Chapter One Thousand Three Hundred and Seventy-Eight: The Big Island of Haiti, the Five Wonders of Taino!
"Ancestors! There really is a white-skinned tribe, appearing in a big boat! This is the same as what the tribes in the west preached. They even have scary beards!..."
"Ah! Evil! What a white-skinned evil!..."
"God of cassava! Will they be extremely greedy and cruel as the tribes in the west said, spreading terrible death?..."
"Leave! Leave quickly! Don't come close!..."
After sailing northwest, briefly passing by the northern part of the Northern Virgin Islands, and passing by the famous "Loli Island" in later generations, the Portuguese Kingdom's exploration fleet encountered an unexpected storm. Because the route was too close,
North, while sailing away from the storm, they also avoided the long and narrow "Island of Valor", later known as Puerto Rico.
Finally, blown by the warm February wind, they followed the traces of Taino fishing boats and approached the western coast... What suddenly appeared in front of them was the island of mountains that the Taino people call "Haiti."
"Island" (Haiti)! And once you get here, you are really only one step away from the hot land of Cuba in the west!
"O Lord! Such a big island must have an astonishing number of natives, more than all the islands we have passed before!"
"That's right! Captain! The 'Native Kingdom' that Columbus encountered might be here! And even if it's not here, it's probably connected to the natives here!..."
"Yes! Boss, look at their village. It is obviously bigger than all the villages we have encountered before! Look at their big huts, big wooden houses, and a large area of connected fields! I estimate that this is at least a thousand
A village of people!…”
On the flagship Caravel sailboat, Bruno squinted his eyes and looked at the villages on the west coast. His expression was full of vigilance, wary of the group of "wasps" like Caribbean boats attacking again. And the entire fleet was ready.
Be prepared and can speed up to the deep sea at any time.
It can be said with certainty that "Haiti Island" is the largest island that the Portuguese have encountered since their westward journey. This island is more than 600 kilometers from east to west and more than 200 kilometers from north to south, with an area of 76,000 square kilometers. It is Portugal's largest island.
three quarters of the kingdom.
Such a vast island area naturally supports a large tribal population. Currently, the Taino tribe growing cassava on the island has at least 100,000 people, and perhaps more than 200,000, or even 300,000 people. In the past hundred years,
, like Puerto Rico, this place has always been the front line for the Taino tribes to resist the invasion of Caribbean boats. However, with the scale of the Caribbean invasion of hundreds of warriors at most, the war pressure brought by it was not enough to keep the Tainos on the entire big island from attacking.
The Nuo tribe all united together to form an extraordinarily powerful tribal alliance...
In fact, as long as the combined size of the Taino tribes reaches about 20,000 people and can gather thousands of strong men, it will be enough to resist the largest Caribbean invasion!
Therefore, under this long, low-intensity tribal war that lasted for one or two hundred years, the 200,000 Taíno tribes on the island gradually formed five chief tribal alliances (cacicazgo) with a scale of tens of thousands, which is exaggeratedly called "
"Emirate", but based on its own level of organization, it should be called "Union".
Yes, five Taíno alliances, five! When the Portuguese arrived, the island of Haiti had such a split balance of power of "five coexistences". Of course, the location of the five emirates was not in the "southeast"
"Northwest, middle", but "southeast, northeast, southwest, northwest, middle"!
Like the "Five Jue", these five Taino tribes have both intermarriage and alliances, as well as hostile conflicts. Each tribe has a large tribe as the core, and each large tribe has a "god" that the gods love.
"The Great Chief" family. Yes, this is the upper and lower divisions of the tribe, and it is the prototype of the tribe's divine descendants!
The beliefs of various tribes and alliances also changed from "natural Zemi" to a similar but different "powerful mother goddess" in the frequent struggles and conflicts to strengthen the legitimacy of the rule of the "chiefs" of each tribe.
"Lord! It's so strange! When the fishermen in these villages saw our big boat, they first approached with a smile...but after seeing the boat clearly, they all turned into panic? Then they started shouting and quickly
Rowing to escape is like seeing a ghost... This weird behavior seems completely different from the barbaric tribes I encountered before?..."
Bruno frowned and carefully observed the escaping fishermen. A dozen fishing canoes were carrying twenty or thirty natives, escaping to the villages on the shore. None of these fishermen seemed to have dyed their hair and could not be seen.
Bows, arrows, short spears and other weapons. Some of them wore loincloths and some wore grass skirts. They were not as naked as the dyed-haired tribes they encountered before.
"Get closer! Take a closer look at the villages on the shore! I have a hunch that the natives here are not the same tribe as the fierce guys before!..."
The Portuguese fleet maintained a fighting posture and cautiously approached the eastern coast of the large Haitian island, approaching the core territory of the "Igui tribe". At this time, the canoes they encountered earlier had already fled back to the tribal village.
And with a burst of excited shouting, the whole village became panicked. Hundreds of tribal people were running around in the village. Many people rushed to the beach. After seeing the "white man" on the big boat, they fled back to the village in fright.
.And increasingly frightened shouts gradually gathered in the village, and one sentence appeared repeatedly.
"The Mother Goddess of Stone! It's an evil demon! It's the evil demon in the prophecy!..."
"Fleet on alert! Load cannons! Prepare for battle!…"
The reaction of the native village was obviously wrong. No matter how you looked at it, it was not friendly. And with the experience of Caribbean tribe attacks, Bruno immediately stayed away from the seaside where the boat was parked, maintaining a distance of two miles and continued to observe.
Reaction from the shore.
In the Taino village on the shore, a chief wearing feathers hurriedly emerged from the wooden hut. While sending an envoy to ask for help from the "Chief Igui", he stood next to the tribe's "Zemi Totem" and organized the organization at the top of his lungs.
The young men of the tribe.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Soon, there were two to three hundred strong Taino men, organized by more than a dozen tribal warriors, holding stone spears, slings, and hunting bows, nervously
They got together. Their equipment was very similar to that of the Caribbean people. They learned from each other through years of fighting.
It's just that they have not mastered the unique poison arrow technology of the Caribbean people, because they do not need this short-lived frog poison in daily farming and fishing. As a defensive party, they cannot decide the time and place of the battle themselves.
Decision. The temperate island of Haiti, like the island of Cuba to the west, has relatively more cultivation, and the poisonous frogs in the jungle are relatively difficult to find.
"The Stone Mother Goddess protects us! The Sun Chief will bring support! The evil spirits leave quickly! Leave our territory!..."
The strong Tainos guarded the borders of the tribal villages and shouted loudly to the ships on the sea. They did not have the bravery of the Caribbean people, they just gathered together to defend like hedgehogs, without any proactive attitude.
"...?"
Bruno waited patiently for two quarters of an hour, but the expected attack by the natives did not appear. Even if the natives gathered two to three hundred people, they still just guarded the village. He tentatively let the fleet continue to approach, but in the end, except for the natives
The people's shouts were louder and more urgent, and the stone spears were waved harder, but there was still no sign of attacking the fleet.
"Well... the Lord has witnessed! This is indeed a new tribe, and it is definitely not the same type as those annoying 'purple-headed wasps' before! If those annoying wasps had this number, they would have pounced on them and died..."
Bruno was thoughtful, his eyes lingering on the gathered team of natives for a long time. Except for a few people, most of the natives had no clothes, but they had a loincloth. They had no metal weapons, let alone armor. Look,
Apart from the large number of people, it seemed vulnerable.
In the middle of the native team, there is a striking man wearing feathers and straw clothes. He is obviously their commander or the chief of the tribe. At the moment, this man is pressing on a big stone with a sun carved on it, and he is saying
He muttered words as if praying to evil gods.
"The sun carved on the stone? Hmm... It doesn't seem to be devil worship, but pure idol worship?... It's all evil paganism anyway..."
Bruno was silent. He had never seen a similar "evil god totem" in the Caribbean villages he encountered before. What he didn't know was that the totem of this "stone sun" was the "Iguibu League"
(Higuey) worship of the "Stone Mother Goddess" combined with the "Sun Father God".
Yes, the Portuguese exploration fleet is arriving at the territory of the "Higuey" (Higuey) in the southeast of the large island of Haiti. And "Higuey" in the local tribal language means "the place where the sun rises"! So!
, this can also be called the "Eastern Japan Alliance".
On the other side in the northeast is the "Maguá". Yes, the meaning of "Muggle" here is undoubtedly "stone". Since it is located on the east side, it is called "Eastern Stone Alliance"
". As for the symmetrical northwest, it is "Marién" (Marién), which is also a name related to "stone". It can be called "Western Stone League".
To the southwest of the big island is the "Jaragua Emirate" (Jaragua). Due to its westernmost position and their self-proclaimed "Sun Chief Name", it can be called the "Western Japan Alliance". As for the "Muguana Emirate" in the middle
"(Maguana), is the final upgraded name of "Stone", "Unique Sun Stone", it can be called "Zhongshentong"... ah no, "Sino-Japanese Stone Alliance".
At this point, the "East Sun" in the southeast, the "West Sun" in the southwest, the "East Stone" in the northeast, the "West Stone" in the northwest, plus the "Middle Stone" in the middle, are collectively called the "Taino Five Wonders of the Big Island of Haiti"
, ruling the entire Haiti together!
Among the five tribes, "Dongri" and "Dongshi" on the east side are at the forefront of resistance to the Caribbean people. They are facing pressure from the Caribbean people and remain neutral on the island. Currently, they have not formed alliances with other tribes.
A big conflict occurs.
As for the three divisions on the west side, they are in a state of hostility of "two against one". The "Chinese and Japanese Stones" in the middle are allied with the "Western Japanese" in the southwest and are hostile to the "Western Stone" in the northwest.
The conflict between the two sides has intensified day by day, and there have been team battles involving more than a thousand people. Of course, the team battles between the Taino tribes are completely different from the brutal fighting on the plateau. At best, they are "unarmored villages with sticks and weapons." After a fight,
, at most there will be dozens of casualties...
It is worth mentioning that the wife of Chief "Sino-Rishi" is the sister of Chief "Xiri". She is the great poetess chief "Anacaona" who was respected and commemorated by all the Caribbean countries in later generations!
"God bless you! Captain, these natives are crowded together, they are the best artillery targets! At this distance, the eight-pounder can be killed as long as it is loaded with gravel shot and fired in one round.
Dozens of them!…”
"Yes! Fire! Captain! Defeat these natives, and then go ashore... In such a big village, not to mention those plump women... there will definitely be valuable property, maybe gold!..."
Bruno turned around and saw a group of sailor officers who were eager to try and looked cruel. He raised his eyebrows, obviously unhappy. After thinking for a moment, he looked at a group of adjutants with a kind face and a round face.
Bosun Haroldo.
"Haroldo, what do you think? Should we attack these defensive natives?..."
"Ah? Boss, I think... we should not open fire, but should send some gifts and express goodwill to the natives on the shore! After all, these natives did not take the initiative to attack us, and we know nothing about the situation here.
Know. When there is insufficient information, caution is the best choice. If you are not completely sure of your action, you should keep smiling..."
"Very good! The Lord has witnessed that Haroldo is right! This is a qualified naval officer of the Kingdom!..."
After hearing the satisfactory answer, Bruno smiled and nodded, and looked around sharply at the people who were bowing their heads. Then, he stretched out his hand, just like the former Captain Diogo, and patted Haroldo's shoulder affectionately.
"Haroldo, please make arrangements and send a sailor down to deliver friendly gifts to the natives!..."
"Yes! Boss!..."
Haroldo responded respectfully and was about to turn around to make arrangements... A deafening roar of cannons suddenly sounded on the coast!
"Boom boom boom boom!..."
Note: The Easter egg chapter is a map of the various tribes and alliances in Haiti.
