Chapter 467 The Beginning of 1488 AD, the Celebration of Epiphany

The sea breeze blew, and the moonlight was cold and dim. The clouds gathered in the sky, leaving only a few stars. A few petrels circled in the night sky, looking down at the boundless sea, surrounding the three anchored sailboats, like some kind of mysterious omen.

The flagship "São Cristóvão" hoisted the flag of the Kingdom of Portugal and anchored between the two ships. According to Captain Dias' instructions, for the sake of navigation safety, the expedition fleet usually does not sail at night. The night was quiet and deep, and dozens of crew members on the ship were crowded in the smelly cabin, most of them were asleep. On the wet deck, there were only a few sailors on duty, and the navigator Pero de Alenquer.

Pero stood with a sturdy figure and a stern face. He stood under the long mast, holding an iron compass and a wooden protractor in his hands. He raised his head, stared at the stars in the sky, and waited patiently for a long time. Only when the clouds cleared up a little and the four shining stars of the Southern Cross were revealed did he act quickly and climb up the mast nimbly.

After a while, Perrault stood steadily on the observation deck. He wrapped the rope of the mast around his arm and carefully observed the bright stars of the Southern Cross, γ and α. Then, he imagined drawing a line, passing through the Southern Cross γ and α, and then continued to extend southward until the length was about 4.5 times the distance between the two stars, leaving an imaginary point in the night sky. This point is the estimated position of the South Celestial Pole!

Then, Perrault opened his eyes wide, looked up and stood still, not daring to move a bit. He took out the measuring compass, pointed one foot of the compass towards the horizontal direction, and the other foot towards the imaginary South Celestial Pole. Then, he fixed the compass, took out the protractor, and measured carefully for a while. The angle measured at this time was the south latitude where the fleet was located.

"About 32 degrees south latitude."

Perrault secretly wrote down this number. Then, he raised the protractor again and measured several times, and the numbers he got were all between 31-33 degrees south latitude. After confirming the number, he did not stay any longer, just looked at the endless southern continent in the east where the fleet was anchored, and then slid down from the mast.

The night was getting deeper, and the deck was quiet. The sailors on duty bowed their heads respectfully when they saw the navigator Pero. Pero nodded slightly without saying anything.

In ocean voyages, the navigator is responsible for guiding the direction and determining the latitude, and his position is very important. And these methods of measuring directions are by no means mastered by ordinary sailors. They must be literate and arithmetic, and have received professional navigation training. In the Kingdom of Portugal, people who can serve as navigators are usually from the Navigation Academy, or descendants of maritime nobles, and naturally they are not the same as ordinary sailors from the bottom.

After a while, Pero passed the inspection of the guards and came to the captain's room at the stern. He knocked on the door gently a few times.

"Praise the Lord! Dear Captain, Navigator Pero greets you!"

"Well. Come in!"

Pero lowered his head, carefully pushed open the wooden door, and walked into the captain's room.

Captain Dias was sleeping in his clothes and sat up from the bed. He held a short knife in his hand and a short dagger on his waist, and spoke calmly.

"How is it?"

"Dear Captain, I just measured the latitude and observed the weather. The fleet is between 31-33 degrees south latitude, and the wind direction is southwest. There are clouds gathering in the night sky, and there may be wind and rain."

"31-33 degrees south latitude."

Hearing this, Dias was silent and thought in his heart. After a while, he asked in a deep voice.

"How is the morale on the ship?"

"The morale of the sailors."

Pero hesitated for a moment and spoke frankly.

"Not very good. Since we set out from Cape Cross, we have been drifting on the sea for two months, only occasionally going ashore to kill sea lions and replenish fresh water. The southern continent to the east stretches endlessly. It has been a desolate desert for two months, and even the local natives cannot be seen. The crew secretly rumored that the desert in the southern continent is endless, and it is afraid that we will never find the end in our lifetime!"

"Hmm"

Dias nodded, silently clenched the dagger, and asked calmly.

"Are there any sailors in cahoots? Is there anyone gathering secretly? Is there anything unusual about the quartermaster in charge of weapons?"

".Ship.Captain"

Sweat instantly seeped out of the head of the navigator Pero.

"I didn't see any sailors in cahoots, and the quartermaster was fine. This time, we didn't go deep into the devil's land, and few people were cursed. The water on the ship was also very sufficient. The sailors just had some complaints."

"Hmm, not bad."

Dias nodded slightly, his expression slightly relieved.

Before this voyage, he carefully asked the crew members who participated in the last exploration and learned that the biggest cause of the rebellion was that they went deep into the devil's land, were cursed by the devil, and died of illness in large numbers.

Therefore, he did not stay in the evil Congo River Basin for a long time on this voyage, but went directly south along the coast. The other cross-sail supply ship was filled with light wine, dry cheese, dry bread and salted fish that were not easy to deteriorate. Now it seems that although the morale on the ship is not high, it can still be maintained.

"Perro, after midnight, today is the Epiphany, right?"

"Yes, Captain. Today is January 6, 1488 since the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, celebrating the first appearance of the Lord to the Gentiles after his incarnation as a human being"

"Very good. On the day of Epiphany, our Lord first admitted that he was the incarnation of God. Let the priest on board preside over a grand and solemn prayer! Then, according to tradition, the fleet will dock for a day to rest, distribute the stored light wine and food, and hold a celebration party!"

"Ah! Praise you, my captain! Your generosity and kindness are like the glory of the Lord."

Captain Pero bowed respectfully. With this prayer and celebration, the morale of the crew should be restored.

"Well. God bless us! We will definitely go to the East!"

". God bless us!"

The next morning, Captain Dias gathered the crew and announced the good news of celebrating Epiphany. The sailors cheered and then rushed to the nearby beach like wild horses.

"Bang! Bang!"

Bullets flew, blood and flesh flew, and the huge body fell down. The elite sailors set up their matchlocks and hunted the strong fur sea lions mercilessly.

These sea lions are almost all over the surrounding beaches, scattered everywhere. They are the overlords of the local coast. They have not been threatened by predators for tens of thousands of years, and they don't know how to avoid humans.

Then, the sailors dismembered the sea lions, peeled the skin and meat, and scraped out the fat. A pile of bonfires were lit up, and the aroma of barbecue spread immediately, and the clear sea surface was stained with blood red.

"Praise the Lord! He gave us meat and wine."

Dias sat on the dry rocks, drinking light wine slowly and tasting the roasted sea lion meat presented by Bruno.

"Well, it tastes like venison, with a strong smell of blood. Not bad, Bruno, you are thoughtful!"

Bruno stood respectfully aside, bowing his head. The crew just hunted a sea lion, and he roasted two pieces by himself, and then ran over and presented them to the respected royal knight, expedition leader Dias.

"It's just a pity that there are no spices. If there is a little pepper, or a few pieces of thyme, the taste, tut tut!"

"Uh"

Hearing this, Bruno lowered his head and looked embarrassed. These spices are almost more expensive than gold in the kingdom, and there is no way for him, an ordinary noble knight, to consume them. The only time he tasted spices in his life was in the devil's land, in the court of the King of Congo.

"Haha!"

Seeing Bruno's embarrassment, Dias laughed. He reached out and patted Bruno on the shoulder.

"Bruno, as long as our voyage goes smoothly this time, we can find the route to the East and find the country of Elder John, and when we return to the kingdom, every captain will be rewarded! Not only can you increase your rank by one level, but you will also receive a reward of up to 1,000 ducats! By then, even if you eat a portion of spices every day, it will be no problem at all!"

"1,000 ducats!"

Hearing this number, Bruno held his breath instantly, with a strong greed and desire on his face.

You know, one ducat is equivalent to one kingdom gold coin, which is about 3-4 grams. And 1,000 ducats is 3-4 kilograms of gold, plus the premium of the coin! This large sum of money was enough for him to buy a big house in Lisbon, and from then on he was qualified to participate in the banquets of the nobles.

"Respected Royal Knight, I will listen to you on this voyage!"

"Yes."

Looking at Bruno's expression, Dias nodded with satisfaction. Then, he looked serious and asked in a deep voice.

"Bruno, how is the situation on your ship now?"

"Respected Royal Knight, everything is stable on my ship. This way south, only a few captured hard labor sailors were exhausted. Without the devil's curse, the morale of the official sailors is pretty good!"

"Yes, very good!"

Dias's face remained unchanged. In the great voyage, hard labor sailors were generally captured poor people, fishermen or natives. They were not allowed to have weapons and did the hardest work. They were not considered human beings at all. Only formal sailors, who often touched weapons and could launch rebellions, could be considered to have reached the minimum standard of human beings.

"Let's go, the priest's prayer is about to begin!"

The two asked and answered, and chatted for a few words. Dias stood up and walked towards the priest not far away under the escort of the guards.

The priest on board tied up two wooden sticks and erected a simple cross. Soon, all the sailors gathered around the cross, and then, under the guidance of the priest, clasped their hands and bowed their heads.

The priest spoke first and praised devoutly.

"Lord, please open my mouth!"

"My mouth will praise you!"

Everyone praised.

"This day, our Lord Christ was born for us. Please come and worship!"

The priest announced loudly, and Dias knelt down first and worshiped the cross in front of him.

"Lord, glory to you! As it was in the beginning, so it is today, and forever!"

Then, hundreds of sailors knelt down and followed in worship.

"Lord, glory be to you! Forever and ever!"

"From sunrise to sunset, let us sing to Christ that you existed before all eternity, but were born for us in time."

The priest looked up at the sun in the clouds and sang hymns and psalms. He had been trained by the church, his expression was solemn, and his voice was low and gentle, until the last praise, when he suddenly chanted loudly.

"Praise you, merciful Lord! May your name be glorified, may your kingdom come, may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! Please illuminate the hearts of your believers with the light of glory and redeem our sins! I pray to the Lord, may the Almighty Lord bless us, protect us from disasters, and lead us to a new route, Amen!"

"I pray to the Lord, may the Almighty Lord bless us, protect us from disasters, and lead us to a new route, Amen!"

Everyone repeated in unison, with excitement and yearning. Bruno looked up and saw that Captain Dias' face was actually full of tears. He was startled, and quickly lowered his head, quietly dipped some saliva, and wet the corners of his eyes.

After the prayer, the solemn atmosphere relaxed. Dias wiped his tears, stood up, and looked around. His eyes paused on Bruno's face for a moment, nodded slightly, and then announced loudly.

"Praise the Lord! Rest for a day today, no need to board the ship to set sail. Play the recorder, play the harmonica, distribute food and light wine, and sing tonight!"

"Praise the Lord! Praise the captain!"

The sailors cheered and everyone showed joy. Soon, the pleasant sound of the harmonica rang among the crowd, and the crisp sound of the recorder flute floated between the coasts. After just two or three glasses of wine, the sailors' faces turned red and they roared and sang the ballads of their hometown.

"The dawn is sleeping, embracing the harbor and love,

The moonlight is gentle, caressing the dancing waves,

Just like the sun has left its borders,

Just like we have left our distant hometown

"

Bruno sang and danced, enjoying the indulgence time with the quartermaster Martim. Only at this moment, singing with many sailors, can he feel truly relaxed and comfortable.

Dias still sat on the high rock, cross-legged, watching the sailors singing and dancing. There was a smile on his lips, and a faint nostalgia appeared on his face, which was then suppressed by his hard heart. Then, he didn't look at it anymore, but turned his head and looked at the sky in the south, looking for unknown hope. In the distant sky, thick clouds gathered, as if a black curtain was pressing on the sky, and it would not dissipate for a long time.

"That is."

Dias suddenly stood up. He stared at the sea and sky in the south and fell into deep thought.