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Seas of Fortune(167)



* * *

It was true. A school of sardines could be as many as ten million fish. The sardines jerked and splashed about in a way that set up characteristic ripples, evident to a trained observer. In shallow water, the school disturbed the bottom, giving the water a pinkish tint. And the sky above the school held its own clues; seabirds and dolphins treated the horde of sardines as if it were a parade of Osaka street vendors at festival time, selling sushi from their carts.

Three boats had put out to sea. Two were net-boats, amibune, and the giant sardine net, over a hundred fathoms long, was suspended between them. It was heavy, and fifteen men were needed on each amibune to handle it and to maneuver the boat.

The two senior fishermen on the third boat, the tebune, were monitoring the movements of the school and giving orders to the amibune. Once the latter were together, behind the school, the fishermen grunted and heaved.

“There goes Uncle Long Sardine Net,” Marina said to no one in particular. “We’ll eat well tonight.”

With the net cast in the water, the amibune separated, drawing the net into an arc facing the beach.

On the beach, the local headman was leading a prayer to the Virgin Mary, and “the Angel Ebisu.” Herded by the amibune, the sardines continued to head toward the beach, so apparently the Shinto God of Fishermen did not object to his transfer to the Christian Heaven. The prayer thanked the heavenly powers that the waters of Monterey Bay, for most of the year, was well endowed with sardines, and that near their homes there was a beach, with a shallow, smooth sea floor beyond, on which they could operate their beach nets.

As soon as the amibune reached water shallow enough to stand in, the villagers waiting on the beach ran out to them, and the ropes were passed on to their willing hands. All of the residents of Andoryu helped pull the net to the shore, even children, and women with babies tied to their backs. Caught up in the excitement of the moment, First-to-Dance ran to help, leaving a bemused Chiyo-hime and her samurai guard behind.

With the net ropes safely handed over, some of the amibune crew jumped off to help with the hauling, while the rest maneuvered their boats back behind the seine, and beat the water with bamboo poles.

One of them, a young man named Yakichi, grabbed the same rope that First-to-Dance was holding. “Take a step back, now,” he cried. “Keep the tension steady, don’t jerk the line! Step back again, that’s good!”

The villagers whooped when, at last, the vast haul of sardines was safely deposited on the beach, above the high water line. First-to-Dance let go of the rope with a sigh of relief.

“I guess we’ll be having sardines for the evening meal,” Chiyo said to her guard.

“For the next few weeks at least.”

* * *

The Second Fleet had arrived a week earlier, and the tired and hungry passengers, at least, would appreciate the fresh catch.

However, the grand governor, Date Masamune, had no intention of permitting all of the new batch of colonists to settle at Monterey Bay. The fledgling settlements, at modern Monterey, Salinas, Watsonville and Santa Cruz, could absorb only so many new people at a time. The rest would have to move on.

He gave the necessary orders.

* * *

Yakichi bowed politely to Sakai Kuroemon. “You called for me, sir?”

“Yes. You are a younger son. Your brother will one day own your family’s fishing boat, you will at best be one of his crew.”

“I suppose . . .”

“But your headman speaks well of you, and there’s an opportunity. We have a new batch of colonists, who have no knowledge of California. If you would be willing to go with the ones we are sending around the Monterey peninsula, to the place the lord’s scholars call ‘Carmel,’ and teach them how to fish these waters, we can give you some special privileges . . .”

“Please explain, I am quite interested.”

The samurai did so.

“I’m your man,” Yakichi said.





Carmel Bay, California





The ship bearing Yakichi and a contingent of the Second Fleet’s colonists rounded the Point of Pines, and continued around the Monterey peninsula. Its destination was the mouth of the Carmel River, where it would be establishing a han-no han-gyo, a half-farming, half-fishing village.

If Monterey Bay was a fishhook, Carmel Bay was a trident, with the center tine broken off near its base. The center tine was Carmel Point, and was flanked by sandy beaches. But most of the coast, from Cypress Point in the north to Lobos Point in the south, was rocky.

Carmel Point hooked southward, giving some protection to Carmel Beach where the river mingled with the sea. Nonetheless, the skipper hurried the passengers off his ship; the anchorage had a rocky bottom that he didn’t like at all.