"Rock tubes?" Akon didn't quite understand this geological jargon.

Yoda explained, "We goblins dig diamonds, and we dig them vertically. The veins are all vertically deep underground. ”

"You mean, these natives stumbled upon a diamond vein while mining these cheap gemstones?" Akon was a little excited.

The book demon nodded, "It is very likely that most of the diamonds produced in this area in modern Sierra Leone, West Africa, are mainly scattered placer mines, and these natives do not know that the real most Haode diamonds are produced in kimberlite tubes. Only the best geologists of modern times have been able to find the primary vein of diamond - kimberlite tube - through heavy placer tracing! ”

Akon was overjoyed, "Let these natives take us to that place, and let Yodado find some of these ores......"

Yoda was also eager to try, and the big diamond he encountered today made him know very well that there must be a diamond bonanza there! And it's a surface mine, so it's easy to mine!

The bookdemon smiled and shook his head, these two greedy guys really left him speechless. He spoke to the natives, saying that if the Baron wanted to buy the best gems in large quantities, he had to go to the source and select them himself......

At first, the natives who were transporting the gold refused to make a large sum of money, but under the lure of Akon's high cost of leading the way, and the threat that if they did not lead the way, they would not earn a word, and they soon surrendered, agreeing to take them to the origin of the mines, just as they had to return to carry a shipment of gold.

Zhang Fan also wanted to go to the African continent in this era to experience the customs and customs, and heard that the West Africa of this era was the heyday of the Songhai Empire - the Asgiya Dynasty! Timbuktu, the capital, was a very prosperous city, the most important city for academic exchanges and commodity exchange and trade in the empire, and the textile industry was well developed. It is a black Muslim country, and the king is called the caliph, which means the agent of Allah on earth, who holds the supreme interpretation of the religion.

However, Timbuktu is far away from Sierra Leone, and it is only a very barren and poor place on the edge of the Songhai Empire. Strangely, this poor and barren land was a region where gold and diamonds were produced, and these expensive luxury products did not bring prosperity to the local natives, but rather increased their servitude.

If it weren't for the gold delivery, the way back would have been easy. The natives quickly handed over the first shipment and immediately set off to drive the elephants back to the mine. Zhang Fan's team members were also too bored to ride on a boat, and it was also the first time to ride an elephant, which was very novel, so they regarded this trip as a travel vacation, and all of them participated.

It must be said that this is another benefit of strong fortune. Because this diamond hunt is not so casual on the surface. If it's just Akon and Goblins, I'm afraid it will be a lot of bad luck......

The journey back to the mine took less than two days, and it was a very bad place. The hillside was cut down and was bare as if it were leprosy. The red-yellow pit is like an ugly scar. The small river that flows through the mining area is full of filthy mud, and many black people who are digging for gold are washing the mineral sands in the river. Their women and children also wash their clothes and food in the same river, and even bathe and pee in the same river.

Drake was accompanied by Drake, two of Hawkins' flotilla's first mates and interpreters, who had long been accustomed to such scenes. Those cheap and bleak gem mines did not interest these English adventurers, and ordinary gemstones were not worth much if it were not for diamonds. Only the yellow gold can make their blood boil. So they immediately contacted the mine owner to discuss the delivery time of the next batch of gold.

Akon took out the piece of ore from which the diamonds had been taken and asked the mine owner about the source. Unexpectedly, the pot-bellied indigenous leader did not know the origin of this ore. In fact, he was indifferent to everything but gold. So he hired a vicious overseer who was in charge of disciplining the gold-digging slaves, and told him to take Akon to the mines to find experienced miners.

A very old-looking black miner took a small piece of ore, put it under his nose and sniffed it, licked it with the stone, and then closed his eyes and tasted it for a while, as if the dry ore was a piece of cheese with a different flavor on his distinctive tongue.

"This is the stone from the village of Mano, and I can smell the urine of the grassland baboons on it......" said the old miner, slowly raising his cloudy eyes.

"Nonsense, we have not had contact with Mano Village for a long time, and Weishenme still has the ore over there?" The big black overseer spat and questioned the old miner's judgment.

"Maybe it's one of last year's gem mines, don't we still have some in storage? Sometimes we pick up a few pieces of useless ore ballast cloth. The old miner laughed miserably.

Akon immediately said, "Take me to that warehouse, if there is indeed something we want, the Baron will pay a big price!" ”

When the overseer heard the big price, he immediately kicked the old miner, "Don't hurry up and show Master Akon the way!" ”

The warehouse was a large stinking hut with a pile of ore, some of which had bare rutile on the surface, but it was of such a low grade that even the poor miners could not look down on it.

As soon as Yoda saw this large pile of ore, he immediately pounced on it, and was surprised to see that his small body was able to turn such a large piece of ore open. Seeing the goblins jumping up and down on the ore pile, Akon also stepped forward to help, turning over the ore underneath for the goblins to identify, and only picked out a few pieces of ore containing lower grade diamonds. Much to the disappointment of the goblins.

"We have to go to that village of Mano and see that the ore here is very barren." Yoda said to Akon, "But the smell of diamonds contained in these ores is very strong, and I think there must be a large diamond vein there!" ”

Akon immediately said to the overseer, "We are going to the village of Mano, and you can find me a guide who knows the way." ”

The old miner immediately said, "I used to mine ...... in Mano Village," and he glanced back at the overseer, not daring to say any more.

"That's you!" With an impatient wave of his hand, Akon grabbed a handful of local currency from his pocket and gave it to the overseer, "I bought this slave and these useless ores......"

"I don't have a good deal to explain to the chief......," said the big overseer, muttering.

Akon pulled another handful of copper coins out of his pocket and beckoned, and Regulus stepped forward and tossed a few bottles of rum to the overseer. The big black man's eyes lit up immediately, and he grabbed the rum head and walked away without looking back.

"Let's go now!" Akon waved his hand.

"Wait a minute...... the old miner said hesitantly.

"What are you waiting for?" Akon was puzzled.

"We're just going? It's better to have an elephant to walk around...... "The old miner was so cunning that he didn't bother to walk.

Akon smiled, "We have more haode than elephants." ”

"I'll have to wait a minute...... "The old miner has a lot of tricks.

"What else is going on with you? Do you want me to leave you moldy in this mine?! Akon threatened.

The old miner hurriedly waved his hand, "No, no, my lord, you misunderstood, please don't leave me behind!" Allah willing, I never want to stay in this abominable pit anymore and stink! He pointed to the big overseer who was far away, "I just want to ...... Can you give me a bottle of that nice and delicious water, the ...... you just gave him?"

…………

The drunken old miner was quite competent, and before he got drunk, everyone arrived at the village of Mano. It is an indigenous African village that makes its living from hunting and mining. Several indigenous villagers even knew the old miner, who was an alcoholic. Under the nourishment of a bucket of cold water, the old miner woke up from a drunken dream, and under the threat of Akon, the old man did not dare to slack off, and immediately found his miner friends who had mined with him in the past, and showed them the ore.

A lame old miner licked the ore and said helplessly to Akon: "This is indeed the ore mined in our area, but that place has been closed, and no one dares to go there......"

"Closed?" Akon frowned, "What is the reason for the closure?" ”

The lame old miner stretched out his leg, and saw that the leg covered by rags revealed a terrible wound that seemed to have been gnawed by a wild beast, which had been bitten alive!

"It's called Sierra Leone (meaning 'Lion Rock') and there used to be a group of lions there, and then we drove the lions away so that people were able to mine there. And now there is a more ferocious group of lions, and our village has organized the most haode warriors, and has fought several battles, all of which have been defeated. My leg was bitten off by a lion there! ”

"Lion ......" Akon breathed a sigh of relief, he thought the mine had been sealed off by the powerful local tribe. If it's a few lions, it shouldn't be able to stop your hand reaching for the diamond.

"How many lions?" Akon asked.

"Seven or eight, but they're all fierce! Two males, the others are females......" replied the old miner with some trepidation.

"Then it's up to us!" Akon said, "Whoever is your leader here, take us to him, and say that we can help you drive out that pack of lions!" ”

The lame old miner was shocked, "Dear strangers, don't be so arrogant! The leader of that group of lions was once the king of the group of lions that we drove away! Now it's back to its own territory, and it's even stronger! Maybe you have a strong fighting ability, but that Lion King is definitely not easy to mess with! ”