When leaving Socotra, our fleet was heavily armed. Because according to Chen Kui, who has been buying gems here for a long time, East Africa is not very peaceful, very unpeaceful......

Chen Kui didn't say anything about it, I always felt that he seemed to have something unspeakable, so I didn't ask.

Three days later, when the city began to appear in our sight in addition to the crimson earth, old Tucker told me that Mogadishu, the "land of frankincense and myrrh", had arrived.

Mogadishu, also known as Mogadishu, comes from the ancient Persian language, and the ancient Chinese history called it the wooden bone capital bundle. Many people know that this city originated from a 1993 American movie - "Black Hawk Down". So people have the impression that the city should be a horrible place of war, panic, hunger and death, but in fact, at this point in time, the real Mogadish is anything but like that.

Although humans have migrated to Mogadishu since ancient times, the climate was very unsuitable for farming, so animal husbandry was the main industry for a long time, and in the Middle Ages it was still mainly engaged in animal products.

Since the 9th century, when a group of Arabs migrated here, Mogadishu has served as a window of communication between East Africa and the north. Modern archaeologists have excavated a large number of coins from ancient China, Ceylon and Annam in the Mogadishu area, which suggests that Mogadishu traded with people throughout these areas.

Among them, most of the coins from China belong to the products of the Song Dynasty, and some belong to the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is said that Zheng He, the eunuch of the Three Treasures, arrived here several times. In addition to producing mineral resources, the Mogadishu region also exported wood, ivory, shells, slaves and iron ore to other regions.

It was not until the 13th century that the port of Kilwa Kisiwane, located on an outlying island off the coast of East Africa, developed rapidly and obscured Mogadishu and other northern port cities. But after thousands of years, Mogadishu still has its own charm.

Of course, there is a difference between distant observation and actual contact. The city, built on red soil, was beautiful from the sea, but when the ship reached a position near the port of Mogadishu, the navigator told us that we could not go any further, and that we had to transfer people and goods to barges here and transport them to the docks in the harbor!

Nani? What the hell is a port that can't be shipped? But Old Tucker was quick to explain my doubts - the water in the port of Mogadishu was not deep enough, only more than two meters deep, so except for small barges, ordinary ships could not enter the port!

I watched as people moved boxes of goods from the big ships to the barges, back and forth to the port, and reloaded them again, and I said disdainfully, "How much is not efficient?" With the energy to transport back and forth, why not dig the waterways of the port a little deeper? ”

Old Tucker took a sip of rum and said indistinctly, "The river has been dug up, how are these barges going to make a living?" ”

When I was surprised, Old Tucker smiled contemptuously and said, "Seventy percent of the barge fleet's income must be handed over to the dock manager - there is no city lord here, it is all managed by one faction, and there is no unified administration. So captain, this river won't be dug up! With that, there was a burst of laughter that was all silent.

I nodded speechlessly, watching the barge gondoliers go back and forth between the big ship and the land, their dark and thin spines twisted under the weight of the cargo, but it still couldn't stop their enthusiasm for one more trip, one more trip.

I sighed slightly, remembering that Mogadishu was in a state of affairs until the end of the seventies of the twentieth century, when the old city received a new port. There is a reason why Africa is backward!

I went ashore on a small barge, and I was immediately blown away by the transportation in front of me! Camel! Yes! A large number of camels! No wonder Mogadishu has a singular name - the only city with more camels than humans!

I grabbed the reins and rolled over on the back of the camel. Kite and Lan shouted, and the two jumped on the camel next to them. Enough camels were pulled to us by porters to meet all the requirements for the transportation of people and goods......

Well, although the formation is scary, it is really not expensive! So we happily accepted this exotic experience trip.

When the bell rang and the camel began to move forward with its characteristic leisurely steps, led by Mavi and the guide, we were not worried about getting lost, so I looked around with great interest.

The streets were dusty with the camel caravan walking, but the people on the side of the road didn't care at all! They looked at us on the camel's back with as much interest as we looked at them. It is clear that the anti-dumping and anti-dumping parties have their own interests.

The air was filled with the smell of livestock excrement, and herds of cattle and sheep passed by on the road, accompanied by a child shouting and chasing them. Many residents set up pens next to their houses to raise their cows, and women milking cows can be seen everywhere, selling fresh milk to neighboring people with loud voices.

Every few steps there is a food stall, about 70 percent of which sells fish products. Since ancient times, the residents of Mogadishu have loved to eat fish, and there are many ways to eat fish, but for us from China, these locals' "fish dishes" are really vulgar and even "disgusting".

There were a lot of people gathered on the side of the road ahead, surrounded by three layers inside and three layers outside, and I didn't know what was going on inside. Curious, I shouted at Mavi, "What's going on over there?" Mavi? ”

Mavi turned around and shouted, "Captain, that's a crocodile entertainer!" ”

Kite and Lan suddenly became interested, and shouted, "Go and see!" Check it out! Mr! ”

The unique tone of the two shouted words that were particularly lethal, and the men and women around them looked sideways at the two on the back of the camel. They didn't notice it, they just looked at me with bright eyes.

I know that there are many lakes around Mogadishu, and crocodiles can be seen everywhere, which can be called the "crocodile kingdom". Crocodile sausage is a prized dish for the Mogadishu indigenous people to entertain their guests. As for the crocodile show...... I really haven't seen it, so let's take a look!

As the camel team approached, the crowd of onlookers suddenly got out of the way, and they all knew that it was definitely not ordinary people who could ride such a large group of camels. If you look at my appearance from the East, you will know that I must be a first-time visitor. So there was only a group of us left around the artists performing by the crocodile, and everyone else retreated far away and didn't come.

The artist saw the big patrons, and he also performed more energetically! I only heard the guy beating the small drum next to him beat the crocodile skin drum in his hand to "Bang Bang", and the mustache on his face was high! The entertainer was leading a huge crocodile and came out from behind.

The crocodile was at least two and a half meters long, with blue-brown leather armor, cold teeth, cloudy eyes rolling, and it didn't know which "food" it was targeting.

The artist said a lot of words to us, I don't understand, according to the guide's translation, the artist's approximate meaning is that it is not easy to eat this mouthful, it is all a knife to lick blood, and there is a possibility of dying at any time. Please reward you with a few more dollars!

I nodded, smiled, and tossed the artist a silver coin.

When the artist saw that the coins on the ground were silver, his face turned black and red with excitement! He struggled for a day on weekdays, but he only earned dozens of copper plates, which was barely enough to make ends meet. Today's big customer, as soon as it comes up, it is a silver coin! According to the rules, they are all performed after watching it, of course, there are also those given before watching, but if you think it is wonderful after watching it, you will say some more! Immediately, the artist was in good spirits and ready to perform.

I saw that he first jumped in front of the crocodile, pretended to scold the crocodile a few words, and kicked the crocodile twice in a fake way. The crocodile stared at him and didn't move, so the artist squatted down, grabbed the crocodile's upper and lower lips with both hands, and pulled it away!

The crocodile's mouth suddenly opened half a human's height! The craggy teeth are chilling. The artist withdrew a hand and patted the crocodile's mouth, and the crocodile obediently prepared to close its big mouth.

Just as the crocodile's mouth was about to close, the artist seemed to have something in the crocodile's mouth, and he screamed and reached out to grab it! All the way to the arm, just stuck into the closed crocodile's mouth! Almost at the same time, the crocodile's big mouth "creaked" shut!

The beast tamer suddenly let out an earth-shattering roar, which startled me! Kite and Lan were even more frightened and screamed! Burn had already pulled out his musket and was about to shoot to save people, but Mavi and Old Tucker smiled and reached out to stop him, and whispered, "Keep looking!" ”

I heard the artist scream for a while, and when I saw that the people around me were scared enough, I suddenly stopped screaming! He grinned and patted the crocodile's nose, and the biting crocodile slowly opened its mouth again, and the artist's arm was intact!

It turned out that one of the crocodiles' teeth had been knocked out! The position where the artist sticks his arm into it has become a fixed routine, as long as the crocodile grinds his teeth at will in order to have food and not change the script, the artist's arm will be completely fine!

Then the crowd breathed a sigh of relief, and the artist stood up again, led the crocodile to our camels, and gave us a deep sigh. I saw that under the dark face of this artist, he was just a teenager, and it should be his father who beat the drum behind! I couldn't bear it, I wanted to throw this kid a gold coin, at least wait for him to live in peace for a while, and eat a few full meals! But when I pulled out the gold coin, I stopped!

It's not reluctant, it's ...... I'm afraid my gold coins will kill this child! How many people in this backcountry have ever seen gold coins? If I throw it to this half-grown child in such a grand manner, I am afraid that if we walk on the front foot, someone will think about him on the back foot.

After thinking about it, I took out a handkerchief from my bosom, wrapped the gold coin, and tied it tightly before throwing it to the child. The boy didn't know why, but he picked up the veil from the ground, and when he opened it, his eyes shone with great surprise!

But when he saw my quiet gesture to his lips, he immediately understood! In the port of Mogadisu, the most terrifying thing is not crocodiles, but people......

The others also threw some copper coins and silver coins to the child, and the child also took them one by one and saluted back and forth. Even his father stood up and thanked us with a twisted motion.

That's when I realized that his father had only one leg. The other leg is knotted with pants at the knee.

Not surprisingly, this leg must have been bitten off by a crocodile! I sighed slightly and motioned for me to leave.

The camel bell rang again, and our team moved on. Soon after, they arrived at the largest accommodation in Mogadishu, the hotel in Paziola.

The owner, Pa Jiela, is an aunt in her fifties, she dresses in traditional local service, and her waist is ...... Well, a conservative estimate is at least four or five as thick as me! I secretly sighed a few times, smacked my tongue, the kite just looked at me, and I whispered, "You won't be like this in the future, right?" ”

The kite bit me angrily!

I laughed and pleased, and entered the hotel.

Needless to say, it doesn't take long for you to eat and stay in the hotel, and it won't be long before it's evening. After a day of tossing and turning, and finally arriving on land, I pondered that I would not practice tonight and sleep well.

Just as I was packing up and getting ready for bed, there was a soft knock on my door!

Actually, just now I heard a slight footstep walking towards my door, but I thought it was a waiter, so I didn't care. There was a knock on my door, and I suddenly felt that something was wrong!

So I quietly lifted the light-swallowing sword, sat on the edge of the bed and asked in a deep voice, "Who is it?" ”

There was silence at the door for a while before a small voice came out. I didn't understand his language, but I had a vague feeling that he should be a child.

So I walked over, hid the Light-Swallowing Sword behind me, and gently pulled the door open.

It's that kid - the entertainer of the crocodile show!

The boy changed into an earthy yellow dress, and when he saw me open the door, he grinned at me and said something that I did not understand, but I knew that his father had asked him to come, so he smiled at him.

The little fellow smiled too, reached out and handed me something, saluted, and turned away.

I open my palm, it's a ball of paper!

Gently open it, and immediately surprised!

Because, I can't read the words written at all......