Chapter 5 Chapter Five: The Town of Holden Dok

The boat travels very fast on the river.The rainy season still came on time.The passengers, however, remained in comfortable cabins and did not feel the slightest discomfort from the torrential downpour, which is common in the rainy season.The Queen and the Tsar traveled swiftly, meeting neither the rapids nor the bottom of the river, and the current was not strong enough to slow her down. The banks of the Orange River have always presented a fascinating landscape.Forests with many species of trees stretch continuously on both sides of the bank, which is a paradise for green birds.Here and there were clusters of endemic species, the wood of which was reddish and marbled, and whose bright blue leaves and large yellowish flowers produced a curious effect.There is a tree with black bark, and another tree with dark, evergreen leaves.Several groves of woods stretched for miles on either side of the river, where they joined the shady weeping willows.From time to time, expanses of fields suddenly appeared.These are plains covered with countless watermelons, interspersed with clumps of sweet brambles, and inhabited by a honey-producing salamander.From these sweet thorn bushes flew flocks of sweet singing birds called sweet warblers by the Cape colonists.

Bushmen to John.His Excellency Murray, a great collector of birds and animals, pointed out that the world of birds can provide a variety of birds.Thus, a sense of closeness is established between the two.This noble friend of Morcombe, honoring Colonel Everett's promise, presented him with an excellent long-range rifle.The Bushman was indescribably satisfied as the owner of this beautiful weapon. The two hunters get along well.As an outstanding scientist, John.His Excellency Moray is considered one of the great fox hunters of Old Caledonia.He listened to the Bushmen's stories with interest and admiration.His eyes lit up when the Bushman pointed out some wild beasts under the tree.There are groups of giraffes over there.Here are buffaloes six feet high, armed with black, coiled horns.In the distance, some ferocious wildebeest have horse tails.Farther away, there are herds of kamas (a type of yellow deer), with flaming eyes and horns forming menacing triangles.In the dense jungle, as in the bare wilderness, you can see the countless species of antelope that are found throughout South Africa: hybrid chamois, eland, chamois, bush goat, jumping sheep, etc.Don't wild animals abound that tempt a hunter's hunting instincts?How can a fox hunt in the Scottish Lowlands compare to a Cummings, an Anderson or a Baldwin in Africa?

Facing these abundant birds and beasts in front of him, John.Marui's companions were not as excited as he was.William.Amory watched his colleagues attentively, trying to guess something from their impassive exteriors.Colonel Everett and Mathieu.Strux was about the same age, both were composed, restrained, formalistic, and spoke slowly, and each morning they acted as if they had never known each other until the night before, and it was not to be expected that any kind of intimacy would develop between the two. Established among important people.Two frosty, disconnected people can eventually accept each other, but two scientists, both in high places, can never do so.

Nicola.Rondel, fifty-five years old, is one of those men who are never young and never old. The astronomer from Helsinki, always immersed in his calculations, is a well-organized machine, so to speak. , but not just a machine, but an abacus and universal calculator.As calculator for the Anglo-French Council, the scientist was just one of those geniuses who could multiply five-digit numbers in his head. Michelle.Zorn, young, enthusiastic, gentle personality, and William.Amory is very similar.His likable qualities did not prevent him from being an accomplished astronomer and a premature celebrity.His personal discovery of the nebulous Andromeda constellation and the achievements of the Kiev Observatory under his leadership caused great repercussions in the European scientific community.His grades are undisputed, and he is open-minded and willing to back down at any time.

William.Amory and Michelle.Zon became good friends, and they were united by the same interests and ideals.More often the two of them are talking.Colonel Everett and Mathieu.Strux was watching each other coldly, Ballandre was busy driving his cube root, turning a blind eye to the beautiful scenery by the river, and John.His Excellency Murray and the Bushmans are making a series of prey massacre plans. The journey up the Orange River was without incident.At times, the steep granite banks that flank the meandering channel seemed to block all escape.There are often some green islands lying across the water, making it difficult to determine the channel.But the Bushmen never hesitated, and the Queen and the Tsar could always find a favorable passage, or jump out of the arena surrounded by the cliffs.Not once did the helmsman regret following Morcum's orders.

In four days the steamer covered the two hundred and forty miles between the Molkata Falls and the Juluman River.The Guluman River is a tributary of the Orange River, which leads up to the point where Colonel La Takoueveret's expedition is supposed to reach.The Orange River formed a bend 30 miles upstream from Molkata Falls, changed its basic east-west direction, and flowed southeast deep into the northern corner of the Cape Colony, where it became northeast again until 300 Miles away, a green patch of land in the Transvaal Republic. In the early morning of February 5, the Queen and Tsar arrived in the pouring rain at the point where the Karalvat Gruman River empties into the Orange River in the village of Horton.But Colonel Everett didn't want to waste a moment, and the steamboat quickly passed the Bushmen's cabin, and under the propeller, began to go up the Guluman River.The swiftness of the river, as the passengers of the Queen and Tsar observed, is due to one of its peculiarities.In fact, the Guluman River is very wide in its upstream source, but as it flows downstream, its water gradually decreases due to evaporation due to sunlight.But during the rainy season, the flow increases, and with the addition of water from an underground tributary, the Moshina River, it becomes deep and fast.The steamboat thus loaded up its fire, and went upstream at a speed of three miles an hour.

During this part of the voyage, the Bushmans pointed out the many hippopotamuses in the river.These manatees, as the Dutch in Cape Town call them, are hulking pachyderms eight to ten feet long and hardly aggressive.Frightened by the steamboat's whistle and propeller rope ladder, the steamboat was to them a strange monster to be wary of.In fact, the large number of weapons on board can make them difficult to approach.John.His Excellency Marui would like to try his explosive bullets on these chubby guys.But the Bushmans assured him that hippos were everywhere in the northern rivers, John.Lord Marui decided to wait for a better time.

It took the steamer fifty hours to cover the one hundred and fifty miles between the mouth of the Guruman River and La Taku, and arrived at its destination at three o'clock in the afternoon on February 7th. When the steamboat stopped by the river, a fifty-year-old man with a serious but kind face appeared on the bank and asked William.Amory held out his hand.The astronomer then introduced it to his traveling companions. Dear Thomas from the Church of LondonPastor Dale, the president of the Rattaku Missionary Society. . These Europeans asked Thomas.Reverend Dale greeted them, who also welcomed them and began to get busy for them.

Lataku City, or rather the small town of Lataku, is the northernmost missionary church in Cape Town.It is divided into Old Rattaku and New Rattaku.Old Rattaku, where the Queen and Tsar had just arrived, is now almost deserted, and was home to twelve thousand people at the turn of the century, all of whom had emigrated to the northeast.This dilapidated city has been replaced by the new Rattaku.The new city was built not far away, on what had once been an acacia-covered plain. The Europeans came to New Rataku under the leadership of the priest.There are more than 40 blocks of residential houses here, and there are 5,000 to 6,000 residents belonging to the huge Bechuana tribe.

In 1840, David.Dr. Livingston lived in this small town for three months. After that, he set off from Luonda Bay, Congo, and started his first trip along the Zambezi River.He crossed all of Central Africa as far as the port of Guilemana on the coast of Mozambique. On reaching New Rattaku, Colonel Everett delivered a letter from Dr. Livingston to the President of the Church.In his letter, the Doctor introduced the Anglo-Russian Committee to his African friends.Thomas.Dale read the letter happily, and returned it to Colonel Everett, saying that it would be useful for their expedition, because David.Livingston's name is well known and admired in this part of Africa.

The members of the committee lived in the missionaries' quarters, huts properly built on the hill, enclosed like fortifications by an impenetrable fence.The Europeans are much more comfortable living here than among the Bechuanalians, not because their houses are unclean.On the contrary, the ground of their house is smooth earth, which does not raise dust at all, and the roof is covered with long thatch, impervious to rain.But in the final analysis, they are just thatched huts, with only a round hole that can only allow one person to come in and out.In these huts, life is communal, and direct contact with the Bechuanas is not a pleasant experience. The tribal leader lives in Lataku, a man named Mulibahan, who thinks he should come to the Europeans to fulfill some obligations.Mulibahan was fairly handsome, with neither dark complexion nor thick lips and flat nose, but the lower part of his round face was not retracted like that of the Horton Dodgers.The leader wore a very cleverly sewn animal fur coat, a smock called picauge in the local language, a toque hat on his head, cowhide sandals on his feet, ivory rings around his elbows, ears It dangles down and is about four French inches long [Note: French ancient unit of length, one French inch∥27.07mm. 】The copper piece is a kind of earring and also a talisman.From the top of his round hat floated the tail of a chamois.On the tip of his stick was a mass of black ostrich down.The Bechuanalin chief was covered head to toe in a thick layer of ocher, making it impossible to discern the natural color of his body's skin.Several scars on his thighs that never healed show the number of enemies he killed. The leader, at least with Mathieu.Strux himself was as serious and approached the Europeans.Touch noses with them in turn.The Russians took it very seriously, but the British were somewhat reluctant.However, according to African customs, it is a solemn gesture of hospitality to Europeans. After the ceremony, Mulibahan walked away without saying a word. Now that we have been accepted by the Bechuanalites, said Colonel Everett, there is not a day or an hour to waste, let us begin our work. Not a day, not an hour was wasted.The organization of an expedition, however, required so much trouble, that the committee could not be ready for departure by the date Colonel Everett had appointed before the beginning of March.At this time, the rainy season had just ended, and the water stored in the folded strata was a valuable resource for desert travelers. The departure time was fixed for the second of March, and on this day the expedition, under the leadership of Morcombe, was ready to go.The Europeans bid farewell to the missionaries at La Taku and left the town at seven o'clock in the morning. where are we going?Colonel.William.asked Amory after the expedition passed the last hut in the city. Go straight ahead, Mr. Amory.Colonel replied, until we find a suitable place to build the bottom edge of the foundation. At eight o'clock the expedition had passed the low hills which surrounded the town and were covered with scrub.Soon, the desert, with all the dangers, fatigue and accidents it can cause, unfolds at the feet of travelers.