1950sKINGDOM OF THE SEA

[Music] whether you're seven or seventy you will always feel the lure of distant lands and strange peoples and dream of someday dropping in on them the kingdom of the sea your guide is colonel john d craig author explorer and adventurer who has sailed the high seas from amoy to zanzibar hello i'm your host bob stevenson now it's very true that the world is growing smaller and smaller today it's possible for a man to have his breakfast here in london his dinner in new york and then wake up the next morning in mexico like the magic carpet of fable modern transportation has brought distant lands and strange people to our very doorsteps and meeting them will be as common as reading the morning paper there's even serious talk of trips to mars in the not too distant future here to enlighten us further on this is our man of the world himself colonel craig don't ask me about mars bob that's one place i haven't been yet but i feel that travel will never lose its lower if you're interested in visiting strange out of the way places it is true as bob says that the world is growing smaller time wise that is but anyone with the spirit of adventure can still find it by leaving the main highways and tourist routes and in many cases adventure isn't as far away as you might think you make me feel a great deal easier colonel i was beginning to think that visiting these colorful places had lost its appeal and that we might as well stay home i don't think it'll ever come to that at least not in our lifetime all you have to do is to take a look at that globe and your head whirls in excitement at the mere mention of these out of the way places zamboanga zanzibar curacao port's a call for the adventurous traveler i see what you mean it would take up all of our time just to mention them and it would take all of your life to visit them so what do you say we pick out just a few and see how colorful they still are bob the panama canal makes a shortcut to many ports a call the total saving time wise from new york to san francisco is tremendous the panama canal cuts about 7 800 miles off the old trip around south america as i recall it cost a bit to build too it did a little over 350 million dollars with the exception of small craft no vessel passes through the locks under its own power these powerful locomotives or electric mules are used to tow ships through the locks a strange fact is that ships are actually traveling in the opposite direction of their destination when passing through the canal going from the atlantic to the pacific ocean a vessel travels eastward that's a good item for the quiz kids could be that narrow isthmus makes a reverse bend and the canal runs from northwest to southeast once through the canal our first port of call is romantic honolulu if anyone hasn't heard of this playground by the sea he just doesn't read magazines as we approach the hawaiian islands several landmarks stood out famous diamond head the beautiful hotels along waikiki beach diving boys came out to dive for coins the olden days they used to take any coin now they say they can only see white money inflation has come to the diving boys [Music] another landmark on entering honolulu harbor is a famous aloha tower our vessel docked at the foot of bishop street [Music] those hotels cater to tourists as do the beach boys with their catamarans these are among the fastest sailing craft afloat [Music] that waukee beach is for me colonel sailing surfboarding lying in the tropical sun [Music] cruising off waikiki we pay a visit to nearby pearl harbor with the grim reminder of the destruction that disrupted this peaceful paradise at the beginning of world war ii if those wrecks are resting on the bottom the water must be pretty shallow not too shallow bob some of these battleships drew 25 feet of water one of the wrecks is a memorial and will never be cleared away it's a sad moment when it comes time to leave these beautiful islands as we sail out past diamond head take a last look we're on our way to another beautiful port of call crossing the far pacific we reach the china coast at kowloon the ferry can take us across this colorful harbor to the more famous island of hong kong right now this is the one doorway to red china and most transfers of prisoners takes place here it is only a matter of minutes between the two ports but they are separated by centuries as i recall it hong kong was one of the busiest ports in the world that's right these modern buildings remind us of that fact international banks maintain branches here the island is really a huge rock with beautiful homes situated on the hillside and high up on top is a resort known naturally as the peak repulsed bay on the far side of the island has a quaint old china beauty these sam fans are certainly symbolic of old china yes bob two and three generations frequently inhabit these colorful craft and except for an occasional visit to the market the natives spend their entire lives aboard the floating combination of kitchen bedroom and bath well there was once a belief that boy babies were kept tied to the boat unless they fall overboard but baby girls were not so protected being considered less important than their little brothers how do these people make a living colonel these sampans as water taxis delivering small cargos on short runs or taking occasional passengers across the narrow waterways sometimes the crafts are used as lighters to help and load ships china has a tradition of dramatic art they go in for exaggerated and intricate makeup these actors are rehearsing a play i've read that all the parts are played by men is that so it was so originally bob but custom isn't fixed women played in this drama across the sea and to the south by the philippines at the southernmost tip of the island of mindanao is zamboanga famed in marine song it is washed by the sulu sea [Music] even here we have a version of dance land at a dime a dance with the aid of a moral gong and a couple of guitars it looks to me like the last lap of a marathon [Music] they're doing a kind of samba in this version the dancers are not supposed to come in bodily contact and in these human tropics i would say that's not a bad [Music] arrangement the sailors in zamboanga use a strange type of craft it's an outrigger canoe with double outriggers they call them bonkers [Music] even though they carry full sails these are very steady craft and very fast they're used mostly as ferry boats from various islands to the south [Music] the docks are very busy in zamboanga they're either taking on passengers or unloading passengers companion way sometimes do not have rails [Music] across the sulu sea that stretch of water made famous by joseph conrad near the tip of the malaya peninsula lies singapore the mecca of every confirmed traveler the capital of malaya and the crossroads of the world this tiger bomb park is a landmark with its fabulous collection of statuary some of the work is of the highest artistic quality if not for its life-like resemblance then for its symbolism what an imagination a zoo with statues instead of real animals well at least they don't have to feed them well they are practical here i wouldn't be a bit surprised if the stories behind every one of those statues has bearing on the folklore of the natives crossing the bay of bengal we find ourselves in another world the land of mother india whether it's bombay or calcutta it leaves a never to be forgotten imprint on our memory ox cards plod leisurely along the street beggars abound [Music] wash day in india these fellows are called flying dobies they work in these public wash stalls slapping your best shirts every laundryman has a brother who's a tailor one breaks the buttons off your shirt the other sews them on [Laughter] they even have light-fingered artists on the waterfront who tried to invigo you into trying your luck at the old shell game looks like a good way to lose your shirt acrobats and jugglers are part of the waterfront life no indian dockside carnival is without them some performers are clever enough to be booked to american [Music] we don't have the rope trick but we do have the cobra charmer getting his talent to sway to the tune of a native flute the way he handles it you'd think it was a kitten instead of a deadly snake [Music] he may appear careless bob but don't let that fool you he knows better than most of us that the bite of a cobra can bring almost instant [Music] death [Music] off the east coast of africa swelters the port of zanzibar some imposing buildings like this palace built in 1883 by a local sultan now used to house government offices modern zanzibar is a far cry from the old slave trading days that once made this port famous here too are congregated a large number of asiatic nationalities as well as native africans and europeans sounds like an ideal spot for united nations headquarters these streets were certainly never planned for modern transportation what do you do when you meet a truck head on in this alley that's not very likely bob in zanzibar bicycles are very popular so are the old-fashioned rickshaws only the smallest of british cars are driven here and even these frequently chipped the sides of the buildings natives assure you you cannot get lost in the maze of alleys because all you have to do is to keep going and eventually you'll wind up where you started this is one spot where you really can tell a man by what he's wearing and almost anything you wear is in style whether it's a white tunic cotton trousers or just a loin cloth head gear ranges from turbines to blacktop hats and fancy gold caps [Music] holes in the bazaar wall serve as street shops where the coffee vendor tinkles his cups to advertise his wares he pours his sweet thick black arabian coffee from that long spout how he manages not to spill any as a tribute to his steady hand this looks like a scene out of the arabian nights or a backdrop for a production number it certainly does bob but don't expect any dancing girls coconuts and cloves are zanzibar's important exports and the place reeks of the odor of sugar and spices and copra and dung they make an unforgettable fragrance of zanzibar on fate days visiting tribesmen compete in sport [Applause] [Applause] these gatherings are not uncommon african tribesmen enjoy exhibiting their skills whether it be dancing spear throwing high jumping about how high would you say that fella just jumped well bob he he looks like a massage most of them are over six feet tall and that bar was higher than that so he must have cleared over six feet throwing the spear is much like our javelin contest incidentally the spears are highly regarded by the natives considered part of their manhood and they seldom will part with them [Music] like in many coconut areas the natives use a foot thong when climbing the trees it provides them with the necessary purchase for their feet husking requires a sure hand and strong fingers it's the same method used in the south sea islands any sharp spike stuck into the ground will do needless to say a slight miss and he'd impale his hand [Music] that's amazing he seems to have all of his hands left i guess it's all a matter of timing if that knife is swung too hard it could prove rather disastrous dried coconut meat is known as cobra it's exported all over the world where it's rendered into soap and cooking oil the milk of the ripe coconut is a cool delicious drink [Music] i've wondered how these people did their fishing colonel is it like most net fishing no bob they have a system that's unique four or five fishermen in their outrigger canoe watch for signs of a school of fish once sighted they circle them playing out the net at the crucial time one swims toward the shore with one end of the net [Music] [Music] then they go to work they all leap within the circle made by the net and chase the fish catching them by hand if they can they don't require gas [Music] they promptly subdue any fish that puts up resistance [Music] i'd imagine that's how their ancient ancestors did their fishing you know colonel it would be interesting to see their reaction to modern commercial fishing the chances are they'd say it was silly to work so hard but only a few fish is all they need these picturesque dolls have ridden a monsoon from arabia when beach they're propped up with braces to keep them from toppling over when the tide goes out the replacing of a new keel for a vessel of this size is a monumental task each man connected with the dao summons all his friends and relatives to lend a hand and you'll never hear a murmur of complaint as they go about their work with hammer and eyes to the tune of native chants and happy laughter obviously these are very seaworthy boats the answer to this is that daos have sailed the mediterranean and red sea since 60 a.d they were used in the days of the slave traders carrying cargo's a black ivory that brought much wealth to the zanzibarian today the ships like migratory birds sail into zanzibar harbor with dates dried sharks persian rugs and spices [Applause] [Music] when the wind is right they head for the open sea loaded down with poles tea coffee sugar and maize [Music] it's the never ending commerce of the east of the hot exotic ports with musical names that makes the romance of travel so interesting these are just some of the colorful ports of call scattered about our kingdom of the sea well after this i'll never mention a word about the old order changes in our vanishing frontiers there's so much color to the people in their everyday occupations especially if it has anything to do with the sea that's because you love the sea but seriously bob you may remember my saying that it isn't necessary to travel great distances to see these fascinating places right here in our own country for example we have new orleans on the mississippi puget sound colorful cape cod and numerous other ports up and down our seaboard if your stopovers are confined to the deck of your ship taking a few snapshots then i can tell you that you will be disappointed you will say they are all alike but if you take the trouble to go your side and look around you'll discover for yourself what i have found out a long time ago paraphrasing a popular expression adventures where you find it with all this talk of travel i'm curious to know the type of demonstration you've whipped up for us on this occasion well in a way you might say it has some bearing on port support as the ancient mariner said it my tale is told it's all yours the roundup of fish can be just as exciting as herding cattle on the range without benefit of bucking broncos and branding irons science takes a hand in the raising of fish next in thin roundup on the kingdom of the sea on behalf of colonel craig and our sponsor this is your host bob stevenson thanking you ladies and gentlemen and inviting you to be with us again for our next visit to the kingdom of the sea [Music] foreign