Deez Nuts

Article I:

“We have arrived! We have hit the jackpot!” yelled Zheng He as his ship and the rest of the fleet docked at the coast. Today, Zheng He and his fleet of ships have finally arrived from their year long journey. Many people have been expecting them to return but no one knew exactly when they’ll be back. The ships that were led by Zheng He were 400 feet long and about 160 feet wide, each. The ships contained a large cargo area in the lower part of the ship. The cargo area pretty much held any goods that they took with them to trade.

Some goods, for trade, that they took with them include silks, porcelain, lacquerware (pottery), and other fine objects. They also had horse stables in the ships’ cargo area, which held any horses that were on the voyage with them. On the top deck of the ships, they also grew food such as crops to help them survive on their long journey. Zheng He’s crew actually had enough supply of food to feed themselves for years. And each ship had a large amount of people, about 1,000 crew members.

Zheng He actually explained to me the reasons for the voyage during an interview:

“I know that many people will be asking why such a grand voyage took place, and I want to answer that. I will say this, this voyage was meant to reestablish Chinese power and fame in the Indian Ocean region, to make sure the Indian Ocean region is aware and knows about us, and also to persuade foreign emperors to pay tribute, forge alliances, share goods, and fight pirates. Also we found some scientific curiosities!”

While on the voyage, they traded many goods that they had taken with them and actually brought back many interesting things with them. I was actually able to get a quick glimpse at what they brought back with them. I was taken to the cargo area of the ships and what I saw, were things no one in China, in our whole region has ever seen, ever.

In some of the horse stables, I saw some weird animals that look really different. This animal has a yellow/beige color with many brown shapes on its body. With a 9-foot long neck and 10-foot tall body, it also has huge hoofs on its four feet. Zheng He calls it a zula, which he got from the Arabic word for this animal, zurafa. Zheng and his crew see the zula as the “fable unicorn”. This animal isn’t all that the fleet brought back. Some other things that were also in the ships were, gold, silver, pearls, rhinoceros horn, incense, medical herbs, and spices. Another animal that really stood out to other reporters including me was this thing called a zebra. It is all white with some swirly black lines on its body, excluding its four legs.

Zheng He told me that he sailed from the South China Sea across the Indian Ocean, heading for Africa and the Persian Gulf. He didn’t travel on land, his fleet pretty much tried to stay near coasts and not sail into the open ocean, in the middle of nowhere.

The Chinese population was very excited when Zheng returned. People filled the ports where the fleet came to arrive. People were cheering and waiting for the ships to unload so they can see all the objects/things and animals that came on the ships, back from such a long, successful journey. Their reaction was really great and many merchants actually got some of the goods that were on the ships. We’re just glad that the voyage was a successful one and hopefully Zheng He can lead many more during his lifetime.