Chapter 1027 Four-Legged Beasts, Reindeer and Horses!

Traveling in the wind and snow, among the white mountains, there is a gray and yellow felt tent, suddenly appearing in a low-lying valley sheltered from the wind.

"Friends from Haibu! This is our winter camp in Shanbu!..."

"Well, praise the Lord God!"

The expedition leader Zuwaro stood on the top of the mountain and watched from a distance. Hundreds of tribesmen were busy in the winter camp in the valley, and they couldn't see what they were doing. Groups of gray reindeer gather at the outskirts of the valley, sometimes scatter aimlessly for food, and sometimes look left and right, looking for the leader of the group.

Under the guidance of the hunters, the children in the mountains ride on the relatively docile reindeer to play. They have been familiar with these strong and powerful creatures since they were young, and they are familiar with the skills of domesticating reindeer. In fact, children in every tribe have to ride a deer at the age of five, herd herds at the age of seven, and learn noose, reindeer and simple "deer fighting skills" at the age of ten...until the children grow up to the age of fifteen and learn this set Complete survival skills can be considered as adults in the tribe and have the qualifications to marry independently.

"Lord God! Your majesty's revelation!... Could it be that the four-legged beasts galloping in your majesty's revelation are these giant deer with long horns?!..."

Expedition leader Zuvaro widened his eyes and approached these strong reindeer who were not afraid of people and could be ridden. These adult male reindeer are about one meter one or two tall, which is actually taller than the Japanese horses of this era. They are strong, good at running, and can tolerate extreme cold. The male reindeer weighs about 300 catties and has very strong long horns on the head.

Zuvaro observed carefully for a while, and found that this "giant deer" had a lot of hair, and even had thick hair on its hooves. However, the ears of "Julu" are very small, and its eyes are very sharp, as if it is also observing the person in front of it.

During this era, the tribes in the Eurasian polar regions, from the westernmost Scandinavian tribes to the easternmost Kamchatka tribes, domesticated reindeer on a large scale. In the polar regions of the North American continent, the size of reindeer is much smaller, only found in the Inuit tribes in the extreme north.

The expedition fleet traveled west along the warm Alaskan Gulf, blocked by the coastal mountains. It was indeed the first time that the reindeer, which ruled the Arctic, could be domesticated and ridden!

"Lord God bless! Friends of the Yamabe, this... riding these giant deer, can you run and fight?..."

"Haha! Friends of the Haibu, do you want to ride a reindeer to fight?...Reindeer are not for riding! Their backs are very fragile, and they are easy to get injured when they run with a young man on their backs! And they don't run at all when they carry things on their backs. Not fast, not as fast as pulling things..."

The hunting captain Muh Hound blinked, smiled and shook his head. The Haibu headman in front of him seemed to be particularly fascinated by the riding beast, and he never forgot it. Could it be that you have been living on the island and never seen reindeer and horses? …

"Guidance from the ancestors! The ones that are really suitable for riding and fighting are the west side, the 'muri' (muri) of the horse department, the 'horse'!"

"The Lord God testifies! What did you say? 'Muri', 'horse'?...What is a horse like?"

"Oh! Horse, long body, shoulders higher than reindeer, smart and obedient, able to carry riders on migration... According to the ancient legend passed down from generation to generation in the tribe, there are countless horse tribes in the far west and southwest. The herding horse tribe, living in the warm south with abundant water and grass!..."

"Ah! Countless tribes of horse herders, countless horses!..."

Hearing this, the exploration captain Zuwaro's eyes widened instantly, his heart was surging, and he was so excited that he couldn't speak!

"Muri, Muri, horse! . . . "

Over and over again, he chanted the Tungusic word "muri" that came from the Ewen tribe. And if you continue to go west and reach the Ewenki tribes on the edge of the Mongolian cultural circle, the horse they talk about is "mori" in Mongolian! As for the further south, to the Jurchen tribes who belong to the Tungusic language family, the horses they talk about are "morin" (morin), which is very similar and has the same origin! …

"Praise the Lord God! Praise Your Majesty! Four-legged beasts capable of riding and fighting really do exist in the far west... so they are called 'Muri' and 'horses'!..."

The exploration leader Zuva's eyes sparkled, and he lost his mind and talked to himself for a long time. You know, finding and bringing back four-legged riding beasts and four-legged farming beasts is one of the most important tasks in the exploration of His Majesty's revelation! But now that he heard the exact rumors, the hope of finding these four-legged beasts is really close at hand!

"Lord God bless us! Your Majesty's revelations never go wrong! Ah, friends of the Yamabe, do you have that 'muri' among your clans! Is there a horse? . . . We can exchange with you, with precious salt and weapons Come change!..."

"Eh? You want to ride a horse?... The leader of the sea department, we don't raise horses in the mountains. That kind of animal riding is very troublesome and not suitable for running on the snow field... The old grandmother also said that they are difficult to raise and die easily. Raise them It’s not cost-effective, eating too much and being too picky!... On the snowy field, reindeer and dogs that are not afraid of the cold are the best! They are easy to feed, they are not picky in food, and they are easy to eat meat when they die!..."

The hunting captain, the Husky, chattered about the benefits of raising reindeer and huskies. In fact, before the arrival of the Russians, there were indeed no horses in the Kamchatka Peninsula on the extreme northern snowfield. Because, in the harsh environment of the polar region, there are no wild horses. However, the cost of tribal domesticated horses is too high, and the food is too picky. Reindeer can eat all kinds of lichen, moss and grass roots in winter, but delicate horses cannot be raised so simply, they must be supplemented with beans or grass.

At the same time, in the snow field environment, compared with reindeer and dog sleds, running horses have no advantages in moving and carrying loads. In fact, only after the cold-resistant rye was introduced from Europe to the various tribes of Kamchatka, did the tribes gradually have an agricultural foundation for feeding horses...

"Friends from the Haibu! The reindeer in our mountains are also very good! They can drag our tents, walk and migrate tirelessly, and they can travel every day. Well, it takes five days for a person to complete the journey. And it takes less than half a month to travel from the southernmost island of the peninsula to the northernmost deer!..."

The hunting team leader Mu Dog talked patiently for a long time, and then praised the reindeer in the mountains before ending with an ancient tribal proverb.

"The ancestors testify! The oldest benevolent deer are raising the tribes of the snowfield! They are the real masters of the snowfield. And whoever is their friend is the friend of the snowfield, and will be able to live on the snowfield for a long time!..."

"Lord God! The real owners of the snow field are these giant gray deer?... There are no horses in the mountains, only deer and dogs. There are horses in the horses, but they are far to the west!..."

Exploration Captain Zuwaro pursed his lips, trying to write down these key information. Soon, the boiling and excited dog barking rang in his ears.

"Aww! Aww! Aw!..."

"Phew! I'm finally home! You can have a hot venison stew...! Haha! Blessed by the mountain! This trip went so smoothly, I thought I was going to fight the last one... Hey! You? Mutu, the family Ding Zhuang, why did you come out with weapons?"

"Ancestor's testimony! This is the order of Mulu Shanmu's old grandmother! She made the children more energetic, and put on armor and bows, so that the 'guests' of the Haibu cannot be underestimated!..."

"Oh! The wise old grandmother has the blessing of Shenshan, she must be right!... Those hunters in the sea department are indeed very elite! They have many, many good armors!..."

When the elite hunters from the mountains arrived at the camp, they all greeted the surrounding tribal people with chubby smiles. And at the gate of the camp, there were nearly two hundred tribesmen, all wearing deerskin robes as thick as leather armor, carrying recurve bows and arrows, and carrying several stone axes, warmly "welcome" the "guests" from the Haibu ".

"Haha! Blessed by the ancestors! The leader of the Haibu tribe, our Hot Spring Mountain tribe, is the most powerful tribe on the peninsula! ...Look, these are all outstanding warriors in the tribe, they can shoot a running reindeer from dozens of steps away! They can also run for ten days, cross the entire peninsula, and go to the north to fight against the deer tribe who invaded the territory!..."