The Dust Jacket

About six centuries ago during the early years of the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese government dispatched hundreds of large ships into the ocean. To this day the motives of these expeditions are unclear. Some scholars believe the trips were used to promote Chinese trade around the Indian Ocean. Others believe the convoys were deployed to secure Chinese influence around Southeast Asia. In any case, this unprecedented naval enterprise ran for twenty-seven years and then came to an abrupt halt. The program was put to an end by no less than the emperor himself. Since then, China no longer invested in maritime technology, and was no more a player on the high seas. Today nobody is sure exactly where these Ming fleets had gone. In fact, the issue has continued to stoke heated debates.

As the Chinese allowed their advanced naval technology to slide into oblivion, a tiny nation called Portugal on the far western end of Europe was struggling against wind and current down the West African coast. Not being known historically as ocean-goers, these brave Portuguese sailors persisted. In about one hundred years they succeeded not only in crossing the Equator, a traditional taboo zone, but also in rounding the southern tip of Africa, naming it the Cape of Good Hope, and finding a new sea route to India. History has told us nothing about whether the two seafaring people from the two ends of the known world had ever met each other.

While these extraordinary nautical feats were taking place, with the Portuguese sailing eastward, a navigational genius named Christopher Columbus aspired to travel in the opposite direction. Backed by the monarchs of the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, with three rickety little ships and a pickup crew he succeeded in crossing thousands of miles of Atlantic waters in but a few months to discover the Caribbean islands, which subsequently led to the discovery of a previously unknown fourth continent of the world—the Americas.

History is interesting because of its many coincidences. Why did these apparently unrelated, epic events take place at virtually the same time? We assume they were unrelated because history says nothing about there being a connection between them. In any case, a spate of strange geography began to inundate Europe. For example, in some of the early maps Trinidad (La Trinidad) was not where it is today, outside Venezuela. On one medieval map it was shown to be in Cuba (see below left). What is the reason for this mix-up?

On a different map (above right) Trinidad’s companion, the Island of Tobago, was named the Green Island (Isla Verde). Was this a simple mistake or is there a hidden explanation for the seeming error?

Then there was an elusive place called Cibao (see below left) that was first thought to be in the Caribbean, and then was chased all the way across the American Continent. Eventually nobody could tell if the place actually existed or not.

Brazil was an island in the Atlantic before it became a country by that name (above right).

Of course, who can forget that at one time California was an island?

Scholars have been intrigued by these strange medieval sightings for hundreds of years, but could not offer sensible explanations for them. Not knowing the reasons behind these medieval geographical oddities the scholars therefore simply conclude, “They had always been that way.”

Author researcher Anatole Andro spent more than two years studying the histories of the period and has collected evidence that reveals what might have transpired. In this book for the first time he takes you through the intriguing and what may be the real stories of the Age of Exploration.