Chapter 865 Salinan, Klekum!
The summer sun was clear and clear, and the sky was blue without any clouds, let alone the slightest sign of rain. The scenery on California's west coast is impressive. The spectacular coastline stretches from north to south, and is full of towering mountains and majestic seashores along the way.
The exploration fleet stayed in the estuary valley of the Chumash people for half a month, selected the location of Sanshan Harbor, and built some shacks made of branches. The priests smiled and groaned, and presented the local tribe with some shining gemstones in the lake, as well as practical warm thick cloth. And the two nearest Chumash tribes are also friendly and simple, and participated in the construction of the camp.
Residing in this valley port is Kebao, the first-rank missionary priest of the kingdom. The "Ke" in his name represents the "wolf" in the forest, which is a commoner's surname. And the name "Keopard" just happens to correspond to the animals on this coast. On this piece of land on the west coast, the most large carnivore is the prairie coyote. The most abundant seashores are harbor seals and elephant seals.
For these animals lying on the shore, staring at the cute eyes, and do not know how to dodge bows and arrows, the exploration fleet is very popular. Because they provide a lot of valuable meat, fur to keep out the cold, and oil to maintain weapons and leather armor. Even their bones will be smashed and ground into bone meal after they are fully baked in the sun, dried and brittle, and used as bone fertilizer for field application.
"Mickey, Priest Kebao did a great job and got along well with the Chumash."
Expedition leader Zuwaro stroked his chin, watching the priest from a distance, leading a group of Chumash tribesmen, removing the residues from the seal bones, and roasting them by the campfire. He observed the gesticulating and smiling dialogue between the two sides, and heard the call of the priest of Kebao, his brows slightly raised.
"What is the coop saying? . . . saak'apa? tek'uut? nataan na'a'it?"
Hearing this, Mickey thought for a while, and took out a roll of leather paper from his arms, which recorded some vocabulary of the Chumash people. He looked at it carefully for a while before replying.
"Zacapa, 'Brother'. Tekut, 'Fire, Roast'... He should be saying, 'Brother, Roast these bones'. As for 'Nataan Knight'..."
Mickey paused, doubts appearing on his face.
"Sky? Grandfather? . . . Grandfather Sky?"
Exploration Captain Zuwaro squinted his eyes and looked at the Sun Hummingbird, who was smiling and gesticulating with sincerity on the face of Kebao Priest, and suddenly realized.
"Oh! He's praying! So, 'Grandfather'...is the main god?...Brother, roast these bones with fire, Grandfather Tian (the main god) bless us!"
After translating this sentence, the two exploration captains looked at each other. After a while, the exploration captain Zuvalo laughed, showing satisfaction on his face.
"Very good! Priest Kebao is very flexible and good at dealing with tribal people! I'm very relieved to leave this place to him!"
"Yes, you are right! Zuvaro, we should continue to go north! According to intelligence, the Great Bay is not far to the north..."
In early June, the exploration fleet left Sanshan Port and continued to explore north. There are 50 people stationed in Beiniaoshi Village, 15 people stationed in Ipa Department, 120 people stationed in Sanshan Port, and two long ships...the exploration fleet in the early 700s only has more than 500 people and 10 ships. long boat,
The ten longships continued north, and tall redwoods appeared on the east coast. This is one of the tallest trees in the world and can even grow to over a hundred meters high! And when these tall trees grow on the steep cliffs of the coastline, silently watching the long boats that have never appeared, they are like natural guardians from ancient times.
Black eagles and white seagulls are all parked on tall redwood trees, looking down curiously at the paddling long boat. There is no human habitation on the cliffs on the shore, there are squeaky squirrels everywhere, sometimes beautiful white-tailed deer, and occasionally there are scary brown bears.
The brown bear is the most powerful predator on the entire west coast land, and even the entire North American continent. They can grow up to two meters tall and weigh up to half a ton. The vast majority of aboriginal tribes will respect them, keep a distance, and even paint and engrave them on the totem pole of the tribe.
"Lord God! Such a big bear! It's enough to feed the entire fleet for a day!"
The leader of the exploration, Zuwaro, stood at the bow of the ship, his eyes widened, and he stared at a brown bear on the cliff. He quickly estimated that this brown bear was at least four or five times his size.
The brown bear looked down at the small dots on the sea, showing some curiosity about the "long fish" it had never seen before. Its eyesight is slightly stronger than that of humans, especially good at farsightedness and night vision. And its sense of smell and hearing far surpasses that of humans.
Soon, it heard voices from the longship and smelled the familiar scent of the biped. Just north of the redwood forest, there is an oak forest that it likes very much. But the oaks that bear fruit are occupied by these hordes of bipedal beasts. And it has encountered these two-legged herds, and knows that their sharp teeth are very long and sharp, and they are not easy to mess with.
"Aww!..."
The brown bear opened its mouth wide, and let out a deep roar from the depths of its throat. This is its warning to the bipeds, declaring its territory. Afterwards, it just watched like this, watching the "long fish" leave, its breath gradually dissipated, and then turned into the forest, neglecting to disappear.
Encountering a brown bear seems to be a good omen of some kind of divine protection. Half a day later, a large continuous oak forest appeared on the coast, a river flowing from the deep forest, and a Salinan village built by the river. And around the village, there is a totem pole more than ten meters high, which is carved with thick oak. On the totem pole, there is a huge oak tree and a brown bear under the oak tree, marking the name of this tribe, which is the Oak Brown Bear Department.
The arrival of the exploration fleet made this tribal village of five or six hundred people very nervous. All the men in the tribe were holding stone spears, carrying javelins and hunting bows, ready to fight. And the women of the tribe took their children and retreated into the deep forest to the east.
"It seems that the tribes in this area are not peaceful! They are very vigilant, react quickly, and have a strong sense of fighting... There may be a lot of fighting among the various tribes!"
The exploration leader Zuvaro stood at the bow of the boat, observing the scene in the village. The warriors on the fleet did not go ashore, and the tribal hunters on the shore did not take the initiative to attack.
After a short confrontation between the two sides, a Salinan tribal elder stepped forward. He was wearing a wolf fur hat, and his upper body was some kind of grass coat made of long grass, with vines and animal bones hanging from it. And he was wearing shorts made of seal skin, surrounded by two strings of animal teeth and colored stone beads. Judging from his more complicated clothes than ordinary tribesmen, he should have a high status in the tribe. And when he came to the shore, he raised a stick of animal bone and asked loudly to everyone on the longboat.
"Huchum!...himi!...naxasla?"
"Well…"
Hearing this, Zuwaro looked at Mickey, and Mickey shook his head helplessly, indicating that he didn't understand at all. At this time, the translators recruited from the Ipa tribe finally played a role.
"Huchumu... it's greetings, hello, it's friendly. Black rice... it's water, it's in the water. It probably refers to our fleet. And Nasasla, it's... it's..."
Kumeya translates deer worms clutching hair, brooding. Everyone held their breath and waited patiently. At this time, if the translation is wrong and the answer is wrong, it is estimated that there will be a fight immediately.
The deer worm thought for a while, and then the elder on the shore held up the animal bone stick and yelled loudly again. The Salinan hunters on the shore were also faintly agitated. And it wasn't until the elder yelled at him that Lu Chong suddenly remembered.
"Oh! It's 'peace'! Nasasla means 'peace'!"
"Peace? Are you sure?"
"I…"
Deer Chong was about to say sure, but was stared at by the two leaders, but he was a little undecided. But soon, he thought of a way.
"There's another word! We can answer another word!"
"Say it! What is it?"
"K'elqom! K'elqom!"
"What means?"
"Ah...Klekum means 'respect'!"
"you sure?"
"I am sure!"
Only then did the exploration leader jump off the long boat. He clenched his fists in his chest, tilted his head slightly, and looked at Elder Salinan who was holding the animal bone stick in front of him. Afterwards, he stood on the wild and ancient west coast of California and greeted him loudly.
"Huchumu! Klekum!...Respect! (respect!)"
Note: Chumash and Salinan are relatively endangered tribal languages, and only sporadic vocabularies can be found.