Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 998 South Pacific ([-])

The all-steam-powered ship "Tierra del Fuego" once again broke down in Jinshan Port in frustration, because the steam-powered propulsion system on board was broken again, and the captain had to order to stay here for a few days so that the ship could be repaired.

Yu Xingguo is the third mate of this ship, and he is also the son of Yu Lian, a senior lecturer of the navigation school who was the first to join the people on the east coast. His nickname is François, and his tuba is Yu Xingguo. It has been two years since my internship, and I have just been promoted to the third officer.

Since it was estimated that it would take several days for the ship to be fully repaired, the captain reasonably gave everyone a holiday, which allowed everyone to play in Jinshan Port for a few more days, and Yu Xingguo was no exception.

But when Yu Xingguo, a rich second generation, jumped off the deck with a bulging purse and entered the city, he looked at the shabby and messy streets in a daze—in such a ghost place, what is really "fun" something?As far as the eye can see, there are low - well, but not dilapidated - houses everywhere; the streets are fairly flat, but there are piles of black and white "patches" on the ground that make people frown; There are not many people on the shop, but there are quite a few shops, but the guys are a little listless, and it can be seen that the business is not very good.

Yu Xingguo sighed, feeling a little downhearted. It was the first time he came to Australia, but he didn't expect it to be such a dilapidated place.It is said that the development of Gushan Port in Western Australia, where Deputy Captain An is stationed, is better, but it is estimated that the improvement is limited, because it is obvious that neither the local central government nor the Blackwater Pioneering Team have made Australia a priority for various projects. layout.In their eyes, Australia is just an immigration transfer station and a ship repair factory, and has no other purpose.

Of course, even if the higher authorities do not invest, Australia will not develop so slowly if it relies on its own efforts.Because they intercept some people who are weak or stranded due to seasickness, disease and other reasons every year. From this point of view, as long as Australia has enough people, it will be able to develop sooner or later.But the bad thing is the opening of the South Pacific route. With the maturity of this circular route (Araucan Port-Galapagos Islands-Tahiti-Jinshan Port-Araucan Port), the Southern Railway Company A large number of oriental immigrants have been obtained, and the largest source of these immigrants is actually Australia.

That is to say, in fact, the Southern Railway Company is drawing blood from Australia, transporting large quantities of immigrants who should have stayed and settled in Australia to southern Patagonia and southern Chile for development.As a result, the growth rate of Australia's population has slowed down abnormally over the years. Coupled with the extremely high disease outbreak rate brought by immigrants from all over the world, Australia—especially Jinshan Port, the largest immigration transfer station— - It's good that the population of the population hasn't declined.It is obviously impossible to continue to increase as in previous years, and this will undoubtedly ruin the future of Australia's development.

Yu Xingguo put the jingling purse in his hands, sighed secretly, then ran to some shops on the street, and bought a lot of cans of Ningbo tea and silk cloth in one go.The prices of these commodities were much cheaper than those on the east coast, so he bought some and planned to return them as gifts.

While he was shopping to buy gifts, the procurement manager of the Fuego was also purchasing some supplies in Australia, such as fresh meat and dairy products (which were all for the first few days), live poultry, bacon and so on. Of course, beer is also indispensable, because it is a rare drink that can keep fresh for a long time, which is absolutely indispensable for sailors on ocean voyages; in addition, some locally grown fruits, due to the "fire" The "Di Island" will bring a large number of immigrants along the way when it returns to the port of Araucan, so fruits, which can supplement a large amount of vitamins, are also essential.

Since it is the end of August and the beginning of September, the point of direct sunlight is still in the northern hemisphere, and the latitude of the voyage from Jinshan Port to Araucan Port is not low, so there may be no need to worry too much about your health along the way. , the outbreak of the disease should be smaller than in summer.But even so, everyone still thinks that it is better to make more detailed preparations in advance, because every immigrant is more precious to the country, and one less loss on the way is one.

After wandering around the city for two days, Yu Xingguo returned to the boat in desperation.At this time, four transport ships participating in the South Pacific circular immigration route arrived at Jinshan Port along the warm current in East Australia, where they were going to be filled with immigrants (at least 4 people), and then headed eastward from the sea at 3500 degrees south latitude. , to the port of Araucan.

Seeing this, the captain of the "Fuego" took the initiative to ask to sail with the other party in formation. The person in charge of the immigration fleet, the acting captain of the "Mackerel" frigate, and the second lieutenant of the navy Liu Fubo of course readily agreed to this, so both parties agreed. It was agreed to leave Hong Kong together on September 9, and return to Southern Patagonia together.

"Now the South Railway subsidiary is developing very well, and industries such as leather, fishing, animal husbandry, flour, timber, and coal are developing rapidly. Of course, the most developed and profitable industry in the South Railway subsidiary has always been the entrepot trade industry , Chilean products sell well in the country, and the sales of local products in Chile are not bad." Liu Fubo said with a smile, "Although it started later than the two cities in Australia, the development speed is much faster. After all, it is close to civilization. Society, whether it is technology or capital, is easily accessible."

Liu Fubo's explanation may reveal the reason for the difference in development between the South Railway subsidiary and Australia from one side.One is capital, technology and talents, and the other is the market. The two are indispensable, and the executive committee seems to have seen this. They see that Australia is far away from any high-level civilization center, and that Australia is far away from the mainland. Due to the difficulty of developing abroad, the focus of development has shifted decisively to South Patagonia—because it is so close to the mainland, it will undoubtedly be the core territory in the future, so it is not at all difficult to draw Australia's population to develop here. People feel strange.

On September 1653, 9, the immigrant fleet composed of these five ships anchored in sequence and left Jinshan Bay, heading for New Zealand.Including the more than 3 immigrants on board the "Fiere Island", the entire fleet carried more than 700 people, most of whom came from the prefectures of Chizhou, Ningguo, and Zhenjiang in the south of the Yangtze River.Before leaving, the cabins of several ships were fully loaded with various supplies. Yu Xingguo, as the third officer of the "La Fuego", was ordered to carefully check the health status of every passenger on board, and immediately transfer those who were sick to the shore , to ensure that there would be no outbreak of infectious disease during the voyage; everyone's bedding was also inspected, and he confiscated some stinky and bug-infested bedding, and then threw them into the sea-in fact, when he set off Australia has prepared clean bedding of different sizes for everyone, but many people are reluctant to use it.

On September 9, the fleet arrived at the southern tip of New Zealand's South Island. The commander of the fleet, Second Lieutenant Liu Fubo, originally planned to let every ship dock to draw fresh water.It's just that their luck was bad. The weather on the sea changed too quickly. It was clear just now, but in the blink of an eye, there was a strong wind and huge waves.Under such circumstances, getting water from the shore became empty talk, so the signal flag that dropped anchor was quickly removed, and the entire fleet, led by the escorting "Mackerel", adjusted the yards, caught the wind direction, and left one by one. After passing this bad weather sea, we continued to sail eastward.

In the days that followed, the weather was still very bad, and strong winds and waves were a common occurrence, which caused seasickness on a large scale among the immigrants. Many people still vomited non-stop even after taking normal saline, and in the end they often fell to death in the cabin. The sailors almost every day Many bodies are thrown into the sea.

The whole ship is wet most of the time.Take the Tierra del Fuego as an example. When Yu Xingguo hardly took off his rubber raincoat, the salty sea water hit the deck from time to time, and the sailors couldn't see the route ahead for a while.The drainage holes on both sides of the ship’s side have been fully opened, and the water pumps are pumping out the stagnant water non-stop, but the cabin is still very humid everywhere, and many people’s bedding is wet. In the cold night, they can only sleep with their clothes on. It was a difficult day on the wet floor, and a great number of people fell ill because of it, which at one point caused panic among sailors and officers.

And just when everyone was about to collapse due to the icy cold and humid environment, on September 9, the lookout on the leading frigate "Mackerel" reported that he found land-in fact, he just saw land. It's just a mountain top covered with snow.After calculating the latitude, Captain Liu Fubo was convinced that it was the remnant of the Andes off the coast of Chile, so he immediately ordered to report the news of the land discovery to other ships, which aroused warm cheers from everyone.

On September 9, after sailing for two and a half days looking at the mountains, the fleet finally saw the outline of the land, which should be the edge of a series of Broken Islands on the west side of Araucan Port.However, due to the sudden change in the wind direction, the entire fleet had to drop anchor and wait for two days after approaching the sea. Only then did they catch the weak southwest wind and began to sail carefully through the winding and narrow strait to the inland area. .

Of course, as a fully steam-powered ship, the "Fuego" does not need to wait overnight in the open sea like their sailing ships.After greeting Liu Fubo and others, the "Tierra del Fuego" was fully loaded with letters, goods and people from the east. On a starry night, along the bright lighthouses standing at intervals on both sides of the waterway (some The dangerous voyage and the anchored lighthouse indicating the channel), quietly sailed into the port of Araucan, which is in the tranquility before dawn.

(End of this chapter)