On the World’s Seas and Oceans - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 31

is about seventy million square miles, compared to about twenty-eight million square miles
for the Indian Ocean. Surprisingly for its size, the Pacific was the last to be discovered by
Europeans.
The discovery was stirred by the same impulses that sent Columbus to the New World:
quest for adventure, fame, and riches. Columbus argued that he could reach the Indies, as
the Far East was called, by sailing west across the Atlantic. His purpose? To convert the
Indies to Christianity. And to find the spices that Europe craved.
During the two centuries of the Crusades, the knightly classes of Europe had delighted
in the spices of the Indies. Brought by Muslim traders from mysterious ports, spices com-
manded exorbitant prices, bestowing extraordinary wealth on those who purveyed them.
Why spices? As stated above, for medicine and flavor. Cinnamon reduced fever. Clove
alleviated stomachache and toothache. Cardamom enhanced flavor; nutmeg was thought
to ward off the plague. And pepper made bad-smelling meat palatable. Before the 1600s,
Europe north of the Alps had no winter fodder. Eighty percent of livestock had to be
slaughtered. Salt could preserve the meat, but the stench was strong. Pepper, queen of
spices, disguised the odor and enhanced the flavor. Pepper was so valuable that it could be
sold for its equivalent weight in gold. Travelers often carried a pouch of peppercorns as
portable wealth.