Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1460 - 1013: The Scholar’s Sailing Journal – Coastal Salish Tribes, Beautiful Land, and Eagle Island Tribe
"Bless the Chief Divine! After departing from Whale Harbor, the route northwards always managed to benefit from the warm ocean current, thus making the sailing swift. By mid-May, the fleet arrived at 51 degrees north latitude, on the north side of Slaos People’s Long Island, and established Shenbei Fish Port (now Port Hardy). The location of Shenbei Fish Port was chosen by Zuwaro beforehand, and the name ’Beiyu’ Port was given by him. This port controls the strait on the north side of Long Island, with an abundant fishing yield, producing salmon, cod, scallops, prawns, and crabs... Haha! So many schools of fish swimming around the strait, yet Zuwaro was the first to cast a net and only caught a heap of scallops. He shamelessly called it a Divine Revelation and named the port ’Beiyu’!"
"Praise the Chief Divine! I added the word ’Shen’ in front of ’Beiyu Port’, representing that this year’s exploration is getting closer to the enlightenment of the Chief Divine! This part of Slaos People’s Long Island is only separated by a strait of several dozen miles from the continental coast to the north, which allows trade with the tribes across the sea. According to the guide from the Whale Tribe, Whale Dog, on the other side is the Heiltsuk Tribe. These tribes, like the Slaos and the more northern coastal tribes, primarily fish. The tribes are usually small, ranging from dozens to a few hundred people. And the language they speak is the relatively simple Salish, which can barely be communicated with the guides of the Whale Tribe... I have recorded these tribes as the Coastal Salish Tribes!"
"The location of Shenbei Fish Port is a Slaos fishing village of about a hundred people. Zuwaro had visited here last year and was familiar with the tribal leaders. The arrival of the powerful Kingdom’s fleet, with 700 Kingdom’s warriors landing, greatly shocked the small tribe of only thirty to forty able-bodied men! What followed was logical and went extremely smoothly: forming alliances, tribe mergers, collective conversion... Finally, the fleet left 60 warriors and sailors, an old longship, and a batch of supplies to ensure the port could be self-sufficient before heading north again!"
"Moving north from Shenbei Fish Port, within only three or four days, the fleet reached a coastal fishing village of the Heiltsuk Tribe called ’Waglisla’! In the local Salish language, this name means ’A New Beautiful Place’ or ’Beautiful New World’. Thus, this tribe of four to five hundred people can also be called the ’Beautiful Tribe’. Facing the powerful yet communicable Kingdom fleet, the leaders of the Beautiful Tribe expressed obvious goodwill. They lit bonfires and sang ancestral songs to welcome these ’distant friends on large ships’!"
"From the ancestral songs of the Beautiful Tribe, I faintly heard traces of ancient origins. They seemed to have migrated from a very cold, snow-covered northern inland after a long journey to settle here on this warm southwestern coast! That northern mountainous region is also known as the ’Cold Stone Mountains’... And compared to the barren, cold far north, this warm and fertile coast is truly wonderful!"
The moon rose to the center of the sky and gradually drifted towards the western sea. In the deep night filled with silent winds, a cluster of bonfires lit at the mountain peak dispelled the coldness that could freeze droplets with the warmth of firestone and dry branches. Scholar Mikki sat by the bonfire, reminiscing about the lush Coastal Salish Tribes, a warm smile appearing on his face.
"Praise the Chief Divine! The breeze caresses the green trees, and the sea air is full of lively vitality! The ripple of the tides intertwines like an ancient and simple ancestral song. The gray-white beaches and gray-brown reefs continuously interlace, forming a complex coastline. The clear seawater sparkles, from emerald green shallows to the deep blue sea!"
"Flowers bloom along the shore, the multicolored spring adorning the entire seaside like the magnificent feathered garment of the earth! The white seagulls joyfully soar in the sky. Dense schools of fish weave through the slightly green seawater. Sunlight penetrates the clouds, falling upon the vast sea like a string of bright, sacred obsidian beads! Oh Chief Divine! The brilliance of heaven and earth intertwines into a bright expanse, like your most generous blessings!"
Seeing the praises written by Scholar Mikki, Exploration Captain Zuwaro smirked, murmured softly to himself, and sighed with envy.
"Mikki, this is the Northern Coast after spring’s arrival. If you stayed there like me during winter, I bet you’d freeze into a ball, unable to release even a warm fart!... Eh! If I had your way with words, why venture out to sea? I’d just become a scripture priest in the wide and splendid temple of the Capital City, writing scriptures and praises all day, wouldn’t that be nice?!"
"Uh... Praise the Chief Divine! Even scripture priests need to witness these divinely inspired landscapes to write truly good praises!... It’s called... um, ’the divinity falls in the eyes, settles in the heart, and overflows from the mouth’!"
"Ha! Divinity overflows? Why does it come out of your mouth and somewhere else for me..."
"Uh! That... Zuwaro, everyone has their strengths. I like good food, and you’re good at eating, healthy!"
"Good at eating? Healthy? You... Get lost!"
"Haha!..."
Laughing heartily with the captain who shared countless life-and-death experiences, Scholar Mikki joked a few words while rubbing the confused head of White Bear Gaowa. Then, he turned to the last page of May in the diary, where observations about the Tsimshian people were recorded.
"At the end of May, the fleet of nine ships left the Beautiful Tribe of the Heiltsuk and traveled to the Tsimshian territory, navigating along the rugged, reef-filled coast. Tsimshian people are a tribe skilled in fishing, as well as hunting and tracking. Similar to the Heiltsuk, they migrated from the northern Cold Stone Mountains through bloodshed. Their tribe size generally isn’t large, around a few hundred people, likely limited by food supply constraints. After all, as one moves northward from Whale Island, the coastal tribes are primarily fishing and hunting tribes, perhaps gathering berries, pine nuts, and acorns, but lacking a stable food supply. It’s uncertain whether the potatoes brought by the fleet can be grown along the relatively warmer coastline of the far north? Hopefully, they can!"
"By the end of May, we reached 54 degrees north latitude, to the largest Tsimshian settlement, Eagle Island Tribe, close to a thousand people! Eagle Island Tribe is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with two mighty rivers flowing north and south, and a wide bay to the west. This is where fish gather, the place of salmon migration in summer, with abundant fishing harvests. Surrounded by wind-shielding mountains and impacted by the two rivers, the bay experiences shorter freeze periods in winter compared to the surrounding coastlines, allowing for ice fishing even when it’s frozen... The relatively warm environment and excellent geographical location provide ample food, supporting such a ’large’ tribe of a thousand people on the far north coast!"
"Eagle Island Tribe, named after the ’Eagle’, has a totem pole depicting a White Eagle standing on a snowy mountain. Similarly, the Kingdom reveres the ’Divine Eagle’, with many eagle patterns carved into the longships and eagle feathers adorning the helmets of warriors. This fascinating totem connection seems like a blessing and gift from the Chief Divine, making the chiefs of Eagle Island Tribe extremely friendly!... Of course, it could also be because the fleet’s military might is overwhelmingly strong compared to the tribes of the Northwest Coast..." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
"Praise the Chief Divine! Zuwaro had been to Eagle Island Tribe before, and it was here he learned about the Western Island Chain. His third Tsimshian wife is from the Eagle Feather Tribe, reportedly just reaching adulthood. In the Eagle Feather Tribe, the adulthood standard is fifteen years old, and girls marry at that age to quickly continue the tribe... Haha! Zuwaro, this fellow, has always been good at eating, healthy, very healthy!"
"Witnessed by the Chief Divine! No matter what, Eagle Island Tribe expressed strong friendliness. In front of the tribe’s totem pole, Great Chief Tsin Eagle of Eagle Island took out the ancestral Snow Eagle Ceremony Bowl, lit the alliance’s pine resin and eagle blood, and made a blood pact with me and Zuwaro! Happily accepting the Sun Supreme God Amulet I presented, he perceived the Hummingbird on the amulet as an eagle emblem. His return gift was a peculiar eagle bone wooden carving, featuring an eagle’s skull and cedarwood body, adorned with red ochre patterns and inlaid with abalone and sea snail shells..."
"I was quite amazed at such intricate bone wood carvings! Great Chief Tsin Eagle told me this inherited ancestral apparatus came from the Haida on the large island across the sea. In contention for a bountiful fishing ground, he once paddled a canoe to kill a Haida chieftain. The carving was his most prized trophy!"
