February 25, 1650, in the port of Araucan, clear skies.

Standing refreshed on the foredeck of the "Tahiti", which barely shook the sea, the broken and winding mountain islands on both sides of the route into Araucan Bay (Admiral Montt Bay) kept the raging waters out well, which made the whole of Araucan Bay shrouded in tranquility - it was really a sheltered bay, and even the huge breakwater required for a normal harbor could be saved.

It had been two days since it had been here, all the supplies needed for the voyage had been prepared, and the three hundred Indian exiles had all boarded the ship and entered the compartment of the bilge, and now everything was ready to go. Zhang Jinhua looked at the shore, the last few sailors were driving a large herd of cattle and sheep towards the big ship, they were going to ask the local Araukan people to buy livestock, these livestock will be scattered into a total of four ships, and then some of them will be killed and eaten on the way, and the crew will be replenished with fresh meat to improve their lives, and the rest will naturally be sent to Tahiti Island. Since the people on the east coast want to set up a permanent supply base on the island, livestock is naturally indispensable.

The piers of the port of Araucan are now the same every day. The last time Zhang Jinhua passed through this place, it was still full of desolation, but now not only are there a few more tall two- or three-story small buildings, but even a lot of cultivated land has been picked up, and it seems that it has already established a foundation and has a small scale. By this time there was already a sizable brick kiln factory, a lime factory and a cement factory, employing a large number of nearby Araukan people, and producing building materials for the local supply. The rest is also said to be exported to the Peruvian Viceroyalty of the Spaniards. to earn foreign exchange.

It seems that the masonry and cement here are really rich. Zhang Jinhua counted casually. In addition to the small buildings, there are no less than fifteen masonry tower windmills on the shore. These windmills look mostly Dutch and British, rough on the outside, but thick and sturdy in substance – a common style for the East Coasters. These windmills are scattered throughout the port of Araucan, and are used for grinding grain, pumping water, and some are connected to large hammers for forging cast iron, crushing stones, and in a variety of ways.

Fierce westerly winds prevail throughout the year in and around the port of Araucan. In winter, when the wind speed is high, it can even reach a speed of tens of kilometers per hour, which is amazing. With such abundant wind resources, it would be a fool not to make good use of them! Therefore, since the arrival of the people from the east coast and the self-sufficiency of building materials, the construction of thick, sturdy, and tall tower windmills has become one of the most enthusiastic actions of the Southern Railway Company. It is believed that over time, more and more windmills will appear in and around the port of Araukan – and perhaps in the future including the port of Hungnam – making this efficient use of natural wind resources a hallmark of the city.

The livestock were quickly divided into ships. The hold of the "Tahiti" was also stuffed with six Andalusian black cattle and a dozen or so bighorn sheep from the east coast, which were hastily tied to some wooden posts in the hold and some stinking dry grass was laid on the ground. It looks like livestock have been locked up here before. Adjacent to the livestock are also stacked with wooden barrels, and several chef-like men are making zuò pickled fish. Delivered by the Southern Railway this morning, these fresh Chilean horse mackerels were an important food supply for the sailors on their voyages, so they had to be salted immediately to prevent spoilage.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, with Zhang Jinhua's order, the "Tahiti" took the lead in pulling anchor and setting sail, followed by three migrant transport ships, which left the port of Araucan in turn and headed for the Galapagos Islands, the next destination. They were accompanied by three fishing boats of the Southern Railway Company and two sail frigates of the Navy. Two of the three fishing boats had their holds full of all kinds of East Coast industrial products, and the other was a refrigerated ship, whose hold was filled with fresh horse mackerel – a blessing to the King of Spain – and the Peruvians had a hard time even going out to sea to fish, so they had to ask the Southern Railway Company to import huge quantities of seafood to meet their daily consumption. It is a great irony that the poor Viceroyalty of Peru, which sits on one of the three largest fishing grounds in the world, needs to import seafood from outsiders.

In this way, a formation of nine ships from the east coast formed a formation at sea, and sailed all the way to the sea of central Chile with the strong Humboldt cold current and the occasional southeast wind. Three Southern Railway fishing boats, protected by naval frigates, turned to the shore of Maurin Harbor, where they were to anchor secretly to smuggle with the Spaniards; As for the expatriate expedition led by Zhang Jinhua, they turned to the open sea to avoid the Spanish ships that might be encountered, although it was very unlikely, and then sailed north with their heads covered at full power.

On March 9, 1650, several ships quietly sailed into the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Peru. The last time the East Coasters arrived in 1647, when the East Coast was in the midst of a fierce battle with the Spanish, Lu Ming, commander of the Navy's Temporary Task Force in the Pacific, commanded a number of main ships on the East Coast to trap the Spaniards in the port of Callao, while the accompanying army units took the opportunity to attack the Spanish weak spots. The port of Baquerizo was used as a temporary supply base for the army and navy on the east coast.

More than two years have passed, but it seems that the Spaniards still have no intention of exploiting the archipelago. The island is still a wilderness, and the wooden houses built by the soldiers of the army have been completely hidden in the lush greenery, and the sailors who have landed have even found a huge giant tortoise entrenched in a small cabin, which seems to be their nest.

"Inaccessible islands, abundant products, not a hot climate at all, and not even a very short ...... water," Zhang Jinhua, who wore long whale skin boots, landed on the island, and his entourage was quick to nail a snake hiding in the grass to the ground, and then advised Zhang Jinhua not to go deeper for the time being, until they had cleared the place.

"The cool sea breeze takes away the humid and hot moisture, and this seaside is quite cool. Many of the trees grew stout and looked old, and they seemed to be able to be used to repair ships, which was a valuable asset......" Zhang Jinhua finally listened to the persuasion of his entourage and did not go to the former army camp that had been covered with wild grass, vines and shrubs, but his eyes still kept wandering around, and while carefully observing the island, he said to himself: "What's even better is that this place is inaccessible, maybe few people have been to this island for thousands of years. Isolated from the rest of the world, the environment is special, and many tropical diseases that are rampant on the continent are nowhere to be found, such as malaria! ”

How terrible malaria is in the tropics is believed to be extremely impressive to the Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch and East Coasters. This unpreventable disease is taking the lives of pioneers almost every moment, so it is called the "curse of the tropics". But the Galapagos Islands are different, although there are mosquitoes here, they have not been inhabited by humans for thousands of years, and they are the outlying islands of the New World that have never produced malaria, so it can be said that it is a tropical "sanctuary paradise" with no malaria at all. Moreover, judging from the last time the army troops were stationed here, the military doctors who accompanied the army did not find anyone who had malaria.

That's precious! Think about it, what is the most feared tropical? Malaria! The Galapagos Islands, with no malaria in it, were the perfect transit base for sailing, and if you brought in some farmers, workers, and soldiers from the mainland, and built strong forts and forts, could you develop it to your heart's content, without fear of the "tropical curse", and what could be more ideal?

However, Zhang Jinhua knows that this is just thinking. After all, it was still nominally part of the Kingdom of Spain, and the people on the eastern coast could not touch it. And at least in the short term, the people on the east coast have no intention of setting up a transit base here, and the cover is too sensitive to be able to reach the door of Lima. If the people on the east coast openly occupy this place, I believe that the Spaniards in the Viceroyalty of Peru are no longer willing, and under all kinds of pressure and threats, they will completely turn against the people on the east coast, and the two sides will not die, and they will not even have to do business, and directly enter the rhythm of the third east-west war.

So, for this god-given archipelago, the people on the east coast should not think about anything for the time being. Just stop once in a while to replenish some fresh water, and don't do anything else. As for the establishment of a permanent settlement on this island, it is not impossible, but it must be built very secretly, deep in the heart of the island. The woods are dense and the terrain is complex, which can be somewhat hidden. But what good does that do the East Coasters? It is not possible to repair the ship, and it is more troublesome to replenish it, that is, it is only possible to put some wounded and sick people here to recuperate, which is really very frustrating. The benefits are not large, but they have to take the risk of completely turning their faces with the Spaniards and affecting the country's grand strategy, and the wise man will not take it.

On March 11, 1650, after two days of rest on the island, four ships from the east coast set sail and left the port of Bakrizo for their next destination, Tahiti. The last time they left a few people there, I don't know what happened now. (To be continued......)