[Illustration]
On the fourth day of their march the Ammi came to a body of water, which
threatened to turn them back and defeat their expedition. The great
earthquake, in tilting the country, had caused the Swamp to overflow,
and cover a great part of the dry land. There was a large lake formed in
this way, which was connected with the Swamp by a strait, or narrow neck
of water. It was necessary for the Ammi to cross this strait, or else go
round the new lake.
“This lake was not here when I passed this way before,” said Koree, “so
that it cannot be deep. Let us, therefore, go through it, for we can
easily wade.”
He thereupon marched in, leading the way for the hosts of mankind to
follow. He was soon, however, beyond his depth, and ordered a retreat.
“We have not struck the right path,” he said; “let us cross farther away
from the Swamp.”
He accordingly made a second attempt, but with no better result. The
water was everywhere too deep to ford.
“I think,” said another, “that we had better go round. If the lake is a
new one it cannot be large.”
“If the water is so deep,” replied a third, “it must extend far into the
country. I think we had better go through the Swamp.”
“There appears,” said still another, “to be more water in the Swamp than
anywhere else. I wonder where all this water comes from.”
“To settle the matter,” said Cocoanut-scooper, “I will climb this palm
tree. From its top I can see the end of the lake if it is small.”
Suiting his action to his words he bounded up the tree, which was an easy
matter for one who had climbed so many in prospecting for fruit.
“There is no end of the water,” he said, on returning. “The Swamp is
flooded and the new lake extends far out of sight.”
“There is then nothing to do,” said Koree, “but to cross it. So let us
spread out, and each hunt for a shallow place.”
“We might,” observed another, “wait till the water subsides.”
“Or,” said Oko, “we could go back and give up the war. If the country
is flooded everything beyond is destroyed, and we will make nothing by
conquering the Lali, who have no doubt been washed out with all their
provisions.”
“There is plenty of fruit beyond,” said Cocoanut-Scooper, “I observed
that before coming down from the palm. We shall have a prosperous march
if we only get over this water.”
The great flood, however, rolled, like Jordan, between them and the
promised land; and no power, human or apian, had yet crossed such a
stream.
A few limbs and trunks of trees were floating in the water, which
suggested an idea to Koree.
“If we could each get on one of these pieces of floating wood,” he said,
“we might get over the water; for the wind is driving them in that
direction.”
“Good,” said Pounder, “and I will be the first to try it. I can handle a
wild beast or an alligator, and so need not fear a log.”
So he rushed into the water and seized the trunk of a dead tree floating
near, and was soon astride it drifting toward the other shore.
Others followed his example, and soon the river was full of warriors,
each trying to mount a log and sail across the lake. Some of the limbs,
however, were too small to bear their weight, and had to be abandoned.
Others were of awkward shape and would not remain long in the same
position, and so could not be controlled. Several, however, mounted
successfully, and expected soon to reach the opposite shore. Pounder was
in the lead, and beckoned the rest to follow him.
But there were not logs enough to supply all, so that not many followed
him, and some began to disparage this means of crossing.
“Come on,” cried Pounder. “If you are afraid of the water, how do you
expect to meet the enemy?”
“Come back,” replied Koree, “till we can all provide ourselves with logs,
or else find other means of crossing.”
[Illustration: POUNDER’S MISHAP.]
“I will not come back,” he said; “you are cowards, and when I get on the
other side I will”—
Just then his log turned, and the great Pounder was seen with his feet
in the air, kicking at the sun. Down he went head first into the water
and out of sight. Soon, however, he reappeared, and after spitting out a
mouthful of water, and shaking his locks, tried to regain his log. But
he could not raise himself for awhile, and when at last he succeeded in
remounting the log it turned again and buried him a second time out of
sight.
“I would rather have hold of an alligator than of this thing,” he said,
as he came up spitting and shivering.
Finding, however, that he could not mount the log securely, he abandoned
it, and swam back to the shore; and all the rest who had not been thrown
from their logs followed his example, lest they should meet a like
disaster.
But the experiment was not lost, and the fruitless attempt to cross in
this way suggested several improvements in navigation.
“Some logs float better than others,” observed Koree; and there was a
long discussion about how to trim and hew them so as to make them hold a
man. Many experiments were made. They used their stone wedges and bear’s
teeth to hollow them into shape. This work continued for days, and as a
result of their consultations and efforts, a crude canoe, or boat was
formed, but not till after many failures to make it hold its contents.
The first success was accomplished by Duco who managed, after many
dangers, to cross the lake in a vessel of his own construction.
There was now an ambition in every one to construct a boat, and they
almost forgot the war in their enthusiasm for this new industry. The
art of ship-building was thus begun, and a navy put in process of
construction.