บท 171: Chapter 172: [Arrival in the UK]
Veracruz.
This is the largest port on the east coast of Mexico. Last year, the Americans assembled tens of thousands of troops to attack here. It was one of the largest battles in the Mexican-American War, second only to the Battle of Mexico City.
However, when Ma Shao arrived here, the atmosphere of war had basically dissipated, or rather, it had turned into politics and was continuing at the negotiation table.
Due to slow communications, the negotiations may last half a year or even longer.
People naturally wouldn't wait that long. In fact, the lives of the people in Veracruz had basically returned to normal, so Luanfa was able to find merchant ships bound for Europe here.
At the port, the endless sea comes into view.
"Great Chief, that's the merchant ship I found." Luanfa pointed at a wooden sailing ship anchored in the harbor. The ship was not big, but it had a slender hull and a sharp protruding bow, which looked quite eye-catching.
Is this... a clipper ship?
Ma Shao looked at the sailboat, a little uncertain.
Clipper is a type of sailing ship that has gradually emerged in the last decade or so. Although it is a sailing ship, it is actually not inferior to a steamship, especially in terms of speed - the steamships of this era were not mature.
Of course, this boat is most likely not a true clipper, but a modified sailboat with a design close to that of a clipper. After all, clippers in the strict sense have only been around in the United States for a few years and are not yet popular enough.
Luanfa: "I heard that this kind of ship is very fast. It only takes less than a month to get from here to Liverpool in England."
"Let's go, we'll take this boat." Ma Shao nodded, and then led the people behind him towards the sailboat.
The captain seemed to be a mixed-race person, in his thirties, with features of both white and yellow races, black hair and pupils, fair skin, and eye sockets of neither deep nor shallow quality.
"This is Captain Guzman."
"Hello, Apaches," Captain Guzman greeted. "Are you going to Liverpool?"
"Yes."
Guzman nodded, then said, "May I ask, what are you going to do in England?"
"Study." Ma Shao didn't explain much.
"It's really strange." Captain Guzman couldn't help but say that he had never heard of such a thing. But when he noticed that there were 20 or 30 teenagers in the Chipachi team, he thought it might be true.
He shrugged. "Well, whatever you want to do in England, even if the English probably don't like you very much. I'm only responsible for collecting money and doing things. There are about fifty of you. Do you have the money for the boat tickets ready?"
"How much?"
"The price of the ticket is six pounds and fifteen pence per person." Captain Guzman added, "I was given five hundred silver dollars as a deposit, so you will probably have to pay another two hundred pounds."
At that time, one pound was equivalent to about five dollars, and six pounds and fifteen pence was about thirty dollars.
Ma Shao took out some US dollar gold coins, counted them, and handed them to the captain: "Are these enough?"
"Five dollars short... But never mind, you can get on board." Captain Guzman weighed the bag of gold coins and smiled.
The war had just ended and business was not very good, but he seemed to be in a good mood with more than fifty passengers coming at a time.
"When to set off?"
"Two days later," Captain Guzman added. "Northerners, I hope none of you suffer from seasickness."
Ma Shao didn't take it seriously.
Although he had never been on a boat in this life, he had been on one in his previous life and did not have any problems with seasickness.
Moreover, although the Apaches were not good at swimming, they were proficient in horse riding and could withstand the bumps on horseback, so seasickness was nothing to worry about.
Three days later.
"Ugh... Ugh..." Ma Shao lay on the side of the boat and vomited, his face pale.
Even though there was already gastric juice left in his stomach, he still vomited from time to time.
He was seasick, very badly.
Ma Shao now has to admit that seasickness and motion sickness may be a metaphysics.
In his previous life, he was a fat otaku and he was not prone to motion sickness or seasickness.
Now he is nearly 1.9 meters tall and weighs more than 100 kilograms - and he is not fat. His huge weight mainly comes from his steel-like tendons. He can ride the strongest horse and pull the strongest bow, but he suffers from severe seasickness.
For this reason, Ma Shao has not eaten or slept for a day and a night.
If this situation continued, he felt that he might die in the Atlantic Ocean...
Ma Shao lay on the side of the boat, looking at the azure blue ocean in front of him, feeling a little dazed.
"This is normal. Many people get seasick when they take a boat for the first time." Captain Guzman came over and looked at the feathers on Ma Shao's head. "Even the bravest warriors will get seasick."
Ma Shao didn't say anything.
Guzman added: "You are the great chief, why do you only have nine feathers on your head?"
Ma Shao: "Is there any necessary connection between the two?"
Guzman: "As far as I know, many great chiefs wear a war crown with dozens or even hundreds of feathers on it, symbolizing the enemies they have defeated... Of course, I only lived in an Indian village when I was a child, so I don't understand this very well."
Ma Shao said slowly, "Indeed, but most of them have the war crown because they have the power to distribute feathers, not because they have really made so many achievements."
Guzman was silent for a moment: "So, these nine feathers on your head represent that you have indeed killed nine enemies?"
"At least nine." said Ma Shao.
"That's amazing." Then the conversation paused for a moment and Guzman started smoking a cigar.
Until Ma Shao suddenly said, "How much would it cost to buy a boat like yours?"
"First of all, it depends on where you buy it." Guzman puffed out smoke. "For example, if you buy this ship from a British shipyard, it may cost 8,000 pounds. It's cheaper in the United States. So, do you want to buy a ship?"
"Just asking, ugh..." Ma Shao vomited a few more times.
Fortunately, although he suffered from severe seasickness, he adapted quickly. After only three or four days, he was basically no longer seasick. After a week, he was completely adapted and could eat and rest normally.
After nearly a month of sailing, one day in May, the sailboat crossed the Atlantic Ocean, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Irish Sea, and saw the coastline of the British mainland.
"Liverpool is here!"
There was a gradual commotion outside; there was no doubt that they had arrived at a busy port.
Ma Shao put down the pen and paper, walked out of the room, and looked towards the port where the sailboat was heading.
"Liverpool..."
There is no doubt that as a world-class port, Liverpool is a truly big city. Even by the standards of later generations, this city with a population of 300,000 and thousands of ships passing through it every year is not shabby.
"We're in England now. It's time to disembark." When the sailboat docked, Ma Shao and his group disembarked and set foot on British soil.
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