In addition to written documents, a number of illustrations of ancient vessels of NW South America are also of reat interest. These are not Manteño vessels per se, but they represent the same sort of vessel encountered and described by Bartholome Ruiz in 1526, and that vessel is very likely to have been Manteño: see this discussion.

Our earliest known European image of a native vessel of the West Coast of South America was drawn at some point in the 1580's; it is intriguing, but unfortunately was made by a traveler who never went to Peru, or really saw one of these vessels himself. The sketch is in the notebook of Richard Madox, who says of the vessel:

'...a batn (balsa?) made of planks fastened together whereon thei carie potifoes (?) of wyne at Peru'.

On board you can see several crew using paddles. We also see a curious sail; the details are not clear, but we do see it is not a square-rigger, but 'fore-and-aft' rigged, meaning that the sails are aligned along with the vessel (and therefore can sail into the wind) rather than across the vessel. However intriguing this picture is, we have to remember that it is of dubious accuracy.

Next, we have an excellent illustration made between 1614 and 1618, depicting a balsa raft off the North shore of Peru. Peru was the southerly extent of the Manteño trade network, and this illustration may in fact depict a Manteño vessel -- or it may depcit a Peruvian vessel: the point being that it is a very early illustration of a seagoing sailing raft of the West Coast of South America.

from Spillbergen, J. Van. 1619. Speculum Orientalis Occidentalis que Indiae navigation. 1614-18. Leiden.

In this illustration there is one raft with two triangular sails; note that the forward sail sheets (ropes for control of the sail) descend and split, one in front of the aft sail and one behind it. This convinces me that there is only one vessel, not two vessels side-by side as some have suggested (and as I believed at first as well). We see what appear to be triangular sails with a single mast and no boom. The masts appear to be composed of lashed poles; the curvature of the masts is of great interest and may or may not be a product of the artist's imagination. The lack of a yard on these sails makes them technically not lateen-rigged, however these triangular sails are quite different from the square sails seen in the other illustrations; these sails are 'junk rigged', with a mast supporting a triangular sail whose lower corner is simply tied off to a point on the stern of the raft as needed.

In addition to these points, notice the circular, perforated objects on the forward deck of the right-hand vessel; these are likely the anchor stones alluded to in the Ruiz description. In addition, on the decks we see several vessels, probably ceramic. Cross-beams are laid across a main deck of large logs.. Notice the lack of a casita or thatch house on either vessel. These vessels appear to be much smaller than the normal 20-ton Manteño trade raft. Also, note the crew maneuvering the guares -- these are the mobile centerboards which slot down between the logs of the raft and are the key to the control of the vessel.

The next illustration was made at least a century after the Spillbergen drawing.

From Juan & Ulloa. 1748. Relacion historica del viaje a la America Meridional. Madrid.

This illustration was published in 1748, illustrating a raft under a square sail off of Guyaquil. This illustration indicates the casita, though this appears to be rather spartan and in reality was probably more substantial. To the rear of the craft there appears to be a hearth issuing smoke; it is well known that the Manteño carried fire on their vessels, cooking on large stone slabs. The square sail is quite distinct from that illustrated in the previous picture and the lateen rig (triangular) mentioned by Pizarro's chronicler; this may suggest that the square sail was adopted by the Manteño after contact with Europeans, although the advantages of one a square rig over a lateen rig on these balsa rafts are not currently well known. This vessel is also equipped with a sort of bowsprit; this is a boom out in front of the vessel, tied to one edge of the square sail; the idea is to keep that edge straight and taut, so that it may be turned into the wind and the vessel can thus sail into the wind (not directly, of course, but at an angle).

The following illustration was made in the mid-1840's, depicting another raft at Guyaquil, Ecuador.

This is a technical illustration meant to indicate the construction and function of the various components of the raft. You see here the square sail with a cross-yard near the top of the mast, which, as in the 1748 illustration above, is actually a bipod of two masts lashed at their point of crossing. The casita is rather substantial, suggesting a foul-weather shelter suitable for a long-range vessel expected to be at sea for long periods. The guraras, moveable centerboards used for control of the craft, are seen in various states of up- or down-positioning. This raft was roughly 80 feet in length, and is less squarish than some documented native rafts. This illustration was used rather closely in the construction of the first Manteño Expeditions vessel, a 40-foot square-rigged sailing raft which sailed from Ecuador to Panama in 1995.

From these illustrations you can get an idea of the general layout of the balsa sailing raft, as well as the variation in design between different areas and at different times. Certainly there was never a single type of vessel that was used by all Manteño at all times; their vessel designs must have evolved just as any technology evolves. Equally certainly, however, some principles, such as the tied-log construction, the use of a casita, the use of a large sail or sails (including both 'fore-and-aft' rigged sails and square sails in pre-Columbian times), the use of guares for control of the raft, and so on are used by our expedition in the replication of a traditional vessel. Because this expedition is meant to replicate these early vessels as closely as possible, we are intensely researching the design of these craft.

Professor C.R. Edwards, who has advised our expedition several times, in 1965 published an exacting analysis of much of the material presented above in his book Aboriginal Watercraft on the Pacific Coast of South America (University of California Press). His comments, with some of my own, are found organized in the following table regarding both early text and illustrations referring to these vessels. To Professor Edwards goes much of the credit for deciphering these documents with regard to the native designs for sailing vessels and assisting us in interpreting them for our own design.

SOURCE	DATE / LOCATION	CONTEXT	ACCOUNT BY...	TEXT /  ILLUSTRATION	VESSEL TYPE	SAILS / RIGGING
The 'relacion' is commonly attributed to Francisco de XERES, however, the report is by an unidentified writer (probably an eyewitness or a close witness) and perhaps passed on by Xeres to Spain; the document is signed by secretary to Carlos V, Juan de Samano. In any case, the text describes the encounter, while it was Ruiz as pilot of one of Pizarro's vessels who actually initiated the encounter.	Date uncertain, though certainly on Pizarro's second expedition South of Panama, between 1525 and 1527.  The encounter definitely took place off the NW Manabi coast, with the aboriginal vessel likely originating at Salango. At least two of the 20+ person crew originiated in Tumbez; that is, in Northern Peru.	Ruiz, pilot of a Spanish vessel (probably a 40-ton caravel, aggressively overtook a Manteno sailing raft off the coast of Ecuador.  Ruizand company apparently boarded the balsa raft. This is my sketch reconstruction of how the encounter appeared.	Account is written by an unknown eyewitness; the writer was likely on board the Ruiz vessel, and probably wrote the account shortly after the encounter. as news of the encounter was quickly sent to Spain to support requests for royal support of the conquest of Peru by Pizarro.	Text only.	Apparently the vessel encountered was a sailing raft, laden with cargo.  The raft carried a complement of between 11-20 men, so it was rather large.	The writer describes '..masts...and lateen yards [antenas] of the same form as ours.'  In Spanish, antena refers specifically to the lateen yard, rather than varga, which refers to the yard of a square sail.
OVIEDO	Account published in 1535, describing events of 1525.  Off the North coast of Ecuador, as well as near Isla Puna, at Guyaquil bay.	Oviedo's accounts describe a variety of encounters, including the transport of Spaniards from the maniland to Isla Puna.	Oviedo was a chronicler of past events who probably depended on interviews with eyewitnesses of the Ruiz encounter as well as other eyewitnesses.	Text only.	Probably large sailing (cargo) rafts; also lists transport of men as a function of these rafts.	Oviedo describes balsas rigged with something '...resembling a lateen sail...'.  He uses the terms 'velas latinas' to specifically indicate lateen sails.
GUTTIEREZ	According to Clinton Edwards, Guttierez describes events he witnessed in the 'second and third decades after conquest' of Mexico; thus placing Guttierez around 1540-1560; certainly it was written previous to 1603.  Guttierez describes vessels of Paita (N. Peru coast), Tumbez (same), Isla Puna (Guyaquil bay) and Puerto Viejo (Manabi Coast).	Guttierezs' writing is an historical account of New Spain (in particular the Civil Wars of Peru).  His encounters with these vessels would have been firsthand but probably at a distance.	Guttierez was probably an eyewitness to the vessels he describes, as he traveled widely and kept a detailed travelogue.	Text only.	Guttierez describes 'rafts used by coastal fishermen and traders', according to C. Edwards; thus, both smaller rafts, and large sailing rafts, were probably witnessed by Guttierez.	Guttierez describes 'velas latinas trianguladas y con un timon en la popa', meaning 'triangular sails with a rudder at the rear'.
MADOX	Somewhere off of Peru, and some time between 1582 and 1583.	Madox probably describes vessels encountered in a variety of contexts, both civil and martial.	Madox never went to Peru, or saw these vessels first-hand.  Clinton Edwards suggests Madox made the illustration and description based on relatins from fellow travelers (on his ship) who were in fact eyewitnesses.  Thus, this is a secondhand account.	Text and illustration (117k).	Madox describes in text '...a batn made of planks fastened together whereon thei carie potifoes (?) of wine at Peru'.	The Madox illustration shows a curious vessel with several crew paddling.  A steeply raked mast (raking aft) supports a clearly triangular sail, with seams parallel to the leech.
SPILLBERGEN	Paita, N. Peru (100 miles S of Guyaquil).  The encounter took place in 1615, and the account was published in 1619.	Spillbergen describes a raid his vessels made on a Spanish settlement, during Spillbergen's circumnavigation of the globe.	Spillbergen, commander of his vessels, was present as an eyewitness to the raid and the indigenous vessels.	Text and  illustration (260k)	The vessel type encountered is not clear, though it is certain that one, and not two vessels is shown.  A sail of clearly triangular shape is indicated, though the rigging and masting are difficult to decipher.	A caption to the illustration reads '...one of the savages vessels, called a balsem...'.  Distinct features include a loose-footed sail, the use of guares by crewmembers, the lack of a casita, and the curious raked mast, which I feel may represent an illusion created by a lateen rig, or a hybrid gaff-lateen rig.

 

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