China Voyage: Across the Pacific by Bamboo Raft
Severin has made a career of re-creating voyages and journeys of the famous and legendary and writing chronicles of his adventures (In Search of Genghis Khan, LJ 4/1/92). Here Severin becomes interested in the possibility of travel and cultural exchange across the Pacific prior to the European discovery of America. He recounts arguments of cultural specialists and puts forth the theory that bamboo rafts were the most likely craft used by Asian navigators of the time. The bulk of the book recounts the building of a raft in Vietnam, the gathering of a crew, and the attempt to reach California via the Kuroshio and the North Pacific currents. There is some good incidental information about Vietnam and the character of Severin's multinational crew. But there is mind-numbing detail of bad meals and dangerous weather situations, as well as the slow deterioration of the raft. Thorough, accurate, and intelligent, this work is not as exciting as the general public might desire.?William R. Smith, Johns Hopkins Univ. Lib., BaltimoreCopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.