Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Getting to know each other

The escort consisted of a hundred men under the leadership of Bushmen.These natives are hard-working Bushmen, who rarely get angry, rarely quarrel, and are very able to endure hardships and stand hard work.Before the missionaries came, these Bushmen were liars, heartless people who murdered and robbed, often killing their enemies in their sleep.The missionaries partially changed these barbaric customs, but these natives still more or less maintained their habit of robbing farms and stealing livestock. Ten Bushmans had acquired four-wheeled carriages of the kind under the Molkata Falls to form the traveling means of the expedition.Two of them are similar to some kind of mobile homes, which are more comfortable and are used for overnight accommodation by Europeans.Colonel Everett and his companions had such a dwelling to follow: built of wood, with a dry floor, a roof of impermeable tarpaulins, and all kinds of beds and toiletries.This saves you the time of setting up a tent when you arrive at the camp, because the tent is already set up.

One of these two cars was used by Colonel Everett and his two compatriots John.Mr. Murray and William.Amory uses.Three Russians Mathieu.Strux, Nicola.Ballandre and Michelle.Zorn lives in another.There are two more cars of the same form as the first two, belonging to the five British and five Russians of the Queen and Tsar's crew. Of course, the steamboat's hull and steam engine were also dismantled and loaded on one of the carriages, which would also accompany the travelers through the African desert.There are many lakes in this inland country, some of which lie on the route chosen by the scientific committee, so that steamboats can be of great use.

Other wagons carry instruments, food, traveller's luggage, weapons, ammunition, triangulation tools such as portable iron towers for measuring bases, poles, reflectors, tripods, etc., and finally, a guard of a hundred men items.The Bushmen's food consisted mainly of biltong.They cut the meat of antelope, buffalo or elephant into long strips and dry it in the sun or simmer it in a form that preserves it for several months.This method of production can save salt, so it is widely used in areas that lack this useful mineral.For bread, the Bushmans substituted fruits and tubers of various plants: peanut kernels, capsules of certain sunflowers, local figs, chestnuts, or the pulp of what is known as kaffir bread.These foods are obtained from plants, and should be continuously picked and replenished on the road.As for meat, the hunters of the escort used their aloe bows and spears with extraordinary dexterity to hunt wild animals in the woods and plains to provide meat for the expedition.

The six local cows produced in Cape Town, with long legs and high shoulders and huge horns, were put on six cars by buffalo leather saddles and bridles.These heavy vehicles, samples of primitive car-building technology, were pulled by six oxen, if not quickly, then steadily, and moved forward, dragged by huge heavy wheels, neither fearing steep slopes nor worrying about mud puddle. The travelers were mounted on black or pale gray Spanish ponies, a gentle, brave and much-loved animal brought to Cape Town from South America.Also in the group of quadrupeds were six guwaga, a plump donkey with thin legs and a loud bark reminiscent of a dog.Some local flow is required for measuring experiments, and these guwaga are responsible for carrying instruments and tools to places that four-wheeled vehicles cannot reach.

The only exception was the Bushman, who mounted a horse with the grace and deftness of an expert John.A handsome quadruped that Lord Marui is the envy of.This is a zebra, covered with brown horizontal stripes, very handsome.Four feet tall from hoof to mane, and seven feet long from muzzle to tail, the zebra was suspicious and easily startled, and had never been subjected to slavery before Morcombe. Several wild dogs, not yet fully domesticated, sometimes inappropriately called huntress dogs, ran on either side of the expedition.Their body shape and long ears are reminiscent of the European short-haired lop-eared hound.

That's all for the upcoming expedition deep into the African desert.The six cows moved forward quietly under the driver's control, and the ribs were poked by the driver's prod from time to time.It was a strange sight to see the procession marching so orderly along the hills. Where will the expedition be led after leaving La Taku? straight ahead.Colonel Everett has said it. In fact, the colonel and Mathieu.At this point Strux could not move in a definite direction.Before they could begin their triangulation experiments, they first had to find a large, flat field in which to establish the base of the first angle. This triangulation network should cover a vast area in southern Africa spanning many latitudes.

Colonel Everett explained to the Bushmen what to do.With the poise of a scholar accustomed to scientific terminology, the Colonel spoke to the Bushmen of angles, adjacent angles, bases, lengths of meridians, distances from the zenith, and so on.After letting him talk for a few minutes, the Bushman interrupted impatiently: Colonel, I don't listen to your horns, your bases, your warps.I can't even fathom what you're going to do in the African desert.But it's your business anyway.what do you want me to doA vast and beautiful plain, very straight, very level?OK, I'll go find this for you.

At Morcum's command, the expedition, which had just turned around the hills of Rattaku, began to walk southwest.This direction is located in the south of the town, which is the plain area irrigated by the Juluman River.The Bushmans hoped to find plains in the valley of the river that would be favorable to the colonel's plans. From this day on, hunters have developed the habit of walking ahead of the expedition.John.His Excellency Ma Rui rode a good horse, kept close to the hunter, and told his companions that he knew another African wild animal with a loud gunshot from time to time.The colonel was completely immersed in his own thoughts, letting the horse carry him forward.He was thinking about the future of this expedition. It was too difficult to lead such an expedition in such a wild place.Mathieu.Strux, sometimes riding a horse, sometimes sitting in a car, always looking at the natural landscape on the side of the road, rarely speaks.As for Nicola.Ballendre, the worst rider among men, spent most of his time on foot, or locked himself in his car, lost in reveries of higher mathematics.

If William.Amory and Michelle.Zon spent the night in his own car, so at least they could see each other again during the day when the expedition was on its way.A growing friendship between the two young men is reinforced by the events of the journey.On the road during the day, they drove side by side, talking and arguing.The two of them would often separate from the expedition, sometimes walking on the flanks of the party, sometimes rushing miles ahead when the endless plains opened up.They are free, like lost in this wild nature.They talked about everything but science, they had left numbers and problems, calculations and observations behind them, they were no longer astronomers, no longer people who gazed at the starry sky, but They are two deserted students, happily running through the dense forest and the boundless wilderness, breathing the refreshing and fragrant air.They laughed, laughing like ordinary people, not like the serious people who had made their groups more accustomed to comets and other oblate planets.If they never laughed at science, they sometimes smiled at the thought of serious scholars who were not of this world, but there was no malice in it.They are two excellent natural people, extroverted, lovable, loyal, and their two leaders, Colonel Everett and Mathieu, are more rigid than rigid.Strux, forming a special contrast.

Undoubtedly, the two scientists were often the subject of commentary by the two young men.William.Amory's friend Michelle.Under the influence of Zorn, he began to learn to know them. Yes, Michelle.Zorn said, I observed them carefully when sailing in Augusta.Unfortunately, I have to admit that these two are jealous of each other.If Colonel Everett looked like the leader of the expedition, Mathieu.Strux was no worse than him, and the Russian government clearly established his leadership position.Our two leaders became more bossy than the other.Also, I repeat to you, there is a scientist's jealousy among them, the worst of all jealousies.

It is also the most unreasonable one, William.Amory replied that because we are all people who work in the field of discovery, each of us can benefit from our joint efforts.But if your opinions are correct, I have reason to believe them.My dear Zorn, this is a sad situation for our expedition.Because we must have the absolute spirit of cooperation to make such an experiment so difficult to succeed. Maybe, Michelle."I'm afraid that kind of collaboration doesn't exist," Zorn said.Please judge our uneasiness.If the choice of every detail of the experiment, the calculation method, the location of the observation station, and the check of the numbers lead to a new debate!Maybe I'm reading it wrong, or maybe I'm anticipating some squabbles when it comes time to check our double records and write in them observations that will give us an accuracy of four thousandths of a Tuise. You frighten me, my dear Zon.William.Amory said it was gut-wrenching to venture so far for such a cause only to fail because of a lack of collaboration.May God bless your fears from becoming reality. I hope so, William.said the young Russian astronomer, but I repeat, I took part in several discussions of the scientific method during the trip, which confirmed that Colonel Everett and his opponents were indescribably obstinate.In short, I sensed a tragic jealousy. However, the two gentlemen were never separated.William.Amory said from observation that we have never come across one without the other, they are inseparable, just like the two of us are inseparable. Yes, Michelle.Zon said that as long as it was daytime, they never separated.However, the two exchanged words never less than ten.They are spying on each other, spying on each other.If one doesn't eliminate the other, we'll be working in deplorable conditions. According to your opinion, William asked with some hesitation, which of these two scientists would you like to be My dear William, Michelle.Zorn said quite frankly that I loyally accept the leadership of any one of them who can properly establish authority.I have no prejudice, no sense of national pride in this matter of science.Mathieu.Both Strux and Colonel Everett were brilliant men, and they rivaled each other.Great Britain and Russia should benefit equally from the fruits of their work.It does not matter whether these tasks are directed by an Englishman or by a Russian.Do you disagree with me? Absolutely agree, my dear Zorn.William.So don't let some silly prejudice distract us, says Amory, and let us both serve the common good to the best of our ability individually.Perhaps we can divert a possible collision between the two opponents.Also, your compatriot Nicola.Ballendre he!Michelle.Zon laughed, he would see nothing, hear nothing, and understand nothing.As long as he can calculate him, he can be Theodore. 】 Calculated for the benefit.He is not Russian, not English, not Prussian, not Chinese, he is not even a man of the world, he is Nikolai.Ballandre.this is all. About my countryman John.Ma Rui, I can't say so much.William.Amory said he was a typical Englishman, but also a determined hunter.He can more easily follow a giraffe or an elephant than participate in a scientific law discussion.My dear Zorn, it seems that only the two of us can ease the frequent friction between the two leaders.There is no need to say anything more, no matter what happens, we will always be frankly and faithfully united. Forever, no matter what happens!Michelle.As Zorn spoke, he reached out to his friend William. The expedition continued southwestward under the leadership of the Bushmans.At noon on the 4th of March they reached a wide area at the foot of the hills that stretched from La Taku to this point.The hunter was not mistaken, he had led the expedition to the plain.But this rolling plain was not available for the original work of triangulation.So the team cannot stop advancing.Morcombe went back to the front of the horse and the four-wheeler, and John.Mr. Murray, William.Amory and Michelle.Zon stepped forward. In the afternoon the whole procession arrived at a post inhabited by itinerant herdsmen, whose wealth enabled them to settle in some places for several months.Colonel Everett and his companions were warmly received here by a Dutch immigrant.This is the head of a large family who is unwilling to receive any form of compensation for services rendered to the expedition.This farmer belongs to the kind of brave, down-to-earth and industrious people. He cleverly used the meager capital in his hands to raise cattle, dairy cows and goats, and soon became rich.When the farm is exhausted, the farmer, like an old patriarch, seeks new sources of fertile pastures, and pitches camp under more favorable conditions. The farmer pointed out a vast plain which met Colonel Everett's conditions. It was fifteen miles away and had a large area and flat ground, which should be very suitable for ground measurement experiments. The next day, March 5, the expedition set out at dawn, and traveled all morning without a single incident to enrich the tedious walk, were it not for John.His Excellency Marui fired a shot and hit a strange animal from a distance of 1,200 meters. This animal had the snout of a cow, a long white tail, and sharp horns on its forehead.It was a wildebeest, bison, and it let out a low growl as it fell to the ground after being struck. The Bushmen were amazed.The buffalo was hit so accurately at such a distance that it immediately fell dead.This animal, about five feet tall, provided a decent amount of tasty meat for their meals.So much so that the wildebeest is especially recommended for expedition hunters. When it was almost noon, the place pointed by the farmer arrived.This is a grassland that extends infinitely to the north without any undulations on the ground.It is impossible to conceive of a more flat ground for base measurement than here.Then the Bushman, after having inspected it, approached Colonel Everett, and said: This is the plain you're looking for, Colonel.