My travels brought me to places I have never been to before. At the edge of a humid and tropical forest, I shed my furs and my cold climate items. Trekking through the forest, I met many more tribes and people. After pushing through the vast area, I emerged onto a land with soil I have never seen before.
I learned much later that it was known as the sea. When we reached the edge of our known maps, there was a sandy earth, made of fine yellow rocks and pebbles. There was water, unlike our rivers, the water was salty and there was so much of it. The water washed gently against the sandy earth and receeded, doing so again and again.
It wasn't long I found myself in the sea, sharing a ship with the fishermen. The fishermen lived a hard life, but they were happy with the toil of their labor. That reminded me of something that I remembered a long time ago. At night, they would huddle around a can fire, singing songs and sharing stories. I took some time to share of what I knew from the lands from afar, and they oohed and ahhed from my story telling.
I learnt how to mend nets and how to cast them; They taught me how to skin and gut fishes. The sea was a harsh mistress, I found out. Even as it gave, it also took in the same gesture. I learned that countless fishermen had been taken in the same year, that the sea also had its tantrums and fits. A gigantic wave of water had scoured the shores clean and the continuing wave had gone deeply into the lands, destroying property and life.
We had to learn to move on, to pick up what was left and to continue living our lives. The ship, at that time, was a technological marvel that allowed us to travel further to other lands that were otherwise locked to us by sea. Our trade could be advanced faster if we took sea routes.
