In the age when humans had not yet become enlightened, the massive trees in forested areas grew wildly, towering into the clouds.
It wasn't until mountain floods erupted, and the large trees were knocked down and floated on the water, that humans caught in the deluge had no chance of survival, with the rapid currents and the giant boulders rushing downstream, both being lethal reapers.
Only an extremely small number of lucky individuals were able to cling to trees in the water, thereby finding a slim chance to escape and crossing the river.
Gradually, humans understood that massive trees could allow them to float on the surface of the water.
After that, humans derived even more uses; they learned to use trees proactively to cross dangerous rivers, but employing primitive logs was still very risky—they were slippery, prone to rolling, and one could hardly stand on rolling logs for a long time; they might still encounter attacks from dangerous creatures in the river.