While traveling in the wind and snow, a gray and yellow felt tent suddenly appeared in the low-lying valley sheltered from the wind among the white mountains.
"Friends of Kaibe! This is our winter camp in Yamabe!..."
"Well, praise the Lord God!"
Zuvalo, the exploration captain, stood on the top of the mountain and looked from a distance. Hundreds of tribesmen were busy in the winter camps in the valley, and it was difficult to see what they were doing. Groups of gray reindeer gathered on the outskirts of the valley, sometimes scattering for food aimlessly, sometimes looking left and right, looking for the leader of the group.
The children in the mountains, under the guidance of the hunters, ride on the relatively docile reindeer and play. They have been familiar with these powerful creatures and the techniques of taming reindeer since they were young. In fact, children of every tribe have to ride deer at the age of five, herd herds at the age of seven, and start learning rope roping, reindeer and simple "deer fighting" at the age of ten... until the children reach the age of fifteen and have learned this skill. Only with complete survival skills can one be considered a man in the tribe and have the qualifications to marry an independent wife.
"O Lord God! Your Majesty's Divine Revelation!... Could it be that the four-legged beasts galloping in Your Majesty's Divine Revelation are these giant deer with long horns?!..."
Zuvalo, the exploration captain, opened his eyes wide as he approached these strong reindeer that were not afraid of people and could be ridden. These adult male reindeer are about one to two meters tall, which is actually taller than the Japanese horses of this era. They are strong, good at running, and can withstand extreme cold. Male reindeer weigh about 300 pounds and have very strong long horns on their heads.
Zuvalo observed it carefully for a while and found that this "giant deer" had a lot of hair, including thick hair on its hooves. The "Giant Deer" has particularly small ears and sharp eyes, and seems to be observing the people in front of it.
During this era, tribes in the Eurasian polar regions, from the Scandinavian tribes in the west to the Kamchatka tribes in the east, domesticated reindeer on a large scale. In the polar regions of the North American continent, the size of reindeer is much smaller, and is only found in the Inuit tribes in the far north.
The exploration fleet came all the way west along the warm Gulf of Alaska, blocked by coastal mountains. It was indeed the first time that we learned that the reindeer that dominates the Arctic can be domesticated and ridden!
"God bless you! Friends of Yamabe, can you... ride these giant deer to fight in war?..."
"Haha! Friend Kaifu, do you want to ride a reindeer to fight?... Reindeer are not meant for riding! Their backs are very fragile, and they can easily get injured when running with a strong man on them! And they can't even run while carrying things on their backs. Not fast, not as fast as pulling something..."
Hunting Captain Mu Dog blinked, smiled and shook his head. The Kaibu leader in front of him seems to be particularly fascinated by the rideable beasts, and he has never forgotten them. Could it be that he has been living on the island and has never seen reindeer and horses? …
"Guide from the ancestors! Those who are truly suitable for riding and fighting are the 'muri' (muri) and 'horse' of the horse tribe in the west, west, west, west!"
"Witness the Lord God! What did you say? 'Muri', 'horse'?...What does a horse look like?"
"Oh! Horses, with long bodies and shoulders taller than reindeer, are smart and obedient, and can carry riders on migrations... According to the ancient rumors passed down by the tribe from generation to generation, there are countless horses in the far west and southwest. The horse herding tribe lives in the warm south with abundant water and grass!…”
"Ah! Countless horse herding tribes, countless horses!..."
Hearing this, the exploration captain Zuvalo's eyes widened instantly, his heart was surging, and he was so excited that it was difficult to express in words!
"Muri, Muri, horse!..."
He repeated this Tungus word from the Ewen tribe, "muri". And if we continue to go west and reach the Ewenki tribes on the edge of the Mongolian cultural circle, the horse they talk about is "mori" in Mongolian! As for going further south, to the Jurchen tribes who also belong to the Tungusic language family, the horse they speak of is very similar and has the same origin as "morin"! …
"Praise the Lord God! Praise Your Majesty! It turns out that four-legged riding beasts that can ride and fight really exist in the far west...It turns out that they are called 'Muri' and 'horse'!..."
Exploration captain Zuwa’s eyes flashed and he muttered to himself absentmindedly for a while. You know, finding and bringing back four-legged riding beasts and four-legged farming beasts is one of the most important tasks in His Majesty’s divine exploration! But now that he heard the exact rumors, the hope of finding these four-legged riding beasts was really close at hand!
"The Lord God bless us! Your Majesty's divine revelation is never wrong! Ah, friends of Yamabe, do you have that 'Muri' in your tribe! Do you have horses?... We can exchange with you, using precious salt and weapons Come and change!…”
"Huh? You want to ride a horse?... Chief of the Kaibu, we in the Mountains do not raise horses. Riding those animals is very troublesome and not suitable for running on the snowy fields... My grandmother also said that they are difficult to raise and can easily die. Raise them. It’s not cost-effective to eat because you eat too much and are too picky!… In the snowy plains, reindeer and dogs that are not afraid of the cold are the best! They are easy to feed and easy to eat, and they can easily eat meat even after they die!…”
The hunting captain, Mu Quan, talked a lot about the benefits of raising reindeer and huskies. In fact, before the arrival of the Russians, there were indeed no horses on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the snowy fields of the Far North. Because, in the harsh polar environment, there are no wild horses. The cost of horses domesticated by the tribe is too high and the food is too selective. Reindeer can eat a variety of lichen, moss and grass roots in winter, but delicate horses cannot be raised so simply. They must be supplemented with beans or pasture.
At the same time, in the snowy environment, running horses have no advantages in moving and carrying loads compared to reindeer and dog sleds. In fact, it was only after cold-resistant rye was introduced to various Kamchatka tribes from Europe that various tribes gradually had the agricultural foundation to feed horses...
"Friends from Kaibu! The reindeer in our mountains are also very good! They can drag our tents and move tirelessly. They can travel every day. Well, it takes a person five full days to complete the journey. And it only takes less than half a month to travel from the southernmost island of the peninsula to the northernmost deer!…”
The hunting captain, Mu Quan, spoke patiently for a long time and praised the reindeer in the mountains before ending with an ancient tribal proverb.
"Ancestors witness! The oldest Rendeer raises all tribes in the snowfield! They are the real masters of the snowfield. And whoever is their friend is the friend of the snowfield, and can continue to exist on the snowfield forever!..."
"O Lord God! Are these giant gray deer the real owners of the snowfield?... There are no horses in the mountains, only deer and dogs. There are horses in the horse department, but they are far to the west!..."
Exploration Captain Zuvalo pursed his lips and tried to write down these key information. Soon, the excited barking of dogs sounded in his ears.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!..."
"Phew! We're finally home! We can have a warm meal of stewed venison...! Haha! Blessed by the sacred mountain! This trip went so smoothly, I thought we were going to fight... Eh! You? Mutu, in the clan Why are you guys coming out with weapons?"
"Witness the ancestors! This is the order of the old grandmother Mulushan! She asked the children to be energetic, wear armor and carry bows, so that the 'guests' of Kaibu can't look down upon!..."
"Oh! The wise old grandmother has the blessing of the sacred mountain, she must be right!...Those hunters from the Haibu are indeed very elite! They have many, many good armors!..."
The elite hunters from the mountain arrived at the camp, with chubby smiles on their faces, and greeted the surrounding tribesmen. At the gate of the camp, there were nearly two hundred strong tribesmen, all wearing deerskin robes as thick as leather armor, carrying recurve bows and arrows, and carrying several stone axes, warmly "welcoming" the "guests" from the distant sea. ".
"Haha! Blessed by our ancestors! The leader of the Haibu tribe, our Hot Spring Mountain tribe, is the most powerful tribe on the peninsula! ... Look, these are outstanding warriors in the tribe, who can shoot a running reindeer from dozens of steps away! They can also march for ten days, cross the entire peninsula, and go to the north to fight the deer tribe that invaded the territory!..."
