Chapter 895 The Dreaming Bay, the Cruel Law of the North

The pure white arctic terns, waving their white wings dotted with black edges, chase after groups of fish swimming in the straits. The black-footed albatross, with its black and gray wings, soars above the high coastal cliffs. This is the north of 48 degrees north latitude, the US-Canada border of later generations, the most northwest corner of Washington State, and it is also the fishing ground for the Maca whaling.

The old hunter Whale Sea took a dozen Maka boats, dragged a wooden raft full of whale meat, turned a steep cape, and headed for the tribal camp more than 20 miles away. The longships of the two kingdoms were filled with the freshly cut whale meat, and followed the Marka fleet to the southeast coast.

Maybe it's because today's hunting harvest is sufficient, maybe it's because they respect the strength of the fleet, or maybe it's because they respect the strange shamans on the longship... Regarding the distribution of spoils, the Maka people kept their promises and showed great generosity.

"Lord God! The meat of this giant whale probably weighs tens of thousands of catties! Both longships are full, and we haven't even finished our share, at least 20,000 catties..."

The knowledgeable Mickey looked around the flagship, looking at the piles of whale meat, with a look of amazement on his face. Everyone participated in the division of the whale meat, which was estimated to be a full 20 tons, and more than half of the fleet was divided. Each long ship was loaded with five or six tons of meat, and two ships were loaded with eleven or two tons, more than 20,000 catties! He had never seen so much meat in his life!

The Mexican plateau is densely populated, and there is a serious lack of meat in all parts. Commoners even use pumpkins and kidney beans as their daily food, and they often don't eat meat even once during the New Year's Eve. Only trained young warriors can eat expensive meat under the support of the whole extended family to ensure their physical development. If these whale meats can be found a way to be transported back to the kingdom, how many more strong warriors can be trained! It's a pity...

"These whale meats have to be transported back to the camp immediately, smoked and marinated immediately! Otherwise, it won't take long before it will all go bad!..."

The well-informed Mickey pondered in his heart, and after a little calculation, he knew that the harvest of this whaling was enough for a tribe of a thousand people to eat for a whole month! Of course, the storage of fresh meat is a crucial issue. The production of bacon and cured meat is time-consuming and laborious. It is impossible for the Maca whaling team to be too far away from the camp, and it is impossible to harvest so much every time...

In other words, the Maca hunters in the Whale Department can only carry out such whaling activities two or three times a month. Extensive whaling tools required repairs after each hunt. And if they use whaling and fishing as their main source of food, then the size of the tribe will never reach a thousand people, it should be around five hundred people...

"Witness of the Lord God! Tribes with less than a thousand people... Even if they reach their camp, they are not sure that they can eat two long ships and more than a hundred warriors and sailors! Therefore, it is safe to go and have a look..."

With this in mind, the two fleet leaders arrived at the whale department of the Maka people after rowing for half a day. This is a tribal fishing village built in a small bay on the east side of the cape. On the hills by the shore, there is a tall totem pole, engraved with an abstract tall ancestor whale, and even has a human-like face. Next to the totem pole, there are huge whale bones piled up, which seems to be some kind of special sacrificial ceremony.

"Blessed by the ancestral spirits! Blessed by the ancestral whales! We went out to sea this time and successfully caught a gray whale!...Haha! This is the biggest hunt for the tribe in half a year, and it is also the most blessed time of the ancestors! We also met reliable friends! ..."

The old hunter Jinghai looked excited, and loudly announced the details of the hunt to the tribesmen who greeted him in the village. Seeing the hunting fleet returning with a full load, the tribal people in the village were also beaming, and even cheered and sang.

"The spirit of the sea protects us! He gives us the gift of the sea. O Macamaka, the name of the sea and the whales! O Macamaka!  …"

"Lord God! Oh Maka Maka! These Maka people are so tall! They are really born fighters!..."

Exploration Captain Zuwaro squinted his eyes, staring at the young men in the village, and couldn't help but licked his lips. These Maca people are real fishing and hunting tribes, living in cold areas at high latitudes, and usually feed on fish meat and fish oil. They are all about 1.8 meters tall, a head taller than the warriors in the fleet. And Mickey's prediction was good. This whale department really only has about 600 people, only one or two hundred adults.

"Know how to cooperate, natural sailors and warriors... If you can subdue them and convert to the Lord God..."

"Ancestors witness! Tribes on big boats! Fresh whale meat is easy to spoil! You can hand over the whale meat you share to us for smoking and curing, and you only need to take out part of the meat to compensate for the firewood and salt of the tribe... If you Take our word for it!…”

The old hunter Jinghai arranged for the hunters, and came to the two "shamans" again. On behalf of the entire tribe, he suggested cautiously.

The Maca live by fishing, and the tribe is small, and the tradition of whaling also makes them pay great attention to the unity of the tribe. Therefore, they did not split up and down into hereditary chiefs. The person who can lead the hunters to hunt whales will be elected as the leader in the tribal meeting held every few years. In fact, another identity of the old hunter whale sea is the chief elected by the tribe.

"The lord god bless you! Brothers far away, of course we believe in you!..."

Exploration Captain Zuwaro smiled, looked around at the bacon racks, meat drying racks, and dug out salt pits, and readily agreed to come down.

"Guided by God's prophecy, let us meet across thousands of miles! Brothers of the Whale Department, don't you invite us to go to the firepit of the tribe and have a good drink?"

"Ah? ... Good! Friends, brothers! ..."

Hearing this, the old hunter Jinghai thought about it, and a happy smile appeared on his face.

"Come on! Let's set up a bonfire and have a good chat! By the way, I still have some ready-made blueberry juniper tea, which is just right for entertaining guests!..."

As night fell, bonfires were lit. Everyone sat in front of the firepit, ate their fill of fresh whale meat, and drank some oily fish soup, warming up their whole bodies. Then, the old hunter Whale Hai cooked a pot of traditional tribal herbal tea, which was filled with blueberries and juniper leaves, which are special products of the Northland.

In this era, blueberries were only a specialty of North America, and were widely used as anti-inflammatory herbal medicines by various tribes in the Northland. Juniper leaves are used to treat colds and coughs, and to deal with wind chills in cold climates.

The knowledgeable Mickey drank herbal tea, looked at the tribesmen who were still busy, and looked at the strange snare drum that had been carefully kept, and asked curiously.

"Dear old hunter, this strange snare drum seems to be able to make a low whale call... how do they do it?"

"Haha! Blessed by the ancestral spirits! This is the ancestral whale inheritance of our whale department, and it is the ancestral craft that we rely on to make a living..."

The old hunter Jing Hai smiled, took out the wooden drum at his waist, and tapped it lightly for a while. The distant and long whale call echoed in the village and drifted far away.

"However, it's okay to tell you! This is an ancestral wooden drum, made of wood and the air bag in the throat of a whale, imitating the cavity of a whale... The ancestors made a lot, and we made a lot, but it's really easy to use. There are only a few that attract whales! They are all the blessings of the ancestor whales, and they are not easy to make!..."

Hearing this, the knowledgeable Mickey touched his nose, thoughtful. This kind of wooden drum that imitates a whale must contain some mysterious mystery, but it seems that the Maca people are also half-knowledgeable...

Zuwaro next to him pondered for a while, and asked the most concerned topic of the fleet.

"Praise the gods! You whales hunted at sea, you must have rowed far, have you been to the northwest and southeast coasts?...What is the situation in those two directions? What about the hydrology and climate in winter?..."

"Eh? The northwest and southeast coast?"

The old hunter Whale Sea glanced at Zuvaro suspiciously, then smiled heartily and confidently.

"Ha! Ancestor witness! This longboat shaman from the south, the coast of the northwest, I'm afraid you don't know about it if you ask other tribes! But since you ask our whale tribe, I know it!..."

"After the cape and the strait, go to the northwest coast...it looks like a long and narrow land edge full of mountains, but in fact...it's a big island! A long and narrow island that stretches for thousands of miles!...the east of it , separated by narrow straits and rivers, is the real continent..."

"As for the climate of this island, the east coast can see the vast snow-capped mountains on the mainland, which is very cold, much colder. The west coast is blocked by mountains, which is much warmer, and there are warm springs all year round..."

The Big Island in the mouth of the Old Hunter Whale is the 11th largest island in North America, later known as Vancouver Island. The east coast of the island is cold and snowy, while the west coast is relatively warm, with beautiful beaches, forests, and even geothermal hot springs against cold waves...

"Huh? The big island in the northwest? It's cold in the east and warm in the west?..."

Hearing this, the knowledgeable Mickey was startled, and asked aloud.

"Is there a tribe on this island? Where is its northwest end?"

"Of course! There are settled or migrating tribes on every piece of land in the Northland! It's just that the scale of the tribes becomes smaller and smaller as you go north! And this kind of island, especially the island On the west side of the island, there are also several seaside tribes, all of which are small tribes with more than a hundred people... Oh! They call themselves the people of the fishing islands, 'Snuneymuxw', the Slaus people."

Speaking of this, the old hunter Jinghai smiled and said confidently.

"However, when it comes to fishing techniques, our whale department is the most powerful! And the islanders in the north are only better at the cold climate of the extreme north and understand the climate of the sea in the north, so they can escape the sudden attack storms, ice fishing in winter..."

"The people of the Slaus... the people of the island?...Adapted to the extreme north climate, sheltered from storms, able to ice fish..."

The exploration captain Zuvaro captured the key words and kept them firmly in his mind. The farther north the fleet goes, the worse and more erratic the weather and hydrology will be. At this time, according to His Majesty's enlightenment, they must learn the survival skills of the Northland from the tribes in the Northland, so that they can survive the terrifying second half of the voyage. As for the best way, it is to directly trick the other party onto the boat! …

Thinking of this, Zuwaro rubbed his chin, and looked at the old hunter Whale Sea, who was able to translate and communicate. He pondered many thoughts of forcing people to board the longboat... After a while, he pursed his lips and smiled amiably. asked.

"Praise the Lord God! It is so wonderful to meet a warrior of the sea like you!...That's right! We have received the prophecy from the gods, and I heard that there is a bay with a warm climate, suitable for settlement, and capable of planting in the southeast of the big bay Fertile soil... I don’t know, what’s going on there?”

"Huh? Prophet's prophecy? Big bay? Good fertile land?..."

Hearing the translation's description, the old hunter thought for a while and asked with some uncertainty.

"Along the coast, four to five hundred miles to the east, there is indeed a big bay, a big, big bay! ... As for the fertile land of the bay, is it the North Bay on the plain below the mountain, or the South Bay with hundreds of lakes? Bay?... I have rowed to both of these bay areas. They are both warm and suitable for settlement, and can grow a lot of pumpkins and beans... These two bay areas are thousands of miles away The fertile soil that all the northern ministries of China dream of!..."

Speaking of this, the old hunter smiled, with yearning on his face. In later generations, the North Bay area, that is, the Vancouver area of ​​Canada, is a warm valley surrounded by mountains on three sides and the sea on one side. The South Bay area is the Bay of Hundred Lakes area around Seattle, which is also covered by mountains to the east, with many lakes and fertile land.

However, no tribe does not know what such a rare warm and fertile soil that can be planted in the cold and chilling northland means! ...and the fighting around these two fertile lands has lasted for hundreds of thousands of years, and has never stopped!

The old hunter looked at Zuvaro deeply for a while, and then smiled meaningfully.

"The shaman from the big ship, the prophet of your tribe, has powerful mana, and his predictions are very accurate! This fertile land in the bay is indeed as you said! It is suitable for settlement..."

"The climate there is warm, not afraid of cold waves, you can grow pumpkins, beans, and even harvest some corn. The catches in that area, especially the catches in Nanwan Lake, are also very abundant... And where there is food, there must be tribes !In this cruel northern land, the more stable and abundant the food output, the stronger the tribe will appear!"

"So, whether it's Beiwan or Nanwan, these two lands coveted by countless tribes are occupied by several or even a dozen large tribes with a size of a thousand people! And the fighting between these tribes is far more powerful than other places. There are more tribes, and they are better at fighting..."

"Friends from the big ship! Your warriors are strong, your spears and axes are sharp, your bows and arrows are very strong, and your armor is very tough... But your numbers are too small!... If you want to fight in the two bays in the east If you want to settle down, you have to make adequate preparations...and my suggestion is not to go there! Don't go there when there are few people!..."

"Ancestors testify! I will not deceive my friends! You are rowing a big, eye-catching boat, holding a shiny weapon, and going to the bay to the east, you will definitely be targeted by the greedy big tribe... They are not like us, nor are they like other Friendly tribe. They will try to eat up your boats and people, just like forcing the ancestors of our Maca people to migrate!…”