1493 -- Travel resources

[Tom Veil]

I am not particularly knowledgable in how societies conducted long-distance travel, especially naval travel, in the pre-industrial era, so I thought I'd create a thread for resources on how it's done.

I'll start by contributing this map of Sailing Ship Routes in the Pacific (http://spontoon.rootoon.com/SPwMap/GePaM016.gif)

And this interesting website explaining how the Polynesians explored against the prevailing winds, so that it would be easier for them to return home: Pacific navigation and exploration (http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/MaoriNewZealanders/PacificMigrations/5/en)

[hypern]

i am not sure aobut this idea but on the otherhand is must just work like some of my stuff ;DDD

[DuQuense]

This may help out for the Americas

http://members.aol.com/althist2/feb00/indianmexico.htm
http://members.aol.com/althist2/feb00/indiansatoz.htm

[BlackMage]

Well, the Macassans conducted yearly trips to Australia for centuries in their praus, exploring as far as the Kimberleys and the Gulf of Carpentaria. They also served as a trading centre for the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago.

The Yolgnu adapted Macassan outrigger canoes to their own devices after contact, but were largely restricted to nomadic foraging in their own territory.

The Gunditjmara lived settled or semi-settled lives based on eel farming.

And the Sultanate of Malacca? No idea. I need travel resources for them, definitely.

[Tom Veil]

Contruction and Makeup of Roman Roads (http://www.cambridgescp.com/ws2_php/ws2_go_to_url.php?url_id=690)

Roman road - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_road)

TN Encyclopedia: Native American Trails (http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=T106)

The Camel (http://www.mapshop.net.au/camel.html)

Pony and Pack animals (http://www.mapshop.net.au/mshist1.html)

[Tom Veil]

Ways of the World: A History of the World's Roads and of the Vehicles that Used Them (http://books.google.com/books?id=flvS-nJga8QC&dq=%22Ways+of+the+world%22+Rutgers+University+Pres s,+New+Brunswick) By Maxwell G Lay

[joemac]

the tuureg had control over the camel trade

[DuQuense]

http://microformguides.gale.com/GuideLst.html
down loadable collections of historical reports

[DuQuense]

I am having trouble finding Census data for the 1500's

I would like to take something like this http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/miscellaneous/c_population.html
with it's 1.8 million estimate for 1800 portugal, and just divide it in half to get a figure for 1500.

Course if whe guess a doubling every century then whe have only 225,000 for 1500.

?So does any one have a site with some more accurate figures for [historical] national census data?