1421: Chapter 5

I have never read an author like this before. This guy's passion about finding evidence proving the Chinese did discover America is unlike anything I have ever read before. I am merely 150 pages into the book, and it seems as though he may be running out of options. At that instance, he finds more evidence out of nowhere. After finding as much evidence as he could in maps and records, Gavin then attempted to use plants, animals, and diseases to further prove the Chinese's exploration of America. However, he also found other details other people (including me) overlooked in the maps. In Fra Mauro's map the Piri Reis, a compass was located in the exact location of the Falkland Islands. When I saw this map in the book, I merely thought that was where they put the compass. However, Gavin explained that it was located there because there is a mountain called Mount Adams located there. At that exact point, the sailors were below a star called Canopus, which like Polaris, gave them a point from which to determine their latitude. Small details like this just show his knowledge of maps and his desire to find the smallest details. The author then went on to use animals drawn on the maps to show that the Chinese not only found these places, but explored inland and recorded the areas before Europeans ever set foot in the Americas. Animals like chickens (in South America, the chickens are more similar to Asian chickens than they are European chickens), and plants like maize (a plant that could have only gotten to Asia from South America by sailors) further proved his point. These are things that a retired seaman may not ever consider when trying to use maps to prove a voyage, but Gavin's knowledge obviously goes far beyond that. It will be interesting to see what he uses as evidence next.