Return of the Ancient Mariners

Return of the Ancient Mariners
Return of the Ancient Mariners

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

excerpt from Return of the Ancient Mariners

Mitomke had studied geography and was an avid sailor like Sulkeya but he doubted that the Nishi would need his help finding coordinates with a sextant. How did they find their way across the vast ocean, he wondered. Yimantiwinyai had told him that they must leave soon as the last of the shearwaters were going south along with the whales. He pointed to flocks of birds, on cliff faces along the coast leaving their colonies to go south. These were the sooty shearwaters. Mitomke knew of their migration route and marveled if ever there was a beginning, if there was a forerunner of this route eons ago. In the spring these birds flew in flocks of thousands from islands in the South Pacific to the Northwest coasts of America. In the fall they made their way back again and points in between depending on the flocks like salmon spawn in rivers. Yimantiwinyai could follow them but how did the birds find the their way? There were other ways the master navigators followed and soon Mitomke would learn on his way across the Ocean. Mitomke with Telalamzi by his side dreamt of going to Hawaii.