Visual Source: Blemmyes from Walter Raleigh’s Discovery of Guiana (1603)

European Exploration, Perception of the Other, and the Columbian Exchange

How did Europeans perceive the new people they encountered and how were they in turn perceived?

This is an engraving of Blemmyes, creatures who supposedly had their heads in their chests, in a 1603 German edition of Sir Walter Raleigh’s “Discovery of Guiana.”

Blemmyes from Walter Raleigh’s <i>Discovery of Guiana</i>

. What does purpose does the image of Blemmyes serve?

It comforts Europeans to know that their land is superior to the other lands.

It is frightening and alien and creates a sense of difference.

It terrifies Europeans so that they will never try to explore other lands.

. What is the author suggesting about peoples unknown to Europeans?

They are just like Europeans.

They are naturally violent and dangerous.

They are unlike Europeans.

Visual Source: Blemmyes from Walter Raleigh’s Discovery of Guiana (1603)

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