Chapter 14

Grass and Palm

The climbing finally ended.

Clear of the escarpment, the land leveled and the river broadened.

The land before them rippled with hillocks and ridgelines.

Riverine forest dominated, but only briefly; soon, termite mounds rose like misshapen volcanoes amidst a margin of trees long dead, but still standing; reaching for the sky with pale, bone-like limbs.

The tribe paused at the edge of the last rise from some distance, amidst fossilized trees and crumbling termite hills, taking advantage of an opportune view of what lay ahead: a grassy plain expanding to a hazy horizon.

Chains of hills encircled the land.

Taller mountains waited in the distance.

Eku thought it was as though an ancient and monstrous elephant set a padded foot down to leave a footprint where an ocean of grass now grew; the river slicing through the center and reflecting the sky.

The river would remain wide, shallow and slow moving for the remainder of the journey.

***

Marching across the land of grass and palm, at first, the people found it difficult to distinguish where water and land merged.

Treacherous swamps and mud pools were everywhere.

The hunters learned to recognize the subtle changes in grass that indicated sucking bogs or firm footing.

For the first few days, at least, there were occasional elephant trails, but the beasts had their own agenda; whereas, the people charted a path next to the river.

North.

Thanks to the hard work of the hunters, Eku and Yathi—most of the tribe—paraded along a route safe and well trampled.

Exotic birds were everywhere and Eku relished the opportunity to observe each new species.

Black ducks with red spotted wings became common.

Bursting from ponds with great splashing and quacking.

Merging into a tight flock that landed at another nearby pond, but along the way, performed acrobatic twists and turns before circling two or three times and landing, as though each short journey had to include a bit of fun.

Enormous, black-headed herons with long gray necks rose from behind bristle-topped reeds, mightily flapping pale wings with a sound like the clap of hands as they labored to gain height enough to level and glide with their long legs straight behind.

At ground level, fast-running plovers with red beaks and red eye rings raced along the shoreline.

Darting in and out of the reeds were jacanas, with pretty, reddish-brown bodies and bright, white necks and heads with black stripes and enormous feet with splayed claws that allowed them to stride through the watery mud without slowing.

Enamored by the birds, Eku soon realized there were no herd beasts.

There was, for a brief time, evidence of elephants, but no sightings.

“Why do you think there are no herds,” he said to Yathi, who walked ahead, satchel secure across his back.

Yathi turned and Eku saw the lip stick out while he gazed over the heads of the people walking all around them.

Shrugged and said, “This grass is different. It is not like foxtail grass.”

“There are no vubu, either,” Eku said, moving up to pace side by side, adding, “Or antelope.”

“There are elephants. Back where we were before.”

“Not that many. And we only saw their trails. Like they are staying away from us.”

Yathi stuck the lip out again, then said, “There are lizards.”

Eku grimaced. “I do not like them.”

“For sure.”

***

Two types of lizards proliferated in the land of grass and palm.

Similar in shape, but much different in size.

The smaller variety reminded Eku of a lizard from his homeland called kazi-wenya-anda, which meant a lizard that eats crocodile eggs.

Needless to say, they are fast and sneaky.

Kazi-wenya-anda grew no larger than a small child on the southern shores, and Eku saw none of the local variety growing any larger; however, the second type of lizard that occupied this land told a different story.

A predator to be wary of.

Eku guessed the bigger ones were as heavy as a good-sized human.

Fearsome to look upon, the big lizards were gray with raggedy black stripes.

A very long and powerful whiplike tail.

Triangular snout full of teeth, similar to a wenya.

Basking in small groups, torpid under Ulanga, until the hunters approached close, when they sprang up to disappear into the tall grass with side-to-side strides of violent quickness.

When the tribe arrived at the first healthy grove of palm since clearing the escarpment, the people gathered on a wide, flat spot alongside the water.

A camp perimeter was established: brush and grass cut back and piled on the perimeter.

Before long, some of the large lizards crept from the tall grass to poke along the brush-line of demarcation.

Eku and other young people quickly gathered at a safe distance to throw rocks and jeer and yell.

“They are disgusting,” Kolo kept saying.

Emerging from the front of each snout was a reddish tongue the length of a forearm.

Slipping in and out, like some awful worm emerging between fearsome teeth.

The young Abantu, Bwana and Mantel took turns using creative ways to describe how revolting the lizards were.

Perhaps, emboldened by their numbers and overwhelmed by the smell of so much exotic food, the largest lizards crept closer.

Smaller lizards appeared out of the tall grass behind, all with tongues rapidly flickering.

A single, giant lizard bent its thick and muscular body side to side to raise a heavily clawed foot as though to wave hello to the humans, still beyond its visual range, but overwhelming his olfactory senses with—there is a whole lotta food straight ahead!

Nevertheless, moving very slowly.

The lizard stretched to angle the snout up, thick tongue flopping in and out.

The clawed foot landed and the lizard bent its torso the opposite way, raising the opposite claw in a similar wave.

The Abantu hunters circled from opposite directions.

Eku noted all of the hunters were young with a single eagle talon.

Saw his father and Nibamaz, with Juka and Lopi observing from the background.

The giant lizard brought down the clawed foot to take another step into the human encampment.

Twisted the torso to begin raising the other.

Juka clicked rapidly and stepped away from his father.

The hunters spread groups to each side.

Juka walked directly into the lizard’s point of view.

Holding his javelin with both hands in front, a position and grip that told Eku he was not prepared to stab or throw.

The spear was balanced, like his feet, preparing him to move quickly to one side or the other.

When the lizard focused on Juka Eku noted the tongue changed its rhythm.

The huge body tensed and both front feet were on the ground.

Juka waved his javelin gently and the tongue of the lizard picked up its pace.

Going faster, the lizard’s mouth slightly more agape, showing fangs worthy of a wenya.

There was much clicking between the two sides of young hunters and they struck simultaneously.

Focused on Juka, the beast was simply confused or unprepared or unaware and died instantly from multiple, deep impalements.

The other large lizards scampered away and the young hunters pulled their javelins free of the carcass, leaving it, Eku figured, as a warning for any others.

Instead, as soon as the hunters moved away, Eku watched in horror as waka-waka small lizards rushed from the tall grass to swarm over the big body, yanking and ripping at the corpse until they could carry away a chunk of flesh hanging from their mouth.

The next day, at the next camp, the young hunters killed another large lizard.

And the next.

Eventually, the big lizards learned that to approach two-leggeds that smelled like food was to become food for the little lizards.

***

The river had become like a long and narrow lake.

Land that at first appeared flat from a distance, included low-slung ridgelines enough to make the path of the river meander.

Bright green river grass announced a flat and shallow shoreline with easy access to water.

Dense stands of thistle-topped water reeds announced a more difficult shoreline, curved with miniature inlets and peninsulas and deeper water.

Away from the river grew fields of the dark, thick bladed grass peculiar to this land.

In some of the areas, Eku saw the earth had been laid bare, blackened, but not as though burned.

Blackened by something else.

The grass was sparse and stunted in the blackened regions.

He wondered what would make Umawa produce such a color and thought of Tiuti telling him about the black rock found by his father.

Block rock that was hard and smooth, like isipo-igazi.

Told his mind to remember to ask either of them about the subject later.

Where the earth was not blackened, the grass grew thick and nearly as tall as Eku, though at this stage of sika-yaka, there was much yellowing and bent-over brown, giving the grassland an over-ripened feel.

The land of grass and palm included only two types of trees, both palms.

The palms that grew close to the water had slender trunks and grew long, feathery leaves that surged upward and down in a weeping pattern, reminding Eku of the odd, but delicious unwe-umthi trees.

Unfortunately, unlike the fruit of unwe-umthi, the palms here featured slender, looping vines with small, inedible nuts.

Where the elevation rose above the floodplain grew the second type of palm.

The trunks were fat and smooth and grew to large crowns of fan-shaped leaves of many leaflets, sharp, like the blades of a javelin.

Yellow and orange nuts hung in heavy clusters at the top of the trunk, the individual fruits bigger than Eku’s fist.

Unfortunately, those nuts were also not good for human consumption.

But the palm groves did attract other food sources and were opportune spots to make camp.

When the people came upon an unusually large grove of the weeping patterned palm that grew close to the water, the location was ideal for replenishing.

A temporary camp was established.

***

The grove of palm was shaped like half a marula nut, set in front of an easy access point to the water.

Dual patches of water reeds flanked a shoreline muddy and grassy.

Immediately in front of the palm grove grew bushes and vines, low to the ground, encircling the entire grove like a natural barricade, forcing the izik-kosa to use long knives and axes to cut a tunnel through to access the trees.

Once inside the surrounding thicket, the people found a space wonderfully spacious and clear.

When the mothers went inside for inspection, they emerged with considerable excitement.

Once Eku and Yathi had a chance to look inside it was obvious why.

The weeping palms grew on bogs and in thick groupings, such that the canopies would fuse and form a dome-like exterior, where nothing grew inside.

The grass-matted islands were flooded and eventually underwater during lobo-yaka; but now, being the later part of sika-yaka, water level was at its lowest.

The thick mats upon which the palms grew were completely dry; however, the main root system plunged through to soil to keep the plants healthy.

Eku and Yathi giggled while walking on ground that was solid, but flexible, making him think of the elastic qualities of sinew.

Bouncy and springy.

Most importantly—especially to the mothers, the grove was a perfectly prepared room of enormous size for waka-waka people to sleep in!

***

Yat showed Eku and Yathi to leave bed mats and supplies.

She then led them back through the thicket tunnel toward the water.

Rounded shelters were being erected, as not all of the people could fit under the comfy confines of the palms.

For the most part, hunters and nesibindi would be the ones who remained outside.

At the moment, Eku knew those hunters were scouting a ridgeline of bladed palms behind the encampment.

Yat led them in the other direction, toward the river.

Past the shelters there were Bwana, Mantel and Abantu adults fishing.

No doubt that was where Yathi would prefer to be, but the mothers organized harvest and young people went where they were told to.

Eku and Yathi were stuck with Yat.

She led them to the water, where Krele, Shona and other mothers were hunched in the shallows, up to their knees, bent over water cabbage.

The thick, soft leaves formed a rosette on the surface with a brilliant, yellow flower in the center.

The mothers tugged with one hand and sliced with the other, dropping the flat green pads into an over-the-shoulder satchel.

The plump leaves would be pounded and used to thicken stew.

Seeing the young ones approach, Shona stood and hollered, “Buffalo nuts!”

Pointed upriver, toward grass different from the bright green river grass.

A darker shade of green with thickly bladed stalks.

Eku saw Maz, Tar, Sisi and Kat already ankle deep in muck, pulling at the fat shoots.

Yat clicked for him and Yathi to follow.

Their toes squished in the mud as they trooped along the edge of the water.

Yat said, “The Bwana showed us this plant at shatsheli-lambo. They call it yenkomo-gomane, which means a male buffalo sack.”

She smiled at Eku’s look of horror while Yathi giggled.

As it turned out, the tubular and green leaves grew almost as tall as Eku, but separately, not tightly bunched like foxtail grasses or swamp grass or river grass.

The thick stems had shallow roots, easy to pluck from the mucky soil.

Attached to the roots were nicely rounded corms, plump and growing in pairs.

The corms had a crisp, white flesh that proved crunchy and delicious.

***

With no need to build shelters and harvest taken care of, Eku was thrilled to see Ulanga still peaked over the ridgeline of bladed palms.

Plenty of light left to explore!

He retrieved his ula-konto from beneath the grove.

Accompanied by Yathi, Goguk and Kolo, Eku happily set out to prowl the perimeter of camp.

The foursome circled the palm grove, headed for the side opposite the river.

Grass everywhere.

The dark, thick bladed variety.

Many of the stalks were browned and bent over.

The grass grew only in bunches, but the bare patches were layered with slowly decomposing leaves.

Eku felt the ground through his toes as a curious mix of soft and old with new and firm, a good, grippy feel.

Waka-waka dragonflies raced back and forth.

Laced wing flies spilled over their heads in mated clouds.

Ulayo blew gently in the same direction as the flow of the water and carried the scent of old vegetation.

Scattered across the grass field were mounds, where the peculiar grass seemed to grow in a kind frenzy, creating dense bundles.

Eku discovered the mounds were excellent targets for his ula-konto, as the tightly packed sprouts would safely net the killing end.

Grinding dried bone required precise tools and was time consuming; nevertheless, an ula-konto must be practiced with constantly, while preserving the effectiveness of the killing end.

“This is a strange land,” Eku said, studying a fat clump that his mind transformed into a bushpig.

Stepped away a good distance.

Steadied the ula-konto at his side.

Adjusted the grip.

Checked his footing and performed a quick, three-step throw, the pale shaft speeding along, hardly making an arc before slicing into the heart of the grass-clump-bushpig quarry with a satisfying hiss-thump.

Unnoticed by Eku, Yathi gave a nod of approval as Goguk and Kolo grinned in admiration.

Kolo carried a sturdy and mostly straight stick with a fire-hardened tip.

He swatted at a mound of the thick-bladed grass and said, “I have never seen land like this. Grass, but not foxtail grass, as on the savannah. And no forest trees.”

Yathi said, “This land is like where the rivers empty into Uwama, at home.”

He turned in a circle.

Gestured with his hands and added, “The blades of grass are flat, not round. And there is no Uwama. No salted water.”

“Like the freshwater is trapped,” Eku said, thinking of his dream and pulling the ula-konto free.

“For sure,” Yathi said. “Because of all the hills and mountains.”

Kolo tried to throw his spear the same way that Eku had, but it glided sideways and landed flat.

Goguk scampered over and tried a throw, similarly unsuccessful.

Watching, Eku said, “I can teach you. But first, we have to return to a forest, where I can find a good sapling to make a balanced throwing spear.”

Proudly, he added, “My uncle taught me how to carve.”

Kolo squinted and looked mischievous. “A spear like yours?”

Eku shouted, “No!”

Raised the ula-konto over his head with one hand and said, “This is izik-kosa!”

Lowered the spear and smiled, saying, “You will need to practice with a wood spear.

“You must practice and practice and practice and prove that you can make good throws before you can even ask an izik-kosa to carve a proper ula-konto.”

Eku gazed fondly at his weapon.

Father made it clear that Eku would not dare to approach his uncle without first being able to hit targets the size of his hand from waka paces.

Every throw!

Amazingly, Eku did just that, gaining accuracy so quickly that everyone was amazed—even his father; though, Eku always found his progress agonizingly slow.

“When you ask, the izik-kosa will probably say no,” Eku added. “So you will have to keep practicing until they do.

“But I can carve you a wood spear with good balance and teach you how to throw. Then it is up to you to practice.”

Kolo and Goguk both nodded eagerly.

Yathi, looking at the main body of the river said, “It is flat here, so Uwama’s call is not so strong.

“The river does not move fast enough to carry all the water away. Not fast like in the mountains. Because it is flat.”

“For sure,” Kolo said, sounding more and more like an Abantu.

Looking for another target to impale, something caught the periphery of Eku’s vision.

Pale and out of place.

He clicked sharp and rapid.

Yathi and Goguk instantly went rigid.

Eku motioned them over using only the tilt of his head and eyes.

Kolo, observing, mimicked the Abantu’s behavior.

The four went back to back, using their ears and noses and eyes to explore the field of grass.

The palm grove where they camped was plainly in view.

Plenty of adults mingled nearby.

Nevertheless, their collective imaginations made the moment tense and exciting.

Eku held the ula-konto to his right side, left arm crossed to maintain a strong, stabbing grip.

Crouched to keep knees bent and feet balanced.

Cautiously approached what lay partially hidden in the grass, Yathi, Goguk and Kolo hovering behind.

Eku straightened.

Relaxed.

A large skeleton, the bones separated, but not enough to betray the shape of the body: a buffalo, but a buffalo nearly as big as an elephant.

Yathi and Goguk both muttered, “Ir-hamka.”

Kolo asked, “What kind of giant beast was this?”

Eku, now holding the ula-konto in one hand at the side, said, “Maybe the buffalo my father sang about. They are giant in the land of legend.”

“Ir-hamka,” Kolo echoed.

Eku looked thoughtfully over the bones.

They were very old and partly obscured by waka-waka cycles of grass.

The small bones were long gone, but there were no hyenas here, so the large bones remained intact.

He realized the skull was missing as Yathi said, “Where is the head?”

Sounding doubtful, Kolo asked, “Maybe another beast dragged it away?”