Chapter 40 Forty to Kuma Kato

At six o'clock in the morning, February 7, Jazz gave the signal for departure.The night rain had stopped, but the sky was still clouded, blocking the sun.The climate is not too hot, and it is bearable to travel during the day. The geographer took out a map, calculated it, and decided that it would be better to go to the village of Kanavasia, where the Kumpa River and the Kumakato River meet, 50 kilometers away, if you walk along the winding coast.There is an overland mail route passing by, and you can take a horse-drawn carriage to Auckland.So, the pedestrians carried their own dry food on their backs and started to walk around the shore of Austria Bay.For the sake of prudence, they were not too far away, and instinctively prepared their carbine, watching the movement on the rolling grassland.The geographer holds a refined map in his hand, and praises the correctness of the map marking with the eyes of an art appreciator.

During this day, they passed a section of sand covered with mussel and squid bones, and the sand was mixed with a large amount of iron tetroxide.As soon as the magnet is close to the ground, it will immediately attract a layer of bright crystals. Some marine animals that like to swim in the sea are caressed by the tide, and they will not run away when they see people.Many seals, with their round heads, broad, raised foreheads, and expressive eyes, present a kindly, even sentimental face.It is no wonder that ancient mythology poetizes marine animals. Although the seal sounds so ugly, the poets still refer to it as a singing mermaid.These sea beasts are hunted for their oil and fur, and they congregate on the coast and are a great business.There are three or four walruses among the seals. They have gray-blue skin and are seven to eight meters long, which attract the attention of pedestrians.They lie lazily on the thick sand, sticking out their long noses that can be soft or hard, and grimacingly shaking their long, curly mustaches, which look like the beards of young masters.Little Robert was watching these interesting animals carefully, when he suddenly exclaimed in amazement:

Why, these seals ate stones! Sure enough, several seals swallowed the stones on the shore. The facts are absolutely true, so what's the fuss about!Paganel responded. Their feed is also too special, these things are not easy to digest!said Robert Jr. Children, they don't eat rocks to fill their stomachs, but to increase their body weight and easily sink to the bottom of the water.Believe it or not, when they come back to shore, you will see them spit out these stones. Sure enough, after a while, half a dozen seals gained enough weight to crawl along the bank and into the water.But Jazz couldn't waste precious time waiting for the seals to come back and watch them spit stones.He urged the pedestrians on, and Paganel had to leave regretfully.

At ten o'clock, we stopped at the foot of many snowflake rocks for breakfast.These rocks are braced vertically and horizontally, as if the ancient Celtic people [Note: Residents of central and western Europe in ancient times. ] A large stone beam erected on the coast.There are a lot of Xinhai mussels in a clam shell beach. This kind of mussels is very small and tastes bad.However, after Obir's careful processing and cooked on charcoal fire, everyone still tasted sweet and delicious. After resting, he moved on along the shore of the bay.On the jagged rocks and cliffs they saw many seabirds, frigatebirds, gulls, and gigantic albatrosses sitting motionless on the rock-points.By four o'clock in the afternoon, I had already traveled fifteen kilometers, and I was not strenuous or tired.The female guests asked to continue into the evening.At this time, the road turned and went around the foot of the mountains to the north, and entered the Kumpa River valley.

The lush ground seemed to be an endless prairie. The terrain was flat and the road seemed easy, but it was disappointing at the edge.At the end of the meadow was a grove of small white flowers, interspersed with tall and numerous ferns.It is difficult for people to carve a path through the grove.At eight o'clock in the evening, the first few hills that led to the Hakkalihuata Mountains were finally rounded, and the people camped on the spot. At night, of course, we cannot relax our vigilance. They took turns standing guard with loaded guns and live ammunition.until the sun comes out.There was no fire at night.In New Zealand, there are no tigers, no lions, no bears, no beasts of any kind, but there are man-eating natives, who are almost two-legged black-spotted tigers, and they will be drawn out by lighting a fire.All in all, the night was all right, except for a bold field mouse that came to nibble on the dry food, and a few sand flies, called gamuts in the native language, which stinged very badly.

The next day, the geographer got up much more at ease than before.He was less intimidated by the new place.The Maori he feared did not appear, not even to threaten him in his dreams.He was very satisfied with this, and told the Jazz about this feeling. I think, he said to Glenarvan, that this easy walk will be done without any trouble.Tonight, I guess I can walk to the place where the river meets, and on the Oakland road, there are not many chances of meeting the natives. How far is it from where the two rivers meet?Sir asked. Twenty-five kilometers, about the same distance as yesterday.

But the bushes were in our way, and we were going too slowly. It won't happen in the future, we will walk along the Kumper River, the road will be easier to walk. Let's go then. In the first few hours of the journey, the resistance was still not small.This part of New Zealand admits only travelers on foot before driving out through its jungle.Those fern-tails of all kinds defended the land as strong as the Maori.But towards noon they came to the Kumpa River, and from here there was no obstacle to the north along the banks. Here is a fascinating scenic area, with small harbors criss-crossing, the water in the harbor is clear and cool, flowing lively among the bushes. According to the survey of botanist Hooker, 2,000 kinds of plants have been found in New Zealand, among which Five hundred species are endemic.There are not many kinds of flowers, the colors are relatively monotonous, and there are almost no annual plants, but ferns, grasses and umbrellas are very prosperous.

Tall trees sprang up here and there on the green ground: the metrosidero with vermilion flowers, the Norfolk pine, the cypress with dense upward branches, and the cypress called leech. Wooden cypress trees look almost the same as European cypress trees.All these trunks are surrounded by ferns of various varieties. Among the branches, above the bushes, is the kingdom of parrots, flying and clamoring.One is called Kakaliji, with green fur and a red band under its neck; the other is about the same size, called Nanguo Old Man, with brown-red feathers, and the color under the wings is particularly bright.

McNabbs and Robert Jr. actually hunted as usual during the march, and a few sandpipers and bamboo chickens became their trophies.O'Bill plucked as he walked, so as not to stop and delay the journey. For a geographer, curiosity overwhelms the greed of his traveling companions. He doesn't care about the nutritional value of wild game, and he really wants to catch a New Zealand specialty bird.He suddenly thought of a bird called the turkey, which has such strange habits that it is sometimes called a mocking expert, because they keep laughing, and sometimes a priest, because of its black feathers with a white collar. .

This kind of tufted bird, Paganel told McNabbs, grows so fat in winter that he can't fly, so he cut his chest open and pecked out the fat in the stomach to lose weight.This approach is amazing! Because it's so amazing, I don't believe what you said just now!McNabbs said. The geographer would have liked to catch one of these birds and show the bloody bruise on its chest to the unbelievable major, but he couldn't. However, he was lucky enough to meet another pair of strange birds called kiwis, which biologists call kiwis.It has no wings, no tail, four toes on each foot, long beak shell like a snipe, covered with white feathers and hair, and looks very strange.It eats anything, pupae, insects, worms, seeds, it eats them all.This kind of bird ran to this remote area in order to escape the pursuit of people, cats and dogs, and gradually became extinct.Its shapeless body and ridiculous movements often attract the attention of travelers.When the Asrorab and the Sele came to Oceania for exploration, the French Academy of Sciences specially asked Guy Mengville to take such a strange bird back as a specimen.However, although the Ju family promised various rewards to the natives, they never got a live kiwi.

Paganel was so lucky that he was lucky enough to catch two kiwis and send them to the Paris Zoo in the future, with Jacques on the cage.The plaque presented by Mr. Paganel, to satisfy his competitive spirit. At this time, the caravan was walking in high spirits along the banks of the Kumpa River.The place is uninhabited, no trace of people has been left, and the river flows in the grass or on the sand.Pedestrians can see all the way to the hills that block the valley to the east. The hills are strangely shaped, and their silhouettes are immersed in the hazy mist. They seem to be many giant beasts, similar to those monsters that lived in the pre-flood period. It can be said that they are a group of long whales. turned into a fossil.Looking at these rugged mountains, you can know that this is a volcanic geological structure.Originally, the North and South Islands of New Zealand were formed by volcanic eruptions.Now the fire of the earth surges in its guts, making it vibrate, quiver, and sometimes burst forth from the mouths of craters and intermittent boiling springs.At four o'clock in the afternoon, everyone had successfully walked fifteen kilometers and was less than eight kilometers away from the confluence of the two rivers. When they got there, they would go to the Oakland Highway and plan to camp there.As for the trip from there to the capital, two to three days is enough; moreover, there is also a postal bus that travels between Hawke's Bay and Auckland once in half a day, which is very convenient. So, says sir, we'll sleep rough again to-night. May it be the last time!said the geographer. If only that would be great.Camping is really a tough test. Mr. Paganel, if I remember correctly, there is a village where the two rivers meet. Let's find a hotel and rest there for the night, shall we?asked Captain Mengel. Yes, there is a Kanavasia village, but in this kind of Maori village, it is difficult to find even a tavern or tavern, just some thatched huts where the natives live.Not only can we not spend the night there, but we must carefully avoid it. You were always so afraid of Maori, Mr Paganel!Sir said. My dear sir, beware of the Maori.Tensions between the Maori and the British are now high, and they just don't want to catch people like us, and I don't want to try their hospitality.Therefore, I think it is better for us to be more honest and avoid the village of Kanavasia and avoid meeting the natives.Once we arrived at Drury, we could safely and boldly rest and recover from the weariness of our journey. Everyone agreed with Paganel's opinion.Mrs. Helen would rather spend her last night in the open air than take unnecessary risks.Neither Miss Mary nor she asked to stop, and they continued walking along the bank. Two hours later, dusk settled over the land, and the sun took advantage of the sudden brightening of the clouds to cast its last rays before sinking toward the western horizon.The distant peaks to the east were dyed red by the brilliance of the setting sun.This seemed to be a hasty salute to the passengers. Jazz and his party hastened their pace. They knew that dusk was short in this high latitude zone, and night would soon fall. They had to rush to the place where the two rivers converged before it got dark.At this time, a thick fog rose from the ground, and the road could no longer be discerned. Although the vision is blinded by the shadows, the hearing is still sensitive.Soon, the louder and louder the sound of running water told everyone that the destination was approaching.At eight o'clock, the travel team arrived at the confluence of the two rivers, where the roar of the surging waves was inevitable. ah!The Kuma Kato River has arrived at last, cried the geographer, and the road to Oakland runs up the right bank of this river. Let's camp here tonight, said the major. There is a shadow ahead, probably a jungle, which is a good place to hide us.Let's rest after dinner! There's only biscuits and dried meat for supper today, no fire.We drifted in and drifted away tomorrow morning.Fortunately, the fog prevented people from seeing us.said the geographer. When they arrived in the grove, they obeyed Paganel's words and ate dinner quietly.Due to the long journey, all of them were very tired, and after a while, they fell asleep.