Chapter 866: The First Hearing of the Land of Golden Bay

California's west coast stretches to the north, and the rugged mountains stretch to the east. Most of the time, the coast is lined with steep cliffs, jagged rocks, and towering forests.

For the aborigines who settled here, this is a piece of fertile land that is difficult to cultivate. Without suitable crops, the yields of fields are low; without metal tools, forests are difficult to fell. California's Mediterranean climate means months of warm summers without rain and cold winters full of storms. Whether it is farming in summer or fishing and hunting in winter, it has become very difficult. Under such difficult conditions, the average life expectancy of most tribes is around 20 years old, and the inheritance of knowledge is often interrupted.

Therefore, even though there are towering mountains that block the cold wave that destroys everything in the north, the number of natives in California still cannot be compared with the tropical tribes in the south. In this era, this fertile land with a population of 40 million people in later generations is no more than a few hundred thousand Indian tribes. And in the entire North American continent, this kind of tribal density has actually far exceeded the central and eastern parts of the continent, those places of death who are forced to face the cold wave!

To put it simply, the cold and fertile North America is indeed a paradise in the industrial age and a hell in the agricultural age.

The expedition fleet stayed in the Oak Department of the Salinans for only one day. Zuvaro took the interpreter and used a few copper axes to "fairly" exchange a lot of acorn cakes, sea fish and berries. Afterwards, he continued northward with the fleet, leaving the vigilant Salinan people behind, leaving only a group of tribal hunters marveling at the sharpness and tenacity of the copper axe.

After passing the coast of the Salinans, it is more than 35 degrees north latitude. This place is already predicted by His Majesty, where the Land of Golden Bay may appear at any time. The further north the fleet traveled, the more they felt the temperature drop. Fortunately, after passing a certain coast, the southward current that was originally going against it suddenly disappeared. Then, a sudden northward current took the entire fleet and sailed northward quickly. And with this non-stop ocean current, the speed of the fleet has more than doubled!

Two days later, the cliffs along the coast suddenly lowered, turned into rolling hills, and turned into flat forests. And a vast bay suddenly appeared in front of everyone.

"Ah! Great bays, flat lands, and many rivers that flow into the sea..."

The exploration leader Zuwaro looked at the east bank and saw several rivers flowing into the coast, as well as the flat fields beside the rivers, as well as the blooming torch flowers. Those tall flowers, with long spikes, sway like torches, and they look like colorful corn. And the colors of those flowers were bright reds, yellows and oranges, just like Zuvaro's excited mood at the moment. Excitedly dancing, he took out a few pieces of Poppins that the Oak Department exchanged, and chewed them in his mouth for the first time.

"Well, it's delicious! It's so beautiful!...The bay where flowers bloom beside the river...I must give this place a famous name!"

The knowledgeable Mickey next to him suppressed the excitement in his heart and remained calm. He stretched out his finger, pointing to the reclaimed farmland at the mouth of the river, as well as the faintly visible large huts, and said in a deep voice.

"Zuvalo, this bay has already been occupied by a tribe! Judging from the scale of these huts and farmland, I am afraid it will be a large tribe. The bigger the tribe in the Northland, the more knowledge it will inherit. The more we understand the situation... Let's dock first and ask them about it!"

The tribe on the shore was the Costanoans, which is a later name. And in this age, they call themselves the "Dwellers of the Shore," the Minorities of the Shore. And occupying this fertile bay is a powerful coastal tribe, the Kono tribe.

The Kono tribe has a population of about two to three thousand people, with five or six hundred tribal warriors, and tribal priests who inherit beliefs and myths. Such a tribe size can be called powerful in the entire Bay Area!

The totem pole of Konobu is inserted in the bay, and the sky and the sea, the god of heaven and the god of the sea are engraved on it. Seeing this familiar engraving, Kumeya became excited when translating Deerworm. And when he talked with the local tribal elders, he was surprised and pleasantly surprised to find that there are many similarities in the languages ​​of the two sides, and it is not difficult to communicate.

Maybe it's because they can communicate, or maybe the Kono tribe is strong enough. The seal chief of the Kono tribe is quite friendly to the arrival of the fleet. He held a small dinner in honor of several leaders of the fleet, and happily accepted the small bag of "gems" presented by Zuvalo.

Seeing the other party's joyful expression, the exploration captain Zuvaro also heaved a sigh of relief. When he presented the gem in the lake to the elder of the Salinan tribe, the other party hardly cared, just staring at his axe. He also thought that the tribes in the north were not interested in the bright gemstones in the lake, so the kingdom would lose an important trade item.

But now it seems that it should be just that the Salinan people's Oak Department is too small, they pay more attention to practical survival tools, and put down the pursuit of "luxury goods". And as long as the tribes in the north are bigger and no longer worry about survival, bright and pure gems can still be used as trade goods in exchange for a large amount of food and supplies.

"Praise the lord god! The food of the seaside ministries is delicious!"

Sitting cross-legged in the chief's igloo, Mickey the Great Knower ate the food in front of the campfire while admiring aloud.

The dinner tonight is very sumptuous, with dried fur seal meat, grilled rabbit meat, stewed salmon, grilled juicy lobster, and weird grilled insects. These meats are special products of the California coast, especially fur seals and salmon, which are easy to catch. As for vegetables and grains, it's pumpkin puree, string beans, acorn cakes, and a handful of tortillas.

"To be able to catch enough fish, the boat-building technology and fishing ability of the Kono Department are not bad. In terms of hunting, the hunting bow is also not bad... Well, there are not many pumpkins and kidney beans, and corn cakes are more Not much. Then their agricultural technology is still relatively primitive like other tribes in the Northland..."

Mickey the Great Knower ate and pondered. He looked at the items in the chief's house, and he did see large hunting bows, flint spears, digging sticks for farming, stone axes for logging, fish cages woven with vines... and most obviously, paintings and carvings of gods and gods. Poseidon's plank.

"Hmm... a large and mature tribe with polytheistic beliefs. I don't know if there is any chance to persuade Chief Sea Dog to convert to the main god..."

Mickey was thinking about it, but Zuvaro next to him suddenly became excited. He widened his eyes, grabbed the arm of the seal chief, and asked incredulously under the translation of the deer bug.

"You said, in the records of the tribe, there are many shining golden rocks in the mountains hundreds of miles to the east?"

The seal chief wears warm clothes made of seal skin, a necklace of seal teeth around his neck, and a pointed hat of seal skin on his head. He blinked, looked suspiciously at the tribal leader from the sea, and said a few more words in a deep voice.

"...Huh? You said, in the northern mountains, there are more, more, more golden rocks? Even some shining hills?"

Hearing the translation, Chief Sea Dog smiled and nodded. He said a few more words, and Zuwaro couldn't sit still.

"What?! Going north for five or six days, the place where the Miwoks are, is a huge, deep lake, very wide, and it reaches the sea?"

Hearing this, the knowledgeable Mickey was also startled, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"A huge, deep lake, very wide, reaching to the sea... Isn't that the Great Bay?"

"Golden rocks are connected into hills... Could it be Jinshan?"

"Great Bay and Jinshan... Ah! That is the land of Jinwan predicted by His Majesty, just to the north!"