Annex 27 – Evidence of Chinese Fleets visit to across the Caribbean to Florida
Maps
· Caribbean appears on Cantino, Caverio and Waldseemueller maps published before Europeans reached there. Columbus had a map showing Puerto Rico before he set sail.
Accounts of contemporary European historians and explorers
· Chinese miners in bird boats (Columbus) (Martin Tai).
· Vasquez de Coronado met Chinese people in Tiguex and found Chinese junks with gilded sterns.
Linguistics
· Columbus ‘Indian’ people = Yin Dian (Martin Tai)
· A reader directed us to an interesting website in which they describe a curious incident. The first European to experience the joys of a Cuban cigar seems to be Lt. Rodrigo de Jerez, whom Columbus sent inland to explore, accompanied by a Catholic priest to translate into Chinese. Why would Christopher Columbus choose to have the events of his arrival in Cuba, including Cuban cigars and the Tainos in 1492, documented in Chinese? – Cecil Lyew
http://www.cigarnexus.com/nationalcigarmuseum/exhibit1
Animals
· Article about alligators states that the species of alligator found in the South Eastern United States is also found in but one other place on the planet; an isolated area along the Yangtze River in China. In every aspect other than size, they are identical
though found 12,000 miles apart. Perhaps this is not an anomaly of nature. (Robert Richards)
Guadeloupe
· Drawn on the Pizzigano Chart,1423/4, as “Satanazes” – identified by con/ymana (medieval Portuguese) written on the southern part of Satanazes, which translates as ‘volcanoes erupt here’. Indeed volcanoes erupted twice between 1400 and 1440 in Guadeloupe
· Wreck (Columbus)
· Reader worked on the Guadeloupean islands of Basse-Terre, Terre-de-Bas, and Terre-de-Haut (Les Saintes) from 1999-2004. He sent in the following observations:
Although the evidence is anecdotal, there is a strong possibility of a Chinese cultural legacy on the Saintes. The traditional hats worn by Saintois, called Salako are definitely Asian in origin. Most historians trace them (although never with any evidence) to France’s history in “Indochina”–although that would mean that they weren’t introduced until the later colonial period. Why would these peculiar hats exist only on the Saintes? One would think that if they arrived from “Indochina,” with the French, that they would turn up elsewhere in the French colonies. They don’t even show up in greater Guadeloupe. A salako hat can be seen at this web address:
http://www.caribbean-direct.com/Les-Saintes-Direct/Local%20Culture/LSSlocalcultureM.html
“Salako” is also a language spoken in Borneo (as well as Kalimantan / Sarawak / Malaysia / etc.), an area which-to my knowledge-was never under French colonial administration.
Additional anecdotal evidence includes skin color/ethnic markers. Saintois are remarkably lighter-skinned than Guadeloupeans, and many have “almond”-shaped eyes (the locals call them “amande”). Most people attribute the former to the fact that there was no history of plantation slavery on the Saintes, and that the population was much more French (European) than on the Guadeloupean mainland. The “yeux amandes” I’ve never heard explained, but it’s explained elsewhere in Guadeloupe by the lineage/blood of the Caribs. This would be a fascinating place to take DNA samples.
Furthermore, there is an archeological site on Terre-de-Bas that was a “poterie”–a ceramics studio. I haven’t been able to learn much about the history of this particular place. Most say that it was used by the indians. Caribs are forest-dwellers, however (and the Saintes are dry). This, combined with the fact that the kilns are made of stone makes one curious…
As a final anecdote, I’ve met more than one person in mainland Guadeloupe who, when listing all of the origins of their lineage, include “Chinese.” Since there is no current Chinese population in Guadeloupe (the way there is, for instance, an [East] Indian population), this also strikes me as curious. In the Saintes, locals contradict the guidebooks and say that the Salako are “Chinese;” many say that the Chinese visited their islands at some distant point in the past. (Dov Stucker)
Puerto Rico
· Drawn on the Pizzigano Chart, 1423/4, as “Antilia” – ‘anti’ means on the opposite side of ‘ilha’ means island – therefore meaning an island on the opposite side of the Atlantic to Portugal. Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator ordered his sea captains in 1431 to find Antilia – therefore not the Portuguese who charted this.
· Coconuts found by Joao de Acosto
· Fulvous tree duck
· Padre Nazario’s stones (Annabelle Rodriguez)
· Giant stone wheel – found on the coast in Aguadilla. Due to the topography of the area, the only way the wheel could have gotten there is by sea – (Miguel Martinez)
· Professor Mariana Fernandez-Cobo and colleagues have carried out a study of Puerto Rico people and reported their results in Human Biology 2001 June No 73 (3) at pages 385-402. They report – ‘We found that the strains of JCV present today in Puerto Rico are those derived from the old world populations represented there; types 1b and 4 from Spain, types 3a, 3b and 6 from Africa and type 2a from Asia. The type 2a genotype represents the indigenous Taino people. This JCV genotype was represented much more frequently (61%) than would be predicted by the tribrid model of genetic admixture’ (p385) Then at p391 – ‘The only Asian genotype found, type 2a (61%) was over represented compared to the predicted Native American contribution to the gene pool (18% see table!). The Cuban and Columbian urine specimens each showed type 2a strains, while the E1 Salvadorian specimen was negative for JCV. Type 2A is the North East Asian genotype apparently contributed by the Taino Indians.’
· Puerto Ricans call oranges ‘Chinas’ and orange juice ‘ jugo de Chinas.’ A reader reports that if you ask a Puerto Rican why they call them Chinas, they say that it is because they come from China. Apparently these oranges are different from American oranges with a thin green and yellow skin and yellowish orange colouring inside. Does anyone have any further information about this? (Will Larsen)
Dominican Republic
· Chinese ship dogs found by Joao de Acosta in San Domingo
· Fulvous tree duck
· Supposedly written in 1902, there is a paragraph (4th one from the top) containing the following: “… Be that as it may, the Carib type, even in the remnant that survives to-day, shows an unmistakably Mongolian character and it would be hard to distinguish a Carib infant from a Chinese or Tartar child. They have the same straight, coarse, blue-black hair, oblique eyes, prominent cheek bones, and rather flat noses, while the colour of the true Carib is so light a copper as to be almost yellow. It is an interesting fact that some 20 years ago, a Chinaman who, haphazard, found his way to Dominica drifted to the Carib Reserve. He declared that they were his own people and married one of the women of pure-breed. By her, he has had three daughters, and while they are, presumably, half-Chinese, half-Carib, they show no variation whatever from the type of the other pure-bred natives in the Reserve – Deborah Chen
· A reader has pointed out how on the island of Dominica many have noticed Asian, almost Mongolian features of the remaining Native American Indians. They live on a reservation and have inbred little with the African population brought there for work on the plantations – Greg Sloat
Abaco
· Cave paintings (N. Cripps and M. Malone)
· Cannon (N. Cripps and M. Malone)
· A diver has claimed to have found many bells in this area – curious since most ships only have one bell
Hispaniola
· “People of the Great Khan must be very near here” (Christopher Columbus)
· There are C-14 dated specimens of the Mylodon from Hispaniola and Cuba that appear to be roughly 500 ybp. A starting reference is in Hall & Kelson, Mammals of North America. If the Spanish did encounter any surviving Mylodon, they were most likely to be taken as “bears,” which have no fossil record in the Caribbean – Dr. John T. Thurmond
Cuba
· People in long white woven garments (Columbus).
Andros
· Stone walls/reservoirs (Charles Huegy).
Bimini
· Wrecks/ ‘Bimini Road’/clam piles.
. An American archaeological team has discovered definitive evidence of underwater ancient harbor remains at two separate locations at Bimini. A free 30-page pdf report on the expedition containing 70 photos can be downloaded at: http://www.mysterious-america.net/biminihoax.html
. A recent investigation into the Bimini road has come up with all sorts of interesting new information. In May 2005, a team of researchers made an extensive expedition to both Bimini and Andros in the Bahamas. In brief, at a second site about one mile from the formation known as the “Bimini Road,” numerous stone circles were found along with stone anchors, wood under some of the large stones, and cut blocks of stone. This particular site is almost completely unknown. At the Bimini Road, numerous multiple tiers of stones were found, prop stones were found under the massive blocks, and cut rectangular slabs of stone were found stacked under some of the large blocks. A variety of other human artefacts were found including two dozen pieces of grey marble—found under a large block. To summarise, the team have found widespread evidence which suggests that the Bimini Road and the nearby Proctor’s Road formation can definitely be said to have been harbour work formations. Secondly, the presence of the various cut rectangular slabs, the wedge stones, and large stone anchors at Bimini point to a maritime culture more sophisticated than the Taino or Carib peoples. They believe they have found the remnants of a long-gone maritime culture. More recently we have been told that early tests suggest that the cut stones date to c.500 years ago. For more information please visit the following links:
http://www.mysterious-america.net/bimini-caysal200.html
Anguilla
· Second ‘Bimini Road’ (Bruce)
Florida
· West coast – stone canals (clam pits – compare with Bimini)
· Jetty at Ft. Lauderdale is built with the same stones as those at Miami – possible Junk ballast.
Florida Keys
· Chinese ceramics.
· Large carved jade Buddha head found in channel between two islands in the Florida Keys. Adjacent islands had drawings carved into bedrock that at one time had been exposed. However, there were surprisingly no Spanish ships recorded as going down in that particular area. Also a diver claims to have found “many bells” – curious since most ships only have one bell. (Michele Wells)
· Indian Key (3/4 mile going SE from N. shore of Lower Matecumbe Key) – Chinese ceramic shards – (Ken Walsh)
· Rhomboid Keys off Belize – finds of blue and white Chinese Porcelain – Walter H. Ziegler
Panama
· Fulvous tree duck
· Horses – found by Columbus – (Barbara McEwen)
Yucatan
· ‘Chinese’ DNA (Buctzozt Maya)
· Chinese carvings at Mayan sites – Horses and Elephants depicted
· Chichen Itza Cenote – Chinese artefacts
· Fulvous tree duck
· Elephants from Africa to Yucatan and Colombia
· Chinese anchor
· Chinese ceramics
· Chinese jade
Rio Grande
· Hanta virus.
Mississippi delta
· Coronado’s wrecked junks.
Gulf of Venezuela
· ‘Chinese’ DNA; Columbus meets Chinese miners.
Guyana
· ‘Chinese’ DNA
· Fulvous tree duck.
San Salvador and Trinidad
· Also have the flightless fulvous tree duck
Gulf of Mexico
· Mayan records tell of 13 different expeditions which landed – pre-Columbus – on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico (Brasseur de Bourbourg – Ian Hudson)
Costa Rica
· There is (or was in 1984) a large man-made ancient tiered mound or knoll at the south end of Osa Peninsula in southern Costa Rica that looks toward Golfo Dulce and the Pacific. It is directly adjacent to a large goldfield that must have been anciently well known. Its location is at 08 degrees 32 minutes 00 seconds North, 83 degrees 18 minutes 40 seconds West – Griff Lloyd
· Jade – (American Naturalist 21: 96-97, F. W. Putnam: jade objects from Costa Rica and Nicaragua are “unquestionably Chinese jade”; P 2698)
· Stone spheres found on the South East of Costa Rica – similar to those found on Cannonball River, USA and New Zealand S. Island – (Jorge M Ramirez ) – we believe that these are likely to have been used by the Chinese as either cannonballs or as counterweights in hoisting the sails on the Junks
Recent developments (February 2005)
As a young naval officer in the mid 70s, a reader was part of a mission to deliver medicine and school supplies to an isolated and backward island in the Caribbean. They were there for four days, during which time four of the crew were taken by local children to a cliff site where they found three cannons. Two of the cannons were dated to 1401, and non-English words were embossed near the firing point. The third cannon found was a four foot brass cannon. There were not dates on it, however, it was elaborately decorated in non-European characters. Due to the remote location of the village, the political climate in that country over the last thirty years, and the subsistence nature of the people the reader is sure that the cannon are still there. Gavin has planned an expedition to this isolated part of the world but political instability in the area means that an adventure into this area is unlikely in the foreseeable future.
View maps: The Cantino world map, The Waldseemüller map, The Pizzigano Nautical Chart, The Piri Reis map
