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Maxprop

"Jeff" wrote in message
. ..
* wrote, On 3/14/2007 10:07 AM:
* Milton Waddams wrote
With everyone going on about Roman, Phoenician and Egyptian sailors
one would think they invented sailing. The greatest sailors were the
Polynesians. They had the fastest boats and ranged over the greatest
area of sea. They were also the best navigators, all without compass,
astrolabs and telescopes.

Uh huh. So, if they were such great sailors then why did they not
continue to make progress with their vessels and open trade routes to
the other civilizations on the continents?

Maybe they weren't interested in trade? It really wasn't a strong part of
their culture.

Oh, but they were very interested in trade. They welcomed foreign vessels
and coveted the goods those vessels brought. They traded whatever they had
for items from the civilized world, such as breadfruit plants. (Recall that
story?) They probably never instituted trade routes because they didn't
have the vessels necessary to carry large quantities of goods.

Max