It did not take him long to find out that his canoe was very easily upset. If he leaned too much to one side or the other, it would turn over, and leave him to drag it ashore and empty the water out of it before trying again. After a while, however, he got used to the new boat, and found that with a few strokes of his paddle he could send it through the water at great speed. His companions, who had laughed at it, at first, soon saw that Ma-Ya had made something that would be very useful in fishing, and in getting about on the water, and they too began to build boats of wicker-work, covered with skins. Up to now, the sea people had found it very hard to paddle their heavy rafts up the river, owing to the strong current, but in the swift, light canoes they could go wherever they pleased. Ma-Ya's idea, however, was not to go up the river, so much as it was to sail on the ocean. As soon as he had learned how to manage his new craft, he allowed the current to sweep him through the river mouth and out on the broad surface of the sea. It was a quiet day, with no wind blowing, and Ma-Ya found that his little craft rode the long ocean swells as lightly as a cork. He paddled about for several hours, delighted with his success, and then drove his new boat back into the river mouth and pulled it up on the shore. The next day he told one of his brothers of his plan to try to cross the Great Water and see what was on the other side, and the two adventurers placed provisions, and some jars of water, in the canoe, and started out. This time, however, there was a strong wind blowing from the ocean, making its surface very rough. What had seemed to be only tiny waves, from the shore, turned out to be dangerous white-caps, which swept over the frail craft ready to fill it with water. The wind, too, became stronger, so that Ma-Ya and his companion could hardly paddle against it. Stronger and stronger grew the gale, and more and more weary grew the arms of the two paddlers. Soon they saw that instead of making any headway, they were being slowly driven back toward the shore. Their water jars had been upset by the plunging of the boat as it tossed in the waves, and more and more spray came aboard with every gust of wind. Ma-Ya became afraid, and told his companion they must try to paddle back to the mouth of the river.