Chapter 3558
The fleet left Star Cape and continued southward along the coastline, but as far as the eye could see, the land was still a brown-red desert, which was not at all like the land seen in the South China Sea before, which was all lush green.
Although the Luo brothers were also uneasy about such an environment, their father Roger once said when delivering the mission that the destination they were going to would be a livable place, and they were convinced of this. Maybe if we go further south, the natural environment will be different.
Sure enough, after sailing south for another four days, patches of green finally appeared on the coast, and the river's mouth could be observed through the telescope.
Although the flow of such a river is far from being called a large river, it at least shows that there is a relatively stable water source in the nearby inland, which is a necessary condition for agricultural development.
This good news made the entire fleet very excited, and the immigrants in the cabin also came to the deck one after another, overlooking the green sea on Haihan.
The further south you go, the more green the coast becomes, gradually replacing the brown-red desert in the north. It can be seen that the livable place mentioned by Roger is really in line with the actual local situation.
After walking south like this for another two days, the Luo brothers ordered to slow down and move closer to the coast. At the same time, they sent out two reconnaissance ships and began to check the estuaries of rivers along the way.
According to the map in their hands, Roger's carefully selected destination for the expedition fleet was at the mouth of a river on the nearby coast.
Although the map deviated slightly from the actual terrain, they successfully found this slightly hidden destination.
With the combat ships taking the lead, the expedition fleet sailed into the mouth of a certain river. Although the width of the water where the river enters the sea is less than a hundred feet, its depth is enough to allow the largest tonnage of the Majesty-class warship in the fleet to be navigated smoothly.
After going upstream for seven or eight miles, it suddenly became clear that the upper reaches of the river was actually a large lake. It is basically not affected by the tides and waves of the sea, so it can be said to be an excellent natural harbor.
Although they had a map in hand, out of caution, the Luo brothers sent a boat to conduct reconnaissance on the lake. Before confirming that the environment was safe, they did not rush to the shore to allow the immigrants to rest ashore.
The reconnaissance operation continued until the next day, and the results obtained convinced the two brothers that this was indeed a good place to stay.
This lake is formed by the convergence of two rivers, and the upper reaches of these two rivers are located in the mountains thirty miles away to the east. Due to the sufficient amount of water, there are many lakes in the upper reaches and nearby areas, but the area is far less large than the lake where they are located.
According to preliminary surveying and mapping data, the area of this lake should be more than 30,000 acres, and there is a large area along the coast that can be used for building port terminals.
The water quality in the lake is very clear. After a small number of people tried drinking it yesterday, there were no problems. As for being used for agricultural irrigation, there is no need to say more.
The area around the lake is full of dense forests in their natural state. The terrain is flat and the soil is fertile. It is simply not the same world as the brown-red sand they saw in the northern region.
After confirming that there were no other human settlements in the area around the lake, Luo Shenghuai ordered the construction of a port and settlement on a peninsula guarding the mouth of the lake on the south bank of the lake. There are many trees nearby, so you don't have to worry about the wood needed for building a house. The geological survey team that went out to search for resources quickly found limestone and hard stone nearby.
The headquarters simply planned out the port area, camp area and immigrant settlement area, and carried out construction separately and simultaneously.
Basically all buildings have ready-made design plans. You just need to follow the drawings, prepare relevant building materials and then build them.
Xingdao has gathered nearly half of the various craftsmen in the area for this expedition, and now they are officially put to use. If all goes well, a colony capable of accommodating 10,000 settlers will be built here within a month or two.
It is precisely because of the large amount of construction projects in the early colonial period that the first batch of immigrants brought by the expedition fleet are basically young and strong, and they can be used as labor force immediately after arriving here. Coupled with more than two thousand soldiers, it is enough to meet the needs of the preliminary construction.
Perhaps because there were no natural enemies in the past, the local wild animals were not afraid of these newly arrived humans. But because of the lessons learned from the past, the immigrants no longer dare to underestimate the environment here, because there may be deadly poisonous insects lurking in any bush.
When the Luo brothers were inspecting the lake, they noticed a large number of large black birds on the lake. They looked like poultry geese, but they had the ability to fly.
After comparing the animal atlas, I learned that this elegant-looking black bird is called a "black swan" and is also one of the unique creatures of the Borderless Continent.
The brothers got inspiration from this and named this unknown lake Swan Lake. The colonial points near the lake were naturally named Swan Town and Swan Port.
After reporting this naming to Xingdao Base Camp, Roger filled in the map with the new place name named by the Luo family brothers with a stroke of his pen, and officially incorporated it into the Haihan territory.
The livable place that the expedition fleet reached was the Pas area on the west coast of Australia in another time and space.
While traveling through the time and space of everyone's original lives, Roger once visited Australia's fourth largest city and knew that the local natural environment was quite good, the climate was very livable, and there were natural inland rivers and harbors. It could definitely be regarded as a place to establish a colony. Point of preference.
If Heihan had not set foot here first, it would have been about forty years before the Dutch discovered this place. However, the Dutch ultimately did not choose to settle in this geographically remote area. It was not until the 19th century that the British established a colony here and named it Pas.
Of course, in this time and space, since this place has been included in the territory of Haihan, there will be no more problems between the Dutch and the British in the future.
The reason why Roger chose this place as Star Island's first stop on this continent was not only because of the beautiful natural environment here, but more importantly, within a hundred miles of Swan Lake, there are There are various mineral deposits such as coal, iron, gold, bauxite, oil, and even natural gas for which Haihan's current mining technology is not yet mature.
These rich mineral deposits are far more valuable than the land here. In the future, as long as a few mines are developed, the initial investment can be easily recovered.
The land area that can be developed nearby is more than a hundred times larger than that of Star Island. Even if it can accommodate a million immigrants, it will be no problem. If it can be managed well in the future, it will be enough for the descendants of the Luo family to become princes.