Chapter 183： Mombasa parting

4On April 1, 1498, Da Gama's fleet finally arrived at the Mombasa port in Kenya on the east coast of Africa and stopped there.

Columbus watched Marin's "nautical secrets" handed to him, shocked (or frightened) speechless. Because Marin counted the day when the Da Gama fleet arrived in Mombasa.

Then, Columbus saw the following instructions-don't care about the Da Gama fleet, while the Da Gama fleet stops in Mombasa, go north to Malindi at full speed ...

Then Columbus did so. Instead of approaching Mombasa port, he led the fleet around Mombasa and headed north. At this point, Columbus's fleet no longer trailed the Da Gama's fleet, but began to explore its own route ...

Suddenly, Da Gama's fleet encountered the cold treatment of the locals in Mombasa. Because the local chiefs believe that the Portuguese are their competitors in maritime trade, and naturally they will not look good.

Of course, the locals knew the Indian route, but no one disclosed the Indian route to Da Gama under the command of the chief. After a few days of stay and rest in the area, Da Gama had to anchor again and take the fleet to sail north.

At this point, some of Dagama's fleet has begun to have scurvy. Of course, Da Gamma is not clear about the origin and treatment of scurvy. Moreover, these days, scurvy is not uncommon, and I can only consider myself unlucky ...

But what Dagama didn't know was that when they docked at Mombasa on April 1st, Columbus had already started sailing with his fleet and sailed north along the coast at full speed.

Malindi is only 104 kilometers away from Mombasa. Although Columbus does not know the specific distance, Marin said that there is not far from Mombasa.

Although the wind was not right, and the situation on the land was constantly monitored, on 6 April, Columbus's fleet arrived at Port Malindi. Columbus's search method was very simple, that is, sailing along the coast of Africa and seeing the port put a boat and sent an Arabic translator to ask.

年代 At this time, coastal areas of East Africa were invaded and colonized by Arabs from the Arabian Peninsula. Many small coastal emirates were founded by Arabs or people of Arab descent. For example Mombasa and Malindi belong to this nature.

Moreover, Arabs have long been selling slaves in the east coast of Africa and shipped to the world. Not only that, Arabs are more cruel to blacks than Europeans. Europeans are only more brutal to black slaves, and Arab slave traders directly castrate male slaves before selling them ...

Therefore, in the Arab world, especially in Western Asia, despite the large use of slaves, no slaves are left behind. Because, male slaves were castrated by Arab slave traders, and female slaves, Arab men disdain. Because Arab men have several wives themselves, they can't take care of them. How can they violate female slaves?

However, in East Africa, the Arab conquerors did not kill the black people, but also integrated with the locals. Therefore, there are many local mulattos, such as the main ethnic Swahili in Malindi, which are the mulattos produced by the Arab conquerors and the local blacks. However, the local chiefs generally use Arabic as the official language.

Columbus arrived in Malindi with the fleet and was not immediately welcomed. At first, the Malindi were wary of Columbus and his party.

However, Columbus had the "best tricks" provided by Marin. After meeting local officials, Columbus began to translate through Arabic and began to curse Mombasa, saying that they are incompatible with Mombasa ...

Soon, this remark reached the ears of Chief Malindi. The local chief Ali was very happy when he heard that Columbus was an enemy of Mombasa. He quickly invited Columbus and his party to Malindi's palace to discuss the issues related to the chief of Mombasa. Matters.

Seeing this situation, Columbus sighed, and with great admiration for Marin, began to send 6 bronze Fran machine guns to Malindi Chief Ali on the spot in accordance with Marin's written instructions, and sent someone to guide them fire.

Seeing such a sea weapon, Chief Ali was extremely happy. He regarded Columbus as the most honorable guest and served him deliciously and deliciously every day.

However, Columbus knew from the Marin's written instructions that the Da Gama fleet was coming. So, he began to follow the instructions of Chief Malindi Ali, saying that the Portuguese of the Dagama fleet had formed an alliance with Mombasa, and might come to Malindi to spy on the news ...

At this moment, Chief Ali was angry, and ordered to continue, as long as he saw the fleet of Portuguese royal flags portrayed by Columbus, they would not be allowed to land ...

After dying for a while, Columbus offered to borrow a pilot from Chief Ali and take them to India. At the same time, Columbus vowed that he would bring more artillery to his next visit to Malindi ...

Chief Ali expressed his appreciation for Columbus's initiative to provide sea weapon artillery, so he brought in his most powerful navigator, Ahmed Ibn Majid, and led him to lead Columbus and take Columbus's fleet to the south of India. Caricart, a busy trading port, was the place where Zheng He landed that year.

On April 12th, Columbus's fleet replenished a batch of fresh water to Malindi, heated the barrels with fresh water, and sealed the shipment with sealing mud. At the same time, he also bought a lot of food that is not easy to break.

Then, under the guidance of Majid, Columbus's fleet began sailing across the Arabian Sea ...

Then, on April 14, Dagama's fleet arrived along the coast of Malindi, and the history changed drastically—because of Columbus's words, Chief Malindi believed that Dagama's fleet was a spy sent by Malindi's enemy, Mombasa. As a result, the Malindi rejected the request for the Da Gama fleet to dock.

In desperation, Da Gamma can only take his fleet to continue sailing north along the coast of Africa, find stops, and inquire about India ...

当 While Da Gama's fleet was still searching for information on the east coast of Africa, Columbus's fleet had already set off from Malindi and headed for Caricart.

Along the way, Columbus recorded the captain's log westward every day, recording the heading, as well as the wind direction and hydrological characteristics along the way. As Marin told Columbus before he set off, the Malindi cannot be expected to lead the way. By the next voyage, Columbus would need to lead the voyage by himself. So, for Columbus's voyage data from Malindi to Calicut, it was well documented.

At the same time, Columbus threw money, bought Majid, and asked him for various information in the Arabian Sea. Monsoons, natural disasters, and piracy.

In the face of gold coins, Majid gave a detailed answer and presented a copy of the West Indian Ocean Navigation Guide he wrote to Columbus. When Columbus got the treasure, he directly arranged a translator on the ship to help him translate it into European languages. At the same time, Columbus also asked Draka, the head of the fleet's trade, to learn Hindi from Majid with the help of translators, and to understand the local customs and trade habits of India ~ www.novelhall.com ~ During the voyage, Majid provided Several solar cookers carried by the fleet were very interested. Because the solar cooker is too practical for Arabs.

Whether it is Arabia or North Africa, it is a very dry and sunny place. In these places, practical solar stoves are very convenient. And, because it is a semi-desert region, there is less firewood. Therefore, the solar cooker is of great significance.

When Majid said he wanted to study the solar cooker, Columbus agreed decisively. Majid is an Omani. The Omani region is on the Arabian Peninsula. It is a semi-desert region with plenty of sunshine. Therefore, Majid obviously wanted to bring the solar cooker back to China. In this regard, Columbus, who was bent on obtaining navigation technology from Majid, could not refuse.

Of course, it is difficult to keep the sun stove secret. Because everyone cooks on the Arabian Sea, it depends on the sun stove. Also, the Arabian Sea is sunny. Majid is not a dead man. Seeing sailors cooking with a solar stove, why not study it?

However, the most important secret of Columbus, the telescope, was not disclosed to Majid. Every time he used the telescope, Columbus quietly boarded the observation room above the captain's room before taking out the telescope. In front of Majid, Columbus never used a telescope. When Majid discovered the novelty of the solar cooker, he was very interested, and naturally he did not pay attention to the use of telescopes by Columbus ...

In this way, after the separation of Mombasa, Columbus's fleet and Da Gama's fleet separated, and the situation was very different. Columbus headed directly to India, and Da Gamma also needs to inquire about India on the east coast of Africa ~ www.novelhall.com ~ Welcome the book readers to read, the latest, fastest and most popular serial works are in ~ www .novelhall.com ~ Please read for mobile users.