"After the boundary survey is completed, the matter will be settled." On May 1655, after seeing off Baron Raul Bravo, Mo San also planned to leave. Before leaving, he specially found Meng Hu, who was responsible for the specific boundary survey, and said: "Surve the boundary carefully and examine the local properties and climate."

"No problem." Meng Hu shook hands with Mo San, and then said: "Wang Dali is more capable than me in the boundary survey. He came forward to measure and draw with the Spaniards. There was also a whole army company and a few Gao Qiao hired cavalry to accompany him. Nothing happened. The Tverches here were not so courageous. Moreover, I guess the Spaniards were not very patient, and they also wanted to finish the work quickly and go home. So I guess this boundary survey was just a good example and a way to go. The Spaniards only collected the map and most of them would go home."

"I'll feel relieved then." Mo San turned around and stepped onto the deck of the "Exploration", then waved to Meng Hu, and said, "There will be some staff members of other ministries and commissions to help you, take them well, I'll leave first."

"Goodbye." Meng Hu lit a pipe for himself, no longer looking at the ship that was gradually rising sails, but turned his eyes to the sea next to him. Fresh air, vast oceans, and mild climate, how suitable is for a desert hike! Whales and seals cruising on the sea, albatrosses and petrels flying in the blue sky, and Andean vultures that swooped down from the sky from time to time. These are Meng Hu's favorites, well, before that, he has to complete his work first.

"Where has that former Dashun Army general Cai Huaze?" Meng Hu asked slowly on the soft gravel ground of the Valdes Peninsula. The soil layer under his feet had many thick gravels, which seemed to be not weathered thoroughly. This may be related to the dryer local climate, with different thicknesses, brown or gray soil, yellow but tough grass, low and thorny shrubs and occasionally distributed natural groves, forming the monotonous scenery on this endless wasteland.

"Captain, Lieutenant Cai Huaze is now the first-class staff officer of the Army Department. He is currently leading a group of people to set up settlements in the estuary of the Chubut River. They arrived there just earlier this month. I heard that they were attacked by the nomadic Tverche tribe within a few days, and more than ten Italian workers who were digging the trenches were killed or injured. Now, they are mostly actively building fortifications to prevent the enemy's next attack. They should be very busy." As soon as Meng Hu finished speaking, a follower immediately followed.

"So miserable? But he was lucky enough before. If he had a smooth flow, wouldn't it be crazy to be jealous? Haha. Some people have many children in their families, but they can only have a seat for the National People's Congress representative who inherited their fathers' generation. Cai Huaze, a lucky wise man, doesn't know that it attracts much hatred. Now he is running to a wild place like Chubut River to open up the wilderness, which is probably a good thing for him, at least he is far away from the local land of right and wrong." Meng Hu smiled and whispered softly.

The weather today is dry and clear, the wind is not very strong, the blue sky is so clear that it is so transparent that even a trace of clouds cannot be seen. Who said Patagonia is rotten? Meng Hu felt a little disdainful. The weather is much better than the rainy and the humid and cold east coast. People can walk on the coast full of seals and penguins in autumn clothes. He listened to the gentle sound of waves in his ears. In front of him is a vast platform full of wild flowers. A little farther away, there are even groups of camels and deer. Of course, there are also herds of horses and cattle that have once again become wild after escaping from the Spanish. Patagonia is not that bad!

However, the natives here are indeed worthy of vigilance, because they seem to have a bad temper and are not friendly. The more than a dozen Italian workers who were killed and injured have reminded everyone: it is probably not that easy to gain a foothold here. In fact, what Meng Hu doesn't know is that the Indian natives here in later generations are indeed not good at straits. The Spanish also found ways to establish a settlement near San Jose Bay (the bay surrounded by land on the north side of the Valdes Peninsula). But one Sunday, the nearby Tverche people launched a raid, and except for two of the local colonists who survived and were captured, the rest were all slaughtered. This shows the fierceness and determination of the natives.

Of course, the armed settlement system of the East Coast people has been very perfect today: forts, patrols, sentries, trained militias, and these militarized and organized pioneering and reclamation activities, although not cheap in terms of cost, are the best means to deal with barbarians' raids. What's more, the settlements set up at the mouth of the lower reaches of the Chubut River are backed by the sea, and the supplies are extremely convenient, which is extremely critical for them to persist for a long time. It can be said that even if the Tverches spend decades, they may not be able to drive out the armed immigrants with only four or five hundred people.

"Forget it, it's not my business that the Chubut River is too uneasy. I'll finish my work." Meng Hu shook his head, then turned around and told his subordinates: "The mule and horse team should take good care of it and let those Gao Qiao people have snacks. Dali has already taken people to find the water source? Well, there are many salt water here, and there are even some rivers sometimes fresh water and sometimes salt water. You have to find it and mark it. I have to bring all my information, I have to study the route, and also give some wine to the Spaniards. After all, they will be 'injured' with us in the next few days."

In the afternoon, Wang Dali brought his people back. He told Menghu that some fresh water could be found seven or eight kilometers northwest of this place, and there were some vegetation in the area, unlike the place where they landed. The wasteland was full of weeds, wild flowers, shrubs and cactus, just like the monotonous and yellow scenery in the wilderness in South Africa. It was obviously a place with no trouble, and it was not even suitable to set up a settlement. Menghu of course was very happy with the news brought by Wang Dali. After carefully looking at the map they drew, Menghu told them that all the people moved to the place in the afternoon and buried stone tablets, intending to set up a settlement and port here in the future.

On May 24, at the urging of the Spaniards, the group of people left the future settlement named Green Port (located on the later Valdes Peninsula, Pilamedes, named after a green wood), the huge team with a population of more than 300 began to turn northwest, and arrived near the 42nd degree of south latitude on the evening of May 26. After several calculations, they selected a point, then drew a map and buried boundary piles.

After finishing this, the team found a Danshui Creek in the nearby swamp area and camped nearby. It was already quite cold in late autumn, especially in the morning and evening, and everyone in the boundary surveying team had to wear leather jackets to keep the cold. The Gao Qiao people who accompanied them went out to hunt a few native camels for dinner. These things were everywhere in the wilderness nearby. They were not afraid of people, and they fought and bite each other in the mud all day, and they could drink salt water. It was simply incomprehensible. In addition, they also picked up a lot of native camel feces and camel feces for fuel. A group of camels with dozens of native camels often pulled the feces in the same place for many days. It was a strange habit, but it provided the Tevech people with fire. Of course, the East Coast people have also begun to use these "disgusting things" to make fires to save precious honeycomb coal.

The next day, the entire team set off west again, and after traversing ten kilometers, they encountered a vast swamp area, which was very exciting. Wang Dali led his men around for several days, and almost "tasted" the water of each stream and each small pond, then marked the fresh water and salt water separately, inserted wooden signs, and also drew a map (of course, this map for water sources would not be handed over to the Spaniards). This made the Spanish accompanying him look a little ashen. Maybe they thought this was a semi-arid desert grassland, but now it seems that there are many native camels and deer trees, Patagonian guinea pigs, foxes, and jaguars everywhere. Although there are not many fresh water sources, they will definitely not be short of them as long as they are determined to find them, which makes their mood very bad.

On May 30, after several boundary piles were buried, the entire team began to zigzag along a dry riverbed. There were dunes on both sides of the riverbed, rock walls and plains. Some places had sparse forests, but most of the scenery was monotonous and yellow grasslands and shrubs. Gao Qiao, who was hired by the East Coast, said that these rivers must have abundant water after the snow melted in spring, but now it is the dry season, the river dried up, and only some water flowed intermittently in the center. Meng Hu felt that he was right, because the soil on both sides of the river was obviously not the coarse gravel, but rather fine and organic-rich arable soil. This one was also carefully recorded.

After continuing to move west for a few days, the Patagonian Plateau, which had already entered winter, brought everyone a warning. A sudden snowfall caught everyone off guard. Some people became sick with the cooling down, but they had no right to stay and rest. They could only continue to follow the team, survey, drawing, and bury boundary piles.

In mid-June 1655, the entire team had already penetrated westward for more than 300 kilometers. Although they had not encountered the legendary vicious Teveche people, their situation was still very difficult: although they had hunted many camels and deer along the way, everyone's food reserves were still decreasing, especially the cold-proof river Daqu, which had been sold out for several days. But now they were getting closer to the Andes, the climate was colder and wet, and the dryness on the eastern coast was almost wiped out. It was common for snow to fall for two consecutive days, which made more and more people in the team lose their staff, and even the Spaniards could no longer hold on. They hinted that Meng Hu would end the boundary survey as soon as possible, so they could cooperate.

Meng Hu considered the actual situation of the team and finally agreed to go home, which also means that the boundary survey has been settled at this point. The southern territory of the East Coast Republic of China (no one thinks that these lands will be returned to the Spaniards in the future) almost immediately covered the entire southern cone. After the dust of the southern dirt was settled, the game between the eastern coast and Portugal between the Geral Mountains in the north was gradually gaining the upper hand. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!