Be tugged at his hand. She was frightened, and wanted to go back. That was a good enough pretext. So Hu shrugged and turned, pretending to humor her.
There was activity behind them. Someone else was following. At first Hu was glad, because he thought he could show off what he had found. Then he recognized Bb and Ss.
This was a problem, because he knew they meant mischief. They were still mad because they hadn't gotten the berry patch yesterday. Now they wanted to fight, and there was no grown kin to support Hu. What was he to do?
The sensible course was to run away. But they were blocking off the only escape. The walls did not seem any more scalable than before; only the bottom of the crevice was suitable. Bb knew that. He knew he had Hu trapped. He knew that no one else was close enough to intercede.
Hu turned again and looked forward. The crevice looked as forbidding as before. The evil vapor swirled in it, so that Hu could not see what was beyond. The hissing seemed louder now, like that of a restive snake. That was no place for a person to go.
There was a sound behind as Bb and Ss advanced. Normally females fought only among themselves, or to protect their children, but Ss often fought to support her brother. She was aggressive and vicious. Like her brother. Hu had little chance against Bb in a fair fight, and with Ss chomping his back, he had even less. She was really worse than Bb, because she was not being true to the nature of her gender.
Hu turned once more. He peered down through the steaming crevice. That might be doom—but so might a fight with Bb. He couldn't afford to get beaten, when he had Be to protect.
Bb was getting close. He leaped to the base of the rock pile. Hu leaped off it, into the crevice ahead. He called to Be to follow. This seemed to be the lesser risk, and now that he had made the decision, he felt his curiosity about what lay ahead. He had wanted to explore farther, but hadn't dared. Now there was as much of a threat behind as ahead, so it was easier to go on.
Be scampered close behind him. She was afraid too, but trusted Hu to keep her safe.
They came to the first vapor vent, and plunged through it. The air was hot but they weren't in it long, so it didn't hurt. But there was another vent beyond, with thicker steam.
Hu halted. Be stopped so close she was nudging him. He looked back. The prior steam masked the cleft beyond it. He couldn't see whether Bb was coming after them. But Bb couldn't see Hu and Be either. Would he come? Maybe he would just wait until they returned, then pounce.
Hu thought of the rocks that might roll down from above. He didn't want to wait here long. So he moved forward again, Be nervously pacing him.
He paused before the steam. The odor was bad, but it wasn't making him choke. The hissing was steady rather than menacing. Maybe it was safe. Should he try to leap through it? He saw some of the path beyond, and it looked all right.
There was a sound behind. Hu leaped through the steam. He landed safely beyond it, with Be almost underfoot.
The way ahead was narrower than ever, and it curved. But Hu was recovering confidence. This path was not as deadly as it had seemed. Where did it go?
They moved on, passed through one more steam vent, and then the crevice got wider. The two mountains pulled away from each other and the steam vents stopped.
They went on, and the slopes on either side got less. Finally they were able to scamper out of the cleft. A valley opened out before them—and it was green with trees. They were through the mountains!
They made their way down the slope, and found a rich berry patch. They fairly gobbled the berries, which tasted wonderful. Their juice helped quench Hu's growing thirst, too.
But now the day was getting late. Shadow crossed the valley and reached up the mountain slope. It was weird, because it was coming from the wrong direction. This was morning shadow, coming at night.
Be began to whimper, picking up the subtle wrongness of this region. She wanted to go home. So did Hu. So they put down their knuckles and ran back to the narrow cleft.
But the shadow got there before them. The cleft was dark. How could they go there?
As Hu stared, he saw that the darkness was not complete. He could still see the bottom of the cleft. Soon it would be all the way dark, but there was time to get into it before that happened. So he bounded on down into it, with Be fearfully close.
Once at the base path, they ran without pausing into its narrowness, though the steam, along its close curve, through the next steam, and finally through the last one. There was the rock pile, and Bb was gone. They could get the rest of the way through!
It seemed only a moment before they were back where the band had been—but the band was gone. No problem; they sniffed out the trail and soon found it a short distance back, huddling under a rocky overhang. There was no cave, but this seemed good enough. Hu and Be had not even been missed.
In the morning the indecision remained. No one knew where to go or what to do. Most of the band were hungry, for the berries nearby had all been eaten, including unripe ones, and bugs and grubs were hard to find. A foolish rabbit was spied, and was immediately circled and pounced on; soon the redly dripping fragments of it were being avidly eaten by the dominant males. But that merely made the rest of them hungrier.
Yet Hu knew where there was food. He tried to tell his mother, but she was distracted and did not understand. So he told his half-brother Ra. “Food!” He touched his mouth, then his belly.
Ra understood immediately. He and Fa came with Hu, following him down to the crevice. There they hesitated, but Hu plunged on in, and they followed. He ran over the pile of stones and plunged through the first steam cloud. Again they hesitated, but they were hungry, so they came on through. Both were frightened, but Hu's confidence encouraged them. They knew he would not lead them into mischief.
In a surprisingly short time they were through the narrow way and approaching the berry patch on the other side. There were other patches close below it with plenty of ripe berries. Ra and Fa pounced on the patches and gorged themselves. Hu found a separate patch, and ate too.
Then it was time to go back. They had to let the others know. Fa, with an intuitive insight, plucked a berry branch and clamped it between her teeth. Then they returned, no longer afraid of the steam path.
This time Bb was there at the rock pile. He bared his teeth as he spied Hu, thinking to attack him. Then Ra came up beside Hu and bared his teeth. Bb, alone, changed his mind and loped away.
Hu and Ra did not let it go at that. They bounded after him, screeching threateningly, forcing Bb to flee without dignity. It was fun. Fa followed close behind, enjoying the scene.
The three approached Hu's mother. “Food!” they cried. Fa showed off her berry branch. There were several ripening berries on it. That got the attention of the others. Where had she found that, when all the plants nearby had been stripped of all their berries, both ripe and green, as well as their leaves?
Hu's mother followed Hu, and Ra's mother followed Ra. Several other children came too. But the dominant males did not deign to pay attention. What could children have that could interest them?
The trip was not easy, for the women were far more wary of the steam vents than the children were. But when little Be jumped blithely through, evincing no fear, Hu's mother followed. She almost turned back when she saw the second vent, but again they managed to persuade her to jump through. Finally they brought her and the other female out to the berry patches. Then all was clear, and they all feasted.
Later that day they brought through more children and females. The word spread quickly: food! Soon all the young ones were running through the steam as if it had never been fearsome. Even the steady hissing seemed friendly.
It took time to convince the dominant males, but hunger finally compelled them. They navigated the cleft with extreme reluctance. Hu saw that their larger bulk made the passage difficult. In the narrowest section they had to stand and sidle along. It would have been impossible for one of the brutes who had displaced their band to sque
eze through.
In due course the band moved down the new slope to the thickly growing trees below. There were no brutes there, and food was plentiful. They had found their new home.
In this manner the range of the chimpanzees extended beyond that of the gorillas. The graciles were not able to oppose the robusts, but the robusts could not go as far from their home forests. It was not just that the chimps could run better on ground or squeeze through narrower apertures, but that they could forage more efficiently in difficult terrain. Perhaps their constant displacement to the fringe of the joint range forced them to be more versatile, and that helped them survive when times changed. Thus those who were less specialized for a particular habitat became survivors in varied habitats. This pattern was to be repeated endlessly as our species evolved, and it seems to have been the graciles who usually outlasted the robusts. Thus perhaps their weakness was their strength.
Within our species, men are robust, women gracile. That may be significant.
CHAPTER 2
* * *
GARDEN
Six million years ago Africa was in a relatively cool, dry phase. Lakes dried out and disappeared, and forests shrank. Savanna, the flat, treeless grassland, expanded. This was not good habitat for chimpanzees, and their range diminished. But one group fought to survive by adapting to the dangerous flatland to the east of the West Rift Valley. This led to a development that was to change the world, in time. But the significance of this physical adaptation might not have been apparent, being overshadowed at first by a social shift.
The actual social structure of those chimps that were to become human is not known, but there does seem to have been an increased sexual dimorphism: the males became significantly larger than the females. That suggests the harem style, with a number of small bands, each band with one dominant male and a number of females and children, as with the apes. But human society was to benefit from the development of larger bands, containing a number of males, who had to learn to cooperate with each other. Thus the simple might makes right ape formula was to become a more interactive society, with a leader governing not merely by physical strength, but by the consent of the governed, or at least the support of other males. The transition may not have been easy, but time favored those who could form larger bands. Since a male with an established harem is unlikely to give it up voluntarily, it may have been the juvenile males who led the way to the new order.
The setting is Lake Victoria. But it wasn't a lake, in that dry time. The rich sediment of its vast dried lake bed made it a very special garden.
SUDDENLY it happened: a challenger beat the band male. Hu could hear the roars and blows, and it was the stranger who won. This was real trouble, because the new male would systematically kill all the sons of the prior male who didn't flee, even the babies. Once all the juvenile males were gone, the dominant male would breed with all the females, and all future babies would be his. As the female children grew up, he would breed with them too. There would be no place for any of the existing males.
Actually it had been getting more difficult for youths like Hu before, because their father did not care to have any other grown males in the band. He tolerated them because they were his sons, but his tolerance had been diminishing as they grew. So they had been foraging farther afield, and some had been taken by the predators of the ground. Sometimes a youth went out and didn't return. Since no neighboring band would admit any male voluntarily, that meant they were dead. It was dangerous to stray too far from home. But they were going to have to, in another year or so. So Hu was not entirely unprepared.
Still, he dawdled, hoping that it would be different from what he had observed in neighboring tribes. His sister, five years younger, did not want him to go; he had looked out for her all her life, helping her to forage, advising her what was good and what was bad to eat. In fact he had advised a number of the other youths, because his unusual curiosity and sensitivity to sound led him to discover things before they did, and he had gained both good and bad experience. He also had sharp vision, improved by practice. Thus when a new fruit ripened, he was likely to be the first one there to pluck it. Of course the second one there would normally take it away from him, because Hu was not large, and tended to use the wrong forefoot. Yet often enough he was alone or with Be, and then it was all right. She didn't mind what foot he used.
But the new male wasted no time. Within a day he made the round of all eight women, snatching away their nursing babies and hurling them to the ground to die. The women were unable to protest; they knew the way of it. They just had to suffer. Soon enough they would have new babies to take their attention. The males who had been weaned fled. It was better than being killed, though they would probably die anyway, being too young to protect themselves competently.
When the male approached Hu's mother, Hu fled. To his surprise, Be came with him. He realized that she, half grown, might not be spared; the new male was saving women and near women but not babies and children who would take too long to be breedable. As they left, they heard their mother scream as her youngest child was snatched and killed. Then silence, as she submitted to immediate breeding with the new male.
Hu paused down the slope, letting Be catch up. He hugged her comfortingly, but they both knew that they faced a very difficult time. They would not be allowed to return to their band's grove, and other bands would not admit them to their groves. Be in time could join a band, when she was nubile, but not Hu. He could join only by force, which meant not at all.
Another youth approached. It was Jo, the largest of Hu's half-brothers, not yet big enough to defend himself against a grown male, but quite able to dominate Hu. With him was Bl, who was small, like Hu, but smart. The two had different mothers but were close friends, with Bl suggesting what to do and Jo enforcing it. Hu had never much liked either of them.
But right now their plight was the same as Hu's and Be's: they had been cast out. That made quarreling pointless; they were all in too much trouble already.
Bl approached. He extended one forefoot, open, in the gesture of camaraderie. He wanted to be friends?
Hu looked at Jo, who was hanging back. But Bl persisted, and finally, grudgingly, Jo agreed, and held out his foot too.
Hu knew that if he accepted their offer, they would have a small band of half-brothers, which was safer than none, but that Jo and Bl would govern it. Still, this seemed better than the alternative. He had gone out playing and hunting with them before, on occasion, and they really weren't too bad. Not like Bb and his savage sister. So he extended his hand, touching first Bl's hand, then Jo's. Be did the same.
Two more approached: Ra and Fa, Hu's friends the twins. Bl extended his hand to them too, and so Jo did, and then Hu and Be. Hu was glad to have them.
Now they were six, and that did feel more comfortable. They moved downslope, looking for some unoccupied territory where perhaps they could set up a new band.
But every worthwhile grove on this slope was already occupied by a band. The only available trees had no fruit. There was no place for castoffs here. Hu realized that even with a band of six, the outlook was bleak.
Bl realized it too. He pointed to the path at the base of the slope, leading away. It went to the nearby pond, where they could go to drink when the fruit wasn't juicy enough. It was used by the bands along the valley, when there were fresh berries growing on the ground, and was considered to be neutral territory. Anyone could go where he wished, on the ground; only the trees were possessed by bands. At present there were few berries, so there was little activity along it.
They put down their knuckles and loped along, knowing that the day was waning and that they had to find a vacant grove with fruit soon if they were going to. Hu remembered seeing other youths go this way in past years. He had not before truly appreciated their situation. Now he wished he had thought about this inevitable time, and tried to make some advance plan for it. But somehow he had believed that it would never happen to him.
&
nbsp; They spied an isolated grove and ran for it, but as soon as they came near there was a warning cry: occupied. They veered away, running on down the path, hoping for another grove. But all were full, right up to the edge of the baked mud. The pond had been larger, but was shrinking, so now it was just a small pool in a large patch of hardened mud.
They stopped at the pond and drank, putting their mouths down into it as they had so often before. But this time it was different, because they were not with their mothers, guarded by the dominant father male. They were outcasts.
They spread out along the edge of the pond, looking for things to eat. Hu found a fat snail, spotting it by its color. Snails weren't his favorite food, but would do in an emergency. He put the shell to his teeth and cracked it open, about to suck out the meat. Then he paused, seeing Be watching him.
She couldn't find snails the way he could. None of the others could. They could not see the distinctive colors under their coating of mud, as Hu had learned to do.
He handed her the cracked snail. She gobbled it down eagerly, spitting out bits of shell.
Then he saw others looking his way. They knew he could find snails and berries and edible roots better than they could. They were getting hungry.
Bl approached him. So Hu looked around, spied another snail by its masked color, fetched it up, and proffered it to Bl. Bl took it to Jo, who ate it. Then Bl returned to Hu.
Hu saw the way of it. If he wanted to be in the leader's good graces, he had to provide some more snails. So he got serious about foraging, scraping in the mud with his hands, digging out snail after snail. There were a surprising number of them, perhaps because few ate them by choice. That was an indication of how things had changed.
Bl gave another snail to Jo, then gave one to Ra and one to Fa. When each had had one, Bl gave one back to Hu. Again Hu had to pause to figure out the other youth's more devious thought: he meant that all of them should eat. Hu didn't have to give away everything. It was like a game they had sometimes played, sharing as if in a one-tree family, the mother giving her children food but not depriving herself. Now they were like a larger family, weird as the notion was.