The Far Rowers

"By all the Gods, I’m tired...." groaned Ra, as he paced restlessly up and down the main deck of the great ship waiting for the shore party to return. He hated the endless waiting. The restlessness of the crew. The uncertainty of what lay ahead for them all. The anxiety of the women wanting their men to return. It was no different for Ra. He too felt the tension in the air. It seemed like an eternity to them all.

Ra walked slowly to the starboard side of the vessel, gripped the railing tightly with both hands and looked down at the muddy waters. After a few moments of watching the ebb and flow of the current he decided to stretch his back and stand up straight. Then with a conscious effort he reached out with his arms as far as he could towards the cloudless sky in a vain attempt to get the stiffness out of his bones whilst offering a silent prayer to the Sun God that all would be well. This was the eighth time a scouting party had been ordered ashore and each time the waiting had been hard. No one could be sure that they would ever return and twice the explorers had been attacked leaving four men wounded, one of them seriously.

"What news, I wonder, will this group bring us" said Ra thoughtfully. For ten weeks he had ordered the ship to be rowed up the long river. They had stopped every few days in a secluded place and sent a group of men into the surrounding countryside to find out the lay of the land. Their orders were simple. They were to travel for one day into the interior as fast as they could and then take up to two days to return, gathering as much information as possible before they continued deeper into the interior. It was hoped by many that this would be the last expedition to go ashore and this time early indications seemed favourable. One man had returned after only half a day after injuring a leg whilst hunting. He spoke of a long deep fertile valley sheltered on all sides by tall, tree-lined hills. A place for a settlement. A fresh water stream running straight down the centre. It caused great excitement and joy. Ra sensed somehow that they were coming to the end of their exodus. He was sure that the y could build a new home here. They had nowhere else to go..

Ra had just finished celebrating his forty sixth birthday when they found the mouth of the big river. On impulse he decided to change course and gave orders to steer towards it. He watched closely as the main sail caught the wind while the priests gathered on deck to pray and make sacrificial offerings to the Gods. It seemed as if they were rewarded as the weather proved favourable and they found a deep channel into a long, winding tributary.

Ra ignored the men in cloaked hoods as they busied themselves with the entrails of chickens. He knew it was the stretched white sail and the oars in the water that aided their journey but he felt that it was a good omen that a strong westerly wind was with them, and he had no desire to quarrel with the priests. He felt it best to leave them to their own devices.

To feel the great ship beneath his feet, to see the sail filled to bursting point pushing the boat along at great speed. What joy he felt! It gave all the crew enormous encouragement and helped Ra to feel young again.

Ra was pleased that he had managed to stay lean and muscular compared to many men far younger than himself, but he knew it was not going to last. Rheumatism was beginning to set into his joints and sometimes this affected him very badly, his left knee in particular was bothering him again, making it difficult for him to kneel down on the ground. The result of being slammed hard against a bulkhead during a tropical storm many years ago. One of a dozen serious injuries he had sustained in a lifetime spent at sea.

The wooden beams creaked and groaned under his feet reminding him of his own aching body as every now and again a surge of the current made the vessel sway gently on the water. For a moment Ra was lost in his own thoughts, remembering journeys made long ago to far off lands. Of maidens who had warmed his bed on bitterly cold nights. Days that were gone forever. There was one girl in particular.....