S T U D Y   G U I D E

Travel Narratives
Peter C. Mancall

Doc. 1)
Voyage of Vasco da Gama
How did the Portuguese get along with the Muslims in East Africa?
Describe the Portuguese attitude toward Muslims.
What role did drinking water play for the Portuguese as they sailed in unfamiliar seas?

Doc. 2)
Second Voyage to Guinea
How did the author of "Second Voyage" use classical authors?
What does he say is the origin of the name "Africa?"
How does he describe the products and goods available in Africa?

Doc. 6)
Geographical History of Africa
What peoples and religions does Leo Africanus describe for Africa and how does he compare them?
What is the role of European settlements along the African islands and coasts?
How does he describe the situation of the Christian slaves in Africa?

Doc. 7)
Overall Survey of the Ocean Shores
Describe the Chinese attitude toward Muslims.
How does it differ from the attitudes exhibited by Vasco da Gama's expedition?

Doc. 9)
Magellan's Voyage
What was the nature of the East Indian island societies visited by the survivors of Magellan's voyage?
How did the islanders receive their visitors?

Doc. 13)
Matteo Ricci on China
How does Ricci describe the banquets of the Chinese and what were their primary activities?
How do the Chinese of differing social classes view marriage, children, slavery, and suicide?
What are the superstitions of the Chinese and what does Ricci think about them?

Doc. 14)
Jan Huygen van Linschoten on Asia
How does Linschoten describe the population of Goa?
What are some of the strange customs of the Heathens [Hindus] and their Pagodas that Linschoten discusses?

Doc. 15)
Columbus Letter
How does Columbus describe the natives of the island of Hispaniola in terms of their traits, beliefs, and behaviors?
What does Columbus have to say about encountering monsters and what were they?

Doc. 16)
Amerigo Vespucci Mundus Novus
What does Vespucci say that the Americas are?
How does Vespucci's description of the natives compare with Columbus's description?
On what things do they agree?
What do they disagree about?

Doc. 17)
Hernan Cortes, Letters from Mexico
Cortes makes many comparisons between the capital of the Aztecs and cities in Spain. What types of comparisons does he make and how does he think the Spanish and the Aztecs compare?
What does he say about the nature of Aztec religion?
How does he describe the lifestyle of the Aztec king?

Doc. 18)
Cartier, Two Navigations
Compare Cartier's description of Indian religion with Cortes's description of the religion of the Aztecs.
Are they similar or different?
What is Cartier's attitude toward the Indians?
Is it positive or negative?

Doc. 19)
Coronado, Cibola
What does Coronado say about the land of Cibola and its wealth?
How does his description of the Indians compare with Cartier's?

Doc. 21)
Pedro Cieza de Leon, Chronicles of Peru
Compare Cieza's description of Cuzco with Cortes's description of the Aztec capital?
How are they alike and how are they different?
How does Cieza use comparisons between Cuzco and Spain?
What are his opinions of the quipu system of the Incas?

Doc. 26)
Voyage of Sir Francis Drake
Why did Drake decide to sail around the world rather than going back to England through the Straits of Magellan?
How does Drake's account of the Indians of California compare with Cartier's description of Indians in Canada?

Doc. 27)
Jose de Acosta, Natural and Moral History
How does Acosta describe the mines and town of Potosi in terms of the environment, the work, and the riches of the mine?
What does Acosta say about the religion of the Andean Indians?

Doc. 28)
Thomas Harriot, Brief and True Relation
How does Harriot describe the society of the Indians of Virginia in terms of their towns, rulers, and economy?
Compare the attitudes of Acosta and Harriot toward the religious nature of the Indians of Peru and Virginia.
How did the Indians of Virginia react to the diseases that appeared among them after visits by the English?

Doc. 29)
Sir Walter Ralegh, Discovery of Guiana
What does Ralegh have to say about the weapons of the Indians of the Orinoco River?
How does Ralegh describe the socializing between the English and the Indians of the Orinoco?

Doc. 30)
Guaman Poma da Ayala, El Nueva Primer Coronica
What is the role that Christianity and the Church played in colonial Peruvian society?
What were the groups that oppressed the Peruvian Indians?
Describe the persecutions inflicted on the Peruvian Indians.

Doc. 31)
Busbecq, Turkish Letters
What does Busbecq consider to be the most interesting things to be seen in Constantinople?
How does he describe relations between the Turks and the Greeks?