WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Wind and a Cluster of Stars

Chapter 29

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Fishing, A New World

52. Fishing

May 21, 2:00 p.m.

After lunch, I sat in the shade of the sails, drinking juice with sugared lime squeezed into it, and sorted out my thoughts about the adventure ahead.

We were about two days away. The wind was favorable, and the sky was clear, not a cloud in sight.

Now and then, gulls and seabirds wheeled overhead with sharp cries, and waves slapped the hull.

Only those sounds broke the stillness of this quiet tropical sea.

"The problem is, the society did not give us much information."

I spoke to the cat sitting beside me.

As if it understood, the cat studied the parchment with the notes on it, then looked up at me.

Its round, tiger's-eye-colored eyes reflected the blue sky and the mast.

From the little information we had, the creature lived inland in southern Benguela.

It supposedly lived in open ground, in groups, and looked somewhat like a cat.

Still, tracking it down with no proper description and not even a single sketch would be difficult.

"At least there is one clue. 'It has long claws.'"

No wonder the society wanted to learn more about this animal.

Someone probably stopped there by chance, wandered farther inland by chance, and then by chance ran into it.

Later, that person's account or journal must have reached the society.

Either way, they needed detailed records and all kinds of collected material on this animal.

If I made things up or turned in a slapdash report,

the society would stop finding my material credible, and they obviously would stop giving me work.

"Still, what if this thing is a predator?"

I lifted the front paw of the cat sitting beside me and pretending not to notice.

Look closely, and cats are carnivores, and that infamous predator from India, the tiger, belongs to the cat family too.

This cat acted docile, but claws were hidden in those fluffy little paws.

"Is it your friend?"

The cat looked up at me again with a shameless expression that said, I know nothing.

For some reason, that made me uneasy.

...

5:16 p.m.

"Quick, quick! Help me!"

Tropical fish were colorful and often huge, so we used a thick line, baited it with a whole sardine, and cast it into the sea. Something enormous had taken the hook.

"Help me, Mac!"

Colton shouted, gripping the line as it peeled out wildly.

McGregor and another sailor rushed in to help him hold it.

But whatever this giant fish was, it was so strong that even with three grown men fighting it,

it ran along the water beside the ship or pulled backward, trying every trick to throw the line.

"If we pull too hard, the line might snap!"

Colton handled it skillfully. When the fish came in and the line slackened, he reeled fast to close the distance. When it pulled away and the line went taut, he let it out little by little to ease the tension.

But the ones getting tired were us. The fish fought like Sir Gawain of the Round Table.

It showed no sign of tiring, circling and circling around the ship and draining us.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"Ah!"

As the fish circled the ship, the line wrapped around the mast, and the three sailors rushed around the mast with it.

They ran all the way to the bow chasing the line.

"What in the world is that thing?"

Even Zenon looked baffled.

"Did we hook a Sea King or something?" (Sea King: king of the sea, a fish so huge and hard to conquer.)

"It is not a whale, right? No whale moves that fast."

"Dolphins are fast, but dolphins come up to the surface."

"Then a shark?" *(Sharks are fish. Dolphins are mammals, animals. As a side note, the whale shark is also a fish.)

"If it were a shark, those teeth would have cut the line several times by now.

I caught a shark in the Indian Ocean once, and there was already another hook in its mouth."

The identity of this powerful fish was revealed soon enough.

"It is tuna!"

Maybe this mighty fish was finally tiring too, because it came up to the surface, twisted hard, and leapt.

"Whoa!"

Good lord, I had never seen a fish that big.

Whales are naturally huge and do not quite feel like fish anyway, so setting them aside, this thing was monstrous.

Cod can grow large too, but compared to this sleek spindle-shaped beauty, cod were nothing.

Cod just have big heads!

"Make sure you land that! If we catch it, special dinner tonight!"

Even Amy was running around and shouting.

I wanted us to catch it too.

It was a well-known fish, but one that big was rare.

Usually, the biggest fish that made it to the table were about a fathom long at most.

"Ugh, I am dying here!"

Colton groaned, completely spent.

But the tuna was weakening too.

It was drawing closer to the ship, and it felt like the advantage was tipping our way.

"Careful! Do not let the line snap after bringing it this far!"

Zenon came over and started calling out advice too.

In the end, once the fish was exhausted, we quickly hooked the line to a cargo pulley.

"Got it! We got it!"

The sailors rushed in and hauled on the line, and as it came in on the pulley,

Zenon took his chance and drove a harpoon into its gills.

Bright red blood gushed out in heavy bursts, like slaughtering a pig.

A huge red stain spread behind the ship.

"Damn, every shark in this sea is going to gather here!"

The tuna still thrashed now and then, but in the end it had no choice and was lifted by the crane rigged to the pulley.

It was so long that half its body still hung against the hull, but five or six sailors tied ropes to the crane and pulled until they got it over the rail.

"Wow! What is this!"

I was so shocked I could not close my mouth.

"Is that bluefin tuna?"

Even Zenon looked genuinely stunned.

This three-meter monster looked to be at least 1,200 pounds, 540 kilograms.

-Thump!

"Whoa!"

The bluefin convulsed once and slammed its tail onto the deck, making everyone nearby jump back.

"Yah!"

-Thud!

Greedy for good food, Amy smacked it with the handle of a hook, but the half-stunned bluefin flopped again.

In the end, McGregor struck its head hard once, and only then did it stop thrashing.

"Hoo..."

"What kind of thing is this?"

People on nearby Agincourt were pointing at us and watching the whole scene.

Soon we started butchering it.

It was so huge I almost thought it was closer to a whale than a fish.

And bluefin tuna was known to be very tasty.

Most of all, it was fresh food.

We had not been at sea long, but since we had loaded mostly salted meat instead of fresh cuts in preparation for the next port, this fish was truly welcome.

"Wow..."

With practiced hands, Zenon slipped his hand into the gill opening, pried it wide, and cut off the head.

Its mouth was huge, big enough to swallow our little yellow cat in one gulp.

Maybe that was why the cat looked a little scared.

-Splashhhh

When we split the belly, a massive amount of entrails spilled out, ran across the deck, and flowed into the sea.

Even the gulls seemed tempted, perched along the rail with their yellow eyes gleaming.

Cleaning this would be a nightmare.

Before long, we split it lengthwise, removed the backbone, chopped it up, and cut it into suitable portions.

Just two or three chunks from this beast seemed enough to leave us full.

"Let us share some with Agincourt too."

We sent Agincourt five chunks of meat, each about the size of a head.

Amy soon began sorting things out with the cook.

Other than what we would eat that night, she packed all of it in salt.

The sailors got busy scooping seawater to scrub the blood-soaked deck,

and Amy got busy cooking.

That evening, thick fresh tuna cuts pan-seared in olive oil

were the best food I had ever eaten.

It felt less like fish and more like very high-grade beef.

Every bite released rich juice, and I was captivated by the tuna's deep flavor.

Captain Howard, eating dinner now, would probably not hold back his praise either.

The sailors were so absorbed in their tuna steaks they almost forgot to drink their beer.

"Really... this taste is absolutely perfect!"

I was in such a good mood that I gave gold coins as rewards to Amy, the cook, and the three sailors who caught the tuna.

Near the end of dinner, Agincourt sent over a crate of expensive Scotch whisky.

That gentlemanly captain must have been far more satisfied than usual.

When McGregor saw the box of liquor from his homeland, he looked ready to cry.

Truly, this was the kind of strange and remarkable experience only a seafarer could have.

53. A New World

May 23, 6:00 a.m.

Two days after leaving Sao Tome, we arrived smoothly at our landing point.

This tropical African coast was densely packed with wild mangroves,

and the whole shoreline glittered green.

I had heard those unusual trees thrived even in saltwater and grew all along hot coasts.

Our landing point was a sandy beach mixed with rock, a place even tough mangroves could not root into.

Between the mangroves crowding the coast, a beach about two hundred meters wide opened up.

It looked like local natives used this place too.

Rotten ropes, old fishing gear, and broken boats were caught on or draped over mangrove roots nearby.

Red Tea and Agincourt anchored close to the beach.

After dropping heavy anchors, we lowered boats and landed.

For this expedition I took Zenon, Amy carrying the cat, and Colton with me.

For the survey, we also brought a telescope, notes, pencils, and so on.

Agincourt's navy men came ashore here to secure fresh water and food.

They were excited by the rare chance for sanctioned hunting, gathering, and shooting practice.

Captain Howard did not seem interested. Only one lieutenant aide and six or seven NCOs and marines came down, including Sergeant Whitehead, whom I knew.

Both our group and theirs were armed with swords and guns, fully prepared for trouble.

...

Up close, the mangrove forest looked even more unusual.

It felt less like trees growing leaves and more like trees desperately trying to spread through roots.

"As far as I know, plants cannot live in saltwater..."

"Strange, right?"

Even near the London estuary embankments, some plants survived salty conditions.

But those were usually tiny, shriveled, pitiful things.

And they lived in mudflats where the salinity was lower.

This plant was different. It rooted and thrived even where seawater stood a fathom deep.

Without even a hint of withering.

"These must be the fruits!"

Oddly shaped fruits hung at the ends of the branches.

They were green and shaped like chisels. When I touched one, it dropped straight into the sea and stuck upright in the muddy sand.

It was fascinating.

"What is this?"

Amy found a round black object washed onto the shore.

The unknown thing, about half a palm wide, looked like a flat cookie.

Its surface was glossy and black, floating on water before drifting ashore.

Amy picked it up. Zenon and Colton were curious too, but none of us knew what it was.

-Tok tok

When I tapped it with a fingernail, it felt woody.

"Let us split it."

Zenon took it, set it on the sand, and chopped down with a machete. It split in half and showed white flesh inside.

Only then did we realize it was the seed of some plant.

It was full of powdery, starch-like matter.

I had never seen or heard of it before, and I wanted to record it, but I could not identify the parent plant,

so I could not bring myself to write it down yet.

"Hello, Captain. Sir."

Sergeant Whitehead greeted us first and joined us.

Three marines came with him.

"Are you heading farther south from here by any chance?"

"No. We will finish our survey here and return home."

"I ask because sea conditions are expected to turn poor. We will likely stop heading south, finish up here, and return to Luanda. We have an Admiralty mission to carry out within a few days."

"I see."

Sergeant Whitehead's eyes shone. He seemed determined to enjoy this rare hunting chance, small as it was.

He said he would follow us.

...

We moved farther inland.

The mangrove forest near the sea disappeared, replaced by sparse woodland that could only survive without salt.

A small stream ran out between rocks, and we all stopped to drink.

In that stream, we also saw the same round, large seeds we had seen at the beach drifting downstream.

"I still do not know what plant those seeds come from..."

It was still early morning, so dew soaked our trousers, and the cool, fresh air made both body and mind feel clean.

-Kraak, kraak.

A red-beaked bird cried nearby, then fled when we approached.

"We have to take something four-legged back. We really do."

The sergeant's eyes were bloodshot with hunting fever as he searched sharply for prey.

Then he spotted something and fired at once.

-Bang!

Something dropped from a tree into the grass. We ran over to see what it was.

It looked like an ugly bird of prey.

"Can we eat it?"

One marine prodded it lightly with a stick.

But a foul, rotten smell came off the dead bird, and it looked impossible to eat.

"Damn, bad luck."

Sergeant Whitehead grumbled.

Still, this did not look like a place where he would find large game.

Trees were sparse, and most of the vegetation was knee-high grass.

For me, though, this was my first time here, so everything felt new.

Red and yellow, blue, white, and violet flowers...

I liked this place, full of things that felt new and curious.

...

Soon the view opened wide, and open ground appeared.

After crossing that sparse forest, which we could barely trace even on our sloppy, mostly useless map,

we could feel the sun now rising in earnest, pouring down from the edge of the woods.

"Everyone stay alert. This is the habitat of that animal, the meerkat."

All of us stepped into the open ground.

Just as the name implied, only a few thin trees stood here and there.

Sparse shrubs and red earth spread across this strange land.

It felt nothing like the meadows of Wales or Scotland I had imagined.

Could life really survive here?

"The animal we are looking for is probably small."

Zenon said it firmly.

I thought the same. In land this harsh, large creatures seemed unlikely to survive.

In lush green grassland, there could be big carnivores living on herbivores.

Sergeant Whitehead heard Zenon and puffed his cheeks in frustration.

Still, it was too late for him to say we should turn back now.

...

Before long, we found small footprints.

"I know this well. These are rat tracks."

Colton said that as he followed the dense little prints across the red sandy soil.

They curved around small stones, passed under a fallen root knot, and ended at a shrub.

The marines who had come with no real purpose kicked at the dry shrub out of pure curiosity.

Nothing jumped out from inside, so they looked even more bored.

"Should we burn it?"

The sergeant and marines pressed their musket muzzles close to the shrub and fired at once.

Sparks flew, and the bush was quickly swallowed by flames, making the heat around me even worse.

"Ahhh!"

"Ughhh!"

Apparently I was not the only one feeling hot. A brown snake suddenly shot out and fled at incredible speed.

It ran almost as fast as a person, crossed a sandy mound in an instant,

and vanished, leaving only a faint winding trail.

"..."

"Damn fools..."

Zenon finally muttered at the sight of them.

...

We headed toward where the snake had disappeared.

In a place like this, it was easy to get lost, so we made sure the forest we used as a reference point never left our sight.

The sun grew fiercer, and the heat rising from the ground became intense.

Even so, Amy kept holding that warm cat and would not put it down.

Just looking at them made me feel hotter.

I soaked a towel in water from the flask and wrapped it around my head.

Soon we found a peculiar sight.

After stepping onto a sand mound, we saw six or seven holes below us, and around them were traces of dark, damp soil, as if freshly dug.

"Looks like something is there."

I narrowed my eyes and watched through the telescope, but I found nothing in particular.

One marine only crushed a small scorpion under his boot. Even after several minutes, we gained almost nothing.

"Ah! I have never seen a real scorpion before!"

I pressed him in frustration, but all that remained was powdered scorpion.

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