cjh (02/02/83)
In response to your message of Fri Jan 28 13:43:22 1983: Well, my first reaction is that you overestimate the exploratory impulses of the northern Europeans. Mark Keller (not on the net, but probably the foremost fannish uchroniast (student of uchronias (alternate worlds))) developed some years ago a scenario that began with some Japanese fleeing from the Mongol invasion and making it to California. If they establish a permanent settlement the assorted natives will get exposed to Eurasian diseases several centuries earlier than they were, thus filtering the gene pool before the arrival of the Spanish (whose victories in the new world frequently came because the bulk of the defenders were deathly ill). If the Spanish had not succeeded in getting large quantities of gold from their pillaging of the new world the English navy (at least) would never have reached a level where it could defend England against the invading armada, since the first good English ships for the open sea were privateers attacking the Spanish galleons (talk about your quick profits . . .). An arguable position, but Mark tends to have an encyclopedic grasp of history and a feeling for scenarios almost as good as Cherryh's.