Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness-Chapter 767 - 764: The Courage and Wisdom of Humans

Rowing a simple paddle around the sea, Bi Fang brought the boat back to shore after inspecting its quality.

Then, using a plane, he smoothed out the uneven areas along the boat's gunwale, cabin, and bottom, immediately transforming the once black hull into a milky white, elevating its aesthetics by more than just one grade.

Manager Fils watched with envy.

Trading a tree for a high aesthetic value canoe hand-crafted by Legendary Adventurer Bi Fang—that was indeed a hugely profitable deal.

Placed at the entrance of the resort, not even prohibiting touching it, as time would go by and the hull would be covered in patina, its value would rise yet another grade; isn't that more upscale than a tree?

Maybe it wouldn't just be one canoe.

Watching Bi Fang return to the shore to start working on another palm tree, Fils eagerly handed over an opened bottle of mineral water.

"Thank you."

Bi Fang, who was working enthusiastically, was just feeling thirsty. He took the bottle and guzzled it down. Before he could look for a trash can, Fils had already snatched the bottle away and took care of the trash.

Bi Fang: "..."

If he didn't know Fils's real thoughts, Bi Fang would definitely find him a bit suspicious.

The production method of the second canoe was the same as the first: burning first, then planing, but the finished boat's design was completely different.

At least to the viewers, it seemed so. The first canoe had both ends curled up high and appeared quite enormous, while this one was much shorter in height, about half that of the first.

[Why did Old Fang make two canoes?]

[Yeah, for replacement?]

[How do you replace something like this, one fixed and the other one what?]

[I know this! Connect the boats with iron chains to enhance the boats' stability!]

[What about Fire Attack at Red Cliffs?]

Bi Fang didn't directly answer, instead, he began talking about something else.

"The Pacific Ocean has three major archipelagos. The first is Melanesia, which includes present-day New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, etc.; the second is Micronesia, which includes present-day Mariana Islands, Marshal Islands, Guam, etc.; and the last one is Polynesia."

"At least 5000 years ago, ancient humans originating from the southern Huaxia region passed through our Treasure Island around 3000 BC, then came Feral Ice, roughly around 2000 BC, followed by the Indonesian Archipelago, pushing southward, and eventually split into four groups."

"One group turned west and took over Madagascar around 300 BC; another moved eastward through New Guinea and settled in Melanesia; a third went north through Melanesia and settled in Micronesia; the last group continued eastward, occupying nearly all the inhabitable islands in the Pacific Ocean, and developed into the Polynesian people."

"Among the four branches, the Polynesians embarked on the grandest journey. After briefly resting in Melanesia, they proceeded eastward from Fiji, first taking over Tonga and Samoa in Western Polynesia, and then discovered the Society Islands and Marquesas Islands."

"From there, they split into two, with one group using the Marquesas Islands as a base to head north and occupy Hawaii, and another establishing bases in the Pitcairn Islands and Henderson Island, taking over Easter Island, the most remote island in the world. The final group, around 1200 AD, headed south and occupied New Zealand, thus concluding the Polynesians' 4000-year colonial journey."

"This migration was one of the grandest in human history. Thousands of years ago, when maritime technology was still undeveloped, these people of the South Seas managed to navigate tens of thousands of nautical miles and occupy all the livable islands of the Pacific Ocean, the world's largest ocean."

Many of the islands mentioned by Bi Fang, except for Hawaii and Easter Island, which had been heard of, were quite unfamiliar names.

Yet this did not prevent the viewers from imagining that grand migration journey.

A few tiny canoes drifting across the ocean, just to find a glimpse of survival opportunities.

"Given the level of Polynesian technology, they never mastered the construction techniques similar to dragon-spine ships, nor did they invent navigational tools like the compass, sextant, or marine chronometer. With only this simple canoe, they conquered the South Pacific, which is simply unbelievable."

"Actually, we have greatly underestimated the human desire for survival, and the courage and wisdom inspired by this desire,"

"At this moment, if you take out your phone and look at a world map, you'll find that the islands within the Polynesian Triangle, aside from Hawaii and New Zealand, are practically the size of tiny dots."

Bi Fang gestured with his little finger, symbolizing the size of those numerous tiny islands.

"With areas so small, the resources available are certainly insufficient to support the development of human societies. So to develop, the people of Polynesia had to set their sights on the ocean."

"Due to the limited accumulation of civilization, the only thing Polynesians could offer was a canoe made from a single log."

"Ordinary canoes are slow and unstable, hardly capable of facing the raging waves of the South Pacific. At this point, the Polynesians came up with a simple yet explosive invention — the outrigger technology!"

[So all those people in the Pacific are Chinese?]

[Wow, our ancestors were so awesome!]

[I think Old Fang is more likely trying to get you guys to pay attention to what he mentioned about the outrigger (Dog's head)]

The focus of interest wasn't quite what Bi Fang imagined, but he didn't mind and proceeded to explain.

"Strictly speaking, we can indeed consider them Chinese, as all of our ancestors come from the same land," Bi Fang said with a smile. "I remember that back in the year 10, there were also 6 Polynesian warriors from the Polynesian South Island Language Group who came back 'to visit relatives'."

"Back then, those 6 people sailed in an antique canoe, following the footsteps of their ancestors, from Southern Tahiti in French Polynesia in the South Pacific. They voyaged across the Pacific for 4 months, covering 16,000 nautical miles, and finally docked at the Fuzhou Mawei Passenger Wharf."

[Whoa, that's really awesome?]

[Pretty strong!]

[So Old Fang wasn't the first to do this (legendary status decreases)]

[No, crossing Nemo Point and crossing the Pacific are two different things... and Old Fang did it without resupply, right?]

[Indeed, the two can't be compared.]

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

"From the islands to Huaxia, this is enough to prove a great fact, that the canoe is indeed capable of crossing the Pacific. It was a convenient mode of maritime transportation in ancient times, and our ancestors were skilled at mastering it."

"Back then, canoes could take humans to any island in the Pacific, and it's no different now, even to Nemo Point."

"Ahem, I've gone a bit off topic, what I was actually going to introduce was the outrigger canoe."

[Please continue (laughing)]

Bi Fang peeled off a layer of bark and continued speaking.

"Being made from a single tree, the canoes were generally quite slim, fashioned by hollowing out a single tree trunk, which made the vessel watertight and unlikely to fall apart. But a single-hulled vessel would still easily capsize in the waves."

"The smart ancestors of Polynesia invented the outrigger, a structure attached to the outside of the hull, thousands of years ago. The method involved setting two wooden beams outside the hull to link the hull to the outriggers, which provided counterbalance and support."

"These components were tied together with a highly flexible and durable rubber rope. This improved design of the outrigger canoe, without increasing the size of the vessel, greatly enhanced stability and the ability to resist wind and waves."

"I am building two canoes to realize this structure and further evolve it into a simple, freely movable platform. For this reason, our second canoe will have a different shape."

By the ninth day, the second canoe was shaped.

It was only upon seeing the completely different shape of the second vessel that everyone understood the extent of the so-called changes.