Chapter 868 Parasites of the Myrrh Tree

The soil was thrown out and fell to the ground. The dry soil shook off countless fine particles, which floated in the air and raised a thin layer of yellow mist.

Soon, a big pit was dug out. Everyone saw that under the originally inconspicuous small roots, there was actually an extremely huge rhizome, flat and oval, like an oversized curling pot.

After the hard soil on the surface was dug out, the soil on the lower layer became loose. Seeing this, Bifang inserted the dagger into the ground and dug directly, and finally lifted the whole rhizome out of the ground.

Harley behind him stood up and walked forward, lowered his head and sniffed, but did not smell the smell he wanted. He called a few times, and continued to lie on the ground, tilting his head to see what Bifang was going to do.

"This thing is quite heavy, a bit laborious."

Bifang moved the large rhizome out, put it on the ground, patted the dust on his hands, then pulled out the dagger and dug at the rhizome. The hard steel collided with the wood, making a dull bang bang sound.

In the dull background sound, Bifang looked up at the drone and said.

"I don't know if you have heard of Namibia."

[I have seen the Namibian legend and was deeply impressed by the polar bear in it (eating watermelon)]

[The Golden Compass, right?]

[Is there a possibility that the movie is called the Chronicles of Narnia?]

[It is not normal to remember it wrong, and human memory is not a reliable thing (it is unreasonable but strong)]

"Anyway, in my impression, Namibia's fame should be comparable to Kenya. It belongs to the T1 echelon, just as famous as Egypt."

"Before, I flew from Nemo Point to South America, and then took a plane to the Sahara Desert. I looked down at Namibia through the window. It is also a stunningly beautiful place."

"The desert there is not yellow, but red."

The beauty of Namibia can be described as "stunning".

Namib Desert, one of the oldest and most beautiful deserts in the world

Because the gravel contains rich iron, after oxidation, the surface of the desert turns red.

"Red Oxidation" changes color a lot during the day as the angle of sunlight changes.

The most amazing thing is in the early morning or dusk, when the sun shines obliquely, the side facing the sun is bright red and the side facing away from the sun is as deep as ink.

The two bright colors are extremely shocking and impactful, shaking the heart and soul. Every arc and every shadow flashes with a breathtaking arc.

It happened to be dusk when Bifang flew over. Sitting on the porthole, overlooking the light and dark cut out by the narrow ridge of the sand dune, half red and half black on both sides, red is charming and black is quiet.

The red desert carved by 80 million years radiates charming colors and soft lines under the sunlight.

Bifang has always regretted that Namibia is not included in his route across the Sahara. Of course, this is not the point he wants to talk about now.

"In the Mariental region of Namibia, there lives a primitive tribe called Bushmen. They have lived on that land for nearly 20,000 years."

20,000 years!

The audience was stunned when they heard this number.

[Are you kidding me, 20,000 years? 】

[Did Fang Shen make a slip of the tongue? Are you sure it's not two thousand years old? 】

"How could I make a slip of the tongue about such a thing? That's why Bushmen are considered the oldest indigenous people."

"Bushmen are also called 'Sang people'. The Chinese colonists named them Bushmen. Bushmen is a transliteration of our Chinese language. The original meaning was people living in the bushes, which described the living conditions of Bushmen. Now it has become a consensus name for them."

"As a special group, they are the most primitive people in Africa. Most of them live in Namibia, and a small part in Botswana and Zimbabwe."

"Until more than 20 years ago, Bushmen were still in the prehistoric period and almost no one knew about them."

"The first time I knew about Bushmen was from an article published in a Chinese magazine. It was probably in the 1990s. A young female student The reporter came to the tribe where the Bushmen in Botswana lived and stayed there for three months. "

"In an academic paper, she pointed out that the living conditions of the Bushmen were poor and they were in danger of extinction. She called on the politicians of the ugly country to urge the Botswana government to return the jungle they occupied to the Bushmen. "

[I guess Lao Chou refused (dog head)]

[There is no oil under the ground, how can he care whether you can survive or not]

Seeing the barrage, Bifang shook his head: "No, Lao Chou really intervened. At that time, Lao Chou directly wrote a letter of advice. "

"Then when Bo heard Lao Chou's words, it immediately made a plan to return the jungle to the Bushmen. "

"But not long after the Bushmen happily moved back to their original territory, geologists announced that they had discovered diamond minerals that shocked the world in the jungle they had just moved out of. "

[!!!]

[It turned out that it was not oil, but diamonds! 】

【Oh my god, this move is too bad】

"I can't say if there is any trick here, but one of the most concerned topics for travelers on the African continent is the Bushmen."

Under the cutting of the dagger, a large amount of debris fell from the rhizome, revealing the white rhizome tissue. At the same time, everyone also saw the milky white juice bubbling out of it, which was obviously full of water.

"They live in the most barren and desolate desert areas. As the earliest overlords of this land, they make a living by hunting and collecting plant roots, stems and wild fruits just like they did in the Paleolithic Age. They have no fixed residence and often travel with their abilities. Move the place where the prey is found.”

“In order to obtain the water and food they need for survival, the Bushmen often live together in groups in the summer. In winter, when water and food cannot meet their needs, they begin to move in different directions as a family unit, searching everywhere. Food and water, but some Bushmen are forced to concentrate around their only water source during the driest season of winter.”

"Since they make a living by hunting, they naturally have skills in hunting that other ethnic groups don't have. Similarly, they also have many unique skills in survival."

"Like the Sherpas and Bajau people, the Bushmen themselves are very thirsty, to the point of being thirsty to a certain degree, and they know a lot about which plants they can eat and which can replenish water."

"Just like the rhizome I'm digging now, it actually comes from their survival skills. Otherwise, no one would be able to know from a small beard emerging from the ground that there are plants below that can replenish moisture."

“The Bushmen would cut the roots into shreds and squeeze the juice from them and drink them.”

"What you have to do is use a stone or a knife to scrape off the shavings, then grab a handful, squeeze it hard, point your thumb towards your mouth and wait."

[Humanoid self-propelled encyclopedia, so terrifying! 】

[I often wonder whether a person’s brain capacity is limited]

[This sense of erudition is really fascinating]

[I’ve always found boys who know more to be particularly attractive (screaming)]

Bi Fang wiped his hands and held the large amount of chips he had just cut in his hands. He raised his head and squeezed it down. A small stream of water flowed down his thumb and fell into his mouth.

It's cool and delicious, with a refreshing feeling.

"It tastes much better than the ground water just now, with a special fragrance."

"In fact, this water-rich plant is not only known to humans, but also to some animals, so after digging it out, the Bushmen will find an acacia tree nearby, then pull out its branches, cover them near the roots, and then Bury the rhizome back and reuse it after a while."

Bi Fang looked around and successfully found an acacia tree.

Use a dagger to cut off the branches, drag them to the roots, and carefully bury them above the roots.

"Acacia is very common in Africa. It is actually a plant of the leguminous family. We also have some relatives in China, such as the acacia tree that is common in parks. We can often see it in botanical gardens, street trees and other scenes."

"In addition, mimosa and wild locust trees on the mountain are also members of the same family as acacia."

"In the south of our country, there is still a kind of shrub-like acacia, and the local people also eat its young leaves as wild vegetables. Do you still remember the smelly vegetables I ate in the Banna rainforest? That is the Acaciaceae family. of."

"Of course, they are completely different in Africa."

"In order to survive in the cruel local living environment. As food for herbivores, they have been fighting for coexistence with herbivores for millions of years."

"As the most common type of tree in the savanna, acacias have thorns, and various acacias have various thorns."

"Look at this, before the leaves grow up, the thorns grow quite long. The thorns can protect the young leaves first and prevent some animals from climbing the trees. There will also be many thorns on their trunks, allowing animals to climb. Don’t come up.”

"There are also some acacias that don't have such long thorns, but they have a kind of barb-hook thorns, which are also very powerful."

Bi Fang inserted the branch into the ground, then adjusted the direction, and finally wrapped the entire rhizome.

"That's about it."

After doing all this, Bi Fang clapped his hands: "In fact, we can't come back again. Let all these things stay here. Maybe tourists who come here will see it in the future and use it."

[Animal: You are amazing, you are noble]

[Where are my large rhizomes? Where did my large rhizomes go? 】

[Old Fang: My treasures? I can give them all to you if you want. Go find it, everything in the world is there! 】

[This begins the prairie era! 】

Bifang took Harley and walked north on the grassland.

As they walked deeper and deeper, the entire grassland seemed to become more and more lively.

All kinds of hunters appear, from insects to poisonous snakes, from beasts to birds, which is eye-opening.

Stones slipped.

A swollen-bellied viper fled quickly under the attack of a tree stick. Harley next to him was startled and almost jumped in the air. But Bifang just glanced at it and didn't pay too much attention. He was already three meters away. I found a venomous snake hidden in a pile of rocks and deliberately poked the rocks to scare it away.

At this time, Bi Fang's attention was more on the big tree in front of him, and his expression was rather surprised.

"Myrrh tree."

【Myrrh tree? What the hell? 】

[I guess, it must be poisonous, and the poison is very strong. There is no medicine to cure it, so it is called myrrh tree! 】

[Damn, it feels like the truth]

"No, that's not the case. The myrrh tree itself is not poisonous. On the contrary, its resin also has medicinal properties, which is great for relieving toothache."

During the explanation, Bifang circled around the big tree, lowered his head and scanned the ground. From time to time, he squatted down and dug in the soil, as if he was looking for something.

"Myrrh tree has the word 'medicine' in its name. Its English name Myrrh comes from the Hebrew word Murr, which means 'bitter'. It has a very profound meaning in religious history."

"In the Bible, when the three wise men from the East found Jesus, who was six months old, under the guidance of a comet, they gave him three gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh."

[So Lao Fang has a toothache? Or is he preparing for backup? ]

[Then what are you looking for? ]

"Not really."

Bifang shook his head again. He didn't have a strong demand for this great medicine.

"Myrrh tree is not poisonous, but there is a kind of beetle that likes to parasitize it. This kind of beetle is very useful to us. Found it, here!"

Relying on the terrifying experience of a wilderness traveler, Bifang quickly found what he wanted underground near the myrrh tree - the cocoon of a Chrysomelidae beetle!

[What the hell? ]

[What the hell, it's a big bug]

"A poisonous insect."

Bifang's explanation was concise and to the point.

Bushmen hunters in African countries usually use lightweight bows and arrows for hunting, which means that when facing larger prey, the lethality of bows and arrows is usually not enough to cause fatal damage to the prey.

However, the Creator created another deadly weapon for the Bushmen in the vast jungles - arrow poison.

The most commonly used bow and arrow poison by Bushmen hunters comes from a unique insect - the Chrysomelidae beetle.

And the Chrysomelidae beetle usually parasitizes in the plant body of the "Myrrh Tree"!

So Bifang was surprised and pleasantly surprised when he saw it.

"These cocoons are usually hidden 0.5 to 1 meter underground. Each cocoon usually contains a beetle larva in a bound state before pupation. These larvae can stay dormant in the cocoon for several years."

"After obtaining the larvae or pupae of the leaf beetle family, the Bushman hunters can quickly find the location of the lymph in their blood system, and then squeeze the hemolymph onto the arrow with their hands."

"Sometimes, in order to poison an arrow, it takes up to 10 larvae of hemolymph."

Bifang raised the cocoon in his hand. The cocoon was very large, almost occupying half of the entire palm. Through the sunlight, the fat insects inside could be clearly seen.

"It is worth noting that hunters only apply these toxic liquids to the front part of the arrow shaft instead of the arrow tip, in order to avoid the arrow tip accidentally scratching the hunter's body and causing poisoning."

Bifang put the cocoon into a small compartment in the backpack to prevent Jerry from stealing and doing bad things. During this period, he once again pushed away Harley who came up out of curiosity.

Harley had never been on the grassland for so long, so he was very curious about everything.

"The toxic substance contained in the hemolymph of the Chrysomelidae beetle is a toxic protein. As we all know, as long as it is a protein, the toxicity will gradually disappear over time, but the poison of the Chrysomelidae beetle is different, and it usually lasts for a year."

"Bushman hunters use three main types of Chrysomelidae beetles to make arrow poison."

"Interestingly, these three types of Chrysomelidae beetles are parasitized by the Walking Beetle. Hey, it's really what I said, look at this."

Bifang found another one underground, lifted it up, pointed to a part of the worm in the cocoon, and saw another smaller white worm hanging on it.

"When the former cocoons, the latter larvae take the opportunity to attach to the former larvae, then lie dormant in the cocoon, suck the host's blood and soft body parts, and eventually kill the host."

"But this is not a bad thing for us. The larvae of the walking beetle are also poisonous, and even more poisonous than the larvae of the leaf beetle. Many Bushmen hunters also prefer to use the larvae of the walking beetle to poison their bows and arrows."

"Even if you shoot a large animal like a giraffe, it usually can't stand it. The shot animal can often escape 60 to 100 kilometers with injuries before finally slowing down and falling to the ground and dying. This is a test of the hunter's tracking method."