ABSTRACT
Coming into the 15th century, the building of large sailing vessels and the art of navigation made great steps forwards and ocean navigation were actively undertaken all over the world. An Asian example was a series of distant voyages to the South with a large fleet of vessels from the Orient to the Middle East and Africa made by Huo Zheng (鄭和) of China. The seasonal wind of the monsoon was helpful and favourable for distant voyages in Southeast Asian waters. A series of geographical discoveries from the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 16th century: the arrival of C. Colón (Christopher Columbus) in the American continents, a voyage of Vasco da Gama to India, the sighting of the Pacific Ocean from afar during the exploration of the Isthmus of Panama by V. N. de Balboa and the first circumnavigation of the globe attained by F. de Magalhaes (F. Magellan) and J. S. de Elcano, etc. were serious achievement by the European fleets of vessels.
