We have these huge travelling cities that take us from one place to another via water. But how did we get to these travelling cities commonly known as ships. We must have had boats for a long time before we had ships. But how did we get to use the boats? There is a very interesting story how we might have invented the boats.

Long time ago there were four friends Bheelu, Hawa, Onsai and Meeku who used to live in a tribe and their huts were near a river. They always wondered what was on the other side of the river but none of them were able to swim that far. They always saw some smoke on the other side of the river, and thought to themselves that maybe there lived people like them. If only there was some way  they could travel over water.

Then one day Meeku was trying to cut a tree and the tree log fell in the water. He tried to catch it but it kept floating in the water. Meeku was very surprised and swam up to the log. Then he suddenly jumped on the log to see if it will sink. It kept floating. Meeku used his legs to make the log move faster and his hands to make it go up and down the river. He brought it back to where his friends lived and started jumping excitedly on the log. Plonk! He fell down and his friends could not stop laughing.

But this made Meeku think more. He thought that if he used a log he could go all the way to the other side of the river. He could now travel on water. Wow! But he did not want to do it alone and wanted all his friends to come with him. Onsai said that they could all go on separate logs. Hawa suggested that they could all sit on one log. Bheelu was quiet for a long time and then thought of tying a few logs together with straws to make a big raft. The boys were super happy. That whole night they cut the logs and and tied them together with straws. Their raft was ready and since it was bigger they decided to use dried sticks as paddles instead of their legs to push water.

Next morning they set out on a journey. The raft moved very slowly. Meeku started fighting with Bheelu that they should have taken separate logs as they were faster. Onsai and Hawa asked him to be quiet as they would reach the other end even if it takes longer. Finally when they reached the other side they were surprised to see another tribe. This tribe was dressed differently and looked much healthier. They asked the people of that tribe the reason they were healthier. The tribals told them that they have a very good doctor who uses herbs to help people get better if they are sick.

Bheelu, Hawa, Onsai and Meeku stayed the night there and started for their home the next morning. On their way back they started thinking what if they had a huge log with hollow space in it then they could carry a lot of people faster to the other side. It took them days to do that and finally the log boat was ready. They also made flat sticks as paddle so that they can push more water and make the boat move faster. This time they could quickly make a round trip across the river and back to their home.

On their return the chief of their tribe saw the boat and reprimanded the boys for cutting trees. He just didn’t want to hear anything about the useful invention.

After some days the chief of their tribe fell sick. Bheelu, Hawa, Onsai and Meeku took him to the other side in their log boat and the doctors saved him. When the chief was much better he praised the boys for making something so useful.

That is how I think the first boats were made. What do you think?