Drifters on the Sea

By Dilip Kr. Bandyopadhyay

Homo erectus though reached Bali by trekking over land bridges; but migration beyond Bali required important sea crossings, which could not have occurred by accident. They must have used some sorts of seaworthy vessels. The current theory is that bamboo rafts were used.
Anything that floats could be lashed together to make a raft and serve as a boat. So bamboo, wood logs and reeds must have all been used as raw materials, tied together with vines or palm fibres. During the second half of the last century it became easier to communicate across the continents. Getting lost in the open sea was not expected as a regular event to an ordinary person. At this juncture a few persons, rather a few extra-ordinary insane persons came forward to prove something to the worlds in which they believed. They did not bother about their personal safety.For their journeys across sea they took the help of different types of boats or rafts.
In this book there are such ten accounts of such journeys alongwith pictures. like South America to Polynesia on a balsa raft – Journey of Kon-Tiki; Monaco to Barbados -Journey of Le Hérétique: Peru to Samoa on a raft- Journey of Seven Little Sisters; China to France via Australia - Journey of Fou Po and Kaimiloa; Tahiti to Peru and back to Tahiti - Journey of Tahiti Nui I, II & III; Peru to Australia on a raft – Journey of Age unlimited; Africa across Atlantic in a reed boat – Journey of Ra-I and II; China to Mexico in a junk boat – Journey of Tai-Ki and China to North America - Journey of Hsu fu the bamboo raft

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dilip Kr. Bandyopadhyay
• Release date: Aug 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310969911

Dilip Kr. Bandyopadhyay

Retired from service since last 20 years. Writes in Bengali mostly in rhyming poems. Interested in travel. Happily married.

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Drifters on the Seas

By

Dilip K. Bandyopadhyay

Copyright Author 2015

Published by Author through Smashwords.com July 2015

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Preface

Homo erectus came in this earth in African continent. Gradually they started fanning out. During Ice Ages, glacier formations resulted in the sea level dropping drastically creating temporary land passages between islands and continents. At some point, England was connected to Europe; Siberia to Alaska and parts of Indonesia was linked to mainland Asia.

In time, Homo erectus spread out of Africa into Asia, but, they stayed close to the equator. They reached the Indonesian archipelago as early as 800,000 years ago. Although erectus could have reached Bali by trekking over land bridges; migration beyond Bali required important sea crossings, which could not have occurred by accident. They must have used some sorts of seaworthy vessels.

The very first sea-worthy boats were most probably built about 800 thousand years ago. Nothing remained of these early boats. But the anthropologists could guess about the kind of watercrafts they used. The current theory is that bamboo rafts were used. Homo sapiens undoubtedly improved upon the crude rafts of Homo erectus.

Anything that float could be lashed together to make a raft and serve as a boat. Only primitive cutting tools are required. Bamboo, wood logs and reeds have all been used as raw materials, tied together with vines or palm fibres. Raft propulsion was achieved by pushing with poles, pulling with ropes or paddling. When floating down rivers, the current did all the work. Later, sails would have been be added to reduce effort going downwind; but rafts had no keel or shape to keep them moving in a straight line, so steering was always difficult.

With the second world war coming to an end, it became easier to communicate across the continents. Getting lost in the open sea was not expected as a regular event to an ordinary person. At this juncture a few persons, rather a few extra-ordinary insane persons came forward to prove something to the worlds in which they believed. They did not bother about their personal safety.

Index

1. South America to Polynesia on a balsa raft – Journey of Kon-Tiki

2. Monaco to Barbados -Journey of Le Hérétique -

3. Peru to Samoa on a raft- Journey of Seven Little Sisters.

4. China to France via Australia - Journey of Fou Po and Kaimiloa

5. Tahiti to Peru - Journey of Tahiti Nui

6. Returning from Peru to Tahiti - Journey of Tahiti-Nui II and III

7. Peru to Australia on a raft – Journey of Age unlimited

8. Africa across Atlantic in a reed boat – Journey of Ra-I and II

9. China to Mexico in a junk boat – Journey of Tai-Ki

10. China to North America - Journey of Hsu fu the bamboo raft

11. Acknowledgment

12. Other book from the same writer

Index of picture plates

Thor Heyerdahl

Kon-Tiki Boat

Path of Kon-Tiki

Dr. Alain Bombard

Le Hérétique on sea

Journey path of Le Hérétique

William Willis

Seven Little Sisters Boat

Journey path of Seven Little Sisters

Eric de Bisschop

Fou Po II Boat

Kaimiloa Catamaran

Path of Fou Po II and Kaimiloa

Tahiti-Nui Bamboo Raft

Stamp of French Polynesia showing path of Tahiti Nui

Age Unlimited Boat

Path of Age Unlimited

Ra I Reed Boat

Ra II Reed Boat

Path of Ra I and Ra II

Kuno Knobl

Tai-Ki Boat

Tim Severin

Hsu Fu Boat

Path of Hsu Fu

From South America to Polynesia on a balsa raft

Journey of Kon-Tiki

It is nothing more than a small dot over the vast ocean surface. Actually it is a small island on the South Pacific Ocean. It can boast of a population of about five thousand or so with an area of around 160 square miles. But what made this Island famous, so as to get the accreditation from UNESCO about their ancient culture. I am talking about the Easter Island. It is the place where the giant stone structure known as Moai are situated. And what is Moai? They are the statues of some human form, facing inland, standing on the coastline, as if they wanted to see whether there is anything worth having a look there.

It becomes much intriguing when we find that this island doesn't have any stone quarry. So these statues must have been sculpted somewhere else, and then brought here, over the sea, for erection. But who brought them, and what for? What do these statues signify? No written history exists to answer these questions. And it becomes more intriguing, when we find that they have been toppled over. Not by any accident but with intention, as if some people were annoyed with their appearance, and didn’t like them. It might have also been done by some race, which later came over and wanted to destroy them, as the earlier ones did not conform to their belief.

Well-known Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl wrote something about these structures in his book. His three books, namely Kon-Tiki; Aku Aku and Fatu Hiva, tells a lot about these. I am still enchanted by those books and the narrations therein.

Thor Heyerdahl, was born in 1924, studied Geography, Biology and also Anthropology. But he had also an urge to explore the seas. And this urge persuaded him to move from Peru in South America to the Tuamotu Archipelagos in the South Pacific in a raft constructed with Balsa logs. A detail of this journey is narrated in his book named Kon-Tiki.

But the idea of conducting such a journey originated in his mind, during his stay in the Marquesas Archipelago. After marriage, Thor with his wife went to Fatu Hiva Island in the Marquesas Archipelago. Though spending honeymoon with his wife was one of the reasons for his moving to the South Sea Islands, studying theory of migration, how people migrated to the Polynesian islands was another reason. It always intrigued him. He also wanted to experience how the aboriginals led their primitive life. He wanted to have a firsthand experience of their lifestyle.

So he pitched up in a tent, underneath a cocoanut tree. However his experience in staying in that tent was not that much pleasant, since a bunch of ripe cocoanut crashed down on his tent at night, demolishing his so called residence. Ultimately he had to take shelter in a hut of the aboriginals along with his wife.

So much so, but this laid back attitude to life, resulted in his deep thinking about his pet subject of migration of mankind. He wrote in his book ‘Fatu Hiva’, that, while reclining on sand with his wife in the evening, and idly looking at the waves breaking down on the shore, his wife Liv, enquired whether the waves are similarly breaking on the other side of the island. Thor replied, "No it doesn’t, as the current and wind is from this side of the island, and the other side is the leeward