Abubakari II and the Mali Sea Voyage

Recently I was reading a book on the exploration of the Atlantic by the Spanish and Portuguese seafarers. This led me down another road and I began to read about earlier expeditions in the Atlantic off the coast of New Foundland by the Vikings, and the voyage of St. Brendan, an Irish monk who some believed sailed across the atlantic in an open boat back in the 5th century. This path led me to a book titled They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America by Ivan Van Sertima a former professor of history at Rutgers. Of course I had to have the book so I found a copy on E-Bay and waited for it to arrive.

     History, naturally, is my favorite subject. I live in the past, a relic, who tolerates the present because It is the time in which I live. Whether I like it or not I am forced by sheer habit to live in this plastic world. I suppose that hundreds of years from now some people will long to live in the early 21st century. I don't know why they would. I guess that it could be worse. I could be living in the 1st century B.C. in Rome, as a slave. Or perhaps a heavily taxed surf on a nobleman's land in medieval Europe (not that most of us are still surfs today). I guess as the old cliche goes the grass is always greener on the other side. What was it for Abubakari II?

     The king of Mali stood at the waters edge staring out at the endless expanse of ocean before him. Some had told him that if he sailed he would find the end of the world, but Abubakari II knew better. Scholars at Timbuktu had told him that the Earth was round, and that if he sailed toward the setting sun he would eventually make a complete circle and find himself at his place of origin. The year was 1310 and the kingdom of Mali was at war, however, Abubakari was wealthy and he had another ambition that did not include war, he wanted to find out what was beyond the ocean. He built a great fleet (possibly 200 vessels, not including the supply ships). Some of the ships were equipped with sails, others were manned by men with oars, while some possessed a combination of the two. They were supplied with rations for two years. According to Van Sertima they were told not to return until they had either found what was beyond the ocean, or had exhausted their supplies. Only one ship returned. The captain of that vessel told his king that the fleet had entered a strong current and disappeared. His ship was the last one in line and he decided not to follow. He did not know what became of the rest of the fleet. Abubakari became a man obsessed. He immediately ordered up another fleet only this time he left with them. He never returned to Mali leaving the kingdom in the capable hands of Mansa Musa who had been appointed king by Abubakari in the event that he did not return.

                           Mansa Musa, King of Mali (1312-1337)
     
     Did Abubakari II and his great fleet ever make it to the new world? This is the million dollar question. During Columbus' 2nd voyage to the new world in 1496 the natives at Espanola (modern day Haiti) told the Spanish that they were trading with "black people" that had the tops of their spears made of metal (Van Sertima 13). Also,the Atlantic current off the coast of Mali would seemingly make it extremely favorable for a vessel to ride its way south and then west where it would eventually end up off the coast of South or Central America. It is therefore quite possible that Abubakari set up a colony somewhere 180 years before Columbus landed at San Salvador in 1492. One can only imagine the scene as the natives watched this great fleet approach it's shoreline. Sails flapping in the breeze. There would probably have been a mixture of fear and wonderment as the Africans disembarked, not knowing if these people from across the water were friendly or had arrived with bad intentions. We will probably never know, but it is tantalizing to speculate.

     Somehow I can relate to this Mali king who lived 700 years ago. What was he looking for? Something better? A greener pasture perhaps? More riches? (He already had enough of that so this is doubtful) Or was he merely possessed with an inquisitive mind and wanted to search for his Shangri-La. What is it that people seek? An illusion of something grand and profound? A perception of a reality that does not exist? The quest to find the unknown?...Perhaps this last is it. Give me a ship and unfurl it's sails and I will sail it on a waterway to the stars.