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Abstract
This paper investigates the proposed 1493 zoonotic (swine influenza) pandemic that swept through the Spanish colony at La Isabela, Hispaniola. Primary and secondary accounts of the malady describe the attributed symptoms as summarized in the work of Guerra (1988) and attempt to predict the geographic spread of the zoonosis as a series of four expanding regional stages, beginning at La Isabela and nearby Indigenous villages, moving outward along known valley pathways, engulfing northern Hispaniola, and finally transporting the infectious disease to the nearby islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Bahama Archipelago, with the possibility of spreading to the Lesser Antilles, the eastern coast of Yucatan and Honduras, and the northern coast of South America. This proposed geographic virus dispersion model includes a series of island maps that locate selected archeological sites of known villages along with suggested travel times, providing a historical record of viral spread tracing.
Este artículo investiga la pandemia zoonótica (influenza porcina) propuesta en 1493 que arrasó la colonia española de La Isabela, La Española. Los relatos primarios y secundarios de la enfermedad describen los síntomas atribuidos tal como se resumen en el trabajo de Guerra (1988) e intentan predecir la propagación geográfica de la zoonosis como una serie de cuatro etapas regionales en expansión, comenzando en La Isabela y las aldeas indígenas cercanas. avanzando hacia afuera a lo largo de caminos conocidos del valle, envolviendo el norte de La Española y finalmente transportando la enfermedad infecciosa a las islas cercanas de Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica y el archipiélago de las Bahamas, con la posibilidad de propagarse a las Antillas Menores, la costa oriental de Yucatán y Honduras y la costa norte de América del Sur. Este modelo de dispersión geográfica de virus propuesto incluye una serie de mapas de islas que ubican sitios arqueológicos seleccionados de pueblos conocidos junto con tiempos de viaje sugeridos, proporcionando un registro histórico del seguimiento de la propagación viral.
PALABRAS CLAVE:
Disclosure Statement
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Notes
1 Ubelaker, “Disease and Demography,” 227. The realization of high mortality rates in the late 1490s suggests that infectious disease outbreaks with reoccurring flu epidemics were possible prior to 1492. For the Caribbean, the above hypothesis is further sustained when conceding increased village density on the larger islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. Columbus’s descriptions of “large villages” abound in his 1492 journal and were verified by other sources during the second voyage.
2 Nunn and Qian, “The Columbian Exchange,” 165. Scholars have studied the impact of diseases on Indigenous peoples of the Americas for many decades, with a concentration on the impact of smallpox.
3 The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates the number of worldwide deaths from influenza at between 290,000 and 650,000 in 2020; for the US, the reported exact figure is 53,544.
4 Cook believes that typhoid and cholera were not native to the Americas; see Born to Die, 18. Admittedly, the majority of these studies are strictly historical or focused on the history of medicine, not geography.
5 Six major influenza pandemics during the last 150 years devastated the world; even more smaller epidemics occurred. During the 2020–2021 flu season, 818,939 people received positive test results in the United States, a low figure that officials attributed to the record number of people getting vaccinated, wearing masks due to COVID-19 concerns, and staying home. See Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/season/faq-flu-season-2020–2021.htm#anchor_1627000307956
6 Francisco Guerra, a Spanish physician and historian of medicine, worked at the University of Alcala de Henares in Spain and the Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) and published numerous books and papers investigating diseases in Spanish colonial America and the Philippines, a global history of medicine, and a biographical study on the influence of doctors in the political history of Latin America and the Philippines.
7 The Indigenous population of Hispaniola in 1493 consisted overwhelmingly of Taino peoples (called Indios by Columbus), mostly settled along the coastal areas and the interior regions of the central and western portions of the island. Recent archeological evidence now points to a substantial Carib presence in the eastern portion of Hispaniola, with scattered small villages on the eastern coast but several larger villages in the interior. Additionally, the epidemic spread sub-sequentially to the smaller islands of the Bahamas (Lucayan peoples) and possibly to the Lesser Antilles (Carib). See “Faces Divulge the Origins of Caribbean Prehistoric Inhabitants,” Ross et. al.
8 Potter, Introduction. The author explains how the influenza virus, swine flu or otherwise, is subject to rapid mutation, thereby subjecting, in this case, humans to new, more virulent renditions of the virus, realizing that previous antibody protection is dissipated, leading to little or no protection. The author claims the pattern of mutation and response explains the “repetition of influenza epidemics.” See Section 3.2, Antigenic Drift.
9 Hardman, Influence Pandemics, 37. Hardman suggests that the free-roaming breeding of the eight pigs led to subsequent outbreaks of influenza in Hispaniola. The idea here suggests that the pigs kept aboard one ship most likely infected the crew of that ship, who, upon disembarking at the La Isabella site, infected the general population, Spanish and Taíno. For more on how pigs serve as “reservoirs for many crowd infections,” see Ann Ramenofsky et al., “Native American Disease History: Past, Present, and Future Directions,” 4.
10 Livi-Bacci, Conquest, 114. Livi-Bacci believes that Guerra’s determination that influenza bordered on fantasy yet conjectured himself that smallpox may have been the cause, basing that idea on Columbus’s mention of sending one of the returning first-voyage Indios ashore “who had not died from smallpox.” 113.
11 Pons and Paz, Los Taínos en 1492, 162.
12 The CDC notes that while fever is often one of the most common symptoms, not everyone may record a high body temperature. Three of the items on the above list, including fever, muscle or body aches, and fatigue, play a key role in supporting Guerra’s hypothesis. While fever is common in people contracting influenza, it is usually absent from other diseases suggested to be responsible for the 1493 epidemic, such as cholera. See E-Radhi, “Fever in Common Infectious Diseases”
13 For more information on Columbus’s initial ideas for developing a transatlantic route and its subsequent commercial use, see Rocca, Mapping Christopher Columbus: An Historical Geography of His Early Life to 1492, (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Publishers, 2023).
14 See Dugard, The Last Voyage of Columbus, 33.
15 Carol Delaney, in her path-breaking book on Columbus, noted that the Spanish crew and others came from Spain, but men also signed up from Portugal and Italy. She quoted one source claiming “Spanish knights, Castilian laborers, proud hidalgos, exacting priests, irresponsible magistrates, and wild soldiers” (Thacher, Columbus, Vol. 2, 84) all joined the second voyage. She noted, “It was a cross-section of the social world.” (Delaney, Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem, 127.) There is debate on the number of participants on the second voyage, with estimates running from 1,200 to 1,700 and many scholars believing that the number is close to 1,500.
16 Guerra, “The Earliest American Epidemic,” 309.
17 Las Casas, in paraphrasing Columbus’s journal, claimed the Spanish men had committed atrocities, despite the clear and adamant instructions from Columbus to remain peaceful and cooperative. However, Guacanagarí did not have that complaint, and later he became a close Indio ally of Columbus in the subsequent Battle of Vega Real (March 27, 1495). Guacanagarí repeatedly pleaded with Columbus to stop Caonabo from raiding his villages along the coast.
18 The landing occurred on December 8, 1493.
19 Guerra, “The Earliest American Epidemic,” 315. Guerra uses the phrase “which multiplied into enormous numbers on Hispaniola”
20 See also Tinker and Freeland, “Thief, Slave Trader, Murderer,” 33.
21 See Morison, pp. 433–34. Dr. Chanca noted that between 300 and 400 men fell sick in a short period of time, with noticeable ailments occurring within days of landing.
22 Typhoid fever and cholera are two possible suspects for water-borne diseases; however, they are usually geographically limited to specific groundwater locations and take up to three weeks to show full symptoms, whereas Las Casas reported immediate and dramatic illness within days of landing. The closest large source of water was the Rio Bahabanico, about a mile from the main settlement, a long distance to haul water. This invites the possibility of another contaminated water source closer to La Isabela. See Typhoid Fever and Paratyphoid Fever, 1 (CDC); Cholera: Vibrio cholerae infection (CDC), 1. Evidence that Spanish colonists that explored surrounding regions from La Isabella came back from their multiday or multiweek journeys sick with the same symptoms, such as Alonso de Hojeda, supports the idea of a non-water-borne source.
23 Las Casas reported high Indigenous fatalities at La Isabela. See Historia de las Indias. Madrid: Ediciones Atlas, referenced from Guerra, “The Earliest American Epidemic,” 311. The original manuscript refers to the year “94,” which Guerra believes is 1494, thus coinciding with the continuing effects of the influenza epidemic from December 1494 into the early months of 1494, in essence describing a flu season.
24 Las Casas, Historie de las Indias, Book 2, Chapter LXXXVIII. He added that “all the people to disembark, who came very tired and weary, and the horses were very lost.” Section 21 of Book 2.
25 Cook (Citation2002) studied Guerra’s findings, believing that there remained “some acceptance” of the influenza or swine flu hypothesis. Cook admitted that the symptoms noted in primary and secondary sources might be attributable to influenza, but he then declared, “His [Guerra] evidence for swine flu striking early Hispaniola is inadequate to sustain his argument.” Cook, “Sickness, “Starvation, and Death in Early Hispaniola,” 358. This is interesting, as a few years prior to this statement, he believed more strongly in Guerra’s swine flu theory. Andrés Reséndez, in his path-breaking book, The Other Slavery, admits the symptoms “perhaps point to swine flu.” Reséndez, The Other Slavery, 14. He goes on to note that swine flu can mutate, moving from a local outbreak to a pandemic. It is also interesting to note that once infected and recovered, it is possible to be immediately reinfected, as seen with COVID-19 infections. This explains the ongoing nature of the La Isabela epidemic. Kelly Wisecup reminds readers that Alfred W. Crosby, in his “virgin soil epidemics” theory, believed that livestock, along with people and plants, transmitted diseases from Europe to the Americas, “Microbes and a “Magic Box,” 201.
26 Cook, Born to Die; see pages 37 and 44. Cook correctly surmised that several medical and environmental factors came together at this time, including malnutrition, and even starvation, weakening the European settlers, and exacerbating the viral impact. Indigenous peoples’ continued close contact with Europeans throughout the early European occupation made infection spread more likely.
27 Paul Kelton admits, “Since pigs can contract both human and avian influenza, they may serve as a ‘mixing vessel’ for this transformation [genetic viral mutation] to occur.” Epidemics and Enslavement, 232.
28 Key Facts about Human Infections with Varian Viruses, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/keyfacts-variant.htm. This leaves open the option of contagion, which originated with the pigs carrying the swine flu virus and boarding the ship in Gomera, later infecting the crew either directly or indirectly. The second option involves one or more Spanish sailors, again, on the ship carrying the pigs, infecting the pigs, creating a new strain that was then transmitted to crew members on that ship, who in turn spread the virus upon disembarking at La Isabella.
29 Potter, see Section 3.1 History. Potter explains the physiology of surface copies of glycoproteins (hemagglutinin HA and neuraminidase NA) and the resulting virus variations that may occur. The variation or antigenic drift can be monitored today, alerting health officials to possible new strains, but, of course, the Spanish colonizers had no conception of swine flu variation and its consequential effect on humans.
30 Crosby, Alfred. “Virgin Soil Epidemics as a Factor in the Aboriginal Depopulation in America.” 293–94. He also noted the impact of influenza on the spreading of tuberculosis in North American tribes. 295.
31 Kelton, Epidemics and Enslavement, 232.
32 Guerra, “The Earliest American Epidemic,” 321. Guerra theorizes that swine flu existed prior to Spanish approaches in the sixteenth century and that “it is impossible to believe that influenza epidemics had not reached out to the Filipino population numerous times before the arrival of the Spanish.” Thus, they enjoyed some degree of viral resistance, avoiding “immunological collision with the Spaniards.” 323.
33 Dobyns, “Disease Transfer at Contact,” 275. Swine influenza viruses can circulate for extended periods in pigs, as shown in the 2010 H1N1 pandemic virus M gene. According to the CDC, “the virus was circulating in pigs in 2010 and was first detected in people in 2011.” See “What is H3N2v?” (CDC) https://www.cdc.gov/flu/swineflu/variant/h3n2v-basics.htm
34 Potter, “A History of influenza.” Potter emphasized how quickly symptoms appear, stating, “although sharing many symptoms with other respiratory infections, influenza presents in addition as a sudden onset of three-day fever, with muscle pain and a degree of prostration out of all proportion with the severity of other symptoms,” 572. For a Spanish rendering of the original text, see Varela and Gil, Textos y Documentos Completos, 257.
35 Columbus, Secret Letters, 75,80,83. Also see Guerra, “The Earliest American Epidemic,” 307.
36 Weather & Climate.com. Humidity levels typically range from mid-to-high 50% in northern Haiti during the winter months.
37 At least two shore parties did go ashore on Guadeloupe to explore and gather supplies, but a general landing of men and animals did not occur.
38 Guerra, “The Earliest American Epidemic,” 307.
39 Guerra, “The Earliest American Epidemic,” 310.
40 Guerra, “The Earliest American Epidemic,” 311.
41 Guerra, “The Earliest American Epidemic,” 324. Pereira served in various legal and advisory positions in the Americas, including the Real Audiencia de Lima and later as Viceroy of Peru in 1616. He is famous for his 1680 publication of Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias (Compilation of the Laws of the Indies), using historical official letters and other documents to provide a reference and a guide to understanding the rationale for existing laws.
42 Pons and Paz, Los Taínos en 1492, 172. In 1571, Alfonso de Ulloa published Hernando’s biography in Venice, which contained accounts of the second voyage.
43 Camacho et al. “Explaining rapid reinfections in multiple-wave influenza outbreaks: Tristan da Cunha 1971 epidemic as a case study,” Abstract. The team of researchers found that 32% of those infected with influenza experienced a second episode of reinfection over a period of 59 days, coinciding with the timeline reported by Columbus and others for the major impact of viral spread on Hispaniola.
44 Barret, Amy. “Has Medicine Been Ignoring ‘Long Flu’ Sufferers all this Time,” BBC, Science Focus, October 1, 2021. See also, “’Long Flu’ Also Explains But is Less Common than Long COVID, Study Suggests,” Forbes, September 29, 2021. The study confirmed lingering medical problems such as “anxiety, fatigue, pain, and breathing problems.” One finding of the study concluded that 30% of flu-recovering patients reported one or more flu-like symptoms months after first being struck with the virus.
45 Pons and Paz, Los Taínos en 1492, 173.
46 David Noble Cook supports the idea that the illness or “disease reigned over the native population as well.” Born to Die, 30. This appears to support the idea that a water-borne disease was not the cause of the current malady.
47 Guerra, “The Earliest Epidemic,” 319. While influenza may have been present on Hispaniola, new variants introduced by the Europeans would depreciate the immune response, resulting in higher-than-normal positive cases and increased severity.
48 Tamerius, “Environmental Predictors of Seasonal Influenza Epidemics across Temperate and Tropical Climates,” see author summary, 2.
49 Dobyns, “Disease Transfer at Contact,” 275. Dobyns, writing in (Citation1993), references the vital work of R.E. Hope-Simpson and D. B. Golubev, “A New Concept of the Epidemic Process of Influenza A.virus,” Epidemiol. Infect., 99:5–54. (1987).
50 Watts, The West Indies, 17. Watts noted that the colder winds of the northern mid-latitudes plunge to the lower latitudes, around 24° N, significantly dropping temperatures.
51 Tamerius confirms the proclivity of the influenza epidemic spreading in rainy environments, especially those regions near the equator. Environmental Predictors of Seasonal Influenza Epidemics Across Temperate and Tropical Climates, 4.
52 For specific information on the 1918, 1957, 1968, and 2009 pandemics, see the CDC’s Past Pandemics at: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/basics/past-pandemics.html.
53 Key Facts about Swine Influenza in Pigs, CDC.
54 “Flu Season,” Influenza (Flu), CDC, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season.htm
55 Swine flu cases spread around the world, Guardian.
56 Key Facts about Swine Influenza in Pigs, CDC. Also, the CDC recognizes the probability of birds spreading the virus, a phenomenon noted in earlier epidemics. See Muñoz for more on bird-borne infections.
57 You, African Swine Fever Outbreaks in China. The article describes how small- to medium-sized pig farms (less than 500 heads) account for 95% of the pig farms in China. Limited sanitation exists on these farms, and humans feed untreated swill to their herds, allowing for infection-borne contaminants to spread among the animals every day as the pigs reside in confined areas.
58 Las Casas, writing 30 years later, placed the population of Hispaniola at over one million people and Jamaica and Puerto Rico at 600,000. Ricardo Alegría considered these figures “exaggerated” based on an understanding of the land-to-people ratio needed to sustain a livelihood and the fact that, following Columbus’s voyages, Spanish officials and entrepreneurs scoured other islands for workers.
59 Interisland trade via canoe expeditions is well established. Scholars debate the issue of regular versus occasional trips and the suggestion that trade existed between the Greater Antilles and mainland destinations. Watts argued that it was “likely” that a few direct routes continued in operation at the time of European contact, especially to former homelands in Venezuela and Columbia. The West Indies, 69.
60 Hofman et al., “Indigenous Caribbean Perspectives,” 201. While it is impossible to know the regularity rate of interisland intercourse, it is recognized that within days of landing on most islands Columbus visited during his first voyage, Indigenous peoples spread word of the encounter; this was verified by one incident where Columbus, on his second voyage, encountered a village cacique on Jamaica that knew of the Europeans well before their arrival.
61 This region consists of lands bordering the Rio Yoque del Norte and the Rio Yuna, extending into the foothills of the central mountain ranges of Hispaniola.
62 This includes western Cuba, the extreme northern coast of South America, eastern central America (Yucatan and Honduras), the southern tip of Florida, and the Lesser Antilles.
63 The highest peaks in the area are over 3,000 feet (914 meters). The northwest arch begins close to the coast, extending to the large interior town of Santiago de Los Caballeros, then decreasing in elevation south-eastward.
64 A term used to describe micro-geographic regions susceptible to rapid infection rates, as noted recently in the designated COVID-19 areas in India. This may or may not lead to viral saturation.
65 A distinction is made here between small river canoas and larger ocean vessels capable of holding 50–100 passengers. Taino workers first charred a layer of the tree trunk, then used stone axes to carve out the burned debris, hallowing and shaping the sitting area. Rouse, 16.
66 This figure is based on a typical paddling rate, as noted by Columbus in his logbook entry of 26 October 1492. In this situation, his Indio interpreters related that from their current position at the Ragged Islands, it took 1.5 days to reach Colba (northern coast of Cuba), a distance of 50 miles, working against a strong surface current that normally hampers southward movement. The flow rate of the Rio Bajabonico is substantial during the winter months, making precise calculations problematic. On several occasions, Columbus’s shore parties abandoned their skiff boats in favor of walking along the riverbank, improving traverse times.
67 The Indigenous peoples in this area no doubt learned of the massacre of the La Navidad Spaniards that occurred months before, a short distance from their valley, and feared reprisals.
68 During Columbus’s first voyage, he liked to think the natives regarded him and his crew as gods from above, yet it was not until later, during the second voyage, that his Guanahani interpreters confirmed this belief in language translation. One interpreter, baptized in Spain with the name Diego (Columbus standing in as the godfather), accompanied the explorer on subsequent voyages to the Americas.
69 This estimate is based on the number of discovered building sites that might run from 20 to 50 huts, the size of the ceremonial center (the central plaza), the number of storage huts, nearby access to water, and the proximity and size of estimated agricultural fields. See Hopper, 65, and Rouse, 9.
70 This is a term used by the CDC to denote someone who is unvaccinated or otherwise immune. The probability that a high percentage of Europeans in La Isabela had been exposed previously and thus acquired a degree of protection is noted.
71 Watts, The West Indies, 53. Watts wrote of the openness with which Taino people welcomed visitors into their villages with the desire to “make them welcome.” This infers that close physical contact occurred throughout village environments. It is interesting to conjecture that the viral contact may have gone the other way, from Indigenous people to Europeans, but that theory is beyond the scope of this paper.
72 The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 164.
73 As we have all learned during the COVID pandemic, the CDC strongly suggests that a significant infection rate increases once persons move within 6 feet of an infected person or animal. See “Person to Person,” How Flu Spreads, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/spread.htm
74 The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 166–67.
75 The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 170. Ferdinand Columbus wrote that his father became so sick that the admiral proved too weak to write his daily journal entries, incapacitating Columbus until March 12.
76 Mayo Clinic. “Treatment” of pneumonia.” https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/pneumonia/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20354210
77 There is no evidence that Columbus or Dr. Chanca understood “the sickness” to be a severe infectious virus.
78 The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus: Columbus, furious over his loss of men at La Navidad, wanted to show military strength in hopes of deterring another attack.
79 The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 173. Dr. Chanca believed the Indigenous peoples of this area held “all possessions in common.” Columbus commanded that no Spaniard take anything with the owner’s permission through barter, yet they freely explored each village during rest stops or overnight stays.
80 The term is used here to describe a pandemic occurrence when more than 50% of a specific geographical region attains the potential of recording influenza infections.
81 Boomert, Indian America, 353. The author goes on to explain various traded items and discusses exchanges with the Lesser Antilles and South America. Columbus, of course, on the first voyage witnessed episodes of Lucayan and Taino trade events, such as between Guanahani and Rum Cay.
82 Winds vary from 7 to 10 m/s throughout these months, with impressive surface current speeds of 2.2 Sv (Sverdrup) with 1 Sv equal to 1 million cubic meters per second (260,000,000 US gal/s). Johns, et al., “Direct Observations of Velocity and Transport in the Passages between the Intra-Americas Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, 1984–1996.”
83 However, Rouse wrote that the southern portions of Hispaniola, including the Massif de la Hotte region, remained less active in its interisland communication with Jamaica, compared to the villages on the northern coast of Hispaniola and their regular, at times daily, contact with Puerto Rico. 7.
84 On Columbus’s fourth voyage, Diego Mendez, accompanied by Indigenous people from Jamaica, paddled relentlessly against the current, reaching the island of Navassa, 30 miles short of Hispaniola, in 3 days. See Dugard, 227–29.
85 The CDC admits that ground zero of the epidemic is undetermined. However, much evidence points to Fort Riley, Kansas, where more than 100 soldiers caught the flu, multiplying rapidly. Within a week, five times that number of personnel became sick. See the 1918 Pandemic Influenza Historic Timeline. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/pandemic-timeline-1918.htm
86 “The 1918 Flu Epidemic Kills Thousands in New England,” New England Historical Society, https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-1918-flu-epidemic-kills-thousands-in-new-england/
87 Hence, the latter label, Spanish flu, is popular in non-medical literature. The ruling monarch, Alfonso XIII, came down with a serious case of the flu, the virus striking indiscriminately at all social classes.
88 Remembering the “Spanish Flu” in Asia, The Diplomat, https://thediplomat.com/2020/03/remembering-the-spanish-flu-in-asia/
89 The CDC adds that 675,000 Americans died in the pandemic, with mortality rates uncharacteristically highest among young people 20–40 years old. This represents 70–80% of the adult population of the fifteenth-century indigenous population.
90 The CDC, “Key Facts About Influenza (Flu),” https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/keyfacts.htm
91 The reference here is to an antigenic shift that creates a “sudden, major change in the flu virus.” This occurs most often when a new subtype is created, “including some from an animal [pig] population.” The resulting spread of the novel virus can lead to increased rates, thus leading to an epidemic or pandemic. See “Novel, Variant, and Pandemic Influenza,” Virginia Department of Health. https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/epidemiology/influenza-flu-in-virginia/novel-variant-and-pandemic-influenza/
92 For Hispaniola, see Cook; for Bahamas, see Sears and Sullivan (based on number of excavated villages); for Jamaica, see Allsworth-Jones, 117 (estimate by density per square kilometer per village site) or Henry and Woodward; for Puerto Rico, see Alegría, Yale University Genocide Studies: Puerto Rico, 1.
93 See David Noble Cook’s article, “¿Una Primera Epidemia Americana de Viruela en 1493?” 49–64.
94 Depending on the size and design, dugout canoes travel at varying speeds. Caribbean surface current speeds averaged 15–30 cm per second or .35 to .67 miles per hour. See Gyory for reference. For more information on Taino canoes, their construction, and ability to travel long distances, see Watts, The West Indies, 66.
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Notes on contributors
Al M. Rocca
Al M. Rocca is Professor Emeritus of Education and History at Simpson University in Redding, California. He is currently serving as Adjunct Research Professor at California State University, Monterey Bay. Dr. Rocca has recently completed two major books on Christopher Columbus, including Mapping Christopher Columbus: An Historical Geography of His Early Life to 1492 (McFarland Publishers, 2023) and A Historical Geography of Christopher Columbus’s First Voyage and his Interactions with Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean (Routledge Publishing, 2024).