Category History

               In the Elephant Island, Shackleton’s party divided into two. Twenty one men were asked to stay back on the island. Shackleton left the island with five chosen rowers, to find a way out and to come back and rescue the members stranded on the Elephant Island.

               Shackleton braved the Southern Ocean for 16 days. Soon, they made a landfall. Unfortunately, three members of the party were too sick and exhausted to continue. Shackleton and the two others climbed the icy mountains. At last they reached their destination on South Georgia Island. Shackleton succeeded in chartering a steamship to rescue his men.

               On 30th August 1916, Shackleton managed to return to the Elephant Island. And he rescued his men from the Elephant Island. 

              Ernest Shackleton set out on the ‘Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition’ in 1914. The expedition faced terrible hurdles throughout the journey. Their ship ‘Endurance’ became beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea on the way. He and his crew were forced to spend the whole of the 79 days of the winter there. Finally, the crew was forced to abandon the ship, because it was about to be crushed by the ice.

               However, they had saved a large quantity of food and gear, as well as their three boats. For three months the ice floes took them further to the north. Food shortage became acute as weeks passed. They caught seals and ate their meat. So they could conserve the remaining packaged rations. The most dangerous thing was the cracking up of ice. Sometimes, huge killer whales charged up from below, and sought to attack them.

               Later, Shackleton found that instead of making good progress westwards, they had actually travelled 48 kilometres to the east, as a result of the drifting ice. However, they finally made a landfall on an uninhabited island known as the Elephant Island. 

               Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was an Irish born polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic.

               In 1901, Shackleton joined his first expedition to the Antarctic. Unfortunately, he was sent home early due to bad health, after he, and his companions Scott and Edward Adrian Wilson set a new southern record by marching to latitude 82°S.

               In 1914, he set off on his own expedition to Antarctica. Shackleton was in a race with Roald Amundsen to reach the South Pole. The race ended in December 1911, with Roald Amundsen’s conquest.

               Shackleton later planned a voyage to the South Pole, and while returning, he wanted to pick a different route to the Ross Sea, and thus, become the first person to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

               To this end, he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. On 1st August 1914, Shackleton departed London on the ship ‘Endurance’ for his voyage to the South Pole. There were unimaginable hurdles throughout the voyage, which Shackleton overcame with his will power, and leadership quality. 

            Robert Edwin Peary, an American explorer, known for his discovery of the geographic North Pole, was one of the greatest polar explorers. Peary made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Peary was one of the first Arctic explorers to study Inuit survival techniques, which he used to his great benefit.

            After many failed attempts, Peary decided to set out on a final voyage. Peary and 23 men set off from New York City on 6th July 1908, under the command of Captain Robert Bartlett.

            They spent their winter near Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island. He reached the North Pole with his expedition on 6th April 1909. But, it is now suspected that he might have been 48 to 96 kilometres short of the Pole, but is still credited with the achievement.

            His success is widely disputed today, but his effort was noteworthy. Peary was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps on 6th April 1909, and retired the same day.

            Admiral Robert Peary died in the US, on 20th February 1920. 

               Robert Scott, a British Royal Navy officer and explorer, led two expeditions to the Antarctic region, at the same time as Amundsen.

               Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott took on a gripping race through danger to reach the South Pole. Amundsen reached the South Pole on 14th December, and became the first person to reach the South Pole. Robert Scott reached his destination on 17th January, only to see Roald Amundsen’s Norwegian flag waving their gloriously. However, Robert Scott’s return journey turned out to be a catastrophe, as they were too late to travel because of the deteriorating weather conditions.

               Robert Scott and his entire crew froze to death. Scott is presumed to have died on 29th March 1912. Eight months later, a search party found the bodies, which were buried under the base tent. News of Scott’s death reached the world on the 10th of February, 1913.

               After confirming the legend’s death, the British government recognized him as a national icon.

               However, the reasons behind the fate of Robert Scott and his team were identified as lack of polar knowledge and poor planning skills.

               Amundsen planned to sail to the North Pole, and explore the Arctic Basin. But, later he decided to reroute to Antarctica. He kept this as a secret from everyone except his brother, who knew that Amundsen was heading to the South Pole, instead to the North.

               Roald Amundsen even made his crew believe they were embarking on an Arctic voyage, and revealed their destination only when the expedition was leaving their last port of call.

               He set up his Antarctic base in the Bay of Whales, on the Great Ice Barrier. The base was 96 kilometres closer to the Pole than the base of the English explorer Robert Scott, who was heading a British expedition at the same time. But Amundsen was more skilful and he used skis and sledge dogs which ensured rapidness. Robert Scott used Siberian ponies, instead of sledge dogs but they failed to brave the weather. 

               Roald Amundsen, from Norway, is one of the world’s most famous polar explorers. He was the first person to sail through the North-West Passage which is the seaway across the Arctic, linking the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

               When Amundsen and his crew progressed through the dangerous course and passed through the North-West Passage, they realized that they had navigated the much sought after North-West Passage. They sighted a whaling ship from San Francisco there.

               Amundsen and his crew were jubilant as they crossed the passage, which had defeated so many seamen for many centuries before them. The Gjoa, Amundsen’s ship, became the first vessel to transit the passage.

               However, more struggles were ahead, as they continued their voyage. His ship got trapped in the ice again. However, the Gjoa passed through the Bering Straits in 1906, and only then could Roald Amundsen claim to be the first to navigate the North-West Passage. 

                 To obtain strong financial backing for the next expedition, Roald Amundsen came up with a scientific purpose – to determine the North Magnetic Pole. But the expedition was mainly in search of the North-West Passage.

                 In 1903, Amundsen set out from Christiania with a crew of six. The ship passed through the west coast of Greenland, Baffin Island, and Canada. The expedition had to put in strenuous efforts to overcome the hurdles of ice flows, fog and shallow water. They made their first landfall at a natural harbour on King William Island. The expedition stayed there for two years to do research, and to build observatories.

                 After two years, they left the island, and travelled to their destination. They had highly accurate instruments to determine the North Magnetic Pole. They included observations of such high accuracy that they provided the experts on polar magnetism with sufficient data.

                Unfortunately, it was later found that Amundsen never reached the real North Magnetic Pole as it had moved about 48 kilometres to the north of where he thought it was. However, the fact that the pole had been moving was of huge scientific significance. 

               Roald Amundsen, born in 1872 near Oslo, Norway, left his mark on the ‘Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration’ as one of the most successful polar explorers of all time. He was the first to reach the South Pole, on 14th December 1911. He was also the first to make a ship voyage through the North-West Passage, and one of the first to cross the Arctic by air.

               From his childhood days, Amundsen aspired to become an explorer. But his parents forcibly sent him for medical studies. After the death of his parents Amundsen decided to pursue his ambition.

               At first he was appointed in a ship sailing on a Belgian-financed Antarctic expedition led by the polar explorer Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery. On the way, the expedition got trapped in ice. They were stranded for 13 months, and most of the crew members contracted scurvy. The captain also fell ill. Amundsen, as first mate, took over the command.

               He ordered to catch seals and penguins for food. He also came up with the idea of making warm clothes out of woollen blankets. Thus the expedition survived the extreme winter. 

               The British ‘North-West Passage Expedition’ of 1845 was proposed by the Admiralty in February. The two ships allocated to the expedition, the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror, left England on 19th May 1845. The expedition wintered at Beechey Island, and then they sailed southwards along the western side of Cornwallis Island.

               Later, they continued to the Victoria Strait, where three young sailors died. Initially it was thought that the sailors died of extreme weather conditions, but later it was discovered that they died of lead poisoning from canned food. The young sailors were buried on the King William Island.

              The expedition gradually started meeting a terrible fate. The ice did not melt in the spring; they were trapped in the ice for 18 months. They ran out of food and supplies. John Franklin died in June 1847. The ice bound ships were abandoned and the entire crew perished from starvation, hypothermia, tuberculosis, lead poisoning and scurvy.

               The dreadful fate of Sir John Franklin and his crew prevented any further exploration to the north for many years. 

            Sir John Franklin was a naval officer and Arctic explorer. He was born on 16th April 1786 in Spilsby, England. Franklin entered the Royal Navy at the age of fourteen.

            In 1821, Franklin was ordered to chart the northern shoreline of Canada. It became the first expedition to map large sections of the Arctic seaboard.

            He led another expedition in 1825. The expedition took two routes from Mackenzie Delta. One ventured east to map as far as the Coppermine River while Franklin led the other west toward Alaska.

            He is best known for leading his third, the tragic 1845 expedition, to find the North-West Passage. It was in the year 1844 British Admiralty planned an expedition to the North-West Passage. Although Franklin was in his late fifties, he campaigned hard to lead the expedition. The Admiralty gave him command in February 1845. It is said to be the most technologically advanced polar expedition at that time.

            This expedition is remembered in history as one of the most tragic expeditions ever. All the sailors perished on that voyage, including Sir John Franklin despite being close to discovering the elusive sea route through the Canadian north. 

               The mapping of the world was almost finished before 1800. Almost every nook and corner of the world had been discovered and charted, except for some of the most inhospitable parts of the world.

               In the 18th and 19th centuries, both the British and Dutch remained curious about the North-West Passage. They tried to find out the lands across the North-West Passage. In 1741, Christopher Middleton attempted to find the Passage with two ships, but the expedition was a failure.

               In 1773, under the leadership of Horatio Nelson, a British, an expedition reached much nearer to North Pole.

               In the 18th century, the last serious attempt was James Cook’s abortive expedition of 1778 when he successfully passed through the Bering Straits. Unfortunately, he had to reroute due to sea ice.

               Throughout the 19th century, polar exploration dominated popular culture in Europe and America. The major goals of the 19th century exploration were the discovery of the North-West Passage connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via a northern route and reaching the North Pole. 

               The flora and fauna of the Galapagos Island gave Darwin crucial information about the evolution of life.

               The Galapagos Island was home to an amazing array of animal species. The Galapagos Island had a special kind of tortoise, which came to be known as the giant tortoise. Interestingly, the appearance of these tortoises varied from island to island. Darwin observed that the tortoises living on more arid islands had to stretch their necks to reach branches of cactus and other vegetation. Consequently, they had longer necks, and a high peak to the front edges of their shells.

               Then he studied finches, a type of birds, known for their remarkable diversity in beak form and function. The food supplies differed on each island, and the beaks of the finches were adapted to the islands on which they lived. These were the key pieces of information that helped Darwin to formulate his theory of adaptation.

               On his return journey, Darwin started to write ‘The Origin of Species’. It introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection.

               During the first two years of the expedition, Darwin collected several fossil mammals from Argentina and Uruguay. It was in the cliffs near Punta Alta, that Darwin recovered his first fossil bones. It was of a large extinct mammal. He sent all the specimens to his mentor, John Stevens Henslow.

               A fossil tooth helped Darwin to identify the little-known Megatherium. Megatherium was a genus of elephant-sized ground sloths, endemic to South America. These findings later helped Darwin in formulating the theories about evolution of life.

               Darwin was interested in geology too and he studied volcanic rock formations intently. He was surprised to find the fossils of sea creatures at high altitudes, or thousands of metres above sea level. This led to his exploring further into the realities of natural disaster.

               During this voyage Darwin was witness to a severe earthquake in Chile on 20th February, 1835 which was claimed to be the largest earthquake ever recorded in Chile. Thus the voyage was eventful as well as significant. 

               The British admiralty decided to chart the islands around Cape Horn. Captain Robert FitzRoy was ordered to command the voyage. Charles Darwin was offered the chance to join Robert FitzRoy.

               The fleet set sail from Plymouth in Southern England, with a crew of 73, on 27th December 1831 on HMS Beagle. As the ship’s naturalist, he thoroughly enjoyed every occasion for exploration. He studied natural history, and discovered many new life forms.

               As the ship proceeded to Tierra del Fuego, the main object of the expedition commenced- charting of the islands around Cape Horn. The expedition rounded the Cape Horn to discover a new passage, which was later named ‘Beagle Passage’. It was a picturesque long straight channel that offered an alternative, but slower route from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

               Darwin explored the glorious mountainous region around the passage. Interestingly, he never thought that he would make iconic scientific discoveries during the voyage.

               Interestingly, Darwin became seriously ill on the way, as he suffered from seasickness.

               James Cook was an intelligent and skilful navigator, and his maps and charts were so well prepared and exemplary that some of them were used even after his death. His wise and amiable character endeared him to everyone, including his crew members, and the natives of the lands he visited.

               He was the first captain to know his position on the surface of the globe within a few nautical miles. He was an excellent disciplinarian, and always commanded respect from his men.

               He always had a great appetite for knowledge. He was much more scientific than many explorers of his time. He was the first sailor to use a nautical almanac and chronometer during an expedition. He even took a professional astronomer to enable him to calculate his longitude from the observations of the Moon. Cook is also remembered for navigating by latitude and longitude.

               Cook was the first sailor to find an apt remedy for scurvy. He knew that shortage of vitamin-rich food was the main reason behind scurvy. He stocked up fresh fruits and vegetables in his ship, and collected more from the islands he visited on the way. 

            James Cook’s third and last voyage was to find the North-West Passage around the American continent. The Passage which was supposed to open more convenient trade routes was believed to link the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

            Cook commanded the HMS Resolution, while another Captain Charles Clerke, commanded the HMS Discovery. Cook travelled north, and in 1778, became the first European to explore the Hawaiian Islands. After making his initial landfall on the island Kauai, Cook named the islands the Sandwich Islands, after the Earl of Sandwich, because at the time, the Earl was the acting First Lord of the Admiralty.

            Cook made his next landfall on what is today the Oregon coast. Then he sailed on to Vancouver Island and did trading with the natives. In a single visit, Cook charted the majority of the North American north-west coastline.

            By August 1778, Cook was through the Bering Strait, sailing into the Chukchi Sea. Later, he sailed further to reach Alaska, but couldn’t continue due to sea ice. Cook returned to Hawaii in 1779. Cook was killed in Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii on 14th February 1779, in a dispute with the natives.

               Captain Cook’s second voyage was to find out whether Terra Australis really existed or not.

               On his first voyage, he discovered the southeast coast of Australia. On the same trip, he also mapped them. However, the ‘hypothetical’ Terra Australis still remained an unsolved mystery. Shortly after his return from the first voyage, Cook was promoted to the rank of commander.

               Later he was commissioned for a second voyage. Cook commanded the HMS Resolution on this voyage. During this voyage, he became the first explorer to sail into the Antarctic Circle. He circumnavigated Antarctica at the very limits of the ice shelf. But he did not make a landfall on the mainland of Antarctica, as he had to sail towards Tahiti to resupply his ship.

               Cook visited Easter Island, the Marquesas, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Tonga Isles. Cook was able to find these comparatively smaller lands in the Pacific, and to map them. After sailing through all its likely locations, Cook confirmed that there was no land called Terra Australis.

               Thus, Cook became the first to officially prove that the existence of Terra Australis was a myth. 

            The main purpose of Captain James Cook’s first voyage was to observe the transit of Venus across the Sun. It was at the behest of the Royal Society.

            Captain Cook set on this expedition from England on 26th August 1768. Those on board included the astronomer Charles Green and botanist Joseph Banks.

            The expedition rounded Cape Horn, and arrived at Tahiti on 13th April 1769, where Charles Green observed the transit of Venus across the Sun.

            Captain Cook then reached the south-eastern coast of Australia. Thus, he became the first recorded European to explore the coastline of Australia.

            He made his first recorded direct observation of indigenous Australians. The fleet made its first landfall at Kurnell Peninsula. Cook called the land ‘Stingray Bay’, which was later, renamed the Botany Bay. However, on the return journey, Cook’s ship ran aground on a shoal of the Great Barrier Reef, and became badly damaged.

               James Cook or Captain Cook was a British navigator, who mapped much of the South Pacific. He made three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he became the first recorded European to explore the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands.

               James Cook was born on 7th November 1728 in Marton, United Kingdom. His father was a Scottish farmer. Cook did his schooling in the village school. Young Cook used to help his father with farm work. During his teenage days, Cook began to get lured to the sea. At the age of 17, Cook moved to the coast, settled in Whitby, and found work with a coal merchant. He worked in the North Sea coal trade for John Whitby, and he proved himself to be an exceptional sailor. In 1755, Cook enlisted in the Royal Navy. He served in North America where he learnt to survey and chart coastal waters.

               He was a very fine seaman, and an excellent commander. In 1768, the British admiralty sent out an expedition, choosing Cook as the commander.

               The expedition was to witness a rare event, visible only in the southern hemisphere -the transit of Venus across the Sun.

               After leaving New Zealand, Abel Tasman sailed towards the north.

               He made a landfall on the southernmost island of the Tonga group, named Tongatapu. He received a cordial welcome from the islanders, and enjoyed their good hospitality. The amiable natives stocked his ships with food and fresh water.

               Later, as he sailed further, Tasman discovered the Fiji Islands. Nearing Fiji, he had to encounter one of the greatest dangers of the Pacific islands. He had to get his ships off a coral reef, with sharp rocks, to make a landing.

               He charted the eastern tip of Vanua Levu and Cikobia before making his way back into the open sea. During the difficult return journey to his starting point at Batavia, he still made a few discoveries. He located two more islands, which he named New Britain and New Ireland. He had mapped everything in detail.

               Tasman’s voyage was absolutely remarkable. He had started and ended his voyage in Batavia, which was a tremendous advantage for him, compared to other European explorers. 

          Tasman was the first European explorer to sight New Zealand. This finding led to the discovery of an alternative route to Chile, South America, and Cape Horn.

          Tasman called New Zealand ‘Staten Landt’, meaning land of the State General. He was convinced that it stretched all the way to Cape Horn, and that it joined up with another land discovered earlier by his countrymen.

          While on his voyage, Abel Tasman sighted a landmass, which he thought as the great continent in the south. He made a landfall there.

          Unfortunately, the local population called ‘Maori’ came out to the shore with weapons raised to defend their territory. In the skirmish, four of Tasman’s men were killed. Hence, Tasman named the land ‘Murderers Bay’.

          Tasman left the place without exploring the land further and it was also one of the reasons why Tasman did not discover that New Zealand consisted of two islands. 

            Abel Janszoon Tasman was born at Lutjegast, near Groningen, in the Netherlands. He was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen’s Land, which is now known as Tasmania, and New Zealand. He was also the first to sight the Fiji Islands.

            In 1642, the Governor General of Batavia, Anthony Van Diemen, decided to send out an expedition to explore the South Seas. The main purpose of the voyage was to explore unknown lands, and to claim new discoveries. The second aim was to find a faster passage to reach Europe from Batavia by sailing. Abel Tasman was ordered to command the expedition.

            He set out on a voyage with two ships, and 110 men. At first he sailed through already explored routes. Then he voyaged into unknown waters. For many months, there was no sign of land.

            Finally, he came across a land which he called Van Dieman’s Land after the governor general of Batavia. This was later named as Tasmania.

            He stayed there for only 10 days but in that time, he managed to chart a fragment of the coastline.

                The Portuguese, Spanish and the English were the dominant navigational powers. During the 17th century the Dutch overthrew everyone else, and became the mightiest seafarers. They flourished in the spice trade. They even started a trading company called Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, abbreviated to VOC.

               They realized that the route around the Cape of Good Hope was more suitable to reach the Far East. They had a base on the island of Jakarta, which they called Batavia. By the 1620s the Dutch were well established in Indonesia.

               Later, there had been sightings of a land to the south. Many Dutch seafarers tried to locate the land. Willem Jansz, a Dutchman became the first European to discover Australia, but he remained unaware of his achievement.

               Later, Dirk Hartog made landfall on an island off the coast of Shark Bay, Western Australia. The island was later named the Dirk Hartog Island after him. But the Dutch made no claim to the land, and they made no attempt to colonize it unlike the other European explorers.

            Drake’s hostility towards the Spanish began in 1568. He was on an expedition and their fleet was anchored in a Spanish port in Mexico. Drake and his crew was negotiating to resupply and repair their ships. Meanwhile they were attacked by Spanish warships. He escaped from the attack. But he was vengeful towards the Spaniards from that day.

            For that reason, when he was commissioned to set out on a sail to attack Spanish colonies, he was very much happy and willing. Thus he went on his next expedition in 1585. He first attacked Vigo in Spain, and held the place for two weeks. He then attacked Santiago in the Cape Verde islands. While returning, he looted the Spanish fort of San Augustin in Spanish Florida.

            When he finally reached England, he received a hero’s welcome. Later in 1587, he went on another expedition. This time, Drake patrolled the Iberian coasts between Lisbon and Cape St. Vincent. He also destroyed thirty seven naval ships, and attacked Spanish supply lines.

            He was promoted to vice-admiral in command of the English fleet on 1780. 

            In 1577, Francis Drake was secretly commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I to set out on an expedition, intended against the Spanish colonies on the American Pacific coast.

            He sailed with five ships. On the way, the ships were hit by a terrible storm. By the time he reached the Pacific Ocean in October 1578, only the flag-ship ‘Pelican’ survived. Drake became the first Englishman navigated the Straits of Magellan to reach the Pacific. He travelled up the west coast of South America. On the way he attacked Spanish ships and settlements for food and treasures. He continued north, and sailed further up the west coast of America than any European.

            During the voyage, he covered the Moluccas, Celebes, Java, and then round the Cape of Good Hope. He arrived back in England in September 1580.

            He brought back spices and Spanish treasures. Francis Drake gifted Queen Elizabeth I, a composite jewel token made with rare materials gathered from around the globe. This pleased the Queen very much. 

               Sir Francis Drake was a British explorer. He was born in Devon, as the eldest of the twelve sons of a farmer named Edmund Drake. Some problems made the Drake family flee from Devonshire to Kent. Young Francis first developed his seafaring skills on the river Medway.

               Francis Drake carried out the second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580. He was the first to complete the voyage as the captain throughout the entire circumnavigation. Though Magellan was destined to captain the first voyage around the world, he cannot complete it as he was killed in the ‘Battle of Mactan’.

               Drake’s circumnavigation began in 1577, with five ships. They sailed to Brazil, and through the perilous Strait of Magellan. Then they sailed by Panama, where he attacked Spanish ships and settlements for food and treasures.

               With his entry into the Pacific Ocean, he claimed what is now California for England, and inaugurated an era of conflict with the Spanish on the coasts of the American continents.

               Drake’s exploits made him a hero to the English, but the Spanish branded him as a pirate. 

               Pedro Fernandes de Queiros was born in Portugal. He became a subject of the King of Spain when the two countries were dynastically united in 1580.

               After returning from his first expedition, which reached till Santa Cruz, he petitioned the king to send him on another expedition into the Pacific. In March 1603, Queiros was authorized to undertake another expedition to extend the Spanish dominions.

               While on this voyage, he cited an island that he called ‘Australia del Espiritu Santo’. He was hopeful that finally, he had found the much anticipated continent Terra Australis, but soon, he registered that there was no such continent.

               Queiros’ fleet ran out of supplies, and had to return. But on the way back, his ships were hit by a storm, and got separated from each other. The wind forced him to sail south of New Guinea. This was how he accidentally discovered the Straits of Torres, located between Cape York in Australia and the island of New Guinea. Though he did not ‘discover’ Australia, his findings proved that the great southern continent, if it existed was away from New Guinea. 

               Alvaro de Mendana’s failed attempt to discover the southern continent disappointed the Spanish Empire. But Mendana did not lose hope, and for many years he planned for another expedition. But his proposal got constantly rejected. Later, stories of many successful explorations around the globe made the Spanish rethink their decision.

               Twenty eight years after his first expedition, in 1595, Mendana was at last given command of a second expedition to the Solomon Islands. Pedro Fernandes de Queiros was assigned as his second-in-command. It was a much larger and costlier expedition, with 378 men, women and children.

               During his second voyage, Mendana discovered the Marquesas Island. The initially cordial relationship with the islanders deteriorated later, and Mendana and his men killed around 200 islanders before leaving the island.

               Later, the fleet created a settlement on Santa Cruz Island. The settlement did not survive for more than two months. It began to fall apart due to the outbreak of malaria and internal conflicts. Mendana himself died on 18th October 1595. Queiros took over the command, and he managed to get the ships back to Manila with a hundred famished survivors.

               Alvaro de Mendana, a Spanish navigator, was born in Congosto in El Bierzo Region. He was the nephew of Lope Garcia de Castro, viceroy of Peru.

               After discovering almost all the land masses around the globe, there was one left- the continent ‘Terra Australis’. Alvaro de Mendana is best known for the two voyages of discovery he led into the Pacific in search of Terra Australis.

               He set out on the first voyage on 20th November 1567 with two ships. The expedition did not sight land for many months.

               Later, on 7th February 1568, they reached an island, which they named the Solomon Islands. They named it after the wealthy biblical King Solomon, because they thought, mistakenly, that the island had great riches.

               The Solomon Islands were mountainous islands. Mendana was convinced that he was nearing the continent Terra Australis. He explored three neighbouring islands, which he named Guadalcanal, Malaita and San Cristobal. Gradually, Alvaro de Mendana realized that he had discovered an island group, and not a continent. And the Terra Australis was yet to explore. 

               Much of the Pacific Ocean wasn’t explored at the beginning of the 16th century. Magellan’s discovery of the strait that cuts through the southern tip of South America, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean, had motivated the Spanish to explore more of the Pacific Ocean.

               An expedition left Spain in 1525, under the command of Garcia de Loaisa. Their mission was to explore the Pacific Ocean from the Strait of Magellan.

               Unfortunately, with seven ships in the convoy, three did not make it through the passage and the rest became separated by the time they reached the Pacific. Only the ship named Victoria continued sailing.

               Miguel Lopez de Legazpi from New Spain arrived in the Philippines in 1564. Thus he claimed the wealthy island for Spain.

               The Spanish were slowly gaining understanding of the winds and currents of the Pacific. In 1668 the Spanish founded a colony on Guam as a resting place for west-bound galleons.

               For a long time this was the only non-coastal European settlement in the Pacific.

               Spanish settlements raked in much wealth by digging for gold in Mexico, and silver in Peru. The natives were completely dominated by the Spaniards, and were forced into slavery. They had to do gruelling work day and night in the gold and silver mines. Every bit of the gold and silver they unearthed was shipped back to Spain in regular convoys of galleons from the Americas. The monopoly of Spain in this field was greatly envied by other nations such as England, France and Holland.

               Spain created two viceroyalties in the new world of America. The first in the Central America was New Spain, and the second, in South America, was Peru.

               After conquering the Aztecs, Hernan Cortes started working on the construction of Mexico City. He destroyed the Aztec temples and buildings. Soon the place became the most important European city in the Americas. All these new settlements strengthened Spanish authority in South America. Thus, Spain became a mighty sea power. 

               The Spanish colonization under the leadership of Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizzaro is often cited as one of the reasons behind the destruction of great civilizations like the Aztec and Inca.

               At the time of Cortes’ arrival, in Mexico, Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire was at the height of its splendour. In the palace of the Aztec king, Moctezuma, the Spaniards saw much gold and silver, and this intensified their greed.

               Cortes attacked the Aztec king. His men behaved so disgracefully towards the Aztecs that they raised in revolt. Soon, the Spaniards managed the destruction of Tenochtitlan. With the fall of the capital city, the Aztec civilization, with its staggering sophistication, especially in the field of engineering, was slowly destroyed.

              Then came the turn of the Incas. Just as the Aztec Empire fell, following the death of its king, the Inca Empire too, was doomed when its empire was captured by Francisco Pizzaro another Spaniard, and his followers. Thus by the end of 1533, the Inca Empire with all its skills had vanished.

               Even though the voyage of Hernan Cortes to Mexico is considered to be great, it is infamous in the pages of history, for the destruction of these two great civilizations. 

               Hernan Cortes was a Spanish conquistador and explorer. His expedition caused the fall of the Aztec Empire in the early 16th century. He claimed Mexico for Spain.

               Cortes was born in 1485 in the village of Medellin, Spain. He chose to pursue a livelihood in the New World. He went to Hispaniola and later to Cuba, where he received a commission and, for a short time, became magistrate of the second Spanish town on the island. He joined an expedition to Cuba led by Diego Velazquez in 1511.

               In 1518, Cortes was to command his own expedition to Mexico, but Velazquez cancelled it. Cortes ignored the order. In 1519, Hernan Cortes left Cuba with about 600 men, and set out for the Yucatan region of Mexico. After reaching the land, Cortes executed a successful strategy of allying with some indigenous people against others.

               After he overthrew the Aztec Empire, Cortes was awarded the title of Marques del Valle de Oaxaca. Herman Cortes returned to Spain, where he died in 1547.

               The King was unhappy with Jacques Cartier for abandoning the Roberval and the colonists. Cartier was personally disappointed about not finding the treasure in Canada as he had been ordered to. Jean-Francois de Roberval also returned from Canada, with no better results than Cartier.

               There was a huge disappointment at these fruitless attempts. After these setbacks, France didn’t show any interest in these new lands for half a century, and Cartier’s career as a state-funded explorer came to an end.

               He spent his remaining years attending to his business affairs at his estate near Saint Malo. He was guilty of disobeying orders and leaving Roberval to fend for himself in Canada.

               However, Cartier was credited with initiating French authority in Canada. Though it happened by accident, the fact that he named Canada was also recognized by the world. Without his expeditions, the French language would probably not have been spoken in Canada. And he opened up the greatest waterway for the European penetration of North America.

          In May of 1541, Cartier departed on his third voyage as the chief navigator. The goals now were to find the ‘Kingdom of Saguenay’ and its riches.

          A few months after he started, a group of colonists followed him, under the command of Jean-Francois de Roberval, whom the king titled the first lieutenant general of French Canada. Jacques Cartier made landfall on the present-day Cap-Rouge, Quebec. He built a fort there, and it became the first French settlement.

          They explored the land and collected quartz crystals and iron pyrites, which they thought were diamonds and gold. For many months, Cartier waited for the colonists. Finally, he left for France. He encountered the colonists along the Newfoundland coast. Despite Roberval’s insistence that he accompany him back to Saguenay Cartier sailed back to France, still convinced his vessels contained a wealth of gold and diamonds. He arrived at France in October. Only after returning to France did he realize that what he and his men had collected were not diamonds and gold. 

               Jacques Cartier set sail on a second voyage on May 19th, 1535 with three ships and one hundred men to Canada. Cartier’s instructions were to explore further inland, and to discover the riches rumoured to exist in the kingdoms of the newly explored land.

               Jacques Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence’s as far as Quebec and established a base near a native village.

               He learnt from the natives that there were two rivers leading further west to the interior. They went search of the rivers, and reached Sainte-Marie. Unfortunately, the river was blocked by rapids.

               Jacques Cartier’s fleet then started preparing for the winter, stacking food and firewood. Throughout the winter, the French fleet lay frozen solid at the mouth of the St. Charles River, under the Rock of Quebec. To add to their struggles, scurvy broke out, killing many crew members.

               In May 1536, Cartier decided to return to France. He took the chief of Donnacona, a native village, to France to narrate the tales about the ‘Kingdom of Saguenay’, said to be full of treasures.

               Thus, Jacques Cartier returned to France after long days of voyage.

          Jacques Cartier was a French explorer. He claimed what is now Canada for France. Jacques Cartier was the natural successor to Verrazzano.

          Cartier’s orders for his first expedition were to search for a passage to the Pacific Ocean in the area around Newfoundland, and possibly, find precious metals.

          He left Saint-Malo on 20th April 1534, and reached the coast of Newfoundland 20 days later. Jacques Cartier was the first European to map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River.

          Cartier also is credited with accidently naming Canada. The name ‘Canada’ comes from ‘kanata’, the indigenous word for ‘village’ or ‘settlement’. The indigenous people used the word to describe the village of Stadacona, present-day Quebec City which Cartier misinterpreted. Thus, Canada got its present name.

          During his second voyage, Jacques Cartier sailed up the Saint Lawrence River for the first time. The voyages by Cartier were undoubtedly great. 

            Giovanni da Verrazzano was an explorer who became the first European to sight New York and Narragansett Bay, while sailing across the Atlantic to explore the American coast and to try and discover a westerly passage to Asia.

            In March 1524, the explorer set out on a voyage in his ship La Dauphine. He reached Cape Fear on the Florida peninsula. From there Verrazzano sailed northwards exploring the eastern coast of North America.

            Giovanni Verrazzano made many discoveries during his voyage. The most significant one is the present day New York harbour. He is also credited with completing all the mapping of the east coast of America as he could piece together the north and south.

            Giovanni Verrazzano identified that North and South Americas were two separate continents and they were joined together by a narrow strip of land. Verrazzano returned to France on 8th July 1524.

            Verrazzano undertook two more voyages to the Americas. During the second voyage, he made landfall on the Lesser Antilles. He anchored his ship off one of the islands and when he went ashore, he was captured, and killed.

          After travelling three-quarters of the way around the globe, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan was killed in Philippines. With the loss of their leader, the remaining crew voyaged back to Spain on board three ships, under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano.

          Even though their deceased commander was Portuguese, the expedition sailed under the Spanish flag. Because of this, the fleet was fearful of confronting Portuguese ships on their way back. The Portuguese would show no mercy when they discovered the ships. The ships were therefore, forced to sail to the south of the main trade routes, so that they did not encounter Portuguese ships.

          On their way, because of manpower shortage, one of the ships was burnt. The crew then travelled in two ships: the Trinidad and the Victoria. The ship Trinidad was captured by the Portuguese. The Victoria, under the command of Juan Sebastian Elcano, arrived back in Spain in September 1522. 

            Magellan had to sail with the wind after entering the Pacific Ocean. It took many days to make landfall.

            The fleet ran out of food, and many crew members were affected by scurvy. However, they retained sufficient drinking water to stay alive.

            After overcoming many hurdles on the way, Ferdinand Magellan, finally sighted an island on the horizon. It was the Isle of Guam where Magellan made landfall and stocked up his food supplies.

            Later, they arrived on an island called Cebu, where Magellan befriended the local chieftain. The native chief in awe of Magellan’s superior ships and weapons, asked Ferdinand Magellan to attack his enemies on the nearby island of Mactan.

            Ferdinand Magellan agreed considering himself stronger. Unfortunately, his intuition misfired. The hero was brutally killed in that minor island skirmish.

            Ferdinand Magellan never completed the circumnavigation of the Earth. With the loss of Magellan, Juan Sebastian took control of the ship and sailed for Spain with the remaining crew. 

               Ferdinand Magellan accidentally discovered the Pacific Ocean. This is how it happened. Magellan’s ships went through a long passage which he called ‘All Saints’ Channel’ now named the Strait of Magellan. The Strait of Magellan, a navigable sea route, is the most important natural passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

               For thirty-eight days, and over 482 kilometres, Magellan’s ships battled day and night through the straits. After sailing through the dangerous straits, Magellan and his crew entered the Pacific Ocean with three ships. Thus, Magellan became the first European explorer to reach the Pacific.

               On first seeing the majestic ocean, Magellan was taken aback because it was so calm. He named it ‘the Pacific’, because of its pacifying stillness, and peacefulness.

               Magellan and his crew were the first Europeans to reach Tierra del Fuego just east of the Pacific side of the strait. 

          Columbus’s finding that the West Indies were near the coast of India was not convincing enough. Magellan believed that there was a western sea route to reach the Spice Islands. He wanted to go on a voyage to discover this sea route. He sought financial aid from the Portuguese King, but the King was intent on developing a route to the East around the Cape of Good Hope. He refused to give Magellan the support he needed.

          A vexed Magellan renounced his Portuguese citizenship. He relocated to Spain in 1518, and sought the help of the king of Spain.

          He got a positive nod from the king. Magellan intended to search for a passage around the south of  America into the Pacific Ocean.

          He was given the financial support he needed and also provided a fleet of five ships. But the Spanish king did not provide funds for the crew.

          This did not discourage Ferdinand Magellan. He recruited sailors by himself. 

               Magellan was greatly inspired by the adventurous voyages of Bartholomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama.

               Magellan was too young when Bartholomeu Dias returned from the Cape of Good Hope, but he was old enough to remember the successful arrival of Christopher Columbus from his first voyage. He was 19 years old when Vasco da Gama returned from his victorious voyage to India.

               The last decade of the fifteenth century, and the first decades of the following century witnessed many discoveries. In 1500, Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovered the east coast of Brazil. Later, Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513.

               However, it became more evident, that a whole continent between Europe and Asia had not yet been discovered. Inspired by his predecessors, Ferdinand Magellan decided to follow the paths of the Portuguese explorers, and to make new discoveries of his own.

               Ferdinand Magellan’s voyage was proved successful as he discovered many new islands. Even though, Magellan faced an unfortunate death; his remaining crew circumnavigated the world. Hence, the voyages of Ferdinand Magellan are considered as some of the greatest voyages ever. 

               Magellan was born into a Portuguese noble family in 1480. His adventurous spirit led him to a career as an explorer. As the Portuguese king refused to finance Magellan’s expedition, he decided to offer his services to King Charles I of Spain, who agreed to finance him.

               Magellan’s expedition to the East Indies resulted in the first circumnavigation of the Earth, completed by Juan Sebastian Elcano. Magellan set out from Spain in 1519, with a fleet of five ships, to discover a western sea route to the Spice Islands. On the way, he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan. He was the first European navigator to cross the Pacific Ocean.

               While voyaging through the Pacific Ocean, the fleet had to face many hurdles like storms, and lack of food.

               However, without being disheartened, they sailed further, and reached the Philippines. On 15th March, 1521, they headed to Suluan and dropped anchor for a few hours of respite. Suluan is a small island in the province of Eastern Samar. They then next dropped anchor at Homonhon, another small island in the province of Eastern Samar.

              On 27th April 1521, Magellan was killed in the Battle of Mactan.

               Cabral’s fleet set out from South America on 2nd May 1500, and sailed along the east coast of South America. On 5th May, the fleet veered eastwards towards Africa. A terrible storm hit the ships on 24th May, in South Atlantic. The fleet lost four ships, and the remaining ships were greatly damaged by the rough weather.

               On 26th May, the expedition reached Kilwa Kisiwani, where Cabral made an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a treaty with its king. Further, on the way to India, they reached Malindi. Sailors were recruited from Malindi for the last leg to India. Later, they reached their destination, Calicut.

               After a few days, the expedition sailed to the Kingdom of Cochin, where Cabral befriended its ruler and collected so many varieties of spices and gems to take back home.

               Despite the loss of human lives and ships, the profit raked in by selling the rare spices was great. The voyage also helped in demonstrating the power of the Portuguese Empire to the whole world. Colonies were set up from Americas to the Far East. 

            Pedro Alvares Cabral was the first European to discover Brazil. He also established a successful commercial link with India. Cabral is regarded as the first captain to lead an expedition that united Europe, Africa, America, and Asia.

            Pedro was the third son of Fernao Cabral, the Governor of Beria and Belmonte. In 1499, Cabral was appointed chief captain of a fleet bound for the Malabar Coast of southern India. The expedition was intended to establish trading outposts. The fleet left Lisbon on March 9th, 1500, with 13 ships and 1,000 men. Cabral decided not to follow Dias’ route around the west coast of Africa. Instead, he followed Vasco da Gama’s route.

            On the way, he made landfall on a large landmass, which was probably a continent. He claimed it for Portugal. The continent was South America, and the land he had claimed for Portugal later came to be known as Brazil. This led to Portuguese monopoly in the South American continent. His discovery of Brazil made Pedro Cabral popular, and he was regarded as a prominent figure in the Age of Discovery. 

               Amerigo Vespucci’s first two voyages were for the Spanish crown and the third and fourth voyages were for the Portuguese crown. On May 14th, 1501, Vespucci departed on his third voyage, this time for Portugal. This voyage is largely considered a successful one.

               Departing from Lisbon in 1501, the fleet sailed first to Cape Verde, where they encountered two ships of Pedro Alvares Cabral, returning from India.

               In a letter from Cape Verde, Vespucci wrote that he hoped to visit the same lands that Pedro Alvares Cabral had explored, suggesting that his intention was to sail west to Asia. On reaching the coast of Brazil, they sailed south along the coast of South America to Rio de Janeiro’s bay.

               After the first half of the expedition, Vespucci mapped the constellations Alpha and Beta Centauri.

               Vespucci’s fourth voyage was another expedition for the Portuguese crown down the eastern coast of Brazil. The voyage began in May 1503, and returned to Portugal in 1504.

               When the expedition did not make any new discoveries, the fleet was disbanded. However, it has never been confirmed that Vespucci was aboard on this voyage. 

               Scholars had always been very sceptical about the reality of Amerigo Vespucci’s first voyage, which is said to have taken place in 1499. An account of Vespucci’s initial expedition to the American continent was published in 1504. However, scholars considered this account a forgery.

               In 1499, Vespucci joined an expedition in the service of Spain. Alonso de Ojeda was the fleet commander. Their intention was to sail around the southern end of the African mainland into the Indian Ocean. The two took different routes from the coast of what is now Guyana.

               Vespucci sailed southwards, discovering the mouth of the Amazon River. From there, he took a turn, and sailed through Orinoco River, and then made for Haiti. Vespucci thought he had sailed along the coast of the extreme easterly peninsula of Asia. Vespucci called the tip of this peninsula Cape of Cattigara.

               Vespucci is often credited with many findings. He determined the longitude celestially on August 23rd, 1499, while on this voyage.

               Amerigo Vespucci was born on 9th March 1454, in Italy. America was named after Vespucci, as he played a prominent role in exploring this land. He voyaged from Spain around the late 15th century.

               By this time, the Vikings had established settlements in present day North America as early as 1000 AD, and Columbus had already discovered several Caribbean and Central American islands.

               However, Vespucci was the first navigator to establish that Brazil and the West Indies were not parts of Asia as claimed by Columbus, and many others. He found that those places constituted an entirely separate landmass, which was unknown to the Europeans. Vespucci had chronicled two accounts of his journey. He became popular all over Europe after the publication of his accounts between 1502 and 1505.

               Amerigo Vespucci was a pioneer of Atlantic exploration, and was a great contributor to travel literature. The name of Vespucci is often remembered with the name of the American continents. 

            Sebastian Cabot, son of John Cabot, was a navigator, explorer and cartographer. He had served both the English and Spanish crowns. There are no official documents to prove Sebastian’s voyages. However, it is said that in 1508, Cabot led an expedition to find a North-West Passage through North America.

            He had supposedly narrated stories about encountering fields of icebergs, and reported an open passage of water. Some historians suggest that he might have reached Hudson Bay, but could not find the North-West Passage.

            After two decades, he set out on another voyage, intending to circumnavigate the world. However, he changed his plan later, as he was lured to finding silver in Argentina.

            He built two forts during his journey. Later, Sebastian claimed that the discoveries said to be made by his father were in fact made by him. Historians have denounced him as an unreliable source of information.

                After returning from his expedition, in late 1497, Cabot sought permission from King Henry VII to set out on a second voyage across the North Atlantic.

               His intention was to continue sailing westwards from Newfoundland, until he reached the island of Cipangu in Japan. In February 1498, the king ordered Cabot to command the fleet. Thus John Cabot departed in May 1498.

               In July, one of his ships was caught in a fatal storm and got damaged. This disaster, and later the demise of John Cabot, had not left any proof for clarification. However, it was believed that in 1499, Cabot himself perished at sea.

               Even though the second voyage ended in misery, Cabot’s discovery of North America helped England to establish trade across the North Atlantic.

               In addition to contributing to the plan for British land claims in the North American continent, his findings helped in establishing other British colonies there.

               His expeditions also proved the existence of a shorter route across the northern Atlantic Ocean.

            John Cabot was a Venetian navigator and explorer, who lived in England. He got a commission from King Henry VII to make an expedition to North America. It was the first European encounter with the North American continent since Leif Eriksson and the Vikings explored the area they called ‘Vinland’ in the 11th century.

            John Cabot was skilled in navigational techniques, and he seemed to have been inspired by Christopher Columbus. He researched the possibility of reaching Asia by sailing westward.

            In 1496, the king granted permission to John Cabot to set out on an expedition of discovery and to open up more trading posts.

            Cabot sailed out of Bristol on a small ship, but had to return soon.

            Later, in May 1497, he set out on another voyage. The expedition made landfall in the Newfoundland. He took possession of the land for the English King.

            When Cabot arrived back to Bristol, he received a hearty welcome. On that occasion, Cabot announced his plan to set out on another voyage to Newfoundland, and to Japan which was regarded as the haven of spices. 

               The fleet arrived at Kappad near Calicut, India, on 20th May 1498. They were welcomed with traditional hospitality by the King of Calicut, the Zamorin. The presents that Gama brought for the king were four cloaks of scarlet cloth, six hats, four branches of corals, seven brass vessels, two barrels of oil, and a cask of honey. These gifts failed to impress the rich Zamorin.

               The king turned down Vasco da Gama’s request to leave a small group of his crew behind him in charge of the product he could not sell. King insisted that Gama pay customs duty like any other trader. Gama was totally annoyed by this response. His fleet left Calicut on 29th August 1498. He reached Lisbon on September 9th 1499. Gama’s expedition was successful, because it brought in cargoes worth sixty times the cost of the expedition. 

               Madoc ab Owain Gwynedd was a Welsh prince, who sailed to America in 1170, more than three hundred years before Christopher Columbus’s voyage in 1492.

               Madoc was the son of Owain Gwynedd, the King of Wales. The king died in 1170, and soon Wales degenerated into a state of civil war as his sons fought over the throne. At one point, Madoc couldn’t bear the pain of his family fighting, and he decided to start a voyage to the west. He set up a successful settlement at Mobile Bay in modern Alabama.

               The ‘Madoc story’ has always been the subject of much speculation in the context of possible pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact. No conclusive archaeological proofs about Madoc could ever be found.

               However, speculation abounds, connecting him with certain sites, such as Devil’s Backbone, located on the Ohio River at Fourteen Mile Creek near Louisville, Kentucky. The township of Madoc, Ontario, and the nearby village of Madoc, are both named in the prince’s memory.

            Like the Polynesians, the Vikings too gave importance to their water crafts as they helped them in expanding their territory. Ships were an integral part of Viking culture. They facilitated everyday transportation across seas to establish colonies in coastal regions.

            The Viking ships had religious importance too. There were basically three types of Viking ships: long-ships, heavy freight carrying merchant ships and light freight carrying merchant ships. Prominent among these ships was the long-ship. They had a long, narrow hull and shallow draught to facilitate landings and troop deployments in shallow water.

            The Vikings were brilliant ship designers and builders, and are undoubtedly among the greatest voyagers of all time. 

               Leif Erikson, son of the Norse explorer Erik the Red, was the first European known to have discovered continental North America excluding Greenland, before Christopher Columbus. He established a Norse settlement at Vinland, tentatively identified with the L’Anse aux Meadows, on the northern tip of Newfoundland, in modern-day Canada.

               After spending a winter in Vinland, Leif sailed back to Greenland, and never returned to North American shores.

               The location of Vinland had been debated over the centuries, and various spots along the northern Atlantic Coast had been cited. In the early 1960s, excavations at L’Anse aux Meadows produced evidence of the base camp of the 11th-century Viking exploration.

               The voyage by Leif Erikson was marked as an exceptionally remarkable one. Unfortunately, the death of Leif Erikson had not been mentioned in the sagas of Greenland.

        The American mainland was later discovered by Christopher Columbus of Spain.

               Erik the Red is credited with the discovery of Greenland; he ushered in the country’s Viking era. According to sagas, Erik the Red migrated to Iceland in 960 AD. His father, Porvaldr Asvaldsson, was exiled from Norway for instigating crimes. Porvaldr took his entire family to Iceland, and settled there.

               From the top of the mountains of western Iceland, another island that lay to the west was clearly visible. It lay across 289.6 kilometres of water. When Eric was exiled for three years as a punishment, he sailed west to that scenic island, and spent three years there.

               After he returned to Iceland, Erik exaggerated the merits of the island he had explored. He deliberately named the island ‘Greenland’, to make it sound green and fertile.

               Erik the Red was a born leader. He went on another voyage to Greenland later, leading a fleet of 25 long-ships. On board were around 500 men and women, domestic animals, and all the other elements required to create a new existence in a new place. 

            The Vikings were Norse sea-farers, mainly speaking the Old Norse language. The Vikings were from three countries of Scandinavia: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. They sailed across the North Sea, sometimes to the east coast of England, where they raided and looted.

            Sometimes, they took their ships to the north of Scotland, then round to the west coast of Scotland, and on to Ireland and the west coast of England. No coastal community was safe from their unpredictable raids and loots.

            The Vikings knew that there was an uninhabited island towards the setting sun in the North Atlantic. They explored the island and called it Iceland, because most of the island was covered in ice and snow. The recorded history of Iceland began with the settlement by Viking explorers in the late ninth century.

            A group of Norsemen, headed by Ingolfur Arnarson, who instigated a blood feud with the Norwegian king Herald I, sailed and migrated to Iceland. Ingolfur called the place where they landed ‘Reykjavik’, meaning smoky bay. The settlement was a huge success, and the population grew steadily. By the middle of the tenth century, it had reached several thousands.

               The Vikings were Scandinavian seafaring traders, warriors and pirates who raided and colonized wide areas of Europe. They travelled in long, open ships. The Viking ships, also known as ‘dragon-ships’ or ‘long-ships’, were designed to travel at a comparatively high speed.

               The largest Viking ship could carry about 100 sailors at a time. Their unique construction made them seaworthy. They were ‘clinker built’, which is a method of boat building, where the edges of hull planks overlap. They were usually finished with copper nails. These Scandinavian pirates were infamous for their raiding and invasion skills. They used to attack, raid, and loot coastal areas without any warning. The Vikings conquered most of the places they raided, and established their colonies in many of these lands.

               Though the Vikings travelled mostly for trading, their interest in raiding and looting made them the most-feared pirates of their time. They mainly targeted the British Isles, the Atlantic, and the North Sea shoreline of the Carolingian Empire, which included most of what is now France, Germany, and to the east of what became Russia. 

               The Polynesians used to make their voyages in canoes built with tools of stone, bone, and coral. These canoes were navigated by expert seafarers, who depended mainly on traditional techniques of way finding.

               The Polynesian canoes were dugout canoes, which are boats made out of hollowed tree trunks, or planks sewn together with cords of coconut fibres twisted into strands.

               An outrigger was attached to a single hull for greater stability during the voyage. Two hulls were lashed together with crossbeams, and a deck was also added between the hulls to create double canoes capable of withstanding long distance voyages.

               The canoes were paddled when there was no wind, and sailed only when there were enough breezes. Though these double-hulled canoes had less storage capacity, they were much faster.

               The Polynesians were skilful and daring navigators. They were the original inhabitants of a vast string of islands in the Pacific Ocean. Their voyages were made very early in the history of exploration. They established colonies on islands miles away from their native island groups.

               They were vigorous explorers, who made important migrations. They were said to have inhabited Easter Island around 440 AD. They arrived in the Hawaiian Islands around 400-500 AD. The Polynesians were also credited with the discovery of New Zealand, probably about 1150 AD.

               The Polynesians had excellent navigational systems; they had maps showing their neighbouring islands. Polynesian navigation used instruments which are distinct from the tools used by European navigators. However, they also relied on close observation of sea signs, and had a large body of knowledge from oral tradition. 

               Hanno was a Carthaginian explorer of the sixth or fifth century BC, who sailed beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, out of the Mediterranean, and down the mysterious Atlantic coast of Africa. Carthage was the capital city of the ancient Carthaginian civilization.

               According to literature, Hanno was the highest administrative officer in the Carthaginian government. Carthage dispatched Hanno as the head of a fleet of 60 ships to explore trading colonies along the north western coast of North Africa. He sailed through the straits of Gibraltar, established seven colonies along the African coast of what is now Morocco, and explored significantly farther along the Atlantic coast of the continent.

               Hanno also encountered various indigenous communities. The primary source for the account of Hanno’s expedition is a Greek translation, titled ‘Periplus’, of a tablet Hanno is reported to have hung up in the temple of Kronos on his return to Carthage. The title translated from the Greek is ‘The Voyage of Hanno, commander of the Carthaginians, round the parts of Libya beyond the Pillars of Heracles, which he deposited in the Temple of Kronos’.

               Around 330 BC, the Greek geographer named Pytheas set out on a voyage from the Greek colony of Massalia through the Mediterranean Sea, to explore Northern Europe. He was sent out by the merchants of his native city to find a route to the tin mines of Southern Britain.

               During the journey, he circumnavigated and visited a considerable part of Great Britain. It was said that he sailed around Iberia, then up the coast of Gaul to Brittany, and eventually, reached Belerium where he explored the famous tin mines.

               Pytheas was the first person to describe the midnight sun, and polar ice. He also introduced the idea of ‘Thule’ to the geographic imagination, and his account was the earliest that stated that the Moon is the cause of tides. On his return, Pytheas chronicled an account of his endeavour entitled ‘On the Ocean’. 

               The Phoenicians were extremely careful and secretive about their trade routes, discoveries, and their knowledge of winds and currents. They had two types of navigation; the first one was coastal navigation, which was usually a short daytime expedition between ports that were not more than 45 to 55 kilometres apart.

               The second type of navigation was open sea navigation. This was used when the Phoenicians sailed to far-off destinations, when they cruised much farther out in open water. During such voyages, they always preferred to anchor safely during nights. When that was not possible, they would steer their ships trusting the Ursa Minor constellation.

               Ursa Minor had been important in navigation because of Polaris, a fairly bright star in the constellation, approximately 434 light years from Earth. Ancient writers called Polaris the Phoenician Star.

            The Phoenicians were mighty seafarers of the ancient world. The coastal plains of present day Lebanon were home to the Phoenicians in the first millennium BC. They traded predominantly along the Mediterranean Sea. In the centuries that followed, the Phoenicians formed the major naval power of the region. They were the first people to venture into the western Mediterranean and beyond the Straits of Gibraltar, to the Atlantic coasts of Africa and Europe.

            Gradually, the Phoenicians established colonies throughout the Mediterranean. The most strategically important Phoenician trading outpost was Carthage, in North Africa.

            The Phoenicians grew rich exporting products such as wine, olive oil, embroideries, linen, fabric coloured in the famous Tyrian purple dye, and most notably, timber from the famous cedars of Lebanon.