Chapter 732: Second Exploration of the Kingdom, Daily Life in the Rainy Season, Taino People's Fishing Skills

The hot summer day in August raises the temperature of the sea water. A powerful tropical low pressure cyclone finally formed in the Atlantic Ocean and moved from east to west. At this time, Cuba and the Caribbean islands, located around 20 degrees north latitude, are the main areas swept by tropical cyclones!

Therefore, the next month will be the stormy month. Howling winds, heavy rains, and terrifying thunderstorms brought the sky along the entire Cuban coast into a long-term haze. The abundant and long-lasting rainfall has also caused river water levels to skyrocket. The turbid floods carried reddish silt and surged down, flooding the low-lying areas along the river. Even the crocodiles in the river fled to the shore for shelter.

"Well, the precipitation on the island of Cuba is at least twice that of the Mexica Valley. The width of the river will expand dramatically during the peak of the rainy season, and low-lying wetlands will also become lakes. So, before large-scale construction of reservoirs, Settlement and farmland should be built on high ground near the river. The impact of floods must be taken into consideration. The newly built Tienwan Town should be moved two or three miles to high ground in the south."

The wind and rain hit the coir raincoat, making a crackling sound. Priest Tomat stood on the high ground outside Mayari Village with bright eyes. He observed the situation of the river east of the village and made slight adjustments to the subsequent city construction plan. Of course, he also left two scouts in the iron ore area to explore, and more specific hydrological information would have to wait until the scouts brought them back.

"Witness the Lord God! When storms arrive, the fleet must dock. If we take certain risks, we may have a chance to surprise the enemy who is difficult to capture at sea."

The heavy rain fell continuously, as if it had formed a rain curtain. Priest Thomas looked towards the seaside and saw only a few long ships floating vaguely on the seaside amid the raindrops.

This is the time of wind and rain, and it is also the most violent time in the Caribbean. On days like this, for a full month or two, all fleets must stay in the harbor. Whether it was the longships of the Union, the canoes of the Tainos, Siguayus, or even more distant and powerful invaders, it was difficult to brave the roaring wind and waves. But from a military perspective, this time can also be a good opportunity for some kind of raid, even if the cost is high.

Priest Tomat fell into thoughts about good opportunities until the faint shouts in the village woke him up from his thoughts. He listened for a while, but it was Puap's loud voice who was yelling at the Taíno militiamen in training.

"Well, if this guy can obey orders and not get confused, he will be an outstanding and brave officer of the Kingdom."

Priest Tomat looked towards the village with a smile on his face. There is nothing to do during the heavy rain season, so the warriors of the kingdom stay in the village. Their daily life consisted of training the Tylenol men during the day and comforting the Tylenol women at night. It is estimated that in a few months, many samurai and sailors will become fathers.

"The Taíno people are used to being raised collectively, and the concept of marriage is not too strong. But for the kingdom, the best way to win over the warriors and let them settle in Cuba is to let them get married and start a business! After a while, I have to mention it to Chief Splash to hold a mass wedding witnessed by the Lord God, so that the warriors can marry the Taino women they love!”

Priest Tuomat touched his chin, thinking about how to persuade Chief Shuihua to agree. After the wedding, naturally the kingdom's warriors were not left here, but the Taíno women were taken away and became the first batch of local tribes to join Tiewan Town.

"Well, there is no sign of Tiewan Town yet, so there is no rush for now. All plans need to show force first and fight the Siguayu people! Regarding the conversion, Chief Shuihua's attitude has been a little loose recently, and there are some specious things. I have to often Go find him!"

It's interesting to say that after the long conversation that day, Chief Shuihua's attitude gradually changed. The chief was even willing to be patient and listen carefully to Priest Tomat's explanation of the scriptures and understand the myths and epics of the Lord God. However, every time Priest Tomat proposed a formal conversion, Chief Shuihua would change the subject and never respond directly.

But in the opinion of Priest Thomas, this is a good trend. He plans to work harder to develop the gentle-tempered Chief Splash into the first Taino chief to convert to the main god!

"Well, we have to find a way to make the chief convert to the main god! As for the specific plan, I still have to find someone to do the math."

Priest Thomas raised his head slightly and watched the heavy rain abate slightly, and the sky gradually became dark. Soon, he decided to return to the village. On the way back, stepping on the muddy soft soil, he thought of another question.

"It's really strange! Captain Chihuaco said in the morning that he was going out to explore, but he didn't come back all day and he didn't know what he was doing."

On stormy days, it does not rain all the time. It rains heavily one day and lightly rains the next. When the heavy rain subsided the next day, Chihuaco, the old militiaman who was remembered by others, was in high spirits. He took his apprentice Dark Snake and sailor Didi with two oil bottles, and followed the guide of the Maria tribe, Black Stone, on the 20th. Fishing upstream from the village many miles away.

The upper reaches of the village of Maria are close to the mountains. There is not only the inlet of the small river, but also a large lake in the valley that is forty to fifty miles long, Rio Mayarí Lake (Rio Mayarí). There are several fishing huts built by the Taíno people around the lake, and there are mountains for shelter. When the storm is howling, this slightly quiet estuary is indeed a comfortable place.

"Dark Snake, Diddy, I tell you, come out fishing with me and learn some skills to support your family. It's better than staying in the village and watching the warriors messing around every day! You are still young, you need to grow up for another two years, don't rush to fool around. In fact, it's just that! Remember, don't listen to Puapu's nonsense! Those trivial things between men and women are not as good as fishing?"

The old militiaman Chivaco carried a simple fishing rod and walked steadily on the muddy ground barefoot. He chattered, and his old face was full of smiles. Dark Snake and Diddy both carried grass baskets for fish, and they were dejected and weakly followed their father to do "more interesting" things in the mountains.

"After this heavy rain, the water level rose, the river became faster, and the water was muddy. But it's the best time to fish!"

The old militiaman smiled and pointed to the estuary in front. It was the place where the river and the lake met, the terrain was narrow, and the water was turbulent. According to the old militiaman's experience, there is no need to look at it, it must be a good fishing spot.

"Look, the water brings fish down, as long as there is an obstruction, there must be fish! Such a big lake upstream flows through the bumps of this mountain pass. The fish gather together, it's easy to catch, just throw the rod! Also, the river is mixed with sand, the fish also float upwards, and the line doesn't need to be deep."

Chihuaco gestured with his hands and danced with joy. Dark Snake and Diddy were still teenagers after all, and they were infected by their father's emotions and soon became happy. The four of them found a water bay for fishing at the mouth of the river and lake. As a result, when they started fishing, the smile of the old militiaman froze, and sweat soon appeared on his forehead.

"Wow!"

Taino guide Black Stone jumped into the water bay, reached out and fumbled at the mouth of the river for a while, and then happily picked up a big fish.

"Big! Big! Another big one!"

The old militiaman looked up and his face twitched. This big fish is as long as an arm, and it is estimated to be at least more than ten pounds! At this moment, the big fish left the water and was struggling desperately in the arms of the guide Black Stone, but it couldn't get away. Looking closely, it was said to be a big fish, but in fact it was two, one big and one small.

The small one was a remora, with a fishing line, or a thin hemp rope, tied to its body. One end of the hemp rope was wrapped around the arm of the guide Black Stone. At the other end of the hemp rope, the suction cup on the head of the remora was firmly sucking the side of the big fish, making it impossible for the big fish, which was good at swimming, to escape.

This fishing method is exactly the famous fish fishing of the Taino people! Even without using a fishing rod, it depends on the fish's active suction, and specializes in fishing big fish in the lake. With this unique skill of "fishing with fish", the guide Black Stone only took two quarters of an hour to catch eight or nine big fish in this crowded estuary, and even filled the grass basket for fish.

Dark Snake blinked his eyes, and then looked at the fish basket of Captain Adie, which only had two small fish.

"Father, you talk a lot more than Black Stone. But you catch a lot less fish than he does."

"Ahem! That's because Black Stone always goes into the water and scares away my fish."

Hearing this, the old militiaman Chivako's face turned red, and he was really a little embarrassed. He "coughed" twice and tried to explain a few words, but saw the guide Black Stone coming back from the water again, holding a huge round shell in his arms.

Then, Black Stone smiled and walked to Chivako, and put the heavy round shell at the feet of the old militiaman. It turned out that the fish this time was attracted by a big green turtle.

"This, the biggest one, for you!"

The guide Black Stone blinked his innocent eyes and pointed at the big green turtle with a smile. Then, he pointed to the three fish baskets behind the old militiaman.

"Here, lend me one. Mine is full!"

The old militiaman was dumbfounded, staring at the big turtle under his feet, and then looked at the empty fish basket. He finally couldn't help it and jumped up and cursed.

"This blind God!"

When the sky gradually darkened, the day's fishing came to an end. The old militia released the big turtle and looked at the four full fish baskets. Three and a half of them were caught by Heishi alone.

In addition to the amazing fishing, the guide Heishi also showed another unique skill, which was to use slightly poisonous senna leaves to anesthetize fish. He threw a handful of chopped senna leaves into the estuary for the gathered fish to eat. After a while, more than a dozen motionless, anesthetized fish floated on the water.

Heishi picked and chose, only picking up the big adult fish and leaving the small young fish alone. After a few moments, the anesthesia wore off, and the remaining fish quickly returned to normal.

"This blind God! This fishing method is not what the Taino people do, it's better to call it a fisherman"

The old militia smacked his lips, but he felt a little admiration in his heart. He calmed down and asked Heishi for fishing skills. He tried to fish for a day and felt that he had gained a lot. It was not until the scouts sent by Priest Tomat found the fishing hut by the lake that he reluctantly ended this "exploration" and returned to the village of the Mayari tribe with a full catch.