The Ascent of Man - 2 The Harvest of the Seasons 2/5

Description: the Bazuft River. Three months of meltwater have swollen the river. The tribesmen, the pack animals, the women, and the flocks are all exhausted. It will take a day to manhandle the flocks across the river. The head of the family has worked seven years, as Jacob did, to build a flock of 50 sheep and goats. He expects to lose ten of them in the migration, if things go well. If they go badly, he may lose 20 out of his flock of 50. Those are the odds of nomad life, year in and year out. And ...