Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 217 The African route (continued [-])

A Cruzado is worth about 43.6 East Bank dollars according to the latest exchange rate. This price is only one-ninth of the price of immigrants in the Ming Dynasty, which is considered a reasonable price.Of course, what you buy at this price must be ordinary goods. If you expect these Arabs to sell you some alluring Persian slave girl, then I advise you to stop this extravagant hope as soon as possible, it is impossible.

Even at this price, it is still more than double the cost of immigrating from Europe (about 15-20 yuan), but who made people sell you slaves?Those who came from Europe were free citizens, at most they were indentured slaves for the first three years.These people are different, they are your property for life.However, people from the east coast bought them and definitely did not use them as slaves. It is estimated that the people from the Government Affairs Council will still sign a three-year contract with them as indentured slaves, and they will be given the status of free citizens when they expire.

The price of adult male slaves is generally around 2-3 cruzados. Please note that this price refers to the price traded in Mozambique, which means that you have to transport the people back. The risks and costs of shipping are all borne by the buyer.After asking about the thousands of slaves owned by the Muscat people locally and locally, Guo Zili intends to buy them all, but after a rough estimate, he feels that the money is not enough, so he simply only needs women and children.

The three ships of the East Coast Republic’s Exploration Fleet were loaded with about 300 furs, more than 2000 pieces of ivory, and a small amount of weapons and armor. The cash was less than 1 yuan, and they were brought with them purely for emergency.Fur and ivory were traded from the Xhosa people on the way, and most of these things could not be sold at a high price in the Arabs. The two things together may only sell for about 50 yuan.However, there are about 300 sets of armor, 1000 sabers, and 2 flintlock rifles in the cabin. These things were originally used for exploring the fleet and trading with the natives along the way, but it was just right to sell them to these Arab businessmen at this time. Given the level of demand for weapons, it is not a problem for this batch of arms to sell for more than [-] yuan.

With this money, it is enough for the people on the east bank to buy hundreds of slave girls and children to go back, and the remaining money can be used to buy a batch of supplies.After making up his mind, Guo Zili agreed to the group of Muscat businessmen, and then solemnly invited the two parties to have dinner. The Muscat businessmen also agreed after some discussion.

There is a famous fishing ground near Mozambique Island, and its lobster, sea cucumber, tuna and other seafood are famous far and wide. The chef on the battleship "Free Trade" is a chef who has undergone strict training on the east coast, and the seafood made by him is full of color, fragrance and taste.Even these well-informed Muscat businessmen ate full of praise. The two sides chatted and ate, and the atmosphere gradually became harmonious.

More than 100 years have passed since the Portuguese colonized Oman and occupied Muscat at the beginning of the last century.And these Muscat merchants are merchants under the Portuguese colonial system at the moment. They take advantage of their convenient status as Arab leaders on the one hand and Portuguese colonial residents on the other to make great achievements in the Middle East, Ottoman and the coastal areas of East Africa. Got a big business.

Especially on the coast of East Africa, the reputation of the Omanis is extremely loud, which is due to the complex social form in the area.Since BC, the Arabs have mastered the monsoon law in the Indian Ocean, and they drove boats to the coast of East Africa once a year to trade with the local indigenous blacks.Over time, they began to set up shops in the local area, and then gradually settled down.

Since the 7th century AD, due to local wars and other factors, a large number of Arabs immigrated from the peninsula to East Africa.In particular, some entire tribes of Omanis migrated here, forming a large number of Arab settlements in the coastal areas of East Africa.From Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania to Mozambique, the Arabs established dozens of city-states along the coast.

Hundreds of years later, these Arabs gradually intermarried with local aborigines, and then formed the current Swahili people.The Swahili have deep roots with the Arabs, especially the Omanis, and they share the same religion, so these Muscat businessmen from the Arabian Peninsula are very popular in the local area.

After eating a dinner for more than two hours, the host and guest enjoyed themselves.These Arab businessmen from Muscat were going to return home by boat overnight. They decided to collect as much "goods" as possible through some business partners in the Ottoman Empire and even Persia, and then take advantage of the Indian Ocean monsoon next spring to ship them to Mozambique. Island, trade with people from the east coast.Of course, before they left, hundreds of Persian slave girls and a small number of children currently remaining on the island were packaged and sold to the people on the east coast.A total of more than 100 female slaves and more than 20 children were sold for only about 4500 yuan, which was a small discount for the people on the east coast. Of course, the people on the east coast paid fur and ivory instead of cash.

After the Arabs left, the East Coast Republic’s exploration fleet stayed in the port of Mozambique Island for another day, and then anchored and left on October 10, heading east and north, towards the Antsiranana area at the northern tip of Madagascar. go.

Before setting off, they hired two Portuguese guides on Mozambique Island. These two people are quite familiar with the waters near the Mozambique Channel and have rich sailing experience. One of them even traveled to India.Hiring them can greatly speed up the exploration progress of the people on the east coast, and all you need to pay is a negligible amount of money.

The wind and waves on the sea were not very strong. Five days later, on October 1638, 10, the exploration fleet of the East Coast Republic of China passed through a channel that was only more than 7 meters wide and entered the calm Antsiranana Bay.The entire Antsiranana Bay is almost entirely a natural deep water area, and the fleet sails slowly along the southern coast.As far as the eye can see on the shore, there are lush forests everywhere, and there are many ponds and miniature lakes dotted among the forests, where water birds fly around, and the scenery is too beautiful to behold.

However, in Guo Zili's view, such a situation is very worrying.For no other reason, this place has a tropical rainforest climate.Not to mention the humid climate, there are so many ponds and lakes on the shore, isn't this a natural breeding ground for mosquitoes?You know, if you are bitten by a mosquito in this place, you may be infected with malaria.In the era of lack of specific medicines, the death rate of this vicious disease was very high, and people were also very painful during the disease.

For the European colonists of this era, the disease of malaria is definitely a terrible disease that makes them turn pale.For example, in the Angola area colonized by the Portuguese, there are many records of the early Portuguese colonists dying of the plague. In fact, the plague refers to malaria.At this time, Europeans only knew the severity of malaria, but they did not know that the main vector of this disease was mosquitoes. They even thought that this disease was caused by breathing the air with bacteria, which is similar to the ancient Chinese. The term "miasma" is somewhat similar.

It can be said that this disease has hindered the process of European colonization of the world to a considerable extent. They often dare not go deep into some inland areas with relatively primitive environments, because most of them are places where mosquitoes are ravaged.Never doubt the power of this disease, which still kills millions of people every year in the 21st century.This shows how painful and dangerous it was for people suffering from this disease in the 17th century when there was a lack of medical treatment and medicine.

Regarding how to treat this disease, apart from the people on the east coast at this time, probably only some Spaniards and indigenous Indians in Peru know about it.They ground the bark of the cinchona tree into powder and then took it orally, which is very effective in treating malaria.The locals agreed not to reveal this secret, and violators would be hanged.

Of course, for travelers, they have a relatively clear idea of ​​the ins and outs of this disease and how to treat it.At least they know that the vector of this disease is mosquitoes, so they can take targeted precautions; moreover, this kind of disease mostly occurs in tropical and subtropical hot and humid areas, so they need to be extra careful when going to these places; finally, they also know Quinine is very effective in treating this disease.

In Guo Zili's captain's room, several packets of precious cinchona bark powder were placed.The bark of the cinchona tree contains quinine, an antimalarial ingredient. However, the cross-travelers currently lack the knowledge of isolating and refining quinine, so they can only take it all like those Indians.It is a pity that it takes at least six years for a cinchona tree to grow. The climate in the local Ping'an town is relatively warm. The batch of cinchona saplings and seeds brought back from the Andes were planted there.It is a pity that these precious trees have not grown up until now, and the bark cannot be picked regularly to make medicines, and they do not know the technology of artificially synthesizing quinine.

The cinchona bark powder that Guo Zili held was obtained by the executive committee from the Araucan rebels in Chile at a huge cost.Almost every bag of powder is worth the price of an 8-pound cannon. It can only be said that this drug is as valuable as gold.

Looking at this land full of primitive and wild atmosphere, Guo Zili remained silent for a long time.In such a place, even if we prepare in advance and have some therapeutic drugs, if we really want to develop it, the death rate may still be astonishingly high.But now the most lacking thing on the East Coast is the population. Everyone is precious and cannot afford to be consumed at will. Is it worthwhile to fill a large number of precious human lives in such an enclave far away from the mainland?

The port is indeed a natural and excellent deep-water port, and its geographical location is excellent. From a military point of view, it is the most suitable as a military port.It is no wonder that the French of later generations will take a fancy to this place and use it as their own naval base. Indeed, its own conditions are too superior.It’s just that this is a tropical rainforest climate, which is not as cool and dry as the mainland and South Africa. The climate here is quite hot and humid, and the annual precipitation is very large.Considering the current level of medical and health care in the East Coast Republic of China, it might not be able to handle such a harsh environment.If you want to forcibly develop, then I'm sorry, please be mentally prepared for a large number of deaths.And this is precisely what the East Coast Republic cannot bear today.

(End of this chapter)