over 10,600 miles. This circumstance saw him stuck in America, and this was when he discovered the lands and the islands in the continent. From his letter describing his discoveries, he explains the nature of the people in the land and their status. From his letter, he says that he sent out some people to look out if there was a city or a king that may have been a clue they had a government, and their feedback was negative. This showed that the people were not industrious and that their economic status was low. However, the description of the land showed it was very fertile, and many segments were still ‘virgin land’ because no one had explored them, and the natives did not reside in them either. According to Columbus in his letter, the trees were so tall that they reached the sky, the weather so pleasant and the place had so many inviting commodities that could be harvested (Mancall 210).

The natives of the American land, according to the letter, lived in a culture where they stayed naked. However, according to the European standards, it was considered primitive. He further says that people stayed together in small settlements, which were on the mainland. The natives did not build along the coastal lines because Columbus says that there were neither villages nor towns/cities in the coastal regions. He continues to narrate that, his men found no king or any other form of government that ruled or organized the people (Mancall 211).

The natives of America had no religion neither did they worship any idol. Columbus initiated the Christian religion after he won their trust by giving them gifts they treasured. The natives believed that the goodness and power came from heaven, and that was their only belief and faith (Mancall 211). They also believed that Columbus, his ships, and men came from heaven but according to him, they were not ignorant. The natives were kind in the way they treated Columbus and his men. They gave them precious gifts, such as gold and food. At one place in the Indies, they encountered man-eating people, and Columbus considered this as the only monstrous thing they faced in the region (Mancall 212).

Cheng Ho in Wang she ch’eng (China)

In Chan city, a king ruled the people of the city during the travel of Mann Hu in the 13th and the 14th century (Mancall 116). The people of this country were Buddhists and the city had a great wall with four main gates that were guarded by soldiers ordered to do so by the King. In this culture, the King’s clothes were different from other peoples’ clothes; they had many details such as gold and colored threads, and he walked bare foot. Elephants and oxen were used for the convoy to transport people and other commodities. The king mounted on an elephant that was pulled in front by two oxen, yellow in color (Mancall 117).

The people in Wang she ch’eng built houses that had a thatched roof, and these houses had low height; as it was a cultural and traditional requirement. No one would build a house with a height exceeding three ch’ih and this made people go in and out of the houses with bent bodies and lowered heads. It was an offence to have a house built exceeding three ch’ih. The cultures of these people also forbid them from wearing white clothes because only the king would wear a white cloth. Everyone walked barefoot, men with unkempt heads and women with a chignon hairstyle at the back of their heads (Mancall 117).

Their economic reliance revolved around agriculture and fishing. They grew rice vegetable, fruits and other cereals for their subsistence and engaged in cash crop farming. Men used to fish for their livelihood. The people had a habit of chewing areca nut and betel leaf all the time. Their tradition demanded that a man go to the girl’s house to consummate the marriage and ten days later, the man’s family and friends would escort them (man and woman to marry), to the woman’s paternal house, then they would prepare wine, play music and finalize the marriage. The people from this country had no pen or paper to write on, and they would use dried goatskin or smoked tree barks and used white chalks to make records. The traditions of the Wang she ch’eng people required severe punishment for all mistakes done. For instance, small errors were punishable by back thrashing with a rattan stick, robbery by cutting off the nose, adultery by branding on the face to make a scar and any heinous offence by death through being forced to sit on a sharp stick that would pierce a person from the bottom and protrude through the mouth (Mancall 117).

According to Cheng Ho, from the stone he engraved in the country during his travel, he said that the people were generally happy and were united by similar customs (Mancall 121). The country’s population was comprised of five classes of people, which included; the Muslim people, the Mu-kua, Nan-k’un, the Ko-ling people and the che-ti class of persons. The Muslims did not eat pig meat and the other people in the country refrained from eating ox meat. Equality was significant and therefore, the king ordered that all the wealthy individuals in the community and all the chiefs to come to the temple every morning to smear fresh dung of yellow oxen over the surface of the ground and walls of the temple (Mancall 121).

The leadership hierarchy was continued through the son of the king's sister rather than the king’s son. This is because it was believed that, only the offspring of the woman’s blood constituted the legal family (Mancall 125). If the king had no sister, the throne was given to another man in the community with some distinct merit, and this ensured succession from one generation to another. The country bears the heavenly square, which today is known as Mecca (Mancall 126).

Vespucci in Brazil

Vespucci sailed to Brazil to discover the new world and during his travel, he documented some encounters he experienced during the journey. Although he was later fascinated by his journey, he initially complained about the unwelcoming weather that saw it rainy and stormy for the 45 days of the 65 days he was on the voyage. Upon reaching Brazil, Vespucci discovered that the communities were united by similar customs. The people were living uncovered and walked barefoot from the time they were born to the time if their death. The traditions of the Brazilians included piercing their bodies for beauty but according to Vespucci, it made them “look more monstrous” than human beings (Mancall 219).

These people were not ruled by any king, and they had no administration system. They lived freely, and everyone was their own master. They married as many women as they wanted, and “prostituted against themselves” (Mancall 120). The sons cohabitated with their mothers, the sisters with their brothers, cousins with cousins and any man with any woman they met. They had no laws regarding marriages and, therefore, dissolved their marriages anytime they wanted. The people from Brazil lived for over a hundred years to one hundred and fifty and rarely fell ill. They had medicine men that cured their illnesses using herbs and other medicinal roots (Mancall 120).

They did not engage in any form of trade because there were no merchants or traders among the people in the community. They were involved in lethal battles and the elders forced the youths into wars. When the captives were brought home, they were killed, and their bodies turned into delicacy meat meals. They were known to eat other human beings and Vespucci details that, fathers were witnessed eating their children and wives (Mancall 120). During his visit, Vespucci said that the Brazilians had no church or any religion that they associated with for faith or beliefs. He affirms that they did not worship any idols, and they mainly lived according to nature (Mancall 121).

Works Cited

Mancall, Peter C., “Travel Narratives from the Age of discovery”. New Yolk City: Oxford University Press, (2006): 115-129 PDF file.

Mancall, Peter C., “Travel Narratives from the Age of discovery”. New Yolk City: Oxford University Press, (2006): 214-223 PDF file.

Mancall, Peter C., “Travel Narratives from the Age of discovery”. New Yolk City: Oxford University Press, (2006): 207-214 PDF file.