2 sailors in 1645:punyXpress wrote:Another 'Stamford Bridge' conundrum:
Just off the ferry at Dover.
" I'm told Leeds Castle is nice"
At least 250 miles and 4 hours later: " where's t'Leeds Cassle? "
"New Amsterdam this here cargo is for. Any idea where that be, Cap'n?"
"Must be in New Holland"
"Oh arr, New Holland, where that Tasman fellow went. That's a long old voyage, Capn!"
2 years later
"Found New Amsterdam in that desert?"
"No, Capn, and I ain't found nothing for your scurvy either"
"Any ideas?"
"Could it be in, er, that New Zealand? Ain't they both Dutch provinces or summat?"
"Shiver me old timbers, you're right!"
3 weeks later
"Good news and bad news, Capn"
"What's the good"
"These people give you food if you lay down the musket and let 'em do that funny dance, then rub noses with them. Look, fresh veg!"
"That'll sort me scurvy. What's the bad?"
"They ain't heard of New Amsterdam"
"Wherever can it be?"
"Don't they call it the Spanish Netherlands?"
"I think so, why"
"Could it be in that place all the Spanish go?"
"Peru?"
"That's the place"
3 months later
"Nuevo Amsterdam, señor? No idea. Why don't you try the south of Africa, lots of Holandeses there".
"Muchas gracias. What's that you be eating?"
"Patatas, señor. Take some.."
6 months later
"The Cape of Good Hope, Capn. Hope it's here"
"No, that chap in the clogs said this was called Kaapstad"
"Gazooks. But you know them patatas things?"
"Oh arr"
"Fry em in blubber, cut em in strips and they go darn well with fish"
"Nice. We'll tell all the turnip eaters back home. But what about New Amsterdam?"
"One last place I can think of, Capn"
"Where?"
"Them Dutch East Indies"
"But they be right by New Holland!"
3 months later
"The chap in Java said try Sumatra"
"And the one in Sumatra said try Borneo"
"What we carrying again?"
"Barley, Capn"
"That's round here! That's where it is!
And so ended the first circumnavigation of the world....