phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) (05/25/90)
In article <1990May22.041549.6888@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes: >It wasn't uncommon for wooden ships to last only one major voyage, or for >that matter for an expedition to come back with fewer ships than it started >with, because of things like shipworm. In fact, in Magellan's case only one ship of a small fleet made it home. The saying among those who maintain historic wooden vessels [_Constitution_, Victory_, etc.] is "After a hundred years you have either a replica or a wreck." I can sorta justify this comment in this group because so many shuttles are named after historic exploration vessels. I hope we eventually have a _Fram_. phil ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opinions outside attributed quotations are mine alone. Satirical material may not be specifically labeled as such. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- | phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG | Phil Gustafson | (ames|pyramid|vsi1)!zorch!phil | UNIX/Graphics Consultant | | 1550 Martin Ave., San Jose CA 95126 | | 408/286-1749
phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) (05/25/90)
In article <1990May22.131441.1701@watdragon.waterloo.edu> jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (Brian or James) writes: [British are inept explorers.] Se Roland Huntford's _Scott_and_Amundsen_ for a well-documented exposition of this. phil ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Opinions outside attributed quotations are mine alone. Satirical material may not be specifically labeled as such. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- | phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG | Phil Gustafson | (ames|pyramid|vsi1)!zorch!phil | UNIX/Graphics Consultant | | 1550 Martin Ave., San Jose CA 95126 | | 408/286-1749
thos@softway.oz (Thomas Cohen) (05/28/90)
In article <1990May24.182621.14527@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) writes: >In article <1990May22.131441.1701@watdragon.waterloo.edu> jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (Brian or James) writes: > >[British are inept explorers.] > That's not all he wrote... Besides, some of them were actually quite good, for example Capt. James Cook. (admittedly getting killed and eaten by Hawaiian natives was hardly the high point of his career). But how do you draw the distinction between 'navigators' and 'explorers'?. Enuff, on with space. > phil -- thos cohen Softway Pty Ltd ACSnet: thos@softway.oz Internet: thos@softway.oz.au UUCP: ...!uunet!softway.oz!thos
jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (Brian or James) (05/29/90)
In article <2961@softway.oz> thos@softway.oz (Thomas Cohen) writes: >In article <1990May24.182621.14527@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) writes: >>In article <1990May22.131441.1701@watdragon.waterloo.edu> jdnicoll@watyew.uwaterloo.ca (Brian or James) writes: >> >>[British are inept explorers.] >> >That's not all he wrote... > >Besides, some of them were actually quite good, >for example Capt. James Cook. (admittedly getting >killed and eaten by Hawaiian natives was hardly >the high point of his career). >But how do you draw the distinction between 'navigators' >and 'explorers'?. > >Enuff, on with space. > My critique of the British was mainly about their failure to adapt to the climates they found in their travels. Thin, tight clothing is not the ideal gear for the Arctic, unless your goal is to set records for frostbite deaths. It's worth noting that they had one or two other foibles. Captains going on long voyages had to pay for citrus fruits out of their own pockets. I guess the Powers That Were didn't consider scurvy deaths bad enough to budget money for food suppliments. On another note... The Hawaiians Did NOT Eat Captain Cook!!! This slander has been repeated for some centuries now. They definitely killed him. They may have used his remains for raw tool materials, but cannibalism is not part of the Hawaiian culture [My grandfather, born in Hawaii, was told that only the folks down around Fiji eat each other. This is slander, too]. Pop was also told that pre-european Hawaii was chronically short on non-wood or stone resources, and that it was considered a major insult to be used as a source of bone [I have dim memories of hip bones [?] being used for fishing hooks, but, alas, my mempry is dim...] and the boiling of Cook's body probably was related to this. Damned if I can remember if he said Cook ended up as tools or was safely disposed of such that he would not be tooled. Cook had some admirers among the Hawaiians. [I'd like to add that my paternal family *just* missed the revolution in which the Hawaiian Royal Family was deposed in 1880 or so. We keep moving to places the US annexes]. JDN