Chapter 1649: Ranch, gold, phosphate rock and dodo

Going to Perth to raise sheep is not difficult. As long as dozens of honest shepherds are sent, they can easily graze in the Swan River Basin in Perth. Moreover, the breeding speed of sheep is very fast.

According to a piece of news that Marin had seen in his last life, it was a pity that fishermen in the Cologne Islands (Galapagos Islands) of Ecuador saw the dry Cologne Islands that were not suitable for agriculture, so empty, so they were released on the island 3 sheep. Then, it didn't matter.

Unexpectedly, these sheep breeding speed is too scary. Fourteen years later, these three sheep were born raw sheep, and the sheep regenerated ... even more than 30,000 ...

Later, the number of sheep grew to 250,000, almost eating the grass on the arid Galapagos Islands, which caused the original "indigenous" Galapagos tortoises on the islands to find nothing to eat. Almost extinct because of hunger ... Then, the Ecuadorian authorities had to urgently dispatch troops to kill hundreds of thousands of sheep on the island ...

At that time, it was a pity for sand sculpture netizens—hundreds of thousands of sheep, how many strings can be swept ... It ’s a waste to just kill ...

The reproductive capacity of merino sheep is not too strong, but the Perth Swan River basin is dry and warm without water shortage (after all, there is a swan river), which is very suitable for the survival of merino sheep. Today, the number of merino sheep in the area of ​​Ayoun has reached its limit. Therefore, Marin intends to start a new stove on the banks of the Swan in Perth and breed merino sheep.

Moreover, this does not violate the original agreement with Spain. Because Marin just vowed not to bring merino sheep back to Europe for raising, and did not say that he could not be brought to the colony for raising. As for why Spain did not emphasize this at the time, it was because the Spanish kings tried to raise merino sheep in the American colony, but the result was unsuccessful. To save oneself, the Spanish kings did not think that Marin could successfully raise merino sheep in the American colonies.

As for the colony of Ayoun, the Spaniards have sent people to see it long ago. It is a small oasis, and the number of sheep that can be raised is very limited.

Where do they know that in the southern hemisphere, there is an arid continent called Australia, which is super suitable for raising merino sheep, and more suitable than the Spanish mainland ...

what? Why don't you go to Sydney? Sydney is on the east coast of Australia, farther away from the North Sea country. Perth is different. After sending a boat around the Cape of Good Hope, the ship can follow the west wind drifting and the strong west wind, and the ship can quickly reach the Western Australia area. As for the way home, drifting eastwards along the west wind, and reaching the southern tip of South America to enter the Atlantic Ocean ...

This year, sailing is entirely dependent on the wind, and it is best to follow the current. The famous west wind drifting in the southern hemisphere, the sailing boat sails downwind at this latitude, and can sail the boat at speed ...

Moreover, starting from Perth Port, following the cold currents of Western Australia, you can reach Java Island. Going north from Java Island, you can go to Guangzhou or Taiwan Island ...

This does not count, there is a Christmas Island from Perth to Java Island, but it is a famous guano stone production place in the later generations, and it is also a famous Chinese-dominated island in later generations.

In this way, Perth can not only raise sheep, but also serve as a transit port for ships going to the East. At the same time, it can also be used as a colonial springboard to control Christmas Island. Then, you can send troops to invade Java, and catch Indonesian monkeys as slaves ...

In addition to raising sheep, Marin can also raise horses locally. After all, Australia is also very suitable for raising horses. Especially the Arabian horse, which likes warm and dry climate, is very suitable for the local. After all, in the Arabian Peninsula, where Arabian horses originate, there are too many deserts and too little vegetation, which severely limits the growth of the Arabian horses ...

Moreover, Sydney, located on the eastern coast of Australia, is actually a humid subtropical climate, similar to Jiangnan, with a humid climate, which is not suitable for merino sheep. Only Perth on the west coast has an arid climate and is similar to the Mediterranean climate in the interior of Spain. It is most suitable for raising merino sheep.

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In addition, Marin chose Perth for an unknown reason-Perth along the Swan River is about 600 kilometers northeast of the East, which is Australia's famous Kalgoorlie Gold Mine. !

Although the gold reserves here are not as good as those in the South African Rand region, it is also a world-renowned top gold mining area. It seems that later generations in Australia have mined for more than 100 years and produced a few thousand tons of gold, which is much more than the hundreds of tons of gold reserves in China ...

Of course, Marin is not in a hurry to develop the Kalgoorlie Gold Mine. However, it is always right to occupy it first. If Western Australia is occupied in advance by others, it will easily lead to war if it is robbed. Colonial this thing, very particular about starting. Portugal, a small country with five scumbags, has taken the lead and is now very moist. But Marin is still afraid to move Portugal, after all, the colonization of others has been recognized by the Holy See. Therefore, Marin made a special change to the treaty last time, clarifying the colonial scope of Portugal. In this way, we have the opportunity to occupy Australia first.

Anyway, it's no problem to put some people in Perth and raise sheep and horses. If the number of merino sheep rises, it can still provide a large amount of high-quality wool to the Beihai wool industry!

In fact, after the Americas, Marin was too lazy to ask for Australia. After all, he didn't have that large population to develop Australia. Originally, after the British lost 13 colonies in North America, they had no place to exile criminals before they began to colonize and develop Australia. As for the reason, it is not because Australia is too far away. Moreover, after entering the 19th century, because of the industrial revolution, the colonial goals of European countries also shifted from seizing land to competing for markets. Therefore, the Qing dynasty, with its large population, became the main goal of all European countries. After all, the British colonized India before and received a demographic dividend, but it made the envy of European countries bad.

As for the remote and small population of Australia, no one is interested. Unless, gold mine or something was discovered. Historically, Melbourne has risen because of the discovery of gold mines in Melbourne, also known as the "New Golden Mountain". If it were n’t for Melbourne ’s gold rush, few people would be willing to go to Australia.

Similarly, Marin has little interest in Australia, which is too far away from homeland. However, Australia has a world-class Kalgoorlie gold mine, as well as the world's No. 1 silver mine, the Cunnington Silver Mine near Mount Isa!

In this era when gold and silver can be directly used as currency, Australia's gold and silver mines are probably the main object of Marlin's concern. Of course, the ability to raise merino sheep is also an advantage of Australia. In the 19th century, the British even used flying shears to transport Australian merino wool back to their homeland. Marin can also consider learning this, using a flying shear to transport Australian Merino wool back to the local area for processing into high-grade woolen wool ...

In addition to the great value of the Kalgoorlie Gold Mine ~ www.wuxiaspot.com ~ In fact, the phosphate rock (struvite) from Christmas Island between Perth and Java Island is actually of great value. In this era of expensive agricultural products, phosphates that can greatly increase agricultural output are definitely high-value commodities. In fact, struvite phosphate, which contains three elements of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, is a natural compound fertilizer.

In addition, Marin also intends to let the fleet exploring the Western Australia route look for Mauritius Island. Then, catch some dodos on the island and come back. Marin was curious about this famous species that became extinct in the 17th century. At the same time, it was also curious-what exactly does the dodo taste like?

If possible, Marin plans to send someone to catch the Dodo to roast and eat to see how it tastes. If the taste is good, raise them artificially. If the taste does not work, then bring out a batch and disperse it on multiple islands with good conditions to avoid its extinction.

Marin hopes the dodo is delicious. It is said that the dodo is huge in size, as high as 1 meter, and weighs 10 to 20 kilograms, which is tens of pounds. If the meat is delicious, a dodo can make a lot of people eat ...

Moreover, this huge, stupid but non-aggressive creature is a very interesting creature. If it is introduced back to Europe, it can be kept in the zoo, and it will make tourists smile. With the feeding of the zoo, there is no need to worry that this silly creature will become extinct. After all, the zoo will certainly not be hungry for them, nor will they put them in danger.

In other words, Marin was sent to explore Western Australia's fleet with great responsibility. In addition to looking for Perth as a place to raise merino sheep, you also have to find the phosphates of Christmas Island and the dodo of Mauritius Island.