Global Positioning System Reference
In-Depth Information
ous islands and reefs.
14
Along often-used courses he would memorize local
details of reefs, shoals, and seamarks. He knew that whales of this type are
often at that location; that these seabirds were here; that such-and-such
land-based seabirds could guide him towards that island group. All this data
was drummed into the young students. Elaborate visual images were in-
voked to remember, for example, the star positions (''Parrot Fish,'' ''Jump-
ing Trigger Fish''). Much of the lore was incorporated into chants, which
were repeated often until the students knew them by heart.
By day a navigator noted the wind and ocean swell direction and com-
pared these with the previous night's star compass direction (note how this
method of estimating bearing assumes constant winds and currents). He
recognized di√erent swells and could steer from the alignment of wave
peaks that arose when two cross-swells interacted. He knew that there
were annual swells from the north, the northeast, and the east that were
associated with regular trade winds (as we would call them). The existence
of currents was revealed to him by the shapes of waves; he read their
direction and strength from patterns of ripples on the water surface. The
shapes of clouds on the horizon might help him forecast the weather or
indicate the presence of land. The colors of sunrise and sunset also spoke to
him about the weather.
Not all boys had the potential to make good navigators, of course, among
South Sea Islanders just as among the rest of the world. Clearly, a good
memory was essential, along with keen eyesight and acute observational
technique.
15
Poised on the Shore
While Europeans were scuttling around the Mediterranean and South Sea Is-
landers plied the South Pacific, countless merchants traveled back and forth
across the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the South China Sea. Indeed,
Indians had been sailing to other lands since the first millennium BCE. On
14. Thus, for example, sailing on the ''Sea of Beads'' meant traveling between the islands
of Woleai and Eauripik on a star course between ''Rising of Fishtail'' (in Cassiopeia) and
''Setting of Two Eyes'' (in Scorpio).
15. The fascinating details of South Sea Islander maritime navigation, and their achieve-
ments, can be found in Lewis (1994) and Thomas (1987). For an overview of their achieve-
ments, see Allen (1980) and Quanchi and Robson (2005). The University of Pennsylvania's
Penn Museum maintains an interesting website with much information on the navigators'
training.
