Admiral Cheng Ho

written by Tamara, illustrated by Carissa

 

Years before Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean looking for a water route to Asia, the Chinese were exploring and sailing the Indian Ocean and the Western Pacific with about seven voyages of the Treasure Fleet. That helped the Chinese take control over most of Asia in the 15th century. The leader of the fleet was the Admiral Cheng Ho.

On the first voyage of the Treasure Fleet, they went to many different countries. The country I shall share about is called Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is located on the Indian Ocean. It is south of India.

This story is from a poor farmer’s point of view that lives in Sri Lanka.One day I was out hoeing my crops on my small farm in Galle when an enormous ship passed my way. The wind was high, so the boat was going quite fast. I noticed that they were starting to pull down their sails, and anchor. They had stopped.

I ran inside my small cottage home to tell my wife. She was shocked. Our jaws dropped in a gaze at the huge vessel.

These people were strange to us. Our whole town was excited but was wondering, who could these people be?

The people jumped out of their huge ship. They came out carrying barrels of things. We did not know what these things were.

The scruffy tough looking men with barrels approached our priest. They started a conversation inside the church. The townspeople were being eavesdroppers. The farmer also was listening. The conversation went something like this:

Priest: Why have you come?
Cheng Ho: My people and I have come to barter and trade. Is that ok with you?
Priest: If you men have come in peace, it is all right.
Cheng Ho: Thank you.

It was the spring of 1406, and things were going well. When the villagers found out what the men had, they were glad they came. They had come with goblets, necklaces, and beads. The farmer, after some time, became friends with the Admiral Cheng Ho. The farmer had good hospitality so he let Cheng Ho stay in his cottage.

Spring came, time had passed, and Cheng Ho and his men were ready to go on traveling somewhere else. The farmer and he were such good friends that the farmer decided to go traveling with him. He was willing to leave his home and loved ones just to have an adventure. Little did he know that his adventure was not going to be as fun as he thought.

After two weeks on the ocean, the farmer was lost in his own thoughts. Know one knew where they were. Thoughts went through his head continuously. Will I die? Will we run out of food? Are we completely lost? The farmer was wishing he didn’t come on this adventure.

The next day some men spotted a ship. There were five rather large ships coming towards them. A moment later a man shouted, “PIRATES!!” The pirates were attacking, loading and shooting canyons. The men were fighting for their lives. The farmer may have been a nice man but he was not a brave one. He ran to the bottom of the boat and stayed there until he thought it was safe for him to come out. The truth was, it was not going to get safe.

Men were dieing and suffering but there were only four doctors to help. There were also seven nurses to take care of small injuries.

The fighting went on for several months. All this fighting was near a country called Sumatra. Finally Cheng Ho and his men captured the leader of the pirate fleet.