Student's Book – Dec 2009 (5.9mb) - The Curriculum Project

C. I am headed to the Spice Islands. In order to getthere, I need to leave Malacca around July to sail southwith the winds. My ship will follow the Sumatran coastsouth into the Java Sea, and then on, south of Borneoeast through the Flora Sea and further east into theBanda Sea.Once I reach the Moluccas Islands, I will stop on theisland of Ternate, where I have good contact with localspice traders. I will buy a ship-load of cloves – they getvery a good price back in Malacca. But before I load themon to my ship, I will sell a supply of rice and textiles fromIndia at the local market. The soil on Ternate is not thatgood for growing rice and many other crops, that’s whythey have to sell their spices and buy rice and other goodsfrom other parts of Asia. My ship is not that big, thewhole crew is only 10 sailors. This is enough, because wedon’t have to cross the open ocean like when you sail toIndia for example. But we are very afraid of pirates. Wewill sail mostly along the coast and avoid most storms,but we also have to be very careful not to get too close tothe rocks in case a storm does come.D. I started my trip in November in order to use the winter monsoon winds to carry my ship southacross the South China Sea, around the coast of Vietnam and towards the Malay Peninsula. I comefrom a family of traders. My ancestors have been travelling across Asia by sea for hundreds of years. Mygreat-great-great-grandfathers used to stop on the way in the port of Oc-Eo, and then sail to the Isthmusof Kra. From there, they would have to take their goods across the peninsula by land and load onto shipson the other side. But now, we go to the port of Malacca, in the Straits of Malacca. It’s a great port!Thousands of traders from all over the world gather there. I will wait in Malacca for several months untilthe summer monsoons come and my ship can sail with the wind up the Straits of Malacca and across theIndian Ocean.In India I will sell the silk and the porcelain and buy fine Indian textiles. Then I will head back toMalacca. This way my trip will take longer than a year. However, I will have to wait a few more monthsfor the winter monsoon winds. I will not return to China. It is very dangerous for me to return to Chinabecause the emperor has just banned all travel outside of China. And if I come back from my trip, I mightbe killed for disobeying the emperor’s orders.Where are they going?Why are they going there?ABCD39