The Mysterious Island Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Captain Grant's Children

Chapter 23 Captain Grant's Children (23)
On November 11th, the group of travelers encountered "Erstansia" again, and one or two "killing Radlo"-that is, the place where cattle, sheep and livestock are slaughtered.The method of slaughter here is just like the appellation. Here, the "livestock" is killed first, and then the meat is cured with salt.This bloody method of slaughter begins in late spring.The process is that "Kill Radlo" first sends people to "Esdanxia" to transport back the livestock that need to be slaughtered by cart.When transporting livestock, it is common to use a "pull rope" to trap the livestock, and when the number is sufficient, they will pull them back together.Their trapping skills are very high, which is really amazing.At the "Kill Radlo" slaughterhouse, they killed hundreds of livestock at a time, and then skinned and cut the meat together.Only old bulls are the most difficult to slaughter. They often struggle and resist repeatedly.At this time, butchers become matadors. Although this kind of work is very dangerous, these butchers are highly skilled and can operate with ease.These slaughtering methods also look cruel to outsiders.The environment of "killing Ludlow" can be described with the word "ghostly".What permeates the slaughterhouse is a foul smell; in the yard, there are butchers roaring, livestock whining, and dogs barking everywhere.From time to time, birds of prey such as "Urub" and "Ola" on the Argentine plains fly over in groups from a radius of dozens of miles, and they are still shaking from the hands of these butchers. Eat the meat of the livestock, and then spread their wings and fly high.Then, when the jazz travelers came here, the mass slaughter had not yet begun, so it was quiet and silent.

The guide Tarcaf urged his traveling companions to hurry up, because he planned to reach Fort Independence that night.So, everyone whipped the sitting horse vigorously.After whipping, these horses imitated the appearance of "Taojia" and strode through the tall grasses.On the way, they also saw a few village households.Around their houses there are deep ditches and high walls; above the main house there are balconies; and the peasants here have weapons from which they can shoot at the raiding bandits on the plain.Sir Glenarvan had thought that there might be some news here.But after repeated consideration, I think we should talk about it in Tandil Village!In this way, the procession traveled without any rest; after crossing the Lohuiso River and running for several miles, they crossed the Shabarev River.At last the procession reached the steep slopes of Mount Tandil.After about an hour they saw the village of Tandil; it was hidden deep in a narrow ravine.The battlements of Fort Independence are presented in front of travelers.

wrong clue

Mount Tandil, about a thousand feet above sea level, is an ancient mountain range in South America.This mountain range is composed of a series of gneiss hills and belongs to the gneiss area.The mountain is covered with green grass, and the shape of the mountain is semi-circular.Tandil Mountain County, which bears the same name as the mountain, covers almost all of the southern part of the province of Buenos Aires.There are a total of 4000 residents in this county. It is located in Tandil Village at the foot of the Gangluan Mountains in the north. It is the county seat and is surrounded by an Independence Fort.Most of the residents of this village are descendants of French and Italians, because the earliest colonists who reclaimed the lower reaches of the La Balata River were the French.This Independence Fort was built by the Frenchman Balshaup on the hillside above the village in 1828.The purpose of its construction is to prevent the invasion of some Indians.

The commercial trade in this Tandil village is very prosperous.Here, there is a large ox cart suitable for carrying goods.This kind of big ox cart is called "Galera", which is very suitable for running in plain areas.Local people use this "Galera" to conduct frequent trade with Buenos Aires.It only takes twelve days to run to Buenos Aires with "Galera".The commodities traded between the local people and the provincial capital of Buenos Aires include: livestock raised in "Esdanxia", all kinds of bacon marinated in "Killadero", and handmade fabrics made by Indians. And some wool products, leather products and some cotton cloth.In this village, in addition to some beautiful houses, there are also some churches and schools.

After Paganel explained the situation in Tandil Village to his companions, he emphasized that some news about the captain and his companions could be obtained here.Because in this village, the army is stationed.Seeing this, Sir Glenarvan chose an inn with a beautiful appearance, which the locals called "Sunda".Thus the traveling party settled down.After leading the horses to the stables, the team headed towards Fort Independence under the leadership of Tarcaf.After a few minutes of climbing up the hill, they reached the entrance to Fort Independence.I saw an Argentine soldier guarding the door here, but his expression was loose and careless.This reflects that the security here may not be strict enough, and the law and order in this area may be very good.

On the playground of the castle, several soldiers were practicing.These soldiers were of different ages, the oldest one was in his twenties, and the youngest was six or seven years old.Said to be soldiers, but to be honest, it should be a dozen or so teenagers.Although they are some children, their movements of wielding knives and guns are still decent.They wore shirts of striped cloth, which were long and fell to the lower body, and were fastened tightly with belts.On the lower body, they don't wear shorts, they don't wear trousers, and they don't wear short Socra skirts, they just don't know what to wear.The climate in this area is warm, and it doesn't matter if these children's clothes are thinner.Each of these child soldiers is wearing a heavy breech-loading gun and a long saber; in fact, these guns are not too heavy, and the knives are not too long, but they are too small compared to their stature up.Their faces were tanned by the sun, and they all looked alike, even the captain who directed the exercises looked alike.After careful questioning, I learned that these were twelve brothers.Under the leadership of their eldest brother, they practiced collectively.

Paganel was not surprised by this scene, because he was very familiar with the family situation in Argentina.Know that in Argentina, every family will have at least nine children.But what surprised him was that these children were doing the same exercises as French soldiers, and their steps, movements, and moves all looked the same and had a decent appearance.Even the command issued by the commander was issued in Paganel's native language-French.

"This is really incredible!" Paganel blurted out.

But Sir Glenarvan felt that he did not come to this Independence Fort to watch the drill of these child soldiers, let alone to study the nationality and origin of these children.Therefore, he interrupted Paganel's surprised inquiry and urged him to find the chief of the garrison here as soon as possible.So Paganel asked a child soldier to go to the barracks to find the commander here.

Not long after, a commander came out.Looking at his style, he is in his fifties, with a very strong body and a mighty military temperament.There are two beards on his mouth, high cheekbones, gray hair, piercing eyes, and a short pipe in his mouth.Seeing him, Paganel felt that he had the natural military air of older French officers.

Tarcaf hurried up and introduced the Jazz's travel team to the commander.When Tarcaf was introducing, the commander kept looking Paganel up and down, his eyes fixed on him.This made Paganel feel embarrassed and embarrassed, not knowing what the officer wanted to do, why he kept looking at him in this way.Just when Paganel was about to ask a question, the commander grabbed his arm and asked excitedly in French:

"Your Excellency, are you French?"

"Yes, the French!" said Paganel.

"Ah! It's such an honor. I welcome you very much. I'm also French!" the commander said excitedly, shaking Paganel's arm violently.

"Is this officer your friend?" the major asked Paganel.

"Yes!" Paganel said very proudly, "you know, we have friends everywhere!"

The commander's vise-like hands almost crushed Paganel's hand; Paganel withdrew his hand with great difficulty; after that, he chatted with the officer.Sir Glenarvan listened, wishing to interject a few words and inquire about Captain Grant.Then, the soldier continued to talk about his experience in a manner that made it impossible for others to intervene.From the officer's words, everyone knows that he has a bright personality, and it has been a long time since he left his own country, France, so his French is a little rusty; although the French words have not been forgotten, the grammar has been forgotten.The French he spoke sounded to others as if blacks in the French colonies were speaking French.The officer had been in command of Fort Independence, and had been Balsharp's companion.

In 1812, after the establishment of this Independence Fort, the Sergeant never left this place.Now, the Argentine government has authorized him to exercise command over the Independence Fort.He turned out to be a Basque Basque, a local resident who lived on both sides of the Pyrenees.His name was Manuel Ifaraguerre, and he was over fifty now.Although he is not a Spanish citizen, after living there, he married an Indian wife and became an Argentine citizen, and has been serving in the Argentine army ever since.Now, the Indian wife has given birth to him a pair of twins, and they are still sons, and it has been six months.The officer Manuel knew only one profession in the world, and that was to be a soldier.So he very much hoped that God would grant him a son who would serve the country in the future.

"My children, you have seen them all!" said the officer excitedly. "They are all very cute, and they are all born good soldiers! Look, Joseph! John! Mikael! Double! You see, although Bei Bei is only seven years old, he can shoot a gun!"

Hearing that his father was praising him, the child Beibei immediately put his heels together, stood at attention, and raised the gun high. This movement was really natural and graceful.

"I believe that this child will have a bright future!" Officer Manuel continued, "I believe that one day he will become a famous colonel, and even become a division commander!"

The more Manuel talked, the more excited he became.His excited appearance is just like Goethe (1749-1832), a famous German poet, playwright and thinker in the nineteenth century.As he said, "everything that makes people happy is nothing but dreams"!
When Officer Manuel narrated his life experience eloquently, he talked for an hour at a stretch, which surprised Tarcaf too.He didn't expect how this officer could say so many words in one breath, and there was no interruption or pause.You know, anyone, even a sergeant, especially a French sergeant, always has a time to rest and take a breath when speaking!At last, when the officer had finished speaking, he invited everyone into the house.It was not easy for everyone to give in to each other, so they went to visit Mrs. Ifragale, the wife of the officer.They saw that this lady did have the demeanor of a "every lady".

After all the red tape on etiquette had passed, the sergeant thought of asking these travelers how they came to this place.It seems that this is really an excellent opportunity to talk to him about serious things, we must seize this opportunity, and the time will never come again!Paganel immediately told him in fluent French how they had crossed the pampas.Finally, he asked, why is there not a single Indian here?

"Oh, yes, yes...it is true that there is no one left..." the sergeant replied, "it is true...that there is no one...so we have to idle...have nothing to do... "

"What the hell is going on!"

"Because there is a war!"

"Ah, there's a war!"

"That's right, it's our own people fighting against our own people!"

"Ah! Why do your own people beat your own people!?"

"The Paraguayans are at war with the Buenos Aires!"

"Then?"

"These Indians joined in the fun and ran to the north with General Floreston. You must know that these Indians only know how to rob. They are a bunch of outright robbers!"

"Where are the chiefs of those tribes?"

"Well, the chief goes with these Indians, too."

"By the way, what about Katriell..."

"never heard of that!"

"Where's Khafgula?"

"I've never heard of it either!"

"And Janstrutz?"

"I've never heard of it!"

When Paganel translated the words and conveyed them to Tarcaf, Tarcaf also nodded in agreement, thinking that what the sergeant said was true.It turned out that even the native Tarcaf didn't know, or he forgot, that a civil war was taking place in the Argentine Republic at this very moment.This civil war caused the intervention of the Spanish army, which in turn caused countless casualties on both sides of the civil war.The local Indians seized the good opportunity to kill each other and swarmed to rob and plunder. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why there are no people in the Pampas grassland.

Sadly, this war spoiled Sir Glenarvan's plans.Sir Glenarvan thought anxiously that if Captain Harry Grant and his companions fell into the hands of the Horde Chief they must be taken north.If so, how to find them and see them?Thinking about it, Jazz didn't know whether it was worth leading his companions to take another adventure to the north; he thought that if he went, it might be a futile operation, exhausted, and the consequences would be very serious, so he needed to think about it in the long run.

At this time, the major asked an important but neglected question.Because everyone was in a hurry, they all forgot. Fortunately, the major immediately reminded:

"By the way, Mr. Sergeant. You heard that some Europeans were captured by the Indians in this Pampas area?"

Officer Manuel was trying to remember, as if he was searching his own memory bank.

"Yes, yes!" He finally recalled.

"Ah!" Sir Glenarvan exclaimed hopefully, like a person in the dark seeing the light before dawn.

At this moment, Glenarvan, Robert Jr., Paganel, and MacNabuse stepped forward together and surrounded Manuel.

"Sir, please tell me, please tell me!" Everyone urged him in unison, their eyes full of eagerness for news.

"Well, that happened a few years ago," said Manuel, "yes...that's right...captives...Europeans...and then...I didn't see..."

"Ah! A few years ago!" said Sir Glenarvan, "probably, you have misremembered... The date of the shipwreck is very accurate... June 1862, the shipwreck of the 'Britannia' ... Calculated, less than two years..."

"Oh, sir! It's been more than two years!"

"Absolutely impossible!" Paganel added.

"Really, it has been more than two years. I remember that it happened to be the year when Bei Bei was born, and there were two people..."

"You are wrong, there are three people!" Jazz corrected loudly.

"Indeed there are two people!" Juncao said firmly.

"Ah, two people, are they British?" Sir Glenarvan asked in surprise, full of doubts.

"No," said the sergeant, "what Englishman, no, I remember clearly, just...a Frenchman, and an Italian!"

"Could it be that this Italian was later killed by the Indian Baoyus?" Paganel asked loudly.

"Yes, yes, I later found out... that Frenchman was saved."

"Wow! I'm saved!" Little Robert jumped up excitedly when he heard this sentence.

"Oh, I see that, everything is clear!" Paganel said, patting his forehead vigorously, "all this can be explained clearly, all the truth is revealed."

"What's the matter?" asked Sir Glenarvan anxiously.

"My friends!" Paganel said disappointedly as he took Robert Jr.'s hand, "Now, we still got the clue wrong! I see, it was not Captain Grant who was robbed here, but Captain Grant. It is one of my French compatriots. After my French compatriots were plundered by the Indians, they went through hardships along the Colorado River, but finally escaped by luck and returned to France successfully. Therefore, the traces of Captain Grant, whom we are looking for, In the end, he turned into this French youth—Ginard. The Frenchman, Ginard, was plundered by Indians in South America for three years from 1856 to 1859. But he endured the cruel and painful test with great courage, Successfully escaped from the Andes through the Pass of Uppsala. In 1861, luckily returned to his homeland. Now, he joined the Geographical Society of France, and is a colleague of Paganel.—The trace of the original note!"

Sir Glenarvan looked at Paganel with a dejected look on his face. At this time, Tarcalf asked the Sergeant again:
"There are three Englishmen who do the captive thing, you know?"

"I really don't know anything about this matter," the military officer continued, "If this thing really happened, there will indeed be rumors in this Tandil area...I think...I will definitely know Yes, but, there is really no such thing..."

This blunt answer made Sir Glenarvan feel that there was really no need to stay on the Independence Fort.Therefore, the group of travelers shook hands with the sergeant one after another, expressed their thanks, and then left.

Sir Glenarvan thought that his hopes had been thwarted, and he felt uncomfortable.Little Robert walked beside him without saying a word, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably.Jazz couldn't find any soothing words to comfort the child at this time.Paganel kept talking to himself; the major kept his mouth shut; and Tarcaf felt that the clues were wrong, which would really damage his Patagonian self-esteem, so he also had a serious expression on his face. not happy.In fact, the error in this clue has nothing to do with Takaf, and no one thought of blaming him.

(End of this chapter)