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The island of Mauritius was originally a paradise for dodoes. x's comfortable living environment makes them lose the ability to fly after they become larger. After the Europeans brought pigs, deer, and other mammals to the island, the dodo's overly specialized evolutionary path showed its vulnerability.

Deer have only changed the habitat of the dodo, and have not posed a direct threat. Pigs are different, and the rapidly rewilding domestic pigs have regained their tusks, and the island's abundant produce has allowed wild boars to multiply quickly. Wild boars can be omnivores or aggressive beasts. In areas where there were no predators such as big cats, wild boars quickly occupied a part of the ecological niche that should belong to the big cats and became the king of Mauritius. The dodo, a large, flightless bird, is a no-brainer prey for wild boars.

During his hunting, Yang Bang encountered several dodos that are now a bit rare, and these big birds that kept making "Duoduo" sounds in their mouths made Yang Bang feel very interesting.

A Dutch sailor picked up his arquebus, ready to dump a few of them and go back for dinner.

Wu Zhixiang held his hand and shook his head, "Don't waste ammunition, this bird meat is coarse and oily, and it is not delicious." ”

Although it was the first time I had seen a dodo, the bird's reputation for being unpalatable was an occasional conversation in the circle of sailors who often ran the Indian Ocean, and Lao Wu decided not to try it, it was better to catch deer.

Yang Bang put down his weapon and rolled up his sleeves, "I'll go catch a few alive." When I came out, my family said that the boss liked these strange things and asked me to try to get some specimens to take home. ”

Yang Bang tried his hand at the dodo a little and found that this bird was surprisingly easy to catch, and he quickly succeeded in it. He found a rope to tie his wings and carried it on his back with a gun.

Perhaps because there was no one on the island, the wild deer here were not vigilant, and it only took half a day for the hunting party to get enough prey. Except for a large wild boar, which made the hunting party have a lot of trouble and no other difficulties. Wu Zhixiang saw that if he continued to fight, he would not be able to carry this manpower, so he collected his team and returned to the camp.

Fresh meat, wine, tobacco, and women were the sailors' favorites. There are also some beers on board, which will go bad if you don't drink them. Tasman announced that it would no longer be limited and that it would open up supply.

Fresh meat, fish and wine finally brought morale back. In Enzo's eyes, the expedition was rejuvenated. After leaving duty, he lay in the hammock, took out his notebook, and hurriedly wrote down a few sentences to record the important news of the day.

The island of Mauritius often experiences some severe extreme weather, hail and heavy rains, and even tornadoes. This makes the progress of ship repairs sometimes fast and sometimes slow. The sailors were not in a hurry, and there were not many days when they had fresh meat to eat every day. They lived on the island for a month before the Zehan was repaired.

The expedition made one last replenishment of fresh water and food on the island of Mauritius and set sail out of the bay.

The Dutch had few bases in the Indian Ocean, and in order to save the shipwrecked ships and seamen, they set up two supply depots on the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul, where employees of the company were stationed. The expedition headed south-southeast and rode the wind and waves.

Enzo had always wondered whether Fishair's expedition was to draw Australia or Antarctica, and his plan was to sail at 55 degrees south latitude. Even in the southern hemisphere summer, it's too cold there.

The sea was full of fog, and the expedition ship rose and fell in the waves, and even Enzo and Wu Zhixiang, two old seamen, had never seen such a long wave. Unsurprisingly, the expedition missed the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul.

Near 50 degrees south latitude, dense fog turns to torrential rain and hail, and snowflakes fall from the sky. Although the fleet has prepared winter clothing, as it gets closer to Antarctica, it is obvious that there is not enough winter clothing in the tropics. Tasman told Fishair about the sailors' complaints. If you don't want to cause a mutiny, you have to revise the plan.

Fisshair changed the route to 44 degrees south latitude, which would be a modification of the route that will be counted in the history of geographical discoveries. The expedition turned east at 44 degrees south latitude and drifted completely on the west and west winds, which made the expedition very fast. Fishair plans to turn north to 40 degrees south latitude around 150 degrees longitude and sail east to 220 degrees longitude.

The longitude of the Dutch is not counted from Greenwich, they are counted from Tenerife. Longitude 220 degrees is 160 degrees west longitude.

In his notes, Enzo wrote, "A great swell came from the southwest, not in the same direction as the wind. We judge that there are no continents in that direction. The fleet continued to sail eastward, leaving the southern boundary of the southern continent far to the north. ”

……

On November 24, 1642, the bad weather that had been tormenting the expedition finally came to an end. A huge land mass came into view of the expedition. Tasman named the place "Anthony. Van Dijmendi". I don't know if it's an island or if it's part of the southern continent, but if it's an island, it's big enough.

Tasman carefully commanded the flotilla, which traveled near and far along the southern coastline of Van Diemen Land. In the southern corner of the land, the flotilla turned to the north. The west wind and the currents are blocked by the Van Dimen land, and the wind and waves here are much lighter. The flotilla docked, Fishair led the expedition ashore, Tasman did not go, and remained on board.

On the Zehan, Yang Bang carefully arranged the fire rope and carried it on his body. Yang Wei adjusted the crossbow to a satisfactory position.

On the Hemskek, when Wu Zhixiang finished wiping his sword, Enzo stepped forward to shake his hand, "Be careful." ”

Fishair confidently landed with his soldiers, the first man in the civilized world to land on Tasmania. If Enzo were asked to judge who was the most hero-like in the expedition, Enzo would not hesitate to vote for the veteran navigator.

Because of the delay in Mauritius, Tasman only gave Fisher two days.

To the disappointment of the excited sailors, they did not encounter any humans and found no fresh water. It's just that Lao Wu seems to have seen an animal that looks a bit like a wolf flashing through the bushes. Yang Bang wanted to catch one, this animal was obviously not comparable to the kind of dodo, and Yang Bang had to give up after trying unsuccessfully. The fleet would only stay for two days, and he would not be able to hunt inland.

The expedition found nothing here. Fishair let out a long sigh, boarded the longboat, and left land. The cartographers on board had already completed sketching of the coastline, and the expedition ship headed north.

Ten days after the discovery of Van Dieman's Land, Tasman found that the coastline was sloping to the northwest, and that there was little wind here, and it was not advisable to go west or continue north.

The Officers' Council made a collective decision and decided to go east. Tasman calculates latitude, re-compasses and corrects the declination. Fishairer again modified its course, and the expedition ship would go east to 220 degrees longitude at its current latitude, where it would turn around again, heading north.

The weather has improved, and it has been a clear wind. Waves rushed from starboard, and the expedition team was speculating that there was no continent further south.

Sailing along the west wind for a week, Wu Zhixiang called Enzo during the shift.

"Come and have a look."

Enzo followed Wu to the bow of the ship and saw something on the deck, "Seaweed? ”

"When I was on duty, I kept seeing seaweed, so I had people pick it up."

Enzo narrowed his eyes, "Have you measured the depth of the water?" ”

"The rope of 120 fathoms has not been probed to the end."

Enzo nodded, "I see, thank you." ”

Enzo took over the officer's position on duty, and the weather changed from a breezy sunny day to a strong wind, and the sea was misty with some rain. Compared to the sea conditions at high latitudes, there is nothing in front of you. Enzo opened the logbook, and today the compass error is 12 degrees 2 minutes east. This prompted him to pay attention to the compass course. Enzo told the lookout to watch for what appeared on the surface of the sea.

Sure enough, there are more and more aquatic plants. In the afternoon, a seal also appeared on the surface of the sea. It is commonly understood that a seal is an offshore animal. The sailors were talking, and it seems that the rumors about the seals were not very accurate. The seal was lying on the water, paws facing upwards, as if it were sleeping, and at first Enzo thought it was a piece of wood.

Seabirds appeared over the fleet, first with some seagulls and big crows, and the sailors looked excited. On the side of the flotilla, several orcas surfaced. A royal Barosss spreads its huge wingspan and soars over the Hemskek. Enzo's mood is as if he has met an old acquaintance in another country, which is the national bird of Jincheng.

Measuring latitude yielded a range farther north than the logbook had calculated, and it was evident that there was a south-to-north current beneath the feet. There are more and more animals, large and small dolphins and dark brown feathers, and white seabirds on the inside of the wings appear around the boat. All the sailors' eyes widened.

After another three days of sailing, the color of the water faded, and everyone looked with anticipation at the rope that measured the depth. 180 to the end, the sailors are very unwilling, and they have been measuring the depth of the water frequently throughout the day, but they have not received the answer that everyone expects.

On December 13, the wind direction was northwest, southwest, south, changeable, and weak. Heading to the northeast, the weather is cool and sunny. In the afternoon, the compass is 15 degrees 4 minutes easterly.

The sailors on the lookout shouted: "Land! ”

Enzo rang the ship's bell, and Tasman and Fishair hurried up to the stern and took a closer look with binoculars for a while. Tasman ordered, "Open fire, alert Zehan." ”

"Yes, sir."

Fishair rolled out the chart, and the sea in front of him was blank on all the maps.

"We've made a new discovery, Captain."

Tasman: "Frans, look at those towering peaks, it's a big landmass. ”

A flush appeared on Fishair's face, "We may have found something amazing." ”

Tasman held up the telescope again, he was also a little excited, "Frans, do you think this could be an extension from the south of Statenland?" ”

Staten Land is the island on the southeastern side of the Le Maire Strait when the Order passes Cape Horn.

Fishair looked up, "If so, then this is a new continent. ”

"Hell, call the draftsman up."

Fishair carefully compared the charts, "Captain, I don't think it's very likely that this is Statten. ”

Tasman didn't speak, and he wasn't quite sure.

At midnight, the tie-sail turned to the wind and sailed off. Measuring the depth of the water, it's really hell, the land is obviously in front of you, and the rope of 180 fathoms still can't be explored. After daybreak, the fleet spread its sails and continued to sail towards land.

The fleet approached the shoreline of the land, and in front of it was a cliff. The constant swelling from the southeast suggests that it is unlikely that the continent is connected to Chile in South America. Tasman didn't give up, and he still had the cartographer label the Statten Land. A huge swell from the southeast nearly capsized the ship, and the sailors were almost scared away.

Fishair pointed to the cliff in front of him, "We are heading north from the west coast of the land, and we should be able to avoid the big surge. ”

Tasman agreed, and the expedition carefully took the coastline into view and continued to travel north for five days. The further the expedition went, the more terrified it became, as the mountains on the starboard side of the land were covered with snow, and it was summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Measurements of the height of the peaks show an altitude of more than 3,000 meters.

"Captain, these snowy peaks remind me of the Alps."

"Frans, let's start by marking it on the map as the Southern Alps."

Enzo is now full of excitement, and unlike Australia, the towering snow-capped mountains in front of him clearly show that this is a new discovery in the history of geography. Even if it wasn't a continent, it was a very large island, and with the coastline they had discovered, it was no smaller than Java. The towering peaks of the interior suggest that there is a wider inland area behind the coastline.

The land sloped east on the starboard side, and Tasman, after consulting with Fisher, turned to the right. It's a vast expanse of sea, and the expedition team always has the southern coastline in view, and the cartographer is the busiest person on board, with little to no downtime.

It was a very beautiful land, and everyone could tell from Tasman's face that he was eager to discover a new continent.

The expedition ship sailed east for two days, until they came into a bay surrounded by land on all sides, and there seemed to be no road in sight. The wind direction is unusually changeable, sometimes offshore, sometimes onshore, and there is obvious turbulence.

The flotilla again encountered a storm, and the sailors fought with the storm for four days, exhausted from exhaustion. When the storm subsided, Tasman convened a council of officers.

Enzo found that Tasman was almost like a different person, insisting on sailing east in these difficult conditions. Fishair remained silent this time, just smoking a cigarette.

Tasman: "Maybe we can open a new route to Chile, gentlemen. ”

Officers, you look at me, I look at you, no one dares to contradict the commander who is in a state of euphoria.

The expedition continued eastward, but the oncoming winds calmed the Tasman. If it has been a headwind to go forward, is it possible to go all the way to South America?

Continuing to try forward, the tired looks of the sailors made Tasman give up. The flotilla turned to port side and sailed north. Tasman was not sure of his findings and marked the cartographer's sketch with a dotted line.

When he left, Frans. Fishair took the chart from the cartographer and gently scratched it out in front of him. Fishair felt a westward current beneath his feet, but he wasn't sure.

What Fishair didn't know at this time was that in history, this small gap he left on the map, more than 100 years later,

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