Chapter 7 seven arogania

The caravan organized by Greenarvan consisted of three adults and a child.The head mule driver is an Englishman who has lived in the local area for twenty years.His job is to rent mules to travelers and guide them through the various passes in the high and low rocks.After passing the pass, he handed the traveler over to Pagano, an Argentinian guide familiar with the steps of the steppes.Although the Englishman spends his days with mules and Indians, he has not completely forgotten the language of his country, and he is not yet unable to converse with the travelers.Therefore, it is convenient for Jazz to express his wishes or ask the other party to execute orders.He was happy to take advantage of this convenience, since Paganel's Spanish was not yet intelligible.

The head mule driver is called Cataba in Chilean.This Kataba, who was originally from the UK, used two local mule drivers, called Pai Weng in the local language, plus a 12-year-old child as an assistant. Bell's filly went ahead of the mule train, followed by ten mules.Of the ten mules, the seven travelers rode seven, Cataba rode one, and two more carried luggage and some bundles of cloth for the purpose of making friends with the chiefs of the plains, and the companions, as usual, walked.Equipped like this, travel across Chile should be guaranteed in terms of safety and speed. Crossing the Andes is no ordinary trip, and it wouldn't be possible without these hardy mules.The best of these mountain-climbing mules come from Argentina, where they are better developed than the original breed.They don't pay much attention to feed and only drink water once a day. They can walk 48 kilometers in eight hours without any problem, and they don't think it's too heavy to transport things weighing more than 300 catties.

There is not a single inn on this journey that connects the two oceans.On the way, they ate dried meat, chili bibimbap, and game that they might catch on the way. They drank the waterfalls in the mountains and the streams on the plains, plus a few drops of sweet wine. Inside an ampoule made of ox horn.However, it should be noted that alcoholic beverages should not be drunk too much. In this area, people's nervous system is particularly easy to be stimulated, so alcoholic beverages are not very suitable.As for the sleeping bedding, the whole thing was packed in the saddle, and fastened to the horse with wide embroidered straps.The saddle is a local product called Lejiatuo, and it is made of sheepskin. This kind of sheepskin is called leather quantity. One side is cut off, and the other side retains the original wool.Wrapped in this warm quilt, passengers can sleep soundly despite the damp night.

Jazz is a man who knows how to travel and can adapt to the customs and customs of various places.He prepared Chilean costumes for himself and his companions.Paganel and Robert, both children, but older and younger, were delighted when they put their heads in the great Chilean cloak and their feet in the boots.The cloak is called the hood, and it is a large piece of plaid with a hole in the middle.The boots were made from the hide of a pony's hind legs.And the mules they rode were also beautifully dressed, with Arabian-style chewing iron in their mouths, and leather bridles tied to both ends of the chewing iron, which could be used as whips. Brightly colored bags containing the day's dry food.Paganel, always careless, almost got kicked when he got on the mule.As soon as he climbed into the saddle, he sat nonchalantly, with a large telescope hanging from his waist, his feet on the stirrups, and the bridle loosened to let the mule go on its own.The mule was very obedient, and he was very satisfied.As for little Robert, he looked like a future first-class rider when he got on the mule.

The whole team set off.The weather was clear and cloudless.Although the sun was high and the air was cooled by the sea breeze, the small group of people advanced rapidly along the winding coast of Talcahuano Bay, and then forty-eight kilometers southward, they set foot on the end of the thirty-seventh parallel.On the first day, we walked quickly through the reeds on the dry beach, not talking much to each other.The parting words were still strongly impressed on the traveller's mind.The black smoke from the Duncan gradually disappeared into the sky, but it was still visible.No one spoke, only the studious geographer was practicing his Spanish, asking himself questions in the new language.

Not only were the passengers silent, but the head mule driver was also quite a silent man, and his occupation had not cultivated the habit of talking in him.He said very little even to his companion.These two companions are experts and know very well what they should do.If a mule stops, they will use their throats to urge it, and if it does not go away, they will throw a stone. The stone is thrown quite accurately, and no matter how stubborn the mule is, it will obey.If a harness came loose, or a rein slipped, the companion took off the hood and put it over the mule's head, and when the harness or reins were fixed, the mule immediately moved on.

The mule driver's habit is to set off after breakfast at 8 o'clock in the morning, and stay until 4 o'clock in the afternoon to prepare for the night.The Jazz respect that habit.On this day, when the guide, the head mule driver, gave the signal to rest, the travelers were arriving at the city of Arrogo at the southern end of the bay, and they had not left the foaming shore until now.Thirty-two kilometers to the west, until the Bay of Carneiro, the end of the thirty-seventh parallel.Jazz's team has traveled all over the seashore, but they haven't found any trace of the sunken ship.It would be useless to run any further, so I decided to use Arrogant City as the starting point.From here follow a straight line to the east.

The party went into the city and spent the night in a very rough hotel. Arrogh City is the capital of Aroghania.The Aroganians are a branch of the Chilean race, proud and strong, the only one in North and South America that has not been ruled by external forces.Arroco once belonged to the Spaniards, but the inhabitants never surrendered.They had resisted the Spaniards then as they resisted the Chileans now, and their flag of independence was always flying on the top of the fortified hill, blue with a white star. While the supper was being prepared, Jazz, Paganel, and the guide walked among the thatched-roofed houses.Apart from a church and the ruins of a Franciscan monastery, there isn't much to see in Arrogo.Jazz tried to find out some news about the sinking ship, but got no results.Paganel was disappointed that residents could not understand the Spanish he spoke.However, the people of Arroco City speak only Arroganian, a vernacular language, and it is useless to speak Paganel's Spanish well until the Strait of Magellan.He could not talk to the natives, but had to use his eyes instead of ears, and he was very happy, because all kinds of typical people in Arogania were presented before his eyes, and he was at his disposal to observe.The men here were tall, with flat faces, bronze skin, beardless, suspicious eyes, broad heads covered with long black hair.They idle around all day long, as if they were idle soldiers in a peaceful and prosperous age.Their women are very hard-working, busy with housework all day long, brushing horses for their masters, polishing weapons, plowing fields, hunting, in addition, they also find time to weave that kind of emerald blue canopy. Weaving for two years, the lowest price is one hundred dollars.

Generally speaking, the Aroganians are not a prominent people, and their customs are quite rough.They have almost all the bad habits of human beings. They have only one virtue, that is, they love independence. These are some Spartans. ] People!When Paganel returned from his walk and sat around for dinner, he praised him repeatedly. It was felt by all that the praise of the venerable scholar was too much.Afterwards he said that when he visited Arrogant, his French heart beat so violently, that they were all the more bewildered.The major asked him why his heart beat so unexpectedly, and he said it was natural.For not so long ago one of his countrymen had been king of Arogania.The major asked for the king's name.He was proud to say the honest Mr. Torres.He was a genuinely good man with a beard all over his face. In his early years, he worked as a lawyer in the French cities of Baili. Later, he became the king of Arogania, and was denounced by the group of fallen kings as ungrateful subjects. His actions dislodged him from his throne.The major smiled slightly when he heard that a lawyer became a king and was thrown from the throne, but Paganel said solemnly: It may be much easier for a lawyer to be a good king than for a king to be a good lawyer.They all laughed at this, and held up the corn wine, and drank a few drops each, and toasted the health of the Aroganian king.A few hours later, the passengers wrapped themselves in their hoods and fell asleep soundly.

At eight o'clock the next morning, with Madeleine in front and Weng in the rear, the small group of horses and horses headed eastward on the thirty-seventh parallel.They passed through the fertile land of Arogania, full of grapes and sheep.However, the population gradually became scarce.There is rarely a mile or so away from Rasterle Addo's mao fence. Rasterle Addo is a famous Indian horse trainer in the American continent.Sometimes they came across an abandoned hut, which was used by the wandering natives of the plain as a shelter from the wind and rain.On this day two rivers, the Lac and the Dubar, blocked the way.Fortunately, the guide found a shoal, and everyone passed safely.At this time, the Andes Mountains had spread out in the sky, showing a series of domes and peaks stretching to the north.This mountain range is the great backbone of the whole New World, and what is seen now is only the lowest part of that great backbone.

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, after walking fifty-six kilometers in one breath, everyone stopped under a huge wild pomegranate tree in the wilderness.The mule let go of the rein and ran freely to eat the tender grass on the pasture.The bag contained dried meat and spicy rice.Spreading the skin on the ground is a pillow mat. Everyone sleeps peacefully on this temporary pillow mat to recover from the fatigue of the day. The night watch is performed by the escort and the guide in turn. Now that the weather was fine and the whole crew, including Robert, was in good health, the long journey had started so well, and everyone thought it would be the same as at the casino, and when the cards were smooth, they went on.So the third day went faster.The rapids of the Baier River were also crossed safely.In the evening, rest next to the Biao River, this place is between Chile and the native country.Jazz and his party advanced another fifty-six kilometers.The geographical situation has not changed, and the soil is still fertile. It is rich in palace grass, woody violets, datura flowers, golden flower cactus, egrets, owls and some yellow finches that escape the hawks are the only birds in this area.Some animals, such as the South American leopard, crouch in the bushes.As for the natives, very few were seen.It is rare to meet a few mixed-race Indians and Spaniards, with big spurs tied to their bare feet, riding a bloody horse, galloping on the plain, walking past like ghosts.There was no one to ask questions on the road, so there was absolutely no news.Glenarvan decided not to make any investigations, so he had to be patient and move forward quickly. On the 17th, set off according to the usual time and customary order.Robert always disobeyed this order, because whenever he was happy he had to go in front of Madeleine, and his mule had suffered a lot.Only Jazz snapped the little guy back into place. The road is more rugged, and the ground is undulating, which indicates that we will reach the mountains ahead, and the number of rivers has increased, and they all flow with the twists and turns of the hillside.Paganel looked at his map from time to time.Some streams were missed on the map, and when he saw that a certain river was not on the map, he was very angry and almost burst into flames on his head, which was ridiculous and cute. A river without a name is equivalent to having no ID card!According to the law of geography, it does not exist. So he unceremoniously gave names to those rivers that had no names, noted them on the map, and to each he added one of the loudest adjectives in Spanish. What a Spanish!What a resounding language he kept saying!This language is really made of metal. I am convinced that its composition is 78% copper and 22% tin, like bronze for casting bells! Such a good character, you have learned some progress, right?Jazz asked him next. Of course there is progress, my dear sir!ah!If it weren't for the tone problem!It's a pity that there must be an appropriate tone to make people understand! Paganel wished he could speak more accurately, and as he walked, he struggled to overcome the difficulty of articulation, and his throat almost broke.At the same time, he did not forget to give his views on geography. In this respect, he is really an expert, and there is no better person in the world.As long as Sir asked the guide a question, wanting to know a feature of the place, his learned companion would always answer the question and tell the feature before the guide, and the guide would stare at him in astonishment. . Near ten o'clock that day they came across a road that cut across the straight line they had been following.Sir Glenarvan naturally wanted to ask for the name of the road, and it was naturally Paganel who answered: This is the road from Rumbel Pass to Los Angeles. Sir looked at the guide. Exactly.The guide answered. Then, turning to the geographer, he asked: Have you ever been to this place? of course!said Paganel solemnly. Came on a mule? No, in an easy chair. The guide must not have understood the meaning of this sentence, for he shrugged his shoulders and went back to the front of the line. At five o'clock in the evening, the tour group came to rest in a not very deep mountain depression, which was a few miles north of Little Roja City. That night, they camped at the foot of the mountain. The lowest step of the mountain.