Chapter 14

Grass and Palm

The climbing finally ended.

Clear of the escarpment, the land leveled and the river broadened; the land rippled with hillocks and riverine forest, but only briefly; soon, the land sloped gently downward and flattened.

Eku and Yathi, like most everyone, clicked nervously when the tribe entered groves of long dead trees with branches bare and bone-like reaching for the sky. Umawa was arid and sparsely covered by bristle grass; hard beneath their feet. Termite mounds formed discordant ridgelines at eye level.

The fossilized trees ended at a grassy plain that expanded to a hazy horizon; the tribe paused briefly to gather on the last rise for some distance.

The river bisected a plain of grass encircled by chains of hills.

Mountains loomed 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.

“Grass again,” Yathi said with resignation.

“For sure,” was all Eku could think to say.

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

***

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

Treacherous swamps and mud pools were everywhere, but the people soon learned to distinguish the subtle changes in grass that indicated sucking bogs from firm footing.

For the first few days, at least, there were occasional elephant trails, but the beasts had an agenda of their own, while 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 already well trampled.

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

Black ducks with stripes of red on the wings were especially common, bursting from ponds with splashes and quacking to quickly merge into a tight flock, accelerating away at top speed, but quickly turning back to perform acrobatic twists and turns before tightening circles landed them at the same or nearby location, as though each short journey had to include a bit of fun.

Black-headed herons rose from behind bristle-topped reeds, laboring mightily with huge wings, the primary feathers splaying pale from below, to eventually gain altitude and glide with long legs straight behind.

Along the short grass of a muddied shoreline, fast-running plovers with red beaks and red eye rings raced away from the humans, while Jacanas remained more daring, darting in and out of close-by reeds, pretty and agile with reddish-brown bodies and bright, white necks and heads, enormous feet with splayed claws, allowing 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 the lip stuck out while he gazed over the heads of the people immediately around them.

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

“There are no vubu, either,” Eku said, moving up so they could 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.

“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 beast at home 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 grow any larger; however, the second type of lizard was a different story.

A predator to be wary of.

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

Fearsome to look upon.

Gray with raggedy black stripes across a heavy armor of scales.

Clawed feet with black talons and a powerful tail longer than the body, reminding Eku of a wenya, but more upright with longer legs and less armor.

The snout was rounded and blunt, making Eku think of a frog of all things, which was silly, because no frog mouth ever had such teeth.

The large lizards basked in small groups along the water, 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 reaching the grassland, the people gathered on a wide, flat spot near the water.

Camp was established with brush and grass cut back and piled around the perimeter.

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

A good number of Abantu hunters stood ready, watching the lizard's encroachment.

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

“They are disgusting,” Kolo said.

From each heavily toothed snout a long and dark tongue slid in and out, easily the length of a forearm, emerging from between fearsome teeth like an awful, two-pronged snake.

“They are more disgusting than vubu,” Yathi said. “Why do they do that with such a disgusting tongue?”

“It is how they smell,” Eku said, wishing he had his ula-konto.

“That is disgusting,” Kolo repeated.

Dala and Longo joined the young Abantu and Mantel and each tribe took turns using their most creative and disgusting words to describe how revolting the lizards were.

In the meantime, Eku didn’t say much, merely chuckled while keeping a keen eye on the hunters.

Two groups had fanned out, about waka young hunters in each. Behind them, he saw his father and Nibamaz, with Juka and Lopi.

A confrontation was about to take place.

Obviously, the big lizards did not understand humans.

Perhaps emboldened by their numbers, or more likely overwhelmed by the smell of so much exotic food, the largest and most aggressive moved to the front of the horde.

“Look at all the little ones,” Kolo said.

“The little ones are also disgusting," Goguk said, lingering to the back a bit, as always, sounding a bit fearful.

More smaller lizards crept from the tall grass, forming a third line based on species and size.

A single, giant lizard was now at the front.

Cautious, because whatever smelled so overwhelmingly tempting was beyond its limited, visual range.

“I do not like lizards,” Goguk said. “Their skin looks like flesh that is cooked too long. I have never seen a mouth with so many little teeth.”

“More like a fish,” Yathi said.

“Like a gwe-lanzi,” Longo offered.

Disagreeing, Kolo said “Maybe teeth like a fish, but the tongue? That tongue is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen!”

“I hope the hunters cut it off,” Goguk said, which made Kolo and others giggle.

//

The powerful beast had four bowed legs. The tail was long and dragging behind.

Twisting its thick torso to one side the lizard raised a menacingly clawed foot, pausing in midair, as though to wave hello.

Stretched its neck to better angle the heavily toothed snout, thick tongue sliding in and out.

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

Young Abantu hunters circled from opposite directions.

Each holding a javelin.

Eku saw they all wore a single talon. Kozik, Ingwabi and Iti amongst them.

This was a training opportunity and Eku made sure his mind recorded every detail.

Kaleni and Nibamaz, Lopi and Juka stood back, almost to where the young people had gathered the watch the spectacle.

The mothers and most other adults igored what was going on.

The giant lizard brought down the next, clawed foot.

Twisted the torso and began raising the other.

Juka clicked loudly and stepped away from Kaleni.

The young hunters immediately spread into staggered pairs as Juka walked directly at the lizard.

Once Juka entered the beast’s visual range the posture of both immediately changed.

The lizard pointed its snout at Juka.

Tongue changing to shorter, more rapid thrusts from the fanged mouth, all four legs tense, claws gripping into the land.

Juka held his javelin with both hands, horizontally to the front, a position and grip that told Eku he was not prepared to stab or throw.

The spear was balanced, like his feet, so he could move laterally.

Quickly, if necessary.

Juka waved the javelin gently.

The lizard tongue picked up the pace.

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

Focused on Juka, the beast was simply confused or unprepared or unaware and died instantly as multiple hunters leaped forward to send the long and deadly blades deep into the neck and stomach areas.

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 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, under the watchful eyes of the lead hunters (and Eku), 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 that made the path of the river meander.

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

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

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

In some areas, Eku saw the earth laid bare, blackened, as though once scorched.

Grass did grow on the blackened earth, but was sparse and stunted.

He wondered what would make Umawa produce such a color and remembered what Tiuti told him of the black isipo-gazi found by his father.

Was there a relationship?

Black earth and the block rock that was harder than quartzite and yet knapable to the sharpest of edges.

Eku 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 brown bent stalks, giving the grassland an over-ripened feel.

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

Palms that grew close to the water had slender trunks and 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 intersection between trunk and each feathery palm leaf was clustered with looping vines with inedible nuts.

Where the elevation rose above the floodplain, grew the second type of palm, trunks fat and smooth, crowns of huge leaves of many leaflets shaped like the long 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 at least the palm groves attracted other food sources and provided opportune spots to make camp.

When the people came upon an unusually large grove of the feathery 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, arranged as though to protect an opportune access point to the water: a field of knee-high grass across a flattened shoreline.

Encircling the palm grove were low-to-the-ground bushes that over time formed an impressive barricade around the entire copse, forcing the izik-kosa to use long knives and axes to chop their way through.

Tunneling through the thicket to make a wondrous discovery.

A truly spectacular place to shelter.

Cave-like beneath a dense canopy of feathery palms, spacious, the ground remarkably clear.

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

The weeping palms rooted on bogs and formed dense canopies that once mature, fused to form dome-like exteriors, where nothing else grew inside.

Over many cycles, such a large copse created a thick carpet of crumbled old leaves, soft underfoot, while the supporting mat provided a network of roots dense enough for a platform sturdy, but also flexible, making Eku think he was walking over sinew.

The ground was actually bouncy and springy!

During lobo-yaka, the bogs upon which the palm grew flooded and were temporarily underwater; but now, being the later part of sika-yaka, water level was at its lowest.

The surface had gone completely dry; however, the main root system plunged deep to keep the plants healthy.

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

***

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

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

There was limited space and many of the recently matched adults without children were outside, busy erecting rounded shelters.

Hunters and nesibindi would also remain outside.

At the moment, Eku knew his father was amongst the hunters scouting the ridgeline of bladed palms behind the encampment.

He wished that was doing that now.

But Yat led them in the opposite direction, toward the river.

Past where the shelters were being erected, Eku saw older Bwana, Mantel and Abantu were fishing.

Yathi clicked wistfully and Eku offered a comforting click, while Yat (already with the ears of a mother), quipped, “No complaining, you get to fish all you want when you get older.”

When it came to harvest, Eku really did not care what they did, as long as he could bring his keri stick or ula-konto.

Otherwise, food was food.

Hunting simply made harvest … More interesting.

More exciting for the mind.

For some reason.

Eku and Yathi followed Yat to the water, where waka-waka people were already 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.

Everyone bending tugged at fat green pads with one hand while slicing with the other, dropping the green chunks into an over-the-shoulder satchel.

The plump leaves would be pounded and then chopped and then boiled to thicken stew.

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

Pointed upriver, toward a singular patch of reeds that ended with thickly bladed leaves, but no bristles.

Maz, Tar, Sisi and Kat were 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 explained, “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 reeds grew almost as tall as Eku, but separately, not tightly bunched like water reeds.

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!

Well, at least within the encampment.

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 browned and bent over.

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

Eku felt beneath his toes a curious mix of soft and old with a firm and grippy feel, which made him eager to throw his ula-konto.

The four young males paced the backside of the grove.

“I can hear people in there.” Yathi said, pointing at the palm grove, just to his left.

They all stopped and went silent.

Before them, a thicket of bush barely taller than they were, but dense and impenetrable, like boxthorn without the barbs.

From behind the protective barrier rose the dome of the feathery palm grove.

Kolo giggled.

“I hear them,” he whispered.

Disembodied voices seemed to emanate from the dense thicket.

Murmurings, almost as though from another word beyond another green wall.

The foursome moved away from the grove, but stayed within the allowed area, which meant staying parallel to the river.

Dragonflies hovered or shot back and forth between grass and water.

Laced wing flies billowed 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 peculiar mounds, which turned out to be the same grass, but having gone through some kind of frenzied growth to form dense, bale-like 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, so Eku remained fastidious over preserving the killing barb as much as possible.

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

Stepped away for a longer 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.

Eku smiled at Yathi’s click of  approval, while Goguk and Kolo grinned in admiration.

Eku’s throwing had become truly impressive.

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 shouted, “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 by the huts out front.

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, holding the ula-konto in one hand at his side

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?”

“Maybe the buffalo my father sang about,” Eku said. “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 just as Yathi said, “Where is the head?”

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