Kangaroo-like creature in nun's 500 yo prayer book

reply to post by Cinrad


based on the date and the origin of the prayer book, there are a lot of other explanations about where a kangaroo image or description might have come from, aside from a direct connection of the portugese or dutch "visiting" australia. to me it akes more sense the Chinese would have seen it first and they image may have gotten to the dutch or portugese via the chinese. or polynesians maybe.

reply to post by Cinrad


So, why exactly should we rely on the doodle of a nun in a music book as evidence, as opposed to say, Portugese (who were literate!) WRITING ABOUT DISCOVERING A CONTINENT WITH STRANGE ANIMALS?

You'd think that would be pretty big news? But nobody other than a nun knows about this?

I'd go with Rabbit myself.

Not to say the Portuguese did not bump into Australia....Didnt Vasco Da Gama sail around the World and across the Pacific?

Still, there were people already here, back then.

Probably Chinese, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks etc could have made the journey and may or may not have returned.

Compare Donkey Punch
with Rabbit Punch

Must admit that I have heard of a Donkey Punch but It had an entirely different meaning lol

reply to post by Cinrad


Hey thanks, it does look like a wallaby.

The wiki even says they are called "Jack" as well (adult males).
I didn't know that, so it connects "Jack" through rabbits-donkeys-wallaby.

I'm going with this, location even matches up:

Wallabies are widely distributed across Australia, particularly in more remote, heavily timbered, or rugged areas, less so on the great semi-arid plains that are better suited to the larger, leaner, and more fleet-footed kangaroos. They also can be found at the island of New Guinea.[4]

In 1526-27 the Portuguese explorer Jorge de Meneses saw the western tip of New Guinea and named it ilhas dos Papuas. In 1528 Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra also recorded its sighting when trying to return from Tidore to New Spain. In 1545 the Spaniard Íñigo Ortíz de Retes sailed along the north coast of New Guinea as far as the Mamberamo River near which he landed on 20 June, naming the island 'Nueva Guinea'.[36] The first map showing the whole island (as an island) was published in 1600 and shows it as 'Nova Guinea'.

New Guinea

Good thinking Cinrad.

muzzleflash

I'm going with this, location even matches up:

Wallabies are widely distributed across Australia, particularly in more remote, heavily timbered, or rugged areas, less so on the great semi-arid plains that are better suited to the larger, leaner, and more fleet-footed kangaroos. They also can be found at the island of New Guinea.[4]

In 1526-27 the Portuguese explorer Jorge de Meneses saw the western tip of New Guinea and named it ilhas dos Papuas

Actually I am thinking that the native on the book looks more like a Melanesian (New Guinean) than an Australian Aboriginal. The ones up north were much more slender and taller and the guy in the book is short and stocky, and the face looks more like a Melanesian. Wallabies can be found in New Guinea as you mentioned, so I too am going with NG.

reply to post by mbkennel


It says in the article that the Portuguese were very secretive about their trade routes and it would be no surprise if they had found the Great South Land and decided not to tell anyone else.

Cinrad

Actually I am thinking that the native on the book looks more like a Melanesian (New Guinean) than an Australian Aboriginal. The ones up north were much more slender and taller and the guy in the book is short and stocky, and the face looks more like a Melanesian. Wallabies can be found in New Guinea as you mentioned, so I too am going with NG.

Yeah I was comparing some pics of them and I agree that it is a very plausible explanation for the "mystery".
Also Googled "New Guinea Feather Headdress", or variations of that.

Good work.