1421: Chapter 4

Throughout the course of this chapter, Gavin Menzies spends the majority of the pages discussing the voyage from Southern Africa to the Americas. Surprisingly, with the loss of all the Chinese records, Mr. Menzies is able to find accumulate a large amount of data from other ancient texts and maps describing the Chineses' experiences. To better understand what it was like for the sailors, Gavin himself relived their great expidition by sailing what he thought to be their course. He first hypothesized that the Chinese fleets sailed around the southern tip of Africa after returning ambassadors to the their homelands along the borders of the Indian Ocean. They then met and travelled around Cape Hope and were taken by the current up along the Western Coast of Africa. This was verified by a Japanese map called the Kangnido. When the Chinese sailors reached "The Bulge" of Northern Africa, the currents then took them Southwestward toward South America. Their trip from this point on towards the Southern tip of South America was verified in the first map of the world, created by a man named Far Mauro, who was given his information from a man by the name of Da' Conti. Da' Conti was in Calicut when the Chinese arrived before embarking on their voyage, and it is believed that he travelled for quite some time with them before speaking with Fra Mauro. Reading this book, it is almost like the story of a child in a candy store. With each new piece of evidence, the author gets more and more excited. He never counts himself out, or gives in that the Chinese sailors never made it. The fact that he searches the entire world for evidence is astounding, and only continues to show how much he desires to prove his theory. It is quite possible that the reason this book is so captivating is the fact that the author believes wholeheartedly in what he is writing.