My British Empire

Chapter 385 Landing and accident

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Soon, under the offensive of a lot of money, Domingo happily agreed to John Hawkins' invitation to become their navigator.

Next, under the guidance of Domingo, the crowd bought a lot of candies and ironware, as well as a lot of ropes and slave poles.

Then, everyone set sail for their destination—the Gold Coast.

The so-called Gold Coast is just that after the new sea route was opened, the Portuguese heard that Africa was rich in gold, but they didn't know the exact location.

As soon as they arrived in Africa, they searched for gold everywhere. Soon, they discovered that the coast of Ghana was rich in gold sand, and named it "Mina", which means "mineral".

Later, this place was called the "Gold Coast", and countless wealth was looted from here to mainland Europe.

As the first time to go to sea, John Hawkins chose the Gold Coast as the destination for his first slave capture.

At that time, Spain did not allow people from outside the country to enter the black slave trade.

So, it can be said that John Hawkins is the first person in England to eat crabs.

Because of this, he invited Domingo to participate. As the navigator, only if he knows where the Spaniards often go can he avoid it well.

The fleet of three ships makes the passing ships dodge one after another. After seeing them, they often speed up to leave, for fear of provoking them.

In this age of great voyages, merchants and pirates are two sides of the same coin, being a merchant and robbing can be carried out at the same time.

That's why the caravans coming and going are afraid of them. After all, the three Galen ships are also a big force.

Hawkins and others drove slowly along the coastline. The hidden reefs and wind and waves along the way made them tremble with fear. They didn't dare to fall asleep at night, for fear that they would die if they were not careful.

However, the scenery along the way opened their eyes.

Mountains, deserts, rain forests, the same coast, the scenery is very different.

Passing through a tropical rainforest and seeing a grassland, a large number of cattle and sheep are grazing with their heads down, and a river flows into the sea.

The navigator Domingo suddenly said to John Hawkins:

"Your Excellency, Captain, let's dock! This is our destination!"

"My friend, it seems that the destination has not been reached yet! There is still a distance from the Gold Coast!"

John Hawkins frowned and asked softly.

"Yes, this place is indeed a bit far from the Gold Coast. After all, there is relatively little or no gold here!"

As soon as the term gold came out, all the crew members immediately widened their eyes and opened their mouths, swallowing uncontrollably, staring blankly at the land ahead without saying a word.

For Europeans, gold is "the sun that can be touched".

In Latin, gold means "shining evening".

It can be said that gold is the power, engine, and pursuit of gold in the age of great navigation, which made Europeans endure loneliness, disease, and storms at sea.

So, when they heard the word gold, everyone was not calm, including the two brothers John Hawkins and William Hawkins.

The navigator Domingo glanced at the stunned faces of the crowd, calmly stroked his messy black beard, took a sip of the wine in his hand, hiccupped again, and said loudly.

"We are here to catch black slaves, not to fish for gold. This is a place that the Spaniards disdain. After all, it is the best thing to catch black slaves and fish for gold at the same time!"

As soon as Domingo finished speaking, John Hawkins looked at the grassland full of cattle and sheep, and the river flowing into the sea, and immediately said decisively:

"This is the place, we are here to capture black slaves, not for gold!"

He raised his head, looked at the obsessed look of the crowd, and quickly snapped:

"Our little people can't fight those Spaniards and Portugal. Instead of risking our lives to catch gold, we might as well catch black slaves. This is our purpose!"

"Besides, it may not be true. In the black tribes we conquered, there is a lot of gold. We don't need to dig it ourselves, we can fish it ourselves!"

Seeing that his subordinates still seemed concerned, John Hawkins couldn't help talking big.

"If the gold is looted, I only want half of it, and the rest is yours, I promise!"

"And, everyone's commission for going to sea this time will increase by three more levels!"

As a superior, Sir John Hawkins naturally knew how to arouse the passion of his subordinates. He quickly made an oath in the name of God.

Sure enough, following his words, the enthusiasm of the sailors really rose, their noses were steaming, and they looked at the gradually approaching grassland with fiery eyes.

Soon, the three boats went upstream along the river bank, found a place to dock, and built a simple small dock as a dock.

There were a total of 120 people on the three ships. After leaving my brother William and 20 people to guard the ship, of course, including the navigator Domingo.

Hundreds of other people are gathering together, obeying John Hawkins' order, and preparing to act together.

Among a hundred or so people, more than 30 of them have matchlock guns, more than 20 longbowmen, and 50 spearmen.

John Hawkins repeated his oath on the boat again, and then walked forward aggressively with everyone in high spirits.

Hawkins was unfamiliar with everything in front of him. After the Spaniard said some attention, he refused to get off the boat.

"Follow me, don't run around!" Hawkins said a warning, and stood in front, watching the terrain carefully.

There is a river nearby, so the probability of people nearby is a bit higher, especially if there are herds of cattle and sheep. In this case, there must be black tribes nearby.

It was the first time for everyone and they had no experience, so they all followed Hawkins very nervously, looking around.

At this time, Hawkins suddenly stopped, he bent down, looked down carefully, "This is a human footprint, black people around here!"

"Yes, Captain, there are indeed black people ahead, and it's still a small tribe!"

At this time, a sailor behind him pointed forward and whispered.

Hearing this, Hawkins looked up, and sure enough, he could see a tribe indistinctly, with vague figures, whose faces could not be seen clearly, like black lacquered sticks, thin and long.

"Everyone, get ready and start acting!"

Hawkins turned his head, ordered softly, and then leaned forward and slowly approached the group of black tribes.

The people behind him also followed behind him sensibly, approaching the black tribe step by step.

When they were about a hundred feet (about 30 meters) away from the tribe, there was a sudden exclamation in everyone's ears.

òó)(òó)(òó)!"

Hawkins looked up, and saw a seven or eight-year-old black man with his mouth wide open, with a surprised expression, and the voice came from his mouth.

(end of this chapter)

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