Explorers in the New WorldChristopher ColumbusPedro CabralPortuguese ExplorationVicente Yß±ez Pinz≤nAmerigo VespucciOther European ExplorersThe Conquistadors
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Charles Marie de La CondamineIn 1735, a French expedition set out to measure the diameter of the earth at the equator. It also resulted in the first scientific exploration of the Amazon. The Great DebateThe expedition, led by Charles Marie de la Condamine, was specially arranged by the French Academy of Sciences. For years there had been a heated debate about the shape of the earth. It had been discovered by navigators, who determined their location by carefully surveying the position of stars in the night sky, that readings taken on some long journeys were inaccurate if it was assumed that the earth was a perfect sphere. The measurements taken by these navigators might well have been wrong (the instruments used by navigators, particularly on ships moving in rough seas, were far from perfect). However, some academics also agreed with the idea that the earth was not perfectly spherical – and suggested that it was slightly oblong (ie. slightly egg-shaped). Unfortunately, the debate that raged in Europe was over which of the earth's axes was bigger than the other. The great English mathematician and physicist, Sir Issac Newton, stated that the earth was squashed slightly at the poles, and therefore that the earth bulged a little at the equator (ie. the same shape as a soccer ball if you squash it slightly between both hands). But an Italian-born French astronomer called Giovanni Cassini disagreed. He said that the earth was stretched, not flattened, at the poles and therefore the diameter at the poles was greatest. The English and the French were great rivals, so the argument also became one of national pride about who was right and who was wrong – continuing on for many years, even after the deaths of both Newton and Cassini. The scientific community remained divided until, tired of all the bickering, the French Academy of Sciences decided to settle the issue once and for all. The Academy organised two expeditions – one to travel to Lapland (in Sweden), near the North Pole, and the other to travel to South America, near the equator. Each expedition would make a series of careful measurements and, using some complicated mathematics, would then be able to calculate the diameter of the earth at that axis. By comparing the figures worked out by the two expeditions, the Academy would then be able to tell which axis was bigger. Charles Marie de la CondamineThe expedition to South America would be headed by Charles Marie de la Condamine. La Condamine was had been elected to the Academy five years before, when aged 29. He was was of aristocratic birth, and had served as a soldier – but his interest in mathematics and science had eventually led him into natural history, astronomy, and cartography (map-making). He was also a good friend of the philosopher, Voltaire (who he'd helped make a half million francs in a State Lottery which was selling insufficient tickets. La Condamine calculated that if someone was to buy all the tickets, then claim the prize money, the prize money would be worth more than cost of all the tickets). Voltaire had also managed to anger French academics by taking sides with the English in the debate about the earth's shape. The Expedition to South AmericaBefore travelling to South America, the expedition needed Spanish permission to travel through the territory. Getting this permission was not easy because the Spanish and Portuguese kept their overseas territories strictly closed to foreigners. There was a great deal of mistrust of foreigners, and the Spanish were indignant about foreign powers (namely England, Holland, and France) capturing and colonizing territories in the New World which the Spanish regarded as rightfully theirs – after all, the New World had been discovered by Spain, and Spain (together with Portugal) had been granted exclusive rights to it by a Papal decree. However, the new King of Spain (Phillip V) was a grandson of the former French King, Louis XIV. Phillip's ascension to the throne had resulted in conflict he had won with French help – and therefore, in gratitude, he granted the French expedition permission to travel into South America. It was the first non-Spanish/Portuguese expedition ever to be given this permission. The expedition travelled to Quito in Peru, though it is now part of modern-day Ecuador, arriving there in April 1736. Unfortunately, Quito is a mountainous region located in the Andes, and there is very little flat ground. This made it extremely difficult for the French expedition to make the measurements they required for their calculations. Worse still, the people of Quito were suspicious and hostile to the Frenchmen and their seemingly odd actions with their measuring chains and strange scientific instruments. The tension became real conflict when several small pyramids, built by the expedition as markers, were discovered to carry inscriptions of the fleur-de-lis – the emblem of the French monarchy. The townspeople took this as a threat, thinking that the markers may have been placed there to form a claim of the territory for the French crown. The worst incident involved the French doctor accompanying the expedition, who got into an argument with some locals due to his romance with a beautiful local woman. An exchange of insults at a bullfight led to the bullfight being cancelled, and resulted in the the doctor being killed by an angry mob. With all of these problems, disputes and other interruptions, the work went very slowly. In 1737, La Condamine received a letter containing bad news for the expedition – the Lapland expedition had finished their measurements and calculations, and had already answered the question which both expeditions had been sent out to answer (the measurements taken by the Lapland expedition were compared with measurements taken in France). The answer was: the earth was wider at the equator than at the poles. Sir Issac Newton had been right! Despite their troubles, and the fact that the question had already been answered, La Condamine and his team kept on with their assignment for several years. It not only involved the measurements (which might still be of use), but members of the team had also been involved recording new scientific information about South America, and well as collecting and analysing new plants. One of the major reasons for this was that much of what they had had the opportunity to see was still unknown to European scientists due to the fact that most of the South American continent had remained closed to non-Spanish/Portuguese. Who knew when another opportunity to travel through these closed lands might arise again. But, yet another disaster occurred when a careless servant destroyed the huge collection of plants and samples that had been carefully collected, nurtured, and protected by the expedition's botanist for over four years. The botanist, Joseph de Jussieu, was so disturbed and distressed about the loss of four years of his work that he never recovered, and went mad. Fortunately, as time passed, there were some good things. La Condamine made friends with the governor of the local province of Esmeraldas, Don Pedro Maldonado. Both men shared a passion for science and adventure, and organised journeys into the mountains and jungles to investigate the plants, animals, and other wonders of South America. One of the expedition members, Louis Godin, was offered the post of astronomer at Lima's University of San Marcos. Several expedition members met and fell in love with local women – marrying and settling in their new home. This group included Jean Godin de Odonnais (cousin of Louis Godin), who married a beautiful young Peruvian woman called Isabela de Grandmaison y Bruno. La Condamine's Journey Back to France – via the AmazonBy 1743, eight years after setting out from France, the measurements had been completed and most of the expedition's members had either returned home or had married locally and settled. La Condamine was also preparing to return to France but planned one more adventure. Having heard of the wonders of the Amazon, La Condamine decided that he wanted to see it for himself. Therefore his route home would involve crossing the Andes, descending the great river down to the Atlantic coast, and then catching a ship to France by way of Cayenne in French Guiana. Accompanying La Condamine on this journey would be his friend, the hospitable and adventure-seeking Don Pedro Maldonado. Although the beginning of the journey was arduous, the journey down the river was much easier than it had been for earlier travellers such as Orellana and Pedro de Teixeira thanks to Missions which had been established along the river by Jesuit priests. As such, the travellers were able to receive food, lodging, maps, canoes and canoeists, and plenty of advice and other information along the way. This help meant that La Condamine and Maldonado had little to worry about in terms of their basic necessities – and freeing the scientifically-minded travellers to observe, measure, and record everything along the way. La Condamine's description of the Indians' lifestyle and of their hunting and fishing techniques is especially valuable, as it gives us another record of Indian cultures now lost to us. He was particularly interested in the Indians' knowledge of the plants and animals around them. For example, he noted that some Indians fished by sprinkling a fine powder (extracted from local plants) onto the surface of the water. The powder would fall down into the water, causing the fish below to become groggy and rise to the surface. The stunned fish could then easily be scooped up by waiting Indians. Indian hunters often used arrows tipped with a powerful poison called curare. Even though the poison quickly killed the animal shot with it, it did not affect the Indians who ate the meat taken from the animal. The Indians had also discovered that if any of them received a curare wound (either accidentally from their own arrows, or in battle with a hostile tribe) they could cure the wound by applying salt or sugar, which counteracted the curare so that they did not die. Although La Condamine marvelled at the secrets about the plants and animals that he learned from the Indians, he was not impressed with the Indians themselves. La Condamine came from a European background which greatly valued hard work, and the arts and sciences. He could not understand the Indians' who worked only as hard as they needed to, and spent most of their time relaxing or playing games. He couldn't understand the Indians' lack of foresight, seeing the Indians feast on enormous meals when food was bountiful then starve when it was scarce. Despite La Condamine's criticism, there were good reasons for the Indians' behaviour – the forest and rivers readily provided most of the things that they needed, so that the Indians had no need to work very hard. They had also learnt that trying to preserve food (without the aid of refrigerators) was useless in that hot tropical environment because the hot moist atmosphere caused food to spoil or rot very quickly – therefore it was best to eat the food when it was fresh then wait for the next hunt or harvest (because there was no winter, food could be harvested all year round). As he travelled, La Condamine kept a journal of everything that he saw and the experiments and measurements that he performed along the way. After his return to France, he used these notes to write a book, Journal du Voyage Fait par Ordre du Roi a L'Equateur, which greatly excited people back in Europe. It was this book that was to inspire future generations of scientists and travellers to explore the Amazon further.
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