Great Song Super Scholar

Chapter 556 New Continent
Three [-] stone paddle boats sailed eastward along Java Island. Islands of all sizes can be seen everywhere on the route. Spear ran out of the dense forest, shouting angrily at the Song Dynasty ships, protesting their coming.

The three large ships carried enough food and fresh water, and had many professional navigators. They were able to skillfully use the compass, identify stars at night, be familiar with the climate changes in the South China Sea, and accurately judge storms.

"There is a storm ahead, there will be rough seas, immediately seek shelter from the wind!" A middle-aged sailor yelled.

On the bow of the second floor of the first large ship, Fanning stared into the distance. It was only afternoon, but a strange deep yellow color appeared in the distant sky.

"Is this the harbinger of heavy rain?"

Fanning was talking to himself, and he immediately turned around and asked, "Is there a shelter from the wind nearby?"

"We passed a strait just now, but you did not agree to enter the strait." The captain said respectfully.

"But there was no storm just now!" Fanning replied coldly.

"Humble job understands!"

The captain walked out quickly and shouted: "Notify the fleet to turn around!"

The three big ships began to turn around quickly. At this time, the sky had changed. The sky in the east was still dark yellow just now, but now it had become as black as ink. In the dark clouds, lightning flashed continuously.

The blackness quickly spread to the west, and the sea water also fluctuated greatly. Soon, heavy rain poured down, rows of turbulent waves came from the east, and the ship began to shake violently. Fanning grabbed the handrail on the board and did not let himself be thrown out.

"Has the strait arrived yet?" he finally roared angrily.

"I see the strait, hurry up and enter the strait!" The captain shouted with all his strength.

They finally arrived at the dark stone wall of the strait, and rushed into the strait desperately.

The strait was also pitch black, but the sea was still calm. They finally got rid of the stormy waves at the last moment, and the strong headland of the strait blocked the wind and waves behind them.

This strait is about ten miles wide, and it should be said to be very narrow. There are many huge reefs scattered on the sea, as big as small islands, but they are indeed reefs, and there are no trees on the rocks.

The sailors and captains are very experienced. There are often hidden reefs in this kind of terrain. If they hit it, the ship will be ruined. After the ship escaped the storm, it will stop sailing and wait quietly for the dawn.

The storm raged all night, when the morning sun shone on the sea level, the huge waves had disappeared, and the sea was as calm as a piece of glass, with huge stones standing on both sides, like an ancient door opened for thousands of years in a flash, waiting for its owner past.

Fanning looked to the south of the strait, whether it matched the sketch he drew, "Where is this exactly?" he asked to himself.

At this time, the captain appeared at the door and said in a deep voice, "Master, I am waiting for your order. Do you want to leave the strait and continue eastward?"

"No!"

Fan Ning shook his head, "I've changed my mind, the fleet will continue going south and cross the strait!"

"Obey!" The captain gave him a deep look, turned and left.

Does anyone know what exactly Fanning was looking for?There are hundreds of sailors on three large ships, and a dozen experienced bosuns. None of them have been here before. To them, the islands here are too ordinary. They can be seen everywhere in the South China Sea. The islands are full of endless virgin forests. There are barbaric and cruel natives, and it is said that some natives can eat people.

What Fan Ning was looking for was Irian Island, the dinosaur-like island, the largest island in the Pacific Ocean. After finding Irian Island, the fleet would turn around and head north to Luzon Province, which is about [-] kilometers south of Luzon Province. Mindanao is actually not too far away.

It only took an hour for the fleet to sail out of the strait, and after sailing for another two hours, there was a blue sea ahead, the air was so clean that there was no impurity, and the vision was very good. A black line could be seen in the distance, which should be a The big island is located a hundred miles away to the south, and there is another strait to the east of the big island, but this strait is much wider, more than a hundred miles long.

"Where is this?" Fanning said to himself, he had no memory at all.

The fleet is slowly approaching the Big Island. The No. [-] ship has insufficient fresh water, and the No. [-] ship needs to be even, or find lakes or streams on the Big Island.

At this time, Fan Ning suddenly thought of something, ran to the first floor, and said to Commander Qin Gang, "Lead a hundred soldiers ashore and look for water sources. If you can find natives, try to catch two of them back."

"Follow the order!" Qin Gang went to assemble the team.

Fan Ning just remembered that many place names in this area are based on the pronunciation of the natives, and see if there are any familiar names in the pronunciation of these natives.

The water here is very deep, and the big ship can directly land on the board, and the No. [-] ship and the No. [-] ship each sent a team to go ashore to search for fresh water.

An hour later, the team of the No. [-] ship came back, and they found a river. Twenty miles to the east, the team of the No. [-] ship had already passed the river.

The fleet set sail again and sailed forward for about twenty miles. They saw a waterfall appearing in front of their eyes, and a river fell from a cliff more than ten feet high and went straight into the sea.

Fanning looked up at the waterfall. If there was a leather pipe, the river water could be led directly to the boat.

The No. [-] ship stopped under the cliff, and the soldiers on the top of the cliff used long ropes to slowly put the large water tank full of fresh water on board. The water tank was placed in a wooden cage, and twelve cans could be placed at a time. Enter the freshwater pool, and start hoisting for the second time.

It was not until the evening that the three large ships were filled with fresh water. At this time, Qin Gang, the commander, captured the three natives on the island and returned.

The three natives were very young, two young men and one girl, who looked only in their teens, but were very strong, with dark skin and naked bodies, their hands were tied behind their backs, and their eyes were full of panic.

Fan Ning walked up to the three natives, pointed to the island and asked, "Where is this place?"

The three looked at Fan Ning blankly, and Fan Ning pointed to the waterfall and asked, "What's this called?"

"Amon!" A teenager blurted out.

Fanning nodded, pointed at the island and drew a circle and asked, "What's the name of the island?"

The girl seemed to understand what Fan Ning meant, and said timidly, "Sau!"

The name sounded familiar, and Fan Ning pointed to the east and asked, "What's the name of the land over there?"

The girl hesitated for a long time and said, "Diwen!"

Fan Ning suddenly understood that it was Timor Island, and East Timor was in front of it. By the way, this sea is called the Savu Sea. This big island with waterfalls should not be Savu Island, but Sumba Island. Isn’t this strait just Sumba? Strait?

Fan Ning suddenly became enlightened, and he was overjoyed in his heart. He said to Qin Gang: "Let them go back, and give each of them a hatchet!"

"As ordered!"

As soon as Qin Gang waved his hand, the soldiers escorted the three of them back to the shore. Fan Ning hurried back to his cabin and marked Timor Island and Sumba Island on the map he had drawn in advance.

The south of Timor Island is the Timor Sea, and the other side of the Timor Sea is. Fanning couldn't bear the excitement in his heart, and Australia was not far away from him.

Fan Ning slowly walked out of the cabin, walked to the side of the ship, and looked at the distant ocean. At this moment, he saw dozens of men and women standing on the cliff, holding wooden spears, watching the fleet. The three young men and women also Among them, each person holds a hatchet in his hand.

After a while, a group of people turned and left, disappearing into the dense forest.

The fleet continued eastward, and two days later, it bypassed Timor Island and headed for the Timor Sea.

Along the way, Fan Ning saw too many uninhabited islands and countless lands. His heart had long since lost the excitement when he saw Danzhou for the first time, and he was even a little numb.

Of course, this is a tropical rain forest, and it is too difficult to develop it. Luzon Island is the best food base, and Baozhou will be the same in the future.

It took longer than expected for the fleet to cross the Timor Sea. It took a full three days. At dawn, Fanning was awakened by the knocking on the door.

"My lord! Come and see."

Fan Ning got up quickly, put on a coat, and walked outside, walked out of the side of the ship, the soldiers were always ahead, "Look, that piece of land!"

Fan Ning was stunned for a moment, and a long coastline appeared in the distance, which was a continent. His nose was sour and his eyes were a little red. They discovered Australia.

"Which direction is it?"

"Southeast direction, a little bit southerly!"

Fan Ning nodded, that's right, it's really Australia, what they saw might not be Melville Island, but the Kimberley Plateau to the west.

(End of this chapter)