The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1204: Chapter 136: Darwin’s Conjecture_2

“Which category do you belong to then?”

Arthur did not want to answer this question. He pushed the documents on the table forward: “I don’t know, but I think you should look at this. This letter might explain your conjecture about Dutch and Düsseldorf dialects quite well.”

To Sir Arthur Hastings:

When my pen tip wrote down the word ‘Sir’ on the letter paper, Arthur, my heart was filled with immense pain.

How should I describe this feeling?

I think the damage this word brings me is no less than the bullet under the Tower of London brought to you.

Damn it! Arthur Hastings, 24 years old, is a Junior Knight!

Arthur, when I received Alexander’s letter before, I once thought you were ahead of me. But weeks later, the arrival of a new letter made me realize that you indeed were ahead of me. However, the way of walking between the two is obviously different!

Oh! No!

God! Buddha! Allah! How can you treat me so poorly!

Oh! No!

Priest! Pastor! Monk! Witch! Imam and Iman!

Have you fulfilled your responsibilities as messengers of God, returning my prayers to the gods and Buddhas you believe in!

Oh! No!

Arthur! You… how can you rob the honor that should belong to me!

I, Eld Carter, should be the first knight awarded in the history of the University of London!

I…

Cough! Cough! Sorry, Arthur, this kid Eld just took advantage of me going to the toilet to take my pen and scribble on the letter paper. There’s not much letter paper left on the boat, and we haven’t had the chance to dock and replenish in nearby cities, so I won’t change the paper. Please, when you publish the new issue of the “Beagle Voyage Diary”, delete Eld’s melodramatic segments yourself, I truly apologize.

Back to the point, on December 17, 1832, we rounded Santiago Cape and entered the famous Rameau Strait.

Through thin clouds, the rugged and desolate outline of Staten Island could be faintly seen.

In the afternoon, we docked and moored in Great Success Bay, just after entering the harbor we were received with a distinctly Tierra del Fuego welcome by the indigenous people on the island. Several Tierra del Fuegans crouched on a rock protruding into the sea at the shore, their bodies half hidden by dense forests. As we passed, they leapt up, waving tattered cloaks, uttering a loud shout. Then they followed the boat along the shore.

As nightfall approached, we saw their campfires and heard their wild cries. The harbor was half calm seawater, half surrounded by mountains. On the rounded low slate mountain tops, there was an impenetrable dark forest extending all the way to the water’s edge.

At a glance, it was completely different from any place I had seen before. At night, a strong wind arose, the fierce winds from the deep mountains swept over our heads, at this point, if the boat were out at sea it would have been distressing. Thus, like those who arrived here before us, we couldn’t help but shout out ‘Success’, which is why this harbor is called Great Success Bay.

In the morning, Colonel Fitzroy sent a few people to interact with the Tierra del Fuegans. As we rowed closer to the shore, we could hear shouting, one of the four indigenous people on the beach came forward to greet us and loudly shouted, directing where our small boat should dock.

When we landed, the few native people seemed a bit nervous. They kept talking, gesturing rapidly. Without a doubt, it was the most unique and interesting sight I had ever seen. I did not realize that the difference between uncivilized savages and civilized people could be so vast.

Perhaps because humans have greater ability to improve themselves, leading the difference between primitive and civilized people to be even greater than the difference between wild and domesticated animals.

The indigenous elder seemed to be the head of the family, the other three were strong young men, they appeared to be about six feet tall, as for the women and children in the tribe they were hiding.

These Tierra del Fuegans were completely different from those short and pitiful fellows further west in South America, they seemed closer to the Patagonian people near the Strait of Magellan.

Their attire was distinctive as well, cloaks made of camel skin, with camel hair outside, draped over their shoulders, the exposed parts of their copper-red bodies matched the parts that were covered.

On their heads was tied a headband made of white feathers, loosely binding their black, coarse, tangled hair.

Their faces were painted with two large horizontal stripes, the scarlet one between the ears, and above it was a parallel white stripe, even the eyelids were painted.

These fellows standing together, how should I describe them…

Arthur, do you remember “Free Shooter”? You, I, and Eld, the three of us once went to watch it together.

These fellows standing together looked very much like the Devil in “Free Shooter”.

Dealing with these indigenous people was not easy, although their attitude was humble, their expressions revealed skepticism and uneasy surprise. Due to the language barrier, we couldn’t communicate.

Therefore, at times like these, we called upon our multilingual master Eld Carter. For some unknown reason, Eld has this talent to quickly bond with locals no matter where he is.

He was able to drink and ride horses with the Gauchos, hosting each other, jester around with local soldiers as brothers, even here the locally renowned gentlemen and ladies looked up to him, considering this young man from Britain sincere, learned, and caring.