Chapter 7 7.Arogania

The caravan organized by Glenarvan consisted of three adults and one child.The head mule driver is an Englishman who has lived in the local area for 20 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 mountain pass, he handed over the traveler to a "Bagano", who was a guide in Argentina who was familiar with the steppe road.The Englishman Rigault spends his days with mules and Indians, but 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.The "Kataba", originally from the UK, used two local mule drivers, called "pei Weng" in the local dialect, plus a 12-year-old child as an assistant. The "companion" takes care of the luggage-carrying mules, and the child rides "Madelina", a small mare with a bell, in front of the mule train, followed by 10 mules. Of the 10 mules, 7 were carried by 7 travelers, 1 by "Cataba", and 2 carried luggage and bundles of cloth for the chieftains of the plains. The "companion" still walks as usual.With equipment like this, travel across Chile should be guaranteed in terms of safety and speed.

Crossing the Andas is no ordinary trip, and it would not be possible without these strong 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. It is not a problem at all to walk 48 kilometers in 8 hours, and it is not too heavy to transport things weighing more than 300 kilograms. There is not a single traveler 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 the "An Fou" made of ox horns.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 locally produced, named "Le Jia Tuo", and is made of sheepskin. This kind of sheepskin is called "hide weight". 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 only a little older—were delighted when they put their heads in the great Chilean cloak and their feet in the boots.The cloak was called a poncho, and it was a large piece of plaid with a hole through the middle.The boots were made from the hide of a pony's hind legs.And the mules they rode were also well-dressed, holding Arabian-style chewing iron in their mouths, with leather bridles tied at both ends of the chewing iron, which could be used as whips, and golden and jade-green collars on their heads, and The brightly colored chains contained 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, when he got on the mule, he looked like a future first-class rider.

The whole team set off.The weather was clear and cloudless.Although the sun was high and the air was conditioned by the sea breeze to be very cool, this small group of people advanced quickly along the winding coast of Talcahuano Bay, and then 48 kilometers southward, they set foot on the end of the 37th parallel.On the first day, everyone walked quickly through the knotted reeds on the dry beach, and they didn't talk 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 did the passengers not speak, but the head mule driver was also quite silent, and his occupation did not cultivate the habit of speaking in him.He even spoke very little 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 strap or rein slipped, the "companion" took off the "cover" and covered the mule's head, and when the strap or rein was 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 rest until 4 o'clock in the afternoon.The Jazz respect that habit.On this day, when the guide, that is, the head mule driver, gave the signal to rest, the travelers were arriving at the city of Arogo at the southern end of the bay, and they had not left the foaming coast until now.It is still 32 kilometers westward until the end of the 37th parallel until Carneiro Bay.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 now resisted the Chileans, and their independent flag--the white star on a blue field--had always flown from the top of the fortified hill. 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 Arrogo City spoke Arroganian—a vernacular spoken as far as the Straits of Magellan—and Paganel's Spanish was useless.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 are tall, with flat faces, bronze skin, beardless, suspicious eyes, broad heads covered with thick black hair.They idle around all day long, as if they were idle soldiers in a peaceful and prosperous age.Their women are able to bear hardships and stand hard work. They are busy with housework all day long, brushing horses for their masters, polishing weapons, plowing fields, and hunting. It takes two years to weave, and the minimum price is 300 US dollars.

On the whole, the Aroganians are an unremarkable people, with rather brutish customs.They have almost all the bad habits of human beings. They have only one virtue, that is, they love independence. "They are Spartans!" 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 spoke proudly of the honest Mr. Torrance.He was a genuinely good man with a beard all over his face. He worked as a lawyer in the French cities of Baili in his early years, and later became the king of Arogania. An act of ingratitude" knocked him off his throne.The major smiled when he heard that a lawyer became a king and was thrown from the throne, but Paganel said solemnly: "It may be easier for a lawyer to be a good king than for a king to be a good lawyer. ’ Everyone laughed at this, and raised 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 "canopies" and fell asleep soundly.

At eight o'clock the next morning, with "Madelina" in front and "Pan Weng" behind, the small group of horses and horses headed eastward to the 37th parallel.They passed through the fertile land of Arogania, full of grapes and sheep.However, the population gradually became scarce.It is rare to find the fence of "Rastelle Addo" in more than one mile -- "Rastelle Addo" is a famous Indian horse trainer in the American continent.Sometimes they came across an abandoned posthouse, which was used by the wandering natives of the plain as a shelter from the wind and rain.Two rivers blocked the way that day—the Lac and the Dubar.Fortunately, the guide found a shoal, and everyone passed safely.At this time, the Andas Mountains had spread out in the sky, showing their domes and peaks stretching northward.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 56 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.There are dried meat and spicy rice in the chain.Spreading the "skin volume" on the ground is a pillow mat. Everyone sleeps peacefully on this temporary pillow mat to recover from the fatigue of the day. The "companion" and the guide take turns to perform the night watch. Now that the weather was fine, and everyone, including Robert, was in good health, and the long journey had begun so well, it was thought, as at the casino, that the "card wind" was favorable, and we went on.So the 3rd 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.The jazz and his party advanced another 56 kilometers.The geographical situation has not changed, and it is still a fertile soil. It is rich in palace grass, woody violets, datura flowers, golden flower cactus, egrets, ravens, and some yellow sparrows and iron villages that escape from the hawks are the only ones in this area. of birds.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 no choice but 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 before the "Madelina", and his mule had suffered a lot.Only Jazz could stop the little guy back to his original position. The road is more rugged, and the ground is undulating, which indicates that we will reach the mountains ahead, and there are more rivers, which 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 tantamount to having no identity 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 Spanish!" he kept saying, "what a resounding language! This language is really made of metal. I am convinced that its composition is 78% copper and 22% tin, like a bell." Like bronze!" "Such a good character, you must have improved after learning it?" Jazz asked him. "Certainly improved, my dear sir! Ah! If it hadn't been for the problem of intonation! . . . It's a pity that the proper intonation is needed to be understood!" 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 the name of the road, and it was naturally Paganel who answered: "It's the Romburton road to Los Angeles." Sir looked at the guide. "Exactly." The guide replied. Then, turning to the geographer, he asked: "Have you ever been to this place?" "Of course!" said Paganel solemnly. "Come 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 5 o'clock in the evening, the tour group came to rest in a not very deep mountain depression, which is a few miles north of the city of Little Roha. That night, they camped at the foot of the mountain. The lowest step of the mountain.