Pacific Explorers Essay Research Paper Andrew Sharp

Pacific Explorers Essay, Research Paper

Andrew Sharp claims in his Ancient Voyagers in the Pacific

published in 1956 that the Pacific Islanders did not possess

the necessary navigational and sailing technology to

deliberately navigate the distances between islands of the

Pacific when colonizing these islands. He claims

colonization was random and accidental. However, more

recent studies from 1972 on of Pacific navigation suggest

deliberate navigation and colonization was possible and did

take place. These studies have been supported by

reenactments of voyages, computer simulations, and newly

acquired information regarding preparation for distant

voyages. Andrew Sharp supports his claim of accidental

colonization by citing numerous examples of lost voyagers

landing on populated islands, their testimony or second

hand information recorded by Captain Cook. Sharp claims

the only distant voyages were confined to "Western

Polynesia-Fiji and the Tahiti-Tuamotu archipelago" (Sharp

1956:2). He states that the longest offshore voyages made

without landing on intermediate islands included distances

of up to three hundred miles, separating Tonga, Fiji,

Samoa, Rotuma and the Ellice Islands, and distances up to

two-hundred and thirty miles, separating Tahiti from the

Tuamotu islands. Sharp refers to an account by Captain

Cook’s interpreter, Omai, who discovered three of his own

countrymen from Tahiti, who landed on Atiu, six hundred

miles away. They were the sole survivors of twenty people,

blown off course in a sudden gale while attempting to

voyage from Tahiti to Raiatea, one hundred miles away.

Sharp relies on generalizations given in Cook’s logs

referring to colonization of the remote islands of Polynesia.

Cook refers to the accidental voyage to Atiu stating "this

will serve to explain, better than a thousand conjectures of

speculative reason, how the detached parts of the earth,

and in particular, how the South Seas, may have been

peopled; especially those that lie remote from any inhabited

continent, or from each other." (Sharp 1956:4) Sharp uses

examples procured from Cook’s log book, citing

observations of Anderson, ship surgeon in charge of natural

history observations. "The knowledge they have of other

islands is no doubt, traditional; and has been communicated

to them by the natives of those islands, driven accidentally

upon their coasts, who besides giving them the names,

could easily inform them of the direction in which the places

lie from whence they came, and of the number of days they

had upon the sea." (Sharp 1956:7) Sharp discusses the

navigational technology of the Tongans, with most of his

knowledge based on Cook’s observations. "The sun is their

guide by day and the stars at night. When these are

obscured, they have recourse to the points from which the

winds and waves come upon the vessel. If during the

obstruction the winds and waves should shift. . . they are

then bewildered, frequently miss their intended port and are

never heard of more." (Sharp 1956:16) Sharp further states

that if difficulties existed in water the Tongans were

presumably more familiar with then even more difficulties

existed in sailing in "unknown seas, since on long voyages

good visibility is not assured." (Sharp 1956:16). Sharp

claims the canoes used, efficient enough to take the

Tongans off-shore, would not hold against bad weather.

Furthermore, the Tongans related to Cook when courses

were reset using the stars, using directional angles with

east-west or north-south lines or points on the horizon

marked by stars, they resulted in faulty courses. Sharp

claims the "primitive voyager" did not have precise means

of determining distance traveled, and when the distance of

the journey was increased the degree of error for dead

reckoning increased. Sharp’s biased views are best

described in his own words, "Centuries of navigation by the

highly sophisticated system of latitude and longitude, which

took 5,000 years to evolve, have made us forget the

limitations of off-shore navigation without instruments, as

well as its romance and achievements." (Sharp 1956:17)

Recent published studies since 1972 of navigational

technology in Polynesia contradict Sharp’s findings and

shed light on the capabilities of Polynesians as navigators

supporting deliberate colonization of the remote Polynesian

islands. This more recent evidence contradicts statements

and reasoning by Sharp, supporting the probability of

deliberate distant voyages and colonization. Seaworthiness

was necessary to make distant voyages. Edward Doran Jr.,

in his 1976 publication "Wa, Vinta and Tri

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