THE FIRST BOAT
TUL the Swift, and Ni-Va the Fish, were always together.
It made them angry not to be allowed to leave the valley with the
hunting men, so they planned in secret to make a trip by themselves.
The weather was warm, now, for the spring had come, and they talked a
great deal about the country outside the valley, where they had never
been, and planned to see it.
Tul had a fine spear he had made, with a long sharp lizard's tooth for
a point. He had found the tooth among some bones in the lower end of
the valley, where the lake had once been, and was very proud of it.
Ni-Va's spear was tipped with bone, for spearing fish. He had never
killed one yet, but he wanted to very much, for he heard the older men
talking about it, when they came back from the great marsh. He also
carried a small stone-bladed axe, while Tul took a flint knife, such
as the men used for skinning animals. Both had leather sandals, and
belts from which the hair had been scraped with sharp stones.
They took no food with them when they went, and they did not tell any
one that they were going, but one morning, very early, they crept out
of the cave, before the sun was up, and made their way down the banks
of the stream toward the lower end of the valley.
When they came to the waterfall, they climbed down over the path of
rocks worn smooth by the feet of many hunting parties, and soon found
themselves on the wide marshy plain which stretched out as far as their
eyes could reach.
The river, after it emptied into the plain, spread out into many small
winding streams, and that was what made the great marsh they saw before
them. Off to the right, however, they found that the ground was higher,
so instead of following the paths through the marsh which the hunting
parties usually took, the two boys circled off toward the higher
ground, as the walking was easier that way.
The ground was hard, and full of flat stones, between which the coarse
grasses were springing up covering the Earth with a fresh coat of green.
Tul and Ni-Va travelled all day, without seeing much to interest them.
The path led downward hour after hour, toward the lower country, and
they soon left the marsh far behind them. Great flocks of water fowl
flew overhead, going to and fro from the marsh; they threw stones
at them, but did not hit any. There were few trees or bushes on the
hillside, and the ground was stony and rough, with scarcely any animals
about. Once some strange creatures like deer, without any horns, ran
near them, and in the distance they saw some giant forms that looked
like the mammoths they had heard the hunters speak about, but nothing
that they could use for food came within their reach.
When night fell they were both hungry, and cold, without any fire,
and as they lay alone on the bare ground, trying to sleep, they felt
a little afraid, for they knew that there were many animals in the
country about the great marsh that would gladly eat them up.
Morning came at last, and found them not only hungry, but very thirsty
as well. Far off, at the foot of the hillside, they saw what looked
like a line of trees.
It was after midday when they reached it, and found themselves on the
banks of a wide river, flowing through a forest of tall bushes and
trees.
It was much warmer here than it had been in the valley, for they had
been travelling steadily downhill for nearly two days, and had reached
the low country. There were many more living things about than there
had been on the bare hillside, birds, and animals of various sorts that
slipped noiselessly through the thick vines and bushes along the banks
of the river.
The two boys threw themselves down at the edge of the stream and drank
until their thirst was quenched. Then Ni-Va, with his bone-pointed
spear, waded about along the shore and soon brought up a fine big fish.
They ate it for breakfast, although they would have liked it better,
if they had had a fire, in which to cook it, for they had come to like
cooked food better than raw, now. After breakfast, they talked about
what they should do.
[Illustration: THE FIRST VOYAGE
The two boys sprang upon the log which floated slowly out into the
stream.]
[Illustration: A DUG-OUT CANOE OF EARLY MAN
Made by hollowing out the trunk of an oak tree.]
Ni-Va, the swimmer, wanted to swim across the river and see what the
country was like on the other side, but Tul could not swim, and when
they saw the dark backs of some great reptiles, like crocodiles,
cutting the surface of the water, they soon gave up the idea.
They were sitting on the bank, wondering whether they had not better go
back, when Tul saw a log, the broken trunk of a tree, floating slowly
down the stream, close to the shore. Climbing out on a low limb which
hung over the water, he hooked the point of his spear into a broken
branch on the log, and gently towed it up to the bank.
Ni-Va, when he saw what Tul had done, chattered with delight, and
sprang upon the log. In a moment, Tul had joined him, pushing the
log away from the shore with his spear. It floated slowly out into
the stream, carried along by the current, and Tul and Ni-Va found
themselves upon Man's first boat.
The two boys thought that they would be carried across the river on
the log, but as soon as their clumsy craft drifted to the middle of
the stream, the current caught it with full force, and began to sweep
it at a great rate down the river. Tul, with his spear, tried to guide
their boat by pushing against the bottom, but the water was far too
deep for him to reach it and in his efforts he very nearly fell off the
log. They knew nothing about paddling, even if they had had anything
to paddle with, so they could only cling to the log and trust to
some change in the current, to carry them to shore. To their dismay,
however, they saw that the river was rapidly growing wider, and the
banks getting further and further away.
Hour after hour the log boat swept along in the swift current, and by
the time the sun was ready to set, the river was so wide that they
could hardly see the shore. There were no longer any thick woods, and
all they could see were low sandy banks, with here and there clumps of
bushes and tall grass. Suddenly the log, which had been drifting in a
long curve around a point, came to a stop on a sand bar. Ni-Va slipped
overboard, ready to swim, with Tul holding on to his shoulder, but to
his surprise he found that the water came only up to his waist. Tul
quickly joined him, and leaving their clumsy craft the two boys waded
ashore.
When they reached the sandy bank, and climbed up on it, a wonderful
sight met their eyes. As far as they could see, before them and to
either side, stretched a great shining body of water. They had never
supposed there was so much water in the world, and the sight of it for
a moment frightened them. The vast sheet of water before them was the
Ocean, and they were the very first Men in all the world to see it.
The bank on which they stood sloped down to a beach of shining white
sand. The two boys crossed it eagerly, watching with wide eyes the
great foaming breakers as they tumbled up on the shore. Tul, who was
very thirsty, ran down to the edge of the water and scooping up a
handful, tried to drink it. It was salt and bitter, however, and he
quickly spat it out again.
Hungry and thirsty, the two adventurers sat on the sand and wondered
what they could find to eat and drink. There might be fish, in this
great wide water, but if there were, they soon saw that they could
not get near enough to spear them, on account of the huge breakers.
Presently Ni-Va, who had been idly digging in the wet sand with his
fingers, brought up a round object that looked something like a nut.
With the aid of two pebbles he cracked it open, and being very hungry,
ate the soft meat he found inside. It tasted very good, and soon he and
Tul had dug a large pile of the shell-fish, and made a hearty meal. The
soft moist clams not only satisfied their hunger, but quenched their
thirst a little, and as there was nothing else to eat, and the night
was coming on, the two wanderers stretched themselves on the warm sand
and soon fell asleep.
The rising sun waked them, and springing up, they looked eagerly about.
Near them, on the beach, they saw a huge turtle, lying in the sun. The
boys had seen turtles before, since the hunting men sometimes brought
them home from the marshes, but they were small compared to this great
animal. Creeping up to it in some fear, Tul and his companion managed
to turn it over on its back with their spears, after which they killed
it and made their breakfast of some of the meat. There was enough to
have lasted for a week, but the boys soon saw that they could not stay
where they were much longer without water. They could not understand
why the water in the Ocean was so bitter and salt, and they went back
to the place where they had left the log, hoping that the river water
might be different. They soon found that it, too, was salt and the
little they drank of it only made them more thirsty than before. There
was nothing to do but get back to the forest country as quickly as
possible, where they might find some juicy berries or fruits to quench
their thirst.
Before they started Ni-Va tied some chunks of the turtle meat to his
girdle with leather thongs, and Tul took a handful of the shells of the
clams they had eaten and twisting some coarse grass about them, slung
them around his neck. Then they went back to the log.
They thought, at first, that the current which had carried them down
the stream would carry them back, but as soon as they had managed to
push the log off the sand bar, it set out quickly for the sea, and they
scrambled off it at once and waded back to the shore.
The only thing to do was to go back along the river bank to the place
from which they had started, so they set out. At first the way was
easy, with smooth banks of sand to walk on, but after a time they
came to the forest, and found it very hard indeed to make their way
through the bushes and trailing vines. When night came, they were tired
out, and afraid, too, because they heard the cries and grunts of many
animals in the dense woods all about them. Without knowing why, the two
boys did as their ancestors had done, and climbing into the forks of a
great tree, spent the night safe from harm. In the morning they resumed
their journey, and this time, when they tried the water of the river,
they found that it was only a little salt, and they were able to drink
it and quench their thirst.
When the middle of the afternoon arrived, they saw the hills from which
they had come rising against the sky to their left, and leaving the
banks of the river they set out toward the higher country.
Several times they thought they had lost their way, but they kept on,
and at last saw the surface of the great marsh stretching out before
them. From here on, they had no trouble, and on the second night they
reached the entrance to the valley. They were very tired, and hungry
too, for the turtle meat they had brought along was all eaten up, but
Ni-Va managed to spear some small fish along the edge of the marsh, so
that their stomachs were not quite empty when they finally got home.
When they told their friends in the valley about the great water they
had seen, stretching as far as their eyes could reach, the others
would not believe them, and even the shells they had brought back did
not convince the cave people that there could be a stream or river
as big as that. Tul and Ni-Va offered to guide a party to the Ocean
and show them, but the others only laughed, and thought the boys were
not telling the truth. They were quite satisfied, in the valley, they
said, and did not care to go to a place where the water was not fit to
drink, and there was no fire, and no caves in which to sleep. But Tul
and Ni-Va made up their minds that some day they would go back to the
great water, and see it again.
The two boys were never tired of telling about their adventures, and
were very proud of the necklaces they made of the shells Tul had
brought back with him. They tried to make a log boat, like the one they
had used to float down the great river, and because they could not find
a log on the banks of the stream big enough to hold them, they got
several smaller logs, and fastened them together with twisted ropes of
grass, and in this way made a raft, and had great fun with it, riding
down the swift-flowing stream that ran through the valley.
The Sun, who was watching them, laughed.
"Your little Men will never conquer the Ocean on a thing like that," he
said, looking at the clumsy raft.
"Wait," said Mother Nature. "They will surprise you. That log, drifting
in the river, was their first boat, and that raft, which is a little
better, is their second. Some day, my children will take a log, and
burn it out with fire, and make a canoe. And others will make strong
frameworks of wood, or the bones of the whale, or twisted reeds, and
cover these frameworks with the bark of trees, or skins, or pitch that
they will find in the earth, and make canoes, and kyaks, and coracles.
And later on, they will cover the frames of their boats with planks of
wood, and put sails on them, and make ships that will carry them to the
ends of the Earth. And they will even make ships of iron, and put great
engines in them, and laugh at the storms of the Ocean, and conquer
them, because they have brains with which to understand my laws."
"It sounds like a fairy tale," said the Sun.
"It is," said Mother Nature. "The most wonderful fairy tale in the
world, because it is true."