novelAbuy Chapter 1902 1375: Board Their Ship! The Fierce Caribs
Chapter 1902 1375: Board Their Ship! The Fierce Caribs
"Almighty! The large and small islands we passed along the way all have many rivers, and this island is the same! The rainfall in this tropical archipelago must be abundant, perhaps twice as much as the Portuguese coast!...""Huh! Another smoking active volcano? This should be the second volcano, right? According to records, the land around the volcano is very fertile, just like Northern Italy... Hmm, these islands are full of tropical mangroves and lush wetlands... They should have great potential for development, very suitable for planting valuable tropical crops!"
"Uh... Scholar Martin, which are the valuable tropical crops? Please elaborate! So I can write a maritime report for Lord Joao..."
On the deck of the flagship, Bruno was all smiles, humbly consulting Noble Scholar Martin.
In this era, useful books and knowledge are rarer than wealth in the marketplace, only held by a few noble elites and high priests. With Bruno's "destitute household" background, he had little access to such knowledge. Without this knowledge, he couldn't discover other wealth on these islands besides gold and silver cloth, nor could he write a report to King Joao...
"Oh! The most typical tropical crop is sugarcane that you Portuguese are already growing in large quantities in the Madela Archipelago! There are also spices produced in the Southern Continent, the two most famous being cinnamon and pepper... By the way! I seem to have drunk a marvelous drink from the Southern Continent, the Ottoman people's stimulant, coffee (kahve), which is very, very expensive and rare!..."
"Ah! Sugar-producing sugarcane! Cinnamon and pepper!... Uh, coffee? What's that? I've never heard of it, Scholar, you are truly... truly knowledgeable!..."
"Hahaha! Bruno, it's not your fault! Coffee is indeed scarce, a small bag costs a gold coin and is gone after a couple of drinks, only those in the Sultan's court can afford it!... And my father, while he was alive, was once elected as a member of the Republic of Venice and dealt with the Ottoman people... Ahem! Let's not talk about that! I have to take a good look at the trees on these tropical islands, some seem to be precious mahogany, and some are best for shipbuilding—teak!"
The Portuguese exploration fleet continued northward along the Lesser Antilles, "rediscovering" and "renaming" all the islands. After Trinidad's "Black Oil Island," there was the bay-elongated Grenada Island. Then came the Saint Vincent Island, which had just erupted in slaughter, also known to the Carib people as "Rainbow Island."
Further north, first appeared is the future "Saint Lucia Island," also an extremely special volcanic island. Here lies a "Sulfur Spring," producing a large amount of sulfur ore. Due to the corrosive influence of the sulfur spring, tales of "Poisonous Spring" spread here, affecting farming and hunting. The Caribbean tribes gathered on this island have always been few.
"Almighty! This temperature? Hmm? Seems to be... the 'Safflower' in alchemy, sulfur used in gunpowder?"
The ship docked, supplementing lacking food and water. Scholar Martin smelled the air, and his expression changed noticeably.
In the secretive "alchemy" practices at this time, sulfur represents the "essence of fire" and is the "soul of gold," often referred to as "Safflower" or "Red King." And since it's the "soul of gold," its presence might indicate gold deposits, possibly even the immortal "Philosopher's stone" of legend!...
"Captain Bruno! Are you certain it's safe here? If sure, I'd like to ask you to assign some people to escort me ashore to take a look at the springs here!"
"Ah! Of course! Your request is my honor! Haroldo, take more men and escort Scholar Martin together!"
This was Scholar Martin's first time going ashore, ascending the small hill at the mouth of the sulfur spring under Sailor Chief Haroldo's protection. When the bright colors of green, yellow, blue, and colorful hot springs appeared in the sailors' view, everyone stood for a long time, again feeling an indescribable "evil"! The pungent volcanic smell in the air was indisputable proof of evil!
The Portuguese fleet stayed at "Sulfur Spring Island" for two days. Scholar Martin found nothing, neither gold nor any trace of the philosopher's stone. The sailors were full of complaints, eager to leave this "evil" poisonous island. Only Bruno was elated, documenting this sulfur-rich island in the maritime logbook, then planted another cross, claiming it for the Kingdom of Portugal.
"Holy Mother bless, continue north! The lookout saw small native boats heading north; there must be more islands in the north, maybe with gold!..."
The possibility of natives possessing gold again boosted the fleet's morale. Just one day's sail northward from Saint Lucia Sulfur Island brought them to the future Martinique Island!
The sunlight was bright, and the view was very wide. As the beautiful northern island approached, dozens of canoes and the village of huts by the sea suddenly appeared before the Portuguese fleet. At least two to three hundred Caribbean warriors, like hornets disturbed in the hive, swarmed out of the island's village, boarding their tribal boats!
"Damn! Why are there so many natives here? There are at least three hundred strong men! Judging by the village's size, there could be over a thousand or even more natives?... Almighty! Is this lovely island the natives' nest?!"
Bruno looked astonished at the southern coast of Martinique Island, as nearly a hundred canoes gradually gathered into a mass. The native warriors on the boats raised their hunting bows, javelins, and blowguns, shouting at the two large ships that suddenly appeared, their cries incomprehensible.
At that moment, Bruno didn't realize he indeed poked into the heart of the Caribbean tribes. This Martinique Island, known to the Caribs at the time as "Island of Flowers," is the third-largest but most prosperous island in the Lesser Antilles! It features the 1400-meter-high active Mount Pelee, whose periodic volcanic eruptions bring fertile volcanic ash, resulting in a high yield of cassava and sustaining the largest tribal population in the archipelago!
In actuality, this "Island of Flowers" is where the highest concentration of Caribbean tribes resides within the entire island chain. At a time when diseases from the Old Continent hadn't yet arrived, the total Caribbean population on the island was likely between five thousand to ten thousand!
It was also the center of the Lesser Antilles, where Caribbean people from various islands regularly came to marry and adhere to tradition! At this time in January, it was an important festival for the Caribs to exchange strong men and women among tribes!
In the original history, the first Spanish colonial attempt here was equally repelled by the fierce and xenophobic Caribbean tribes. The Caribs endured the terrible plague and disease, staunchly resisted the colonizers, and fought them to the end upon meeting! Their tribe persisted on the "Island of Flowers," successfully continuing until over a hundred years later, when they were finally invaded and conquered by the French. But by then, it was a story from the early 17th century...
"Ancestors' spirits! They are not tribes coming for marriage, they are invading enemies, invaders!..."
"Blow the conch shell! Attack, defeat them!..."
"Ho-ha! Climb aboard their ship, devour them!..."
"滴!...滴!..."
When the large ships remained silent for a long time, the chieftains of the Caribbean tribes no longer hesitated, shouting loudly, blowing the fighting conch. Some adorned themselves with shell headdresses, others wore grass-leaf bands, while many dyed their hair and faces purple and red. Then, all the headdresses and hair mingled together, excited shouts accompanied the shell sound, and the low canoes formed a torrent, bravely rushing towards the two large ships!
"Almighty! Foda-se! This is really a lair of warlike wild men! They have actually launched an attack on us!..."
"Quick! Quickly load the gunpowder... quickly fire the cannons!..."
"Boom! Boom boom boom!..."
Soon, an eight-pound cannon on the flagship, along with four two-pound cannons on another ship, fired simultaneously. The fierce cannon fire was like thunder, but on the undulating sea, such a small amount of cannon fire was more of intimidation, difficult to hit accurately.
"Ah! What happened?!..."
"Spirit monster! Sea monster that shoots thunder!..."
The Caribbean canoes were like horseflies swarming, scattered to various places by the terrifying thunder fire. However, the actual casualties from cannon hits were only seven or eight people, with a dozen or so frightened into the water...
"No, they are not spirit monsters, they are evil shamans!..."
"Should we retreat?..."
"We can't retreat! So many tribes are here! If we retreat first at this time, it would be like a cowardly turtle... you won't find a woman at this year's marriage festival!..."
"Fogo! Fire!"
"Boom boom!... boom boom!..."
After the Caribbean small boats scattered, the casualties of the second round of cannon fire significantly decreased, only a few. Then came the third round... and when the Caribbean small boats were numerous enough, even the fearsome thunder couldn't disperse them.
"Damn it! Why do these spectral native boats keep surrounding and shouting, even cannons can't drive them away?!... This is definitely not a normal native tribe!... Could this be the barbaric Native Kingdom Columbus mentioned?..."
Bruno frowned, watching the increasing number of small native boats. These boats circled around, firing rain-like arrows and throwing stones, pattering, hitting the sides of the large ships. Even though most attacks fell uselessly from the ship's sides, still some light arrows managed to hit the sailors on board!
And by now, the tribal warriors on the small boats probably numbered more than four hundred! In such a situation, if surrounded by small boats, letting natives climb onto two caravels... then the subsequent outcome would be frightening...
"Almighty! Four hundred native warriors, with at least two to three thousand people from a great tribe behind! These people are so fierce, not even saying hello when meeting, they just attack us outright? Just like that group ambushed in the Black Oil Lake!..."
"Foda-se! We can't stay here! This beautiful yet dangerous island, the fleet must not anchor!..."
Seeing the current situation, Bruno immediately made a decision. First "temporarily let go" these thorny natives, wait for the Kingdom's navy fleet to come in the future, and "send them to heaven" one by one. But now...
"Quick! Don't tangle with the natives! Turn the ship's head, cross the sails... we will directly circumvent this fierce island! Bypass it, heading northwest!..."