“What’s Pah up to these days?” he asked looking at the boatbuilders.
“Seems like a trip is coming up pretty soon. We hunters have had to bring intestines for quite a while when we gut the beasts. Provisions have been loaded in waterproof gut bags and bladders, coconuts have been traded and loaded, and the boat is different this time. Two boats have been made into one very big one.”
“I’ve got to see this boat after I get something to eat.” Kipotuilak took his backpack and placed it and spears on a bed with no bedding at the far back of the camp. He took off his jacket and pulled out his bowl and began to find food that he wanted.
Manak-na hoped the appearance of Kipotuilak would not cancel his offer of the boat trip. He knew time would make all things clear, so he kept silent and waited. He ate and enjoyed the food. Yomuk had no such thoughts and was enjoying the morning, eager for the hunt.
When the drum sounded, Manak-na and Yomuk put on their warm clothing and gathered their spears and went outside. They headed off to the forest eager to find a deer and return early. They went northwest and before they had gone very far at all, they saw a deer. To get downwind of the deer would involve some maneuvering in the forest, but they were up to it. Carefully they used the hunter’s walk of silence and got downwind of the deer. Manak-na shouted and the two approached the deer at a dead run. The deer was startled long enough for them to get their spears set. The deer took off at a run spears and all. The two followed the deer looking at the ground when they lost sight of it. It had quite a run and lost a lot of blood. Finally, they caught up with it where it had fallen over.
“Well, we won’t have to bleed this one,” Manak-na said quietly.
“Why?” Yomuk asked.
“It bled so much as it ran that it drained the blood from it. It fell over when it was out of blood.”
“That’s amazing,” his nephew said aloud as he thought it.
“Let’s get this animal prepared and get back to the boatbuilders’ camp,” Manak-na said.
“Good!” Yomuk said with enthusiasm.
The two worked together well after all their practice. This time they retained the gut after pushing as much of the offal out as possible. They hung the deer and were soon on their way back to the boatbuilders’ camp. They began to work on the bamboo salting.
Not long after they began transporting bamboo logs, Pah came over and stopped them. “We leave tomorrow. Be ready when the drum sounds. Do not eat. Just bring all your things and come to the boat. Your friend, Kipotuilak, will join us.”
Manak-na smiled, “We’ll be there.”
Yomuk said, “Yes, we will.”
Pah smiled back. He wondered whether they’d get sea sick. He wondered what they’d think of their first storm at sea. They had such an adventure ahead.
Chapter 4
Pah opened his eyes. His tiny sleeping place in the hut in the center of the boatbuilding place had cramped his left leg, and he slid to the floor to walk around, unkinking the muscles. He pulled on his tunic. His gray hair required little care. Pah hardly moved in his sleep. He smoothed his hair and put his headband on to hold it in place. He was very thin, often becoming so deep into his work that he forgot to eat. He was excited to see how the boat would do when it was released. They had dug a deep pit, and kept out much of the sea water by making an earthen dam. Today they’d dig out the dam and let water flood the boatbuilding dugout. Poles propped up the hulls. When the boat began to float, the props would be removed. How many times had he done this? Pah could not remember. Each time it was exciting, but this time, there was something new. He had changed the structure of the boat. This one was enormous. He was eager to know what that would mean to the overall function. They’d try out the boat just offshore and then he’d return to land to start another. Based on his partial day experience, the results of testing would determine whether he’d build single boats or one large one. He was convinced that a partial day was not enough experience, but testing the boats never showed what would really occur in unusually fast currents, rough seas, high wind, or contrary gods of the underwater. There were so many factors to consider. He wouldn’t know for a certainty until the boat returned.
He recognized that he should eat, but he never hungered in the morning. Based on strict discipline and his practical nature, he went to the cookhouse part of the boatbuilders’ camp and Mirk brought him a purple bowl filled with Pah’s favorite foods from what was available. Mirk smiled his very crooked smile and Pah put his hand on the cook’s shoulder and thanked him. He knew before he ate, that it would be wonderful food. He stood in the doorway looking out to sea. The day was perfect. A slight breeze came off the water, the sky was blue, and wave action was fairly gentle. Already men were digging the earthen dam away from the front of the boat. They had planned departure, knowing the tide would be exceptionally low and that would make the digging effort much easier. He deeply inhaled the salty air. Pah loved the sea. When he finished eating he wiped his purple bowl and hung it on a protrusion from the wall of the cookhouse where Mirk kept it. It was a shell from the sea. He prized the color and the feel of the bowl.
Pah walked down to the boat and stood, critically examining it in the sunlight. With Manak-na’s suggestion on the hull connectors made from trees, there was a solid place for each of the two masts. The best mast maker had crafted them. The front mast was situated over the top front tree hull connector to the left of center, and the back mast was situated over the top middle tree hull connector to the right of center. There was a tight indentation to fit the bottom of each mast dug into the tree. When it was raised, the mast sank down into the indentation. Tight ropes fastened to the front and sides of the boat held the masts in place. To each mast was attached a perpendicular bamboo log to which the bottom of the sail was lashed. The women up the hill had woven the exceptional triangular sails from long sea grasses. An extra sail was folded and laid in the lower level, well tied to the flooring. In case weather made sailing unsafe, the masts would be laid down. There were two sails, one for each mast to propel the boat forward. When the wind was safe, both sails were unfurled and full sailing would move the boat smoothly through the water. When wind was very swift, the back sail could be furled so the boat would not go too fast on the water. When the seas were stormy and wind and waves were high, both sails would be furled, and the masts would be folded down and secured by rope. A center board between the two halves of the boat was placed on the lower level as a help to keep the boat moving in the desired direction. It could be lifted out or lowered to different levels to achieve the desired effect.
Pah went to the compound rudder, flat steering mechanisms on poles in the back of the boat that turned the boat. Because there were two hulls, Pah had insisted on a rudder apiece at the end of each hull. The rudder blade was an attachment to a pole made of wood wrapped by very thin rope so that the pole did not show very much. The design involved a rectangular blade structure that stood out from the pole to provide a large surface where the women had woven extremely tight sea grasses and layered the weaving multiple times so that it was awkward, but would push firmly against the water to steer the boat. It was layered for strength. At the top of the pole, there was a pegged part that rotated on a flat piece of stone. It held the rudder handle securely, and the peg prevented it from slipping down into the water. At the underside of the place on deck where the stone was attached, another peg had been hammered through the pole that held the rudder. That peg prevented the rudder from rising. The rudder handle, parallel to the deck, was pegged into the pole, and it was about as long as a man was tall. Wrapped ropes reinforced places where poles were pegged. Each hull had the same form of rudder. Ropes connected the rudder handles to keep them doing the same thing at the same time. They used their best rope for this function. They could not use rope that would shrink and relax significantly. When the water was too forceful for one person to hold the rudder, a second man would be called to push the second rudder handle. On the deck on both side
s at the back of the boat, there were stones secured to the flooring. The stones had holes in them. When the boat was tracking well on the sea, a short pole could be inserted in the rock and that could be used to hold the rudder handles. The short poles had pegs above and below the floor to secure them from rising or falling. By securing rudder handles, it freed the person who would be steering the boat to do other things. The stones with the holes that fixed the rudder handles also served as anchors. Ropes threaded through the hole in the rocks and tied tightly at the end allowed other rocks to be added and the ropes were gently lowered to the sea floor and tied to the boat to hold the boat in place.
On the exterior of the hulls, ropes were tied to the bamboo for rowing. When there was a need to row, men would sit on the hull in designated places, tying themselves to the hull. Oars would also be tied to the boat on ropes about as long as a man was tall. By placing the ties at specific places on the boat and tying them to the oars where a short peg showed the place below which to tie the oar, the oars were able to be used in a synchronous pattern for efficiency and the ties tethered the oar. If a man lost his grip on an oar, it would not become detached from the boat. Near the oar tether there were rests built into the hull structure for the oars to provide leverage for rowing. They were strong branches with a forked end for resting the oar.
Pah examined all parts of the boat. He checked the supplies in the bottom level and the mat covered huts on either side of the masts on the top level. The huts were places for sleeping, to avoid the sun, or to warm up when it was cold. There was a cooking area outside the opening of the hut on the right side of the boat facing forward, and it was frequently used.
As the drum sounded, men from the boatbuilders’ camp began to head either to the privy or to the boat. There was little discussion. When Manak-na and Yomuk reached the boat, Pah told them to take their things to the far back of the hut on the right side facing forward and tie them into the gut wrappers they’d find. The gut wrappers would keep their belongings dry. Along with gut wrappers there were coils of rope of various sizes. Pah told them to tie their spears to the ties at the top of the hut. The rope coils were all around the edges of the hut. Manak-na and Yomuk really didn’t know the other men well, and their sleeping places would be very close. Each hut held fifteen men, but they alternated times for sleep. There was no level place. Manak-na wondered whether the rope coils would interfere with sleep, while he reminded himself that this was an adventure.
Water from the undammed barricade was filling the hole where the boat rested on logs. Yomuk stood on the edge of the hull, holding onto a rope, to watch the water swirl around the base of the boat. There were many little bubbles floating on the surface of the water. He was as excited as he’d ever been in his life. He couldn’t believe that he and Manak-na were about to travel across this huge sea to a land where it was warm. He’d heard that there was much adventure between, including colder weather, storms, fog, huge waves, and sea monsters. Yomuk wondered whether there was such a thing as a sea monster. When the boat moved slightly, Yomuk grabbed another rope that was nearby to steady himself. The masts had been raised and ropes seemed to be everywhere. Manak-na did some foot shuffling to get his balance. His heart began to race with excitement. He had wanted an adventure for so long. Now he had one!
The dam’s removal, creating a seawater backfill from the dam along with the incoming tide, would make the escape from the building hole work well. People, who were already seasoned seamen, were moving about the boat, aware of what was needed and what they should do. There was good-natured shouting. Manak-na and Yomuk went towards the back of the boat near the hut they shared and tried to stay out of the way of others. Manak-na saw many people digging he’d never seen before. He guessed they were men from the village up the hill. It was a lot of work to move all that dirt.
The boat was floating in its small pond. It was still trapped by some of the dam, but people were digging as fast as possible to open it up. Manak-na noticed some activity below him. He leaned over the back of the boat and found that men were pulling wooden logs out from under the boat. He had not noticed the boat was sitting on logs. How much more was there that he didn’t know? he wondered. Soon, he expected, he’d find out. After waiting so long to learn things he didn’t know, he was about to have days and days of learning.
Pah was all over the boat. It was leaving the building hole now and he wanted to know whether everything was functioning correctly. He checked the masts and the sails. He found one loop that hadn’t been tied securely and he called to Ralm to fix it. The man was there instantly and worked it carefully. Pah checked the fitting at the bottom of the mast and was pleased to see that the mast was well established. No problems there. He checked the decks and the tiller. The handle to move the rudder was new and he wondered how well it would survive the trip. It seemed to be working well. He moved it, finding it harder to move than he expected. He’d speak to Rokuk about having more than one man assigned to the rudders full time. He called the man over. Manak-na and Yomuk watched as Pah talked to Rokuk. It seemed that Rokuk would be responsible for much on the boat.
Pah took an oar and went to an exterior hull side and tried to seat himself on the bamboo hull. It worked. He tied himself and the oar to the ties already affixed to the boat. He seemed pleased with how that was working, but then that was not a new way of doing things—just separated by quite a long distance from one side to the other.
Pah called, “Rowers!”
Suddenly people were running all over the boat. They grabbed an oar from the tie on the sides of the huts and ran to the rowing places. Each seemed to know exactly where to go. Then a man whose name they didn’t know began to use the Mol numbers to count. One ... two, one ... two. In synchronization with the count, the men rowed. Manak-na and Yomuk watched carefully, knowing they’d be called on to row sometime. The boat began to move slowly across the water, free of the boatbuilding hole. Out on the sea it moved, huge, seemingly proud and confident upon the water. It moved in ways that were new to Manak-na and Yomuk. The liquid environment was very different from their land environment.
“It’s easier if you keep your knees bent,” Manak-na said to Yomuk.
Yomuk tried it. Somehow it all felt so foreign. He kept his knees bent but didn’t realize that he needed to rise and lower himself one leg at a time, so he just walked on stiff, bent legs as they took to the sea. Yomuk watched as the shore gained distance. He choked a little at thoughts of home.
Pah continued to move about the boat still checking and re-checking. He called on some of the men to unfurl the front sail. They did it so fast that Manak-na was dumbstruck. One moment there was no sail and then there was one. It was surprisingly beautiful to Manak-na. It moved his spirit as it moved. And the boat began to move. It wasn’t fast, but it moved faster than the rowers could row. The rowers were told to remain seated but to pull up the oars. Pah called for the second sail to be unfurled. Then the boat began to move faster. Manak-na inhaled sharply. This was a wonder. It was alive! It was a way of using the wind to make a huge boat move. His heart was beating fast with amazement. These people were filled with a knowledge he’d never dreamed of—they’d taken what looked like great bird wings and fixed them to a boat to make it move. He was overwhelmed. He knew about poling boats. In the time it took to eat a meal, he’d learned about rowing and sailing. Manak-na felt that if he learned nothing else, his adventure already had great benefit. To the Mol on the boat, there was nothing unusual about what they were doing, nothing unusual at all except for the size of the boat.
Pah called Rokuk over. He told him to head to shore. Rokuk realized that it was time for him to take over. He was also excited to be directing this new experiment on the double hulled boat. He called for men to furl the back sail. He called to rowers. Using the rudder, he turned it to the right, which made the boat head towards the left. When the boat was still several boat lengths from shore, Pah waved farewell, and he dived off the boat into the sea. He swam fa
st toward shore. Then he stood on shore and watched as the boat headed north on the sea. He had taken these trips when he was younger. He was happy now to leave the traveling to the younger men and to spend his time boatbuilding.
Rokuk was delighted that they had a favorable wind for the first part of the trip. He told the men to tie up the oars to the huts, the chosen place to secure them when not used, and to take their sailing positions. Manak-na and Yomuk had no idea what a sailing position was so they headed toward Rokuk to find out.
“You want to know what your sailing positions are?” Rokuk asked with a smile.
“Yes,” Manak-na and Yomuk replied in unison.
“Manak-na, I’ll put you on the deck behind the back sail. If I call to furl the sail, you’ll help Ralm. While you sit near him, ask what you need to do. He’ll tell you, so you’ll be ready.”
Manak-na nodded.
“Yomuk, go to the back and sit by the hut. Piman controls the rudder right now. He’ll need a helper, because it’s hard to move the rudder. It’s your job to help him. When you get back there, tell him you’re his helper and do what he tells you.”
“I will,” Yomuk replied, remembering to acknowledge. He headed toward the back of the boat.
They traveled on and on. Sometimes land was visible on the right and sometimes the left, sometimes on both sides at the same time. The boat made creaking noises from the bamboo and other wood. Manak-na and Yomuk were having a wonderful time watching the scenery pass. The boat was floating gently on the sea and they enjoyed it all. When the sun was above, a young man walked through with a water bag and another came with meat sticks. They could have as much water and as many sticks as they wanted. They drank plenty of water, knowing that the meat sticks would draw water from their bodies. As the day lengthened, Manak-na and Yomuk began to feel the inactivity. Normally, they would have done much moving about by this time. They had been sitting for a long time. Yomuk had spent a little time with Piman adjusting the rudder, but that took little effort for the time they’d spent. The person who did the most moving about was Rokuk. He was obviously leader of the boat. They wondered where Kipotuilak was. He did not share their hut, so he must be in the other. Then Manak-na heard him speaking briefly at night while they were in the hut to sleep. It appeared that they’d see little of Kipotuilak. He worked at night.
Manak-na's Story, 75,000 BC Page 14