Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 168 Whalers

November 1630, 11, at noon, Shixing Port.

The Portuguese did not stay in Qiming Island for long. Their five ships had left Shixing Port five days ago and embarked on the journey back to Macau.

The bustling port terminal immediately became quiet. Apart from a dozen small fishing boats that took advantage of the large-scale salmon migration to fish in the waters not far from the shore, there was almost no sign of any ship activity.

Of course, Qiming Island is remote enough and is not on the main trade route, so it is impossible for foreign ships to visit.

However, on this day, two large canoes unexpectedly arrived at Shixing Port.

Moreover, behind the two canoes was towed a huge sperm whale, like a small mountain, which immediately attracted the attention of many residents on the shore.

They are the Nuu-chanul people who live on the west coast of Qiming Island, in an environment that is essentially facing the open Pacific Ocean and the usually strong westerly winds.

As early as June last year, they had initial contact and communication with Shixing Fort.

They exchanged the fish they caught and the furs they hunted for cornmeal, flour, cloth, iron tools and many other daily necessities from Shixing Fort.

Later, as the exchanges between the two sides became more frequent and they fully appreciated the "breath of civilization", such transactions gradually increased.

In their eyes, the "tribe" here is simply a place of wealth and treasure, with all kinds of food, many magical tools, and even "magic water" that makes people unable to resist.

A beaver skin can be exchanged for a small jar of salt.

A sea otter skin can be exchanged for a bag of corn.

A seal skin can be exchanged for two sharp knives.

A boat full of fish can be exchanged for half a bucket of spicy and strong "magic water".

Their world seemed to have been redefined.

Their material enjoyment and spiritual pleasure have also been reshaped.

Previously, the habit of fishing for three days and sleeping for two days was quietly changing.

If you work harder, catch more fish, catch more sea otters, and hunt more seals, you can exchange them for all kinds of delicious and useful things from Shixing Fort.

The Nuu-chanuar people may be a natural maritime people on this island. Faced with the strong winds and huge waves outside the Pacific Ocean, they built a unique canoe and sailed on the surface of the Pacific Ocean (mainly sailing along the coast).

Their canoe was of a different make and form from those of the other Indians of the coast, having a long, high bow, shaped like a wolf's head, and a recess in the bow for the mast and harpoon.

This elegant bowsprit was individually carved and attached to the hull.

Their canoes were stable and spacious, with flat bottoms and relatively flat hulls, and blunt, heavy sterns with vertical transoms and built-in helmsman backrests.

This vertical stern design is designed to allow the canoe to be paddled onto the beach bow first, and then the heavy stern will push the canoe out to help it cut through the breaking waves.

Before this, they used this kind of canoe and extremely simple equipment to hunt whales migrating to the waters near Qiming Island in the ocean.

However, their tribe did not have many people, and faced with such a huge monster, they were unable to completely consume it.

Generally, they select the fattiest pieces of meat from the whale, leaving enough for reserve, and then throw most of the rest of the whale carcass into the sea.

Now, they have a stable trading partner, so they can trade the captured "big guys" with Shixing Fort.

Such a big fish can surely bring you many good things.

Every time I come to this port, I find huge changes.

The stone piers that jutted into the sea allowed ships arriving at the port to dock easily, making both unloading and loading extremely convenient. Numerous houses were built on the vast open space on the shore, including wooden and stone houses, and even several houses stacked on top of each other.

On a high slope at the dock, many people were shouting in unison and carrying huge stones up.

It seemed that some kind of building was being constructed there, with rows of sturdy retaining walls erected.

It seems that whenever the weather turns cold, the people here will tirelessly do all kinds of work, either building houses, repairing roads, or producing all kinds of magical things in the steaming houses.

Yes, compared to them, the Nuu-chanuar people seemed extremely lazy.

No wonder they have such a rich and diverse range of goods.

After a fierce bargaining, the tribal elder who led the team finally exchanged the big fish for three barrels of potato wine, five bags of cornmeal, five baskets of potatoes, a bag of flour, four iron pots, five machetes and three axes.

They seemed very interested in the big fish they hunted. After the transaction was completed, they called dozens of people to start cutting up the fish.

The whale baleen, whale skin, and whale blubber, which were of little use to the Nuu-chanul people, were cut off one by one, placed in various containers, and pulled to the increasingly prosperous town by horse-drawn carts.

As for the mountains of whale meat, they were cut into pieces, placed in barrels, and sent directly to the fish shop not far from the dock by cart for further processing.

What is even more surprising is that the people of Shixing Fort were reluctant to throw away the remaining whale bones, internal organs and secretions (the raw materials of ambergris). Instead, they cut them all off and transported them to the workshop for disposal.

They seemed to have not wasted any of such a big fish, and made full use of it from head to toe, inside and outside.

When the tribal elders saw this scene, they felt that they might have suffered a great loss in this transaction.

Just as they were about to leave, people from Shixing Fort came over and made a request to them.

After a while of communication with gestures, the tribal elders roughly understood what they meant.

This wealthy tribe also wanted to hunt whales, but since they had no previous experience, they tried to send some people to follow them, the Nuu-chanuil people, to learn how to track and hunt these big guys at sea.

Of course, they will give some rewards for this.

The people of Shixing Fort will upgrade and modify more advanced whaling equipment for their Nuchanul people free of charge, and will also slightly increase the trading price of whales and allow them to obtain more preferential discounts on material transactions.

The tribal elder originally wanted to reject their request outright, but he was reluctant to give up the tempting conditions offered by the other party.

Sharp harpoons, neatly arranged spears, strong ropes, and a large number of whale slaughtering and cutting tools.

These equipments are a hundred times better than their primitive and backward tools such as wooden spears, stone axes, and tree ropes.

However, he had a deep-seated fear: if these people were taught how to hunt whales, they would abandon the Nuu-chanuar people and engage in large-scale whaling operations to meet their needs.

If this happens, the tribe will inevitably lose an important commodity that can be exchanged for their good things.

Perhaps seeing their concerns, the people of Shixing Fort repeatedly assured that no matter how many whales they, the Nuchanul people, hunted, they would buy them at a "fair" price.

Well, we will buy as many whales as you can catch, there is no limit at all.

In response to this, the tribal elders heaved a long sigh of relief and smiled with satisfaction.

After a year of trading, the people in the tribe seemed to be becoming more and more dependent on the goods they provided.

The sharp knife can easily cut through the skin and meat, the sturdy and dry iron pot allows them to cook the food quickly, and the magical granular seasoning can make the food more delicious.

There is also the spicy "holy water" they brew. After drinking it into your stomach, it will not only warm your body instantly, but also make you feel euphoric and fall into a very wonderful fantasy.

(End of this chapter)