Marco Polo’s Travels: The Zulu Encounter

Writer: Murray Stewart.

Marco was perplexed. Although he hadn’t seen a single Indian, he was informed by Vasco Diaz, captain of the east-bound Santa Flatulata, that they were sailing in the Indian Ocean, east of Africa. He knew this coastline well, and told Marco he’d soon reveal why it was called the Indian Ocean.

Now, Vasco had a rather multinational upbringing. Born in Portugal, he worked mainly out of Venice for a firm of Hollanders called The Dutch East India Company. These guys had been trading in the Far East for centuries, and had been rounding the Cape of Storms long before there was a cape, let alone storms.

En route to Algoa Bay, while sailing past the sugar-cane fields carpeting the Zululand coast, Vasco sent Marco up to the crow’s nest, and there, through a telescope, he caught his first glimpse of Indians. They were happily harvesting the cane, but he was disappointed to see they looked physically similar to him. He was searching for the people from Xanadu, where Pa was, those with sallow complexions, narrow eyes and high cheekbones, who drank tea and ate with sticks.

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