sofa hudson erfahrung

chapter viii"the outlying pickets of the new world" our friends at home may well rejoice withus, for we are at our goal, and up to a point, at least, we have shown that thestatement of professor challenger can be verified. we have not, it is true, ascended theplateau, but it lies before us, and even professor summerlee is in a more chastenedmood. not that he will for an instant admit thathis rival could be right, but he is less persistent in his incessant objections, andhas sunk for the most part into an observant silence.

i must hark back, however, and continue mynarrative from where i dropped it. we are sending home one of our localindians who is injured, and i am committing this letter to his charge, withconsiderable doubts in my mind as to whether it will ever come to hand. when i wrote last we were about to leavethe indian village where we had been deposited by the esmeralda. i have to begin my report by bad news, forthe first serious personal trouble (i pass over the incessant bickerings between theprofessors) occurred this evening, and might have had a tragic ending.

i have spoken of our english-speaking half-breed, gomez--a fine worker and a willing fellow, but afflicted, i fancy, with thevice of curiosity, which is common enough among such men. on the last evening he seems to have hidhimself near the hut in which we were discussing our plans, and, being observedby our huge negro zambo, who is as faithful as a dog and has the hatred which all his race bear to the half-breeds, he wasdragged out and carried into our presence. gomez whipped out his knife, however, andbut for the huge strength of his captor, which enabled him to disarm him with onehand, he would certainly have stabbed him.

the matter has ended in reprimands, theopponents have been compelled to shake hands, and there is every hope that allwill be well. as to the feuds of the two learned men,they are continuous and bitter. it must be admitted that challenger isprovocative in the last degree, but summerlee has an acid tongue, which makesmatters worse. last night challenger said that he nevercared to walk on the thames embankment and look up the river, as it was always sad tosee one's own eventual goal. he is convinced, of course, that he isdestined for westminster abbey. summerlee rejoined, however, with a soursmile, by saying that he understood that

millbank prison had been pulled down. challenger's conceit is too colossal toallow him to be really annoyed. he only smiled in his beard and repeated"really! really!" in the pitying tone one would useto a child. indeed, they are children both--the onewizened and cantankerous, the other formidable and overbearing, yet each with abrain which has put him in the front rank of his scientific age. brain, character, soul--only as one seesmore of life does one understand how distinct is each.the very next day we did actually make our

start upon this remarkable expedition. we found that all our possessions fittedvery easily into the two canoes, and we divided our personnel, six in each, takingthe obvious precaution in the interests of peace of putting one professor into eachcanoe. personally, i was with challenger, who wasin a beatific humor, moving about as one in a silent ecstasy and beaming benevolencefrom every feature. i have had some experience of him in othermoods, however, and shall be the less surprised when the thunderstorms suddenlycome up amidst the sunshine. if it is impossible to be at your ease, itis equally impossible to be dull in his

company, for one is always in a state ofhalf-tremulous doubt as to what sudden turn his formidable temper may take. for two days we made our way up a good-sized river some hundreds of yards broad, and dark in color, but transparent, so thatone could usually see the bottom. the affluents of the amazon are, half ofthem, of this nature, while the other half are whitish and opaque, the differencedepending upon the class of country through which they have flowed. the dark indicate vegetable decay, whilethe others point to clayey soil. twice we came across rapids, and in eachcase made a portage of half a mile or so to

avoid them. the woods on either side were primeval,which are more easily penetrated than woods of the second growth, and we had no greatdifficulty in carrying our canoes through them. how shall i ever forget the solemn mysteryof it? the height of the trees and the thicknessof the boles exceeded anything which i in my town-bred life could have imagined,shooting upwards in magnificent columns until, at an enormous distance above our heads, we could dimly discern the spotwhere they threw out their side-branches

into gothic upward curves which coalescedto form one great matted roof of verdure, through which only an occasional golden ray of sunshine shot downwards to trace a thindazzling line of light amidst the majestic obscurity. as we walked noiselessly amid the thick,soft carpet of decaying vegetation the hush fell upon our souls which comes upon us inthe twilight of the abbey, and even professor challenger's full-chested notessank into a whisper. alone, i should have been ignorant of thenames of these giant growths, but our men of science pointed out the cedars, thegreat silk cotton trees, and the redwood

trees, with all that profusion of various plants which has made this continent thechief supplier to the human race of those gifts of nature which depend upon thevegetable world, while it is the most backward in those products which come fromanimal life. vivid orchids and wonderful colored lichenssmoldered upon the swarthy tree-trunks and where a wandering shaft of light fell fullupon the golden allamanda, the scarlet star-clusters of the tacsonia, or the rich deep blue of ipomaea, the effect was as adream of fairyland. in these great wastes of forest, life,which abhors darkness, struggles ever

upwards to the light. every plant, even the smaller ones, curlsand writhes to the green surface, twining itself round its stronger and tallerbrethren in the effort. climbing plants are monstrous andluxuriant, but others which have never been known to climb elsewhere learn the art asan escape from that somber shadow, so that the common nettle, the jasmine, and even the jacitara palm tree can be seen circlingthe stems of the cedars and striving to reach their crowns. of animal life there was no movement amidthe majestic vaulted aisles which stretched

from us as we walked, but a constantmovement far above our heads told of that multitudinous world of snake and monkey, bird and sloth, which lived in thesunshine, and looked down in wonder at our tiny, dark, stumbling figures in theobscure depths immeasurably below them. at dawn and at sunset the howler monkeysscreamed together and the parrakeets broke into shrill chatter, but during the hothours of the day only the full drone of insects, like the beat of a distant surf, filled the ear, while nothing moved amidthe solemn vistas of stupendous trunks, fading away into the darkness which held usin.

once some bandy-legged, lurching creature,an ant-eater or a bear, scuttled clumsily amid the shadows.it was the only sign of earth life which i saw in this great amazonian forest. and yet there were indications that evenhuman life itself was not far from us in those mysterious recesses. on the third day out we were aware of asingular deep throbbing in the air, rhythmic and solemn, coming and goingfitfully throughout the morning. the two boats were paddling within a fewyards of each other when first we heard it, and our indians remained motionless, as ifthey had been turned to bronze, listening

intently with expressions of terror upontheir faces. "what is it, then?"i asked. "drums," said lord john, carelessly; "wardrums. i have heard them before.""yes, sir, war drums," said gomez, the half-breed. "wild indians, bravos, not mansos; theywatch us every mile of the way; kill us if they can.""how can they watch us?" i asked, gazing into the dark, motionlessvoid. the half-breed shrugged his broadshoulders.

"the indians know. they have their own way.they watch us. they talk the drum talk to each other.kill us if they can." by the afternoon of that day--my pocketdiary shows me that it was tuesday, august 18th--at least six or seven drums werethrobbing from various points. sometimes they beat quickly, sometimesslowly, sometimes in obvious question and answer, one far to the east breaking out ina high staccato rattle, and being followed after a pause by a deep roll from thenorth. there was something indescribably nerve-shaking and menacing in that constant

mutter, which seemed to shape itself intothe very syllables of the half-breed, endlessly repeated, "we will kill you if wecan. we will kill you if we can."no one ever moved in the silent woods. all the peace and soothing of quiet naturelay in that dark curtain of vegetation, but away from behind there came ever the onemessage from our fellow-man. "we will kill you if we can," said the menin the east. "we will kill you if we can," said the menin the north. all day the drums rumbled and whispered,while their menace reflected itself in the faces of our colored companions.even the hardy, swaggering half-breed

seemed cowed. i learned, however, that day once for allthat both summerlee and challenger possessed that highest type of bravery, thebravery of the scientific mind. theirs was the spirit which upheld darwinamong the gauchos of the argentine or wallace among the head-hunters of malaya. it is decreed by a merciful nature that thehuman brain cannot think of two things simultaneously, so that if it be steeped incuriosity as to science it has no room for merely personal considerations. all day amid that incessant and mysteriousmenace our two professors watched every

bird upon the wing, and every shrub uponthe bank, with many a sharp wordy contention, when the snarl of summerlee came quick upon the deep growl ofchallenger, but with no more sense of danger and no more reference to drum-beating indians than if they were seated together in the smoking-room of the royalsociety's club in st. james's street. once only did they condescend to discussthem. "miranha or amajuaca cannibals," saidchallenger, jerking his thumb towards the reverberating wood."no doubt, sir," summerlee answered. "like all such tribes, i shall expect tofind them of poly-synthetic speech and of

mongolian type.""polysynthetic certainly," said challenger, indulgently. "i am not aware that any other type oflanguage exists in this continent, and i have notes of more than a hundred.the mongolian theory i regard with deep suspicion." "i should have thought that even a limitedknowledge of comparative anatomy would have helped to verify it," said summerlee,bitterly. challenger thrust out his aggressive chinuntil he was all beard and hat-rim. "no doubt, sir, a limited knowledge wouldhave that effect.

when one's knowledge is exhaustive, onecomes to other conclusions." they glared at each other in mutualdefiance, while all round rose the distant whisper, "we will kill you--we will killyou if we can." that night we moored our canoes with heavystones for anchors in the center of the stream, and made every preparation for apossible attack. nothing came, however, and with the dawn wepushed upon our way, the drum-beating dying out behind us. about three o'clock in the afternoon wecame to a very steep rapid, more than a mile long--the very one in which professorchallenger had suffered disaster upon his

first journey. i confess that the sight of it consoled me,for it was really the first direct corroboration, slight as it was, of thetruth of his story. the indians carried first our canoes andthen our stores through the brushwood, which is very thick at this point, while wefour whites, our rifles on our shoulders, walked between them and any danger comingfrom the woods. before evening we had successfully passedthe rapids, and made our way some ten miles above them, where we anchored for thenight. at this point i reckoned that we had comenot less than a hundred miles up the

tributary from the main stream.it was in the early forenoon of the next day that we made the great departure. since dawn professor challenger had beenacutely uneasy, continually scanning each bank of the river. suddenly he gave an exclamation ofsatisfaction and pointed to a single tree, which projected at a peculiar angle overthe side of the stream. "what do you make of that?" he asked. "it is surely an assai palm," saidsummerlee. "exactly.it was an assai palm which i took for my

landmark. the secret opening is half a mile onwardsupon the other side of the river. there is no break in the trees.that is the wonder and the mystery of it. there where you see light-green rushesinstead of dark-green undergrowth, there between the great cotton woods, that is myprivate gate into the unknown. push through, and you will understand." it was indeed a wonderful place. having reached the spot marked by a line oflight-green rushes, we poled out two canoes through them for some hundreds of yards,and eventually emerged into a placid and

shallow stream, running clear andtransparent over a sandy bottom. it may have been twenty yards across, andwas banked in on each side by most luxuriant vegetation. no one who had not observed that for ashort distance reeds had taken the place of shrubs, could possibly have guessed theexistence of such a stream or dreamed of the fairyland beyond. for a fairyland it was--the most wonderfulthat the imagination of man could conceive. the thick vegetation met overhead,interlacing into a natural pergola, and through this tunnel of verdure in a goldentwilight flowed the green, pellucid river,

beautiful in itself, but marvelous from the strange tints thrown by the vivid lightfrom above filtered and tempered in its fall. clear as crystal, motionless as a sheet ofglass, green as the edge of an iceberg, it stretched in front of us under its leafyarchway, every stroke of our paddles sending a thousand ripples across itsshining surface. it was a fitting avenue to a land ofwonders. all sign of the indians had passed away,but animal life was more frequent, and the tameness of the creatures showed that theyknew nothing of the hunter.

fuzzy little black-velvet monkeys, withsnow-white teeth and gleaming, mocking eyes, chattered at us as we passed.with a dull, heavy splash an occasional cayman plunged in from the bank. once a dark, clumsy tapir stared at us froma gap in the bushes, and then lumbered away through the forest; once, too, the yellow,sinuous form of a great puma whisked amid the brushwood, and its green, baleful eyes glared hatred at us over its tawnyshoulder. bird life was abundant, especially thewading birds, stork, heron, and ibis gathering in little groups, blue, scarlet,and white, upon every log which jutted from

the bank, while beneath us the crystal water was alive with fish of every shapeand color. for three days we made our way up thistunnel of hazy green sunshine. on the longer stretches one could hardlytell as one looked ahead where the distant green water ended and the distant greenarchway began. the deep peace of this strange waterway wasunbroken by any sign of man. "no indian here.too much afraid. curupuri," said gomez. "curupuri is the spirit of the woods," lordjohn explained.

"it's a name for any kind of devil. the poor beggars think that there issomething fearsome in this direction, and therefore they avoid it." on the third day it became evident that ourjourney in the canoes could not last much longer, for the stream was rapidly growingmore shallow. twice in as many hours we stuck upon thebottom. finally we pulled the boats up among thebrushwood and spent the night on the bank of the river. in the morning lord john and i made our wayfor a couple of miles through the forest,

keeping parallel with the stream; but as itgrew ever shallower we returned and reported, what professor challenger had already suspected, that we had reached thehighest point to which the canoes could be brought. we drew them up, therefore, and concealedthem among the bushes, blazing a tree with our axes, so that we should find themagain. then we distributed the various burdensamong us--guns, ammunition, food, a tent, blankets, and the rest--and, shoulderingour packages, we set forth upon the more laborious stage of our journey.

an unfortunate quarrel between our pepper-pots marked the outset of our new stage. challenger had from the moment of joiningus issued directions to the whole party, much to the evident discontent ofsummerlee. now, upon his assigning some duty to hisfellow-professor (it was only the carrying of an aneroid barometer), the mattersuddenly came to a head. "may i ask, sir," said summerlee, withvicious calm, "in what capacity you take it upon yourself to issue these orders?"challenger glared and bristled. "i do it, professor summerlee, as leader ofthis expedition." "i am compelled to tell you, sir, that i donot recognize you in that capacity."

"indeed!" challenger bowed with unwieldy sarcasm."perhaps you would define my exact position.""yes, sir. you are a man whose veracity is upon trial,and this committee is here to try it. you walk, sir, with your judges.""dear me!" said challenger, seating himself on the side of one of the canoes. "in that case you will, of course, go onyour way, and i will follow at my leisure. if i am not the leader you cannot expect meto lead." thank heaven that there were two sane men--lord john roxton and myself--to prevent the

petulance and folly of our learnedprofessors from sending us back empty- handed to london. such arguing and pleading and explainingbefore we could get them mollified! then at last summerlee, with his sneer andhis pipe, would move forwards, and challenger would come rolling and grumblingafter. by some good fortune we discovered aboutthis time that both our savants had the very poorest opinion of dr. illingworth ofedinburgh. thenceforward that was our one safety, andevery strained situation was relieved by our introducing the name of the scotchzoologist, when both our professors would

form a temporary alliance and friendship in their detestation and abuse of this commonrival. advancing in single file along the bank ofthe stream, we soon found that it narrowed down to a mere brook, and finally that itlost itself in a great green morass of sponge-like mosses, into which we sank upto our knees. the place was horribly haunted by clouds ofmosquitoes and every form of flying pest, so we were glad to find solid ground againand to make a circuit among the trees, which enabled us to outflank this pestilent morass, which droned like an organ in thedistance, so loud was it with insect life.

on the second day after leaving our canoeswe found that the whole character of the country changed. our road was persistently upwards, and aswe ascended the woods became thinner and lost their tropical luxuriance. the huge trees of the alluvial amazonianplain gave place to the phoenix and coco palms, growing in scattered clumps, withthick brushwood between. in the damper hollows the mauritia palmsthrew out their graceful drooping fronds. we traveled entirely by compass, and onceor twice there were differences of opinion between challenger and the two indians,when, to quote the professor's indignant

words, the whole party agreed to "trust the fallacious instincts of undeveloped savagesrather than the highest product of modern european culture." that we were justified in doing so wasshown upon the third day, when challenger admitted that he recognized severallandmarks of his former journey, and in one spot we actually came upon four fire- blackened stones, which must have marked acamping-place. the road still ascended, and we crossed arock-studded slope which took two days to traverse.

the vegetation had again changed, and onlythe vegetable ivory tree remained, with a great profusion of wonderful orchids, amongwhich i learned to recognize the rare nuttonia vexillaria and the glorious pink and scarlet blossoms of cattleya andodontoglossum. occasional brooks with pebbly bottoms andfern-draped banks gurgled down the shallow gorges in the hill, and offered goodcamping-grounds every evening on the banks of some rock-studded pool, where swarms of little blue-backed fish, about the size andshape of english trout, gave us a delicious supper.

on the ninth day after leaving the canoes,having done, as i reckon, about a hundred and twenty miles, we began to emerge fromthe trees, which had grown smaller until they were mere shrubs. their place was taken by an immensewilderness of bamboo, which grew so thickly that we could only penetrate it by cuttinga pathway with the machetes and billhooks of the indians. it took us a long day, traveling from sevenin the morning till eight at night, with only two breaks of one hour each, to getthrough this obstacle. anything more monotonous and wearying couldnot be imagined, for, even at the most open

places, i could not see more than ten ortwelve yards, while usually my vision was limited to the back of lord john's cotton jacket in front of me, and to the yellowwall within a foot of me on either side. from above came one thin knife-edge ofsunshine, and fifteen feet over our heads one saw the tops of the reeds swayingagainst the deep blue sky. i do not know what kind of creaturesinhabit such a thicket, but several times we heard the plunging of large, heavyanimals quite close to us. from their sounds lord john judged them tobe some form of wild cattle. just as night fell we cleared the belt ofbamboos, and at once formed our camp,

exhausted by the interminable day. early next morning we were again afoot, andfound that the character of the country had changed once again. behind us was the wall of bamboo, asdefinite as if it marked the course of a river. in front was an open plain, slopingslightly upwards and dotted with clumps of tree-ferns, the whole curving before usuntil it ended in a long, whale-backed ridge. this we reached about midday, only to finda shallow valley beyond, rising once again

into a gentle incline which led to a low,rounded sky-line. it was here, while we crossed the first ofthese hills, that an incident occurred which may or may not have been important. professor challenger, who with the twolocal indians was in the van of the party, stopped suddenly and pointed excitedly tothe right. as he did so we saw, at the distance of amile or so, something which appeared to be a huge gray bird flap slowly up from theground and skim smoothly off, flying very low and straight, until it was lost amongthe tree-ferns. "did you see it?" cried challenger, inexultation.

"summerlee, did you see it?" his colleague was staring at the spot wherethe creature had disappeared. "what do you claim that it was?" he asked."to the best of my belief, a pterodactyl." summerlee burst into derisive laughter "apter-fiddlestick!" said he. "it was a stork, if ever i saw one."challenger was too furious to speak. he simply swung his pack upon his back andcontinued upon his march. lord john came abreast of me, however, andhis face was more grave than was his wont. he had his zeiss glasses in his hand. "i focused it before it got over thetrees," said he.

"i won't undertake to say what it was, buti'll risk my reputation as a sportsman that it wasn't any bird that ever i clapped eyeson in my life." so there the matter stands. are we really just at the edge of theunknown, encountering the outlying pickets of this lost world of which our leaderspeaks? i give you the incident as it occurred andyou will know as much as i do. it stands alone, for we saw nothing morewhich could be called remarkable. and now, my readers, if ever i have any, ihave brought you up the broad river, and through the screen of rushes, and down thegreen tunnel, and up the long slope of palm

trees, and through the bamboo brake, andacross the plain of tree-ferns. at last our destination lay in full sightof us. when we had crossed the second ridge we sawbefore us an irregular, palm-studded plain, and then the line of high red cliffs whichi have seen in the picture. there it lies, even as i write, and therecan be no question that it is the same. at the nearest point it is about sevenmiles from our present camp, and it curves away, stretching as far as i can see. challenger struts about like a prizepeacock, and summerlee is silent, but still sceptical.another day should bring some of our doubts

to an end. meanwhile, as jose, whose arm was piercedby a broken bamboo, insists upon returning, i send this letter back in his charge, andonly hope that it may eventually come to hand. i will write again as the occasion serves.i have enclosed with this a rough chart of our journey, which may have the effect ofmaking the account rather easier to understand. > chapter ix"who could have foreseen it?"

a dreadful thing has happened to us.who could have foreseen it? i cannot foresee any end to our troubles. it may be that we are condemned to spendour whole lives in this strange, inaccessible place. i am still so confused that i can hardlythink clearly of the facts of the present or of the chances of the future.to my astounded senses the one seems most terrible and the other as black as night. no men have ever found themselves in aworse position; nor is there any use in disclosing to you our exact geographicalsituation and asking our friends for a

relief party. even if they could send one, our fate willin all human probability be decided long before it could arrive in south america.we are, in truth, as far from any human aid as if we were in the moon. if we are to win through, it is only ourown qualities which can save us. i have as companions three remarkable men,men of great brain-power and of unshaken courage. there lies our one and only hope.it is only when i look upon the untroubled faces of my comrades that i see someglimmer through the darkness.

outwardly i trust that i appear asunconcerned as they. inwardly i am filled with apprehension. let me give you, with as much detail as ican, the sequence of events which have led us to this catastrophe. when i finished my last letter i statedthat we were within seven miles from an enormous line of ruddy cliffs, whichencircled, beyond all doubt, the plateau of which professor challenger spoke. their height, as we approached them, seemedto me in some places to be greater than he had stated--running up in parts to at leasta thousand feet--and they were curiously

striated, in a manner which is, i believe,characteristic of basaltic upheavals. something of the sort is to be seen insalisbury crags at edinburgh. the summit showed every sign of a luxuriantvegetation, with bushes near the edge, and farther back many high trees.there was no indication of any life that we could see. that night we pitched our camp immediatelyunder the cliff--a most wild and desolate spot. the crags above us were not merelyperpendicular, but curved outwards at the top, so that ascent was out of thequestion.

close to us was the high thin pinnacle ofrock which i believe i mentioned earlier in this narrative. it is like a broad red church spire, thetop of it being level with the plateau, but a great chasm gaping between.on the summit of it there grew one high tree. both pinnacle and cliff were comparativelylow--some five or six hundred feet, i should think. "it was on that," said professorchallenger, pointing to this tree, "that the pterodactyl was perched.i climbed half-way up the rock before i

shot him. i am inclined to think that a goodmountaineer like myself could ascend the rock to the top, though he would, ofcourse, be no nearer to the plateau when he had done so." as challenger spoke of his pterodactyl iglanced at professor summerlee, and for the first time i seemed to see some signs of adawning credulity and repentance. there was no sneer upon his thin lips, but,on the contrary, a gray, drawn look of excitement and amazement.challenger saw it, too, and reveled in the first taste of victory.

"of course," said he, with his clumsy andponderous sarcasm, "professor summerlee will understand that when i speak of apterodactyl i mean a stork--only it is the kind of stork which has no feathers, a leathery skin, membranous wings, and teethin its jaws." he grinned and blinked and bowed until hiscolleague turned and walked away. in the morning, after a frugal breakfast ofcoffee and manioc--we had to be economical of our stores--we held a council of war asto the best method of ascending to the plateau above us. challenger presided with a solemnity as ifhe were the lord chief justice on the

bench. picture him seated upon a rock, his absurdboyish straw hat tilted on the back of his head, his supercilious eyes dominating usfrom under his drooping lids, his great black beard wagging as he slowly defined our present situation and our futuremovements. beneath him you might have seen the threeof us--myself, sunburnt, young, and vigorous after our open-air tramp;summerlee, solemn but still critical, behind his eternal pipe; lord john, as keen as a razor-edge, with his supple, alertfigure leaning upon his rifle, and his

eager eyes fixed eagerly upon the speaker. behind us were grouped the two swarthyhalf-breeds and the little knot of indians, while in front and above us towered thosehuge, ruddy ribs of rocks which kept us from our goal. "i need not say," said our leader, "that onthe occasion of my last visit i exhausted every means of climbing the cliff, andwhere i failed i do not think that anyone else is likely to succeed, for i amsomething of a mountaineer. i had none of the appliances of a rock-climber with me, but i have taken the precaution to bring them now.

with their aid i am positive i could climbthat detached pinnacle to the summit; but so long as the main cliff overhangs, it isvain to attempt ascending that. i was hurried upon my last visit by theapproach of the rainy season and by the exhaustion of my supplies. these considerations limited my time, and ican only claim that i have surveyed about six miles of the cliff to the east of us,finding no possible way up. what, then, shall we now do?" "there seems to be only one reasonablecourse," said professor summerlee. "if you have explored the east, we shouldtravel along the base of the cliff to the

west, and seek for a practicable point forour ascent." "that's it," said lord john. "the odds are that this plateau is of nogreat size, and we shall travel round it until we either find an easy way up it, orcome back to the point from which we started." "i have already explained to our youngfriend here," said challenger (he has a way of alluding to me as if i were a schoolchild ten years old), "that it is quite impossible that there should be an easy way up anywhere, for the simple reason that ifthere were the summit would not be

isolated, and those conditions would notobtain which have effected so singular an interference with the general laws ofsurvival. yet i admit that there may very well beplaces where an expert human climber may reach the summit, and yet a cumbrous andheavy animal be unable to descend. it is certain that there is a point wherean ascent is possible." "how do you know that, sir?" askedsummerlee, sharply. "because my predecessor, the american maplewhite, actually made such an ascent. how otherwise could he have seen themonster which he sketched in his notebook?" "there you reason somewhat ahead of theproved facts," said the stubborn summerlee.

"i admit your plateau, because i have seenit; but i have not as yet satisfied myself that it contains any form of lifewhatever." "what you admit, sir, or what you do notadmit, is really of inconceivably small importance. i am glad to perceive that the plateauitself has actually obtruded itself upon your intelligence." he glanced up at it, and then, to ouramazement, he sprang from his rock, and, seizing summerlee by the neck, he tiltedhis face into the air. "now sir!" he shouted, hoarse withexcitement.

"do i help you to realize that the plateaucontains some animal life?" i have said that a thick fringe of greenoverhung the edge of the cliff. out of this there had emerged a black,glistening object. as it came slowly forth and overhung thechasm, we saw that it was a very large snake with a peculiar flat, spade-likehead. it wavered and quivered above us for aminute, the morning sun gleaming upon its sleek, sinuous coils.then it slowly drew inwards and disappeared. summerlee had been so interested that hehad stood unresisting while challenger

tilted his head into the air.now he shook his colleague off and came back to his dignity. "i should be glad, professor challenger,"said he, "if you could see your way to make any remarks which may occur to you withoutseizing me by the chin. even the appearance of a very ordinary rockpython does not appear to justify such a liberty.""but there is life upon the plateau all the same," his colleague replied in triumph. "and now, having demonstrated thisimportant conclusion so that it is clear to anyone, however prejudiced or obtuse, i amof opinion that we cannot do better than

break up our camp and travel to westwarduntil we find some means of ascent." the ground at the foot of the cliff wasrocky and broken so that the going was slow and difficult. suddenly we came, however, upon somethingwhich cheered our hearts. it was the site of an old encampment, withseveral empty chicago meat tins, a bottle labeled "brandy," a broken tin-opener, anda quantity of other travelers' debris. a crumpled, disintegrated newspaperrevealed itself as the chicago democrat, though the date had been obliterated."not mine," said challenger. "it must be maple white's."

lord john had been gazing curiously at agreat tree-fern which overshadowed the encampment."i say, look at this," said he. "i believe it is meant for a sign-post." a slip of hard wood had been nailed to thetree in such a way as to point to the westward."most certainly a sign-post," said challenger. "what else?finding himself upon a dangerous errand, our pioneer has left this sign so that anyparty which follows him may know the way he has taken.

perhaps we shall come upon some otherindications as we proceed." we did indeed, but they were of a terribleand most unexpected nature. immediately beneath the cliff there grew aconsiderable patch of high bamboo, like that which we had traversed in our journey. many of these stems were twenty feet high,with sharp, strong tops, so that even as they stood they made formidable spears. we were passing along the edge of thiscover when my eye was caught by the gleam of something white within it.thrusting in my head between the stems, i found myself gazing at a fleshless skull.

the whole skeleton was there, but the skullhad detached itself and lay some feet nearer to the open. with a few blows from the machetes of ourindians we cleared the spot and were able to study the details of this old tragedy. only a few shreds of clothes could still bedistinguished, but there were the remains of boots upon the bony feet, and it wasvery clear that the dead man was a european. a gold watch by hudson, of new york, and achain which held a stylographic pen, lay among the bones.there was also a silver cigarette-case,

with "j. c., from a. e. s.," upon the lid. the state of the metal seemed to show thatthe catastrophe had occurred no great time before."who can he be?" asked lord john. "poor devil! every bone in his body seemsto be broken." "and the bamboo grows through his smashedribs," said summerlee. "it is a fast-growing plant, but it issurely inconceivable that this body could have been here while the canes grew to betwenty feet in length." "as to the man's identity," said professorchallenger, "i have no doubt whatever upon that point.

as i made my way up the river before ireached you at the fazenda i instituted very particular inquiries about maplewhite. at para they knew nothing. fortunately, i had a definite clew, forthere was a particular picture in his sketch-book which showed him taking lunchwith a certain ecclesiastic at rosario. this priest i was able to find, and thoughhe proved a very argumentative fellow, who took it absurdly amiss that i should pointout to him the corrosive effect which modern science must have upon his beliefs, he none the less gave me some positiveinformation.

maple white passed rosario four years ago,or two years before i saw his dead body. he was not alone at the time, but there wasa friend, an american named james colver, who remained in the boat and did not meetthis ecclesiastic. i think, therefore, that there can be nodoubt that we are now looking upon the remains of this james colver.""nor," said lord john, "is there much doubt as to how he met his death. he has fallen or been chucked from the top,and so been impaled. how else could he come by his broken bones,and how could he have been stuck through by these canes with their points so high aboveour heads?"

a hush came over us as we stood round theseshattered remains and realized the truth of lord john roxton's words.the beetling head of the cliff projected over the cane-brake. undoubtedly he had fallen from above.but had he fallen? had it been an accident? or--already ominous and terriblepossibilities began to form round that unknown land. we moved off in silence, and continued tocoast round the line of cliffs, which were as even and unbroken as some of thosemonstrous antarctic ice-fields which i have

seen depicted as stretching from horizon to horizon and towering high above the mast-heads of the exploring vessel. in five miles we saw no rift or break.and then suddenly we perceived something which filled us with new hope. in a hollow of the rock, protected fromrain, there was drawn a rough arrow in chalk, pointing still to the westwards."maple white again," said professor "he had some presentiment that worthyfootsteps would follow close behind him." "he had chalk, then?""a box of colored chalks was among the effects i found in his knapsack.

i remember that the white one was worn to astump." "that is certainly good evidence," saidsummerlee. "we can only accept his guidance and followon to the westward." we had proceeded some five more miles whenagain we saw a white arrow upon the rocks. it was at a point where the face of thecliff was for the first time split into a narrow cleft. inside the cleft was a second guidancemark, which pointed right up it with the tip somewhat elevated, as if the spotindicated were above the level of the ground.

it was a solemn place, for the walls wereso gigantic and the slit of blue sky so narrow and so obscured by a double fringeof verdure, that only a dim and shadowy light penetrated to the bottom. we had had no food for many hours, and werevery weary with the stony and irregular journey, but our nerves were too strung toallow us to halt. we ordered the camp to be pitched, however,and, leaving the indians to arrange it, we four, with the two half-breeds, proceededup the narrow gorge. it was not more than forty feet across atthe mouth, but it rapidly closed until it ended in an acute angle, too straight andsmooth for an ascent.

certainly it was not this which our pioneerhad attempted to indicate. we made our way back--the whole gorge wasnot more than a quarter of a mile deep--and then suddenly the quick eyes of lord johnfell upon what we were seeking. high up above our heads, amid the darkshadows, there was one circle of deeper gloom.surely it could only be the opening of a cave. the base of the cliff was heaped with loosestones at the spot, and it was not difficult to clamber up.when we reached it, all doubt was removed. not only was it an opening into the rock,but on the side of it there was marked once

again the sign of the arrow. here was the point, and this the means bywhich maple white and his ill-fated comrade had made their ascent. we were too excited to return to the camp,but must make our first exploration at once. lord john had an electric torch in hisknapsack, and this had to serve us as light. he advanced, throwing his little clearcirclet of yellow radiance before him, while in single file we followed at hisheels.

the cave had evidently been water-worn, thesides being smooth and the floor covered with rounded stones.it was of such a size that a single man could just fit through by stooping. for fifty yards it ran almost straight intothe rock, and then it ascended at an angle of forty-five. presently this incline became even steeper,and we found ourselves climbing upon hands and knees among loose rubble which slidfrom beneath us. suddenly an exclamation broke from lordroxton. "it's blocked!" said he.

clustering behind him we saw in the yellowfield of light a wall of broken basalt which extended to the ceiling."the roof has fallen in!" in vain we dragged out some of the pieces. the only effect was that the larger onesbecame detached and threatened to roll down the gradient and crush us. it was evident that the obstacle was farbeyond any efforts which we could make to remove it.the road by which maple white had ascended was no longer available. too much cast down to speak, we stumbleddown the dark tunnel and made our way back

to the camp. one incident occurred, however, before weleft the gorge, which is of importance in view of what came afterwards. we had gathered in a little group at thebottom of the chasm, some forty feet beneath the mouth of the cave, when a hugerock rolled suddenly downwards--and shot past us with tremendous force. it was the narrowest escape for one or allof us. we could not ourselves see whence the rockhad come, but our half-breed servants, who were still at the opening of the cave, saidthat it had flown past them, and must

therefore have fallen from the summit. looking upwards, we could see no sign ofmovement above us amidst the green jungle which topped the cliff. there could be little doubt, however, thatthe stone was aimed at us, so the incident surely pointed to humanity--and malevolenthumanity--upon the plateau. we withdrew hurriedly from the chasm, ourminds full of this new development and its bearing upon our plans. the situation was difficult enough before,but if the obstructions of nature were increased by the deliberate opposition ofman, then our case was indeed a hopeless

one. and yet, as we looked up at that beautifulfringe of verdure only a few hundreds of feet above our heads, there was not one ofus who could conceive the idea of returning to london until we had explored it to itsdepths. on discussing the situation, we determinedthat our best course was to continue to coast round the plateau in the hope offinding some other means of reaching the top. the line of cliffs, which had decreasedconsiderably in height, had already begun to trend from west to north, and if wecould take this as representing the arc of

a circle, the whole circumference could notbe very great. at the worst, then, we should be back in afew days at our starting-point. we made a march that day which totaled sometwo-and-twenty miles, without any change in our prospects. i may mention that our aneroid shows usthat in the continual incline which we have ascended since we abandoned our canoes wehave risen to no less than three thousand feet above sea-level. hence there is a considerable change bothin the temperature and in the vegetation. we have shaken off some of that horribleinsect life which is the bane of tropical

travel. a few palms still survive, and many tree-ferns, but the amazonian trees have been all left behind. it was pleasant to see the convolvulus, thepassion-flower, and the begonia, all reminding me of home, here among theseinhospitable rocks. there was a red begonia just the same coloras one that is kept in a pot in the window of a certain villa in streatham--but i amdrifting into private reminiscence. that night--i am still speaking of thefirst day of our circumnavigation of the plateau--a great experience awaited us, andone which for ever set at rest any doubt

which we could have had as to the wondersso near us. you will realize as you read it, my dearmr. mcardle, and possibly for the first time that the paper has not sent me on awild-goose chase, and that there is inconceivably fine copy waiting for the world whenever we have the professor'sleave to make use of it. i shall not dare to publish these articlesunless i can bring back my proofs to england, or i shall be hailed as thejournalistic munchausen of all time. i have no doubt that you feel the same wayyourself, and that you would not care to stake the whole credit of the gazette uponthis adventure until we can meet the chorus

of criticism and scepticism which sucharticles must of necessity elicit. so this wonderful incident, which wouldmake such a headline for the old paper, must still wait its turn in the editorialdrawer. and yet it was all over in a flash, andthere was no sequel to it, save in our own convictions.what occurred was this. lord john had shot an ajouti--which is asmall, pig-like animal--and, half of it having been given to the indians, we werecooking the other half upon our fire. there is a chill in the air after dark,and we had all drawn close to the blaze. the night was moonless, but there were somestars, and one could see for a little

distance across the plain. well, suddenly out of the darkness, out ofthe night, there swooped something with a swish like an aeroplane. the whole group of us were covered for aninstant by a canopy of leathery wings, and i had a momentary vision of a long, snake-like neck, a fierce, red, greedy eye, and a great snapping beak, filled, to myamazement, with little, gleaming teeth. the next instant it was gone--and so wasour dinner. a huge black shadow, twenty feet across,skimmed up into the air; for an instant the monster wings blotted out the stars, andthen it vanished over the brow of the cliff

above us. we all sat in amazed silence round thefire, like the heroes of virgil when the harpies came down upon them.it was summerlee who was the first to speak. "professor challenger," said he, in asolemn voice, which quavered with emotion, "i owe you an apology.sir, i am very much in the wrong, and i beg that you will forget what is past." it was handsomely said, and the two men forthe first time shook hands. so much we have gained by this clear visionof our first pterodactyl.

it was worth a stolen supper to bring twosuch men together. but if prehistoric life existed upon theplateau it was not superabundant, for we had no further glimpse of it during thenext three days. during this time we traversed a barren andforbidding country, which alternated between stony desert and desolate marshesfull of many wild-fowl, upon the north and east of the cliffs. from that direction the place is reallyinaccessible, and, were it not for a hardish ledge which runs at the very baseof the precipice, we should have had to turn back.

many times we were up to our waists in theslime and blubber of an old, semi-tropical swamp. to make matters worse, the place seemed tobe a favorite breeding-place of the jaracaca snake, the most venomous andaggressive in south america. again and again these horrible creaturescame writhing and springing towards us across the surface of this putrid bog, andit was only by keeping our shot-guns for ever ready that we could feel safe fromthem. one funnel-shaped depression in the morass,of a livid green in color from some lichen which festered in it, will always remain asa nightmare memory in my mind.

it seems to have been a special nest ofthese vermins, and the slopes were alive with them, all writhing in our direction,for it is a peculiarity of the jaracaca that he will always attack man at firstsight. there were too many for us to shoot, so wefairly took to our heels and ran until we were exhausted. i shall always remember as we looked backhow far behind we could see the heads and necks of our horrible pursuers rising andfalling amid the reeds. jaracaca swamp we named it in the map whichwe are constructing. the cliffs upon the farther side had losttheir ruddy tint, being chocolate-brown in

color; the vegetation was more scatteredalong the top of them, and they had sunk to three or four hundred feet in height, but in no place did we find any point wherethey could be ascended. if anything, they were more impossible thanat the first point where we had met them. their absolute steepness is indicated inthe photograph which i took over the stony desert. "surely," said i, as we discussed thesituation, "the rain must find its way down somehow.there are bound to be water-channels in the rocks."

"our young friend has glimpses oflucidity," said professor challenger, patting me upon the shoulder."the rain must go somewhere," i repeated. "he keeps a firm grip upon actuality. the only drawback is that we haveconclusively proved by ocular demonstration that there are no water channels down therocks." "where, then, does it go?" i persisted."i think it may be fairly assumed that if it does not come outwards it must runinwards." "then there is a lake in the center."

"so i should suppose.""it is more than likely that the lake may be an old crater," said summerlee."the whole formation is, of course, highly volcanic. but, however that may be, i should expectto find the surface of the plateau slope inwards with a considerable sheet of waterin the center, which may drain off, by some subterranean channel, into the marshes ofthe jaracaca swamp." "or evaporation might preserve anequilibrium," remarked challenger, and the two learned men wandered off into one oftheir usual scientific arguments, which were as comprehensible as chinese to thelayman.

on the sixth day we completed our firstcircuit of the cliffs, and found ourselves back at the first camp, beside the isolatedpinnacle of rock. we were a disconsolate party, for nothingcould have been more minute than our investigation, and it was absolutelycertain that there was no single point where the most active human being couldpossibly hope to scale the cliff. the place which maple white's chalk-markshad indicated as his own means of access was now entirely impassable. what were we to do now?our stores of provisions, supplemented by our guns, were holding out well, but theday must come when they would need

replenishment. in a couple of months the rains might beexpected, and we should be washed out of our camp. the rock was harder than marble, and anyattempt at cutting a path for so great a height was more than our time or resourceswould admit. no wonder that we looked gloomily at eachother that night, and sought our blankets with hardly a word exchanged. i remember that as i dropped off to sleepmy last recollection was that challenger was squatting, like a monstrous bull-frog,by the fire, his huge head in his hands,

sunk apparently in the deepest thought, and entirely oblivious to the good-night whichi wished him. but it was a very different challenger whogreeted us in the morning--a challenger with contentment and self-congratulationshining from his whole person. he faced us as we assembled for breakfastwith a deprecating false modesty in his eyes, as who should say, "i know that ideserve all that you can say, but i pray you to spare my blushes by not saying it." his beard bristled exultantly, his chestwas thrown out, and his hand was thrust into the front of his jacket.

so, in his fancy, may he see himselfsometimes, gracing the vacant pedestal in trafalgar square, and adding one more tothe horrors of the london streets. "eureka!" he cried, his teeth shiningthrough his beard. "gentlemen, you may congratulate me and wemay congratulate each other. the problem is solved." "you have found a way up?""i venture to think so." "and where?"for answer he pointed to the spire-like pinnacle upon our right. our faces--or mine, at least--fell as wesurveyed it.

that it could be climbed we had ourcompanion's assurance. but a horrible abyss lay between it and theplateau. "we can never get across," i gasped."we can at least all reach the summit," said he. "when we are up i may be able to show youthat the resources of an inventive mind are not yet exhausted." after breakfast we unpacked the bundle inwhich our leader had brought his climbing accessories. from it he took a coil of the strongest andlightest rope, a hundred and fifty feet in

length, with climbing irons, clamps, andother devices. lord john was an experienced mountaineer,and summerlee had done some rough climbing at various times, so that i was really thenovice at rock-work of the party; but my strength and activity may have made up formy want of experience. it was not in reality a very stiff task,though there were moments which made my hair bristle upon my head. the first half was perfectly easy, but fromthere upwards it became continually steeper until, for the last fifty feet, we wereliterally clinging with our fingers and toes to tiny ledges and crevices in therock.

i could not have accomplished it, nor couldsummerlee, if challenger had not gained the summit (it was extraordinary to see suchactivity in so unwieldy a creature) and there fixed the rope round the trunk of theconsiderable tree which grew there. with this as our support, we were soon ableto scramble up the jagged wall until we found ourselves upon the small grassyplatform, some twenty-five feet each way, which formed the summit. the first impression which i received wheni had recovered my breath was of the extraordinary view over the country whichwe had traversed. the whole brazilian plain seemed to liebeneath us, extending away and away until

it ended in dim blue mists upon thefarthest sky-line. in the foreground was the long slope,strewn with rocks and dotted with tree- ferns; farther off in the middle distance,looking over the saddle-back hill, i could just see the yellow and green mass of bamboos through which we had passed; andthen, gradually, the vegetation increased until it formed the huge forest whichextended as far as the eyes could reach, and for a good two thousand miles beyond. i was still drinking in this wonderfulpanorama when the heavy hand of the professor fell upon my shoulder."this way, my young friend," said he;

"vestigia nulla retrorsum. never look rearwards, but always to ourglorious goal." the level of the plateau, when i turned,was exactly that on which we stood, and the green bank of bushes, with occasionaltrees, was so near that it was difficult to realize how inaccessible it remained. at a rough guess the gulf was forty feetacross, but, so far as i could see, it might as well have been forty miles.i placed one arm round the trunk of the tree and leaned over the abyss. far down were the small dark figures of ourservants, looking up at us.

the wall was absolutely precipitous, as wasthat which faced me. "this is indeed curious," said the creakingvoice of professor summerlee. i turned, and found that he was examiningwith great interest the tree to which i clung. that smooth bark and those small, ribbedleaves seemed familiar to my eyes. "why," i cried, "it's a beech!""exactly," said summerlee. "a fellow-countryman in a far land." "not only a fellow-countryman, my goodsir," said challenger, "but also, if i may be allowed to enlarge your simile, an allyof the first value.

this beech tree will be our saviour." "by george!" cried lord john, "a bridge!""exactly, my friends, a bridge! it is not for nothing that i expended anhour last night in focusing my mind upon the situation. i have some recollection of once remarkingto our young friend here that g. e. c. is at his best when his back is to the wall.last night you will admit that all our backs were to the wall. but where will-power and intellect gotogether, there is always a way out. a drawbridge had to be found which could bedropped across the abyss.

behold it!" it was certainly a brilliant idea.the tree was a good sixty feet in height, and if it only fell the right way it wouldeasily cross the chasm. challenger had slung the camp axe over hisshoulder when he ascended. now he handed it to me."our young friend has the thews and sinews," said he. "i think he will be the most useful at thistask. i must beg, however, that you will kindlyrefrain from thinking for yourself, and that you will do exactly what you aretold."

under his direction i cut such gashes inthe sides of the trees as would ensure that it should fall as we desired. it had already a strong, natural tilt inthe direction of the plateau, so that the matter was not difficult.finally i set to work in earnest upon the trunk, taking turn and turn with lord john. in a little over an hour there was a loudcrack, the tree swayed forward, and then crashed over, burying its branches amongthe bushes on the farther side. the severed trunk rolled to the very edgeof our platform, and for one terrible second we all thought it was over.

it balanced itself, however, a few inchesfrom the edge, and there was our bridge to the unknown. all of us, without a word, shook hands withprofessor challenger, who raised his straw hat and bowed deeply to each in turn. "i claim the honor," said he, "to be thefirst to cross to the unknown land--a fitting subject, no doubt, for some futurehistorical painting." he had approached the bridge when lord johnlaid his hand upon his coat. "my dear chap," said he, "i really cannotallow it." "cannot allow it, sir!"

the head went back and the beard forward."when it is a matter of science, don't you know, i follow your lead because you are byway of bein' a man of science. but it's up to you to follow me when youcome into my department." "your department, sir?""we all have our professions, and soldierin' is mine. we are, accordin' to my ideas, invadin' anew country, which may or may not be chock- full of enemies of sorts. to barge blindly into it for want of alittle common sense and patience isn't my notion of management."the remonstrance was too reasonable to be

disregarded. challenger tossed his head and shrugged hisheavy shoulders. "well, sir, what do you propose?" "for all i know there may be a tribe ofcannibals waitin' for lunch-time among those very bushes," said lord john, lookingacross the bridge. "it's better to learn wisdom before you getinto a cookin'-pot; so we will content ourselves with hopin' that there is notrouble waitin' for us, and at the same time we will act as if there were. malone and i will go down again, therefore,and we will fetch up the four rifles,

together with gomez and the other. one man can then go across and the restwill cover him with guns, until he sees that it is safe for the whole crowd to comealong." challenger sat down upon the cut stump andgroaned his impatience; but summerlee and i were of one mind that lord john was ourleader when such practical details were in question. the climb was a more simple thing now thatthe rope dangled down the face of the worst part of the ascent.within an hour we had brought up the rifles and a shot-gun.

the half-breeds had ascended also, andunder lord john's orders they had carried up a bale of provisions in case our firstexploration should be a long one. we had each bandoliers of cartridges. "now, challenger, if you really insist uponbeing the first man in," said lord john, when every preparation was complete. "i am much indebted to you for yourgracious permission," said the angry professor; for never was a man sointolerant of every form of authority. "since you are good enough to allow it, ishall most certainly take it upon myself to act as pioneer upon this occasion."

seating himself with a leg overhanging theabyss on each side, and his hatchet slung upon his back, challenger hopped his wayacross the trunk and was soon at the other side. he clambered up and waved his arms in theair. "at last!" he cried; "at last!" i gazed anxiously at him, with a vagueexpectation that some terrible fate would dart at him from the curtain of greenbehind him. but all was quiet, save that a strange,many-colored bird flew up from under his feet and vanished among the trees.summerlee was the second.

his wiry energy is wonderful in so frail aframe. he insisted upon having two rifles slungupon his back, so that both professors were armed when he had made his transit. i came next, and tried hard not to lookdown into the horrible gulf over which i was passing. summerlee held out the butt-end of hisrifle, and an instant later i was able to grasp his hand.as to lord john, he walked across--actually walked without support! he must have nerves of iron.and there we were, the four of us, upon the

dreamland, the lost world, of maple white.to all of us it seemed the moment of our supreme triumph. who could have guessed that it was theprelude to our supreme disaster? let me say in a few words how the crushingblow fell upon us. we had turned away from the edge, and hadpenetrated about fifty yards of close brushwood, when there came a frightfulrending crash from behind us. with one impulse we rushed back the waythat we had come. the bridge was gone! far down at the base of the cliff i saw, asi looked over, a tangled mass of branches

and splintered trunk.it was our beech tree. had the edge of the platform crumbled andlet it through? for a moment this explanation was in allour minds. the next, from the farther side of therocky pinnacle before us a swarthy face, the face of gomez the half-breed, wasslowly protruded. yes, it was gomez, but no longer the gomezof the demure smile and the mask-like expression. here was a face with flashing eyes anddistorted features, a face convulsed with hatred and with the mad joy of gratifiedrevenge.

"lord roxton!" he shouted. "lord john roxton!""well," said our companion, "here i am." a shriek of laughter came across the abyss."yes, there you are, you english dog, and there you will remain! i have waited and waited, and now has comemy chance. you found it hard to get up; you will findit harder to get down. you cursed fools, you are trapped, everyone of you!" we were too astounded to speak.we could only stand there staring in amazement.

a great broken bough upon the grass showedwhence he had gained his leverage to tilt over our bridge.the face had vanished, but presently it was up again, more frantic than before. "we nearly killed you with a stone at thecave," he cried; "but this is better. it is slower and more terrible. your bones will whiten up there, and nonewill know where you lie or come to cover them.as you lie dying, think of lopez, whom you shot five years ago on the putomayo river. i am his brother, and, come what will iwill die happy now, for his memory has been

avenged."a furious hand was shaken at us, and then all was quiet. had the half-breed simply wrought hisvengeance and then escaped, all might have been well with him. it was that foolish, irresistible latinimpulse to be dramatic which brought his own downfall. roxton, the man who had earned himself thename of the flail of the lord through three countries, was not one who could be safelytaunted. the half-breed was descending on thefarther side of the pinnacle; but before he

could reach the ground lord john had runalong the edge of the plateau and gained a point from which he could see his man. there was a single crack of his rifle, and,though we saw nothing, we heard the scream and then the distant thud of the fallingbody. roxton came back to us with a face ofgranite. "i have been a blind simpleton," said he,bitterly, "it's my folly that has brought you all into this trouble. i should have remembered that these peoplehave long memories for blood-feuds, and have been more upon my guard.""what about the other one?

it took two of them to lever that tree overthe edge." "i could have shot him, but i let him go.he may have had no part in it. perhaps it would have been better if i hadkilled him, for he must, as you say, have lent a hand." now that we had the clue to his action,each of us could cast back and remember some sinister act upon the part of thehalf-breed--his constant desire to know our plans, his arrest outside our tent when he was over-hearing them, the furtive looks ofhatred which from time to time one or other of us had surprised.

we were still discussing it, endeavoring toadjust our minds to these new conditions, when a singular scene in the plain belowarrested our attention. a man in white clothes, who could only bethe surviving half-breed, was running as one does run when death is the pacemaker. behind him, only a few yards in his rear,bounded the huge ebony figure of zambo, our devoted negro. even as we looked, he sprang upon the backof the fugitive and flung his arms round his neck.they rolled on the ground together. an instant afterwards zambo rose, looked atthe prostrate man, and then, waving his

hand joyously to us, came running in ourdirection. the white figure lay motionless in themiddle of the great plain. our two traitors had been destroyed, butthe mischief that they had done lived after by no possible means could we get back tothe pinnacle. we had been natives of the world; now wewere natives of the plateau. the two things were separate and apart. there was the plain which led to thecanoes. yonder, beyond the violet, hazy horizon,was the stream which led back to civilization.

but the link between was missing.no human ingenuity could suggest a means of bridging the chasm which yawned betweenourselves and our past lives. one instant had altered the wholeconditions of our existence. it was at such a moment that i learned thestuff of which my three comrades were composed. they were grave, it is true, andthoughtful, but of an invincible serenity. for the moment we could only sit among thebushes in patience and wait the coming of zambo. presently his honest black face topped therocks and his herculean figure emerged upon

the top of the pinnacle."what i do now?" he cried. "you tell me and i do it." it was a question which it was easier toask than to answer. one thing only was clear.he was our one trusty link with the outside world. on no account must he leave us."no no!" he cried. "i not leave you.whatever come, you always find me here. but no able to keep indians. already they say too much curupuri live onthis place, and they go home.

now you leave them me no able to keepthem." it was a fact that our indians had shown inmany ways of late that they were weary of their journey and anxious to return. we realized that zambo spoke the truth, andthat it would be impossible for him to keep "make them wait till to-morrow, zambo," ishouted; "then i can send letter back by them.""very good, sarr! i promise they wait till to-morrow," saidthe negro. "but what i do for you now?"there was plenty for him to do, and admirably the faithful fellow did it.

first of all, under our directions, heundid the rope from the tree-stump and threw one end of it across to us. it was not thicker than a clothes-line, butit was of great strength, and though we could not make a bridge of it, we mightwell find it invaluable if we had any climbing to do. he then fastened his end of the rope to thepackage of supplies which had been carried up, and we were able to drag it across.this gave us the means of life for at least a week, even if we found nothing else. finally he descended and carried up twoother packets of mixed goods--a box of

ammunition and a number of other things,all of which we got across by throwing our rope to him and hauling it back. it was evening when he at last climbeddown, with a final assurance that he would keep the indians till next morning. and so it is that i have spent nearly thewhole of this our first night upon the plateau writing up our experiences by thelight of a single candle-lantern. we supped and camped at the very edge ofthe cliff, quenching our thirst with two bottles of apollinaris which were in one ofthe cases. it is vital to us to find water, but ithink even lord john himself had had

adventures enough for one day, and none ofus felt inclined to make the first push into the unknown. we forbore to light a fire or to make anyunnecessary sound. to-morrow (or to-day, rather, for it isalready dawn as i write) we shall make our first venture into this strange land. when i shall be able to write again--or ifi ever shall write again--i know not. meanwhile, i can see that the indians arestill in their place, and i am sure that the faithful zambo will be here presentlyto get my letter. i only trust that it will come to hand.

p.s.--the more i think the more desperatedoes our position seem. i see no possible hope of our return. if there were a high tree near the edge ofthe plateau we might drop a return bridge across, but there is none within fiftyyards. our united strength could not carry a trunkwhich would serve our purpose. the rope, of course, is far too short thatwe could descend by it. no, our position is hopeless--hopeless! chapter x"the most wonderful things have happened" the most wonderful things have happened andare continually happening to us.

all the paper that i possess consists offive old note-books and a lot of scraps, and i have only the one stylographicpencil; but so long as i can move my hand i will continue to set down our experiences and impressions, for, since we are the onlymen of the whole human race to see such things, it is of enormous importance that ishould record them whilst they are fresh in my memory and before that fate which seems to be constantly impending does actuallyovertake us. whether zambo can at last take theseletters to the river, or whether i shall myself in some miraculous way carry themback with me, or, finally, whether some

daring explorer, coming upon our tracks with the advantage, perhaps, of a perfectedmonoplane, should find this bundle of manuscript, in any case i can see that whati am writing is destined to immortality as a classic of true adventure. on the morning after our being trapped uponthe plateau by the villainous gomez we began a new stage in our experiences. the first incident in it was not such as togive me a very favorable opinion of the place to which we had wandered. as i roused myself from a short nap afterday had dawned, my eyes fell upon a most

singular appearance upon my own leg.my trouser had slipped up, exposing a few inches of my skin above my sock. on this there rested a large, purplishgrape. astonished at the sight, i leaned forwardto pick it off, when, to my horror, it burst between my finger and thumb,squirting blood in every direction. my cry of disgust had brought the twoprofessors to my side. "most interesting," said summerlee, bendingover my shin. "an enormous blood-tick, as yet, i believe,unclassified." "the first-fruits of our labors," saidchallenger in his booming, pedantic

fashion. "we cannot do less than call it ixodesmaloni. the very small inconvenience of beingbitten, my young friend, cannot, i am sure, weigh with you as against the gloriousprivilege of having your name inscribed in the deathless roll of zoology. unhappily you have crushed this finespecimen at the moment of satiation." "filthy vermin!"i cried. professor challenger raised his greateyebrows in protest, and placed a soothing paw upon my shoulder."you should cultivate the scientific eye

and the detached scientific mind," said he. "to a man of philosophic temperament likemyself the blood-tick, with its lancet-like proboscis and its distending stomach, is asbeautiful a work of nature as the peacock or, for that matter, the aurora borealis. it pains me to hear you speak of it in sounappreciative a fashion. no doubt, with due diligence, we can securesome other specimen." "there can be no doubt of that," saidsummerlee, grimly, "for one has just disappeared behind your shirt-collar." challenger sprang into the air bellowinglike a bull, and tore frantically at his

coat and shirt to get them off.summerlee and i laughed so that we could hardly help him. at last we exposed that monstrous torso(fifty-four inches, by the tailor's tape). his body was all matted with black hair,out of which jungle we picked the wandering tick before it had bitten him. but the bushes round were full of thehorrible pests, and it was clear that we must shift our camp. but first of all it was necessary to makeour arrangements with the faithful negro, who appeared presently on the pinnacle witha number of tins of cocoa and biscuits,

which he tossed over to us. of the stores which remained below he wasordered to retain as much as would keep him for two months. the indians were to have the remainder as areward for their services and as payment for taking our letters back to the amazon. some hours later we saw them in single filefar out upon the plain, each with a bundle on his head, making their way back alongthe path we had come. zambo occupied our little tent at the baseof the pinnacle, and there he remained, our one link with the world below.and now we had to decide upon our immediate

movements. we shifted our position from among thetick-laden bushes until we came to a small clearing thickly surrounded by trees uponall sides. there were some flat slabs of rock in thecenter, with an excellent well close by, and there we sat in cleanly comfort whilewe made our first plans for the invasion of this new country. birds were calling among the foliage--especially one with a peculiar whooping cry which was new to us--but beyond thesesounds there were no signs of life. our first care was to make some sort oflist of our own stores, so that we might

know what we had to rely upon. what with the things we had ourselvesbrought up and those which zambo had sent across on the rope, we were fairly wellsupplied. most important of all, in view of thedangers which might surround us, we had our four rifles and one thousand three hundredrounds, also a shot-gun, but not more than a hundred and fifty medium pelletcartridges. in the matter of provisions we had enoughto last for several weeks, with a sufficiency of tobacco and a few scientificimplements, including a large telescope and a good field-glass.

all these things we collected together inthe clearing, and as a first precaution, we cut down with our hatchet and knives anumber of thorny bushes, which we piled round in a circle some fifteen yards indiameter. this was to be our headquarters for thetime--our place of refuge against sudden danger and the guard-house for our stores. fort challenger, we called it. it was midday before we had made ourselvessecure, but the heat was not oppressive, and the general character of the plateau,both in its temperature and in its vegetation, was almost temperate.

the beech, the oak, and even the birch wereto be found among the tangle of trees which girt us in. one huge gingko tree, topping all theothers, shot its great limbs and maidenhair foliage over the fort which we hadconstructed. in its shade we continued our discussion,while lord john, who had quickly taken command in the hour of action, gave us hisviews. "so long as neither man nor beast has seenor heard us, we are safe," said he. "from the time they know we are here ourtroubles begin. there are no signs that they have found usout as yet.

so our game surely is to lie low for a timeand spy out the land. we want to have a good look at ourneighbors before we get on visitin' terms." "but we must advance," i ventured toremark. "by all means, sonny my boy! we will advance.but with common sense. we must never go so far that we can't getback to our base. above all, we must never, unless it is lifeor death, fire off our guns." "but you fired yesterday," said summerlee."well, it couldn't be helped. however, the wind was strong and blewoutwards.

it is not likely that the sound could havetraveled far into the plateau. by the way, what shall we call this place? i suppose it is up to us to give it aname?" there were several suggestions, more orless happy, but challenger's was final. "it can only have one name," said he. "it is called after the pioneer whodiscovered it. it is maple white land." maple white land it became, and so it isnamed in that chart which has become my special task.so it will, i trust, appear in the atlas of

the future. the peaceful penetration of maple whiteland was the pressing subject before us. we had the evidence of our own eyes thatthe place was inhabited by some unknown creatures, and there was that of maplewhite's sketch-book to show that more dreadful and more dangerous monsters mightstill appear. that there might also prove to be humanoccupants and that they were of a malevolent character was suggested by theskeleton impaled upon the bamboos, which could not have got there had it not beendropped from above. our situation, stranded without possibilityof escape in such a land, was clearly full

of danger, and our reasons endorsed everymeasure of caution which lord john's experience could suggest. yet it was surely impossible that we shouldhalt on the edge of this world of mystery when our very souls were tingling withimpatience to push forward and to pluck the heart from it. we therefore blocked the entrance to ourzareba by filling it up with several thorny bushes, and left our camp with the storesentirely surrounded by this protecting hedge. we then slowly and cautiously set forthinto the unknown, following the course of

the little stream which flowed from ourspring, as it should always serve us as a guide on our return. hardly had we started when we came acrosssigns that there were indeed wonders awaiting us. after a few hundred yards of thick forest,containing many trees which were quite unknown to me, but which summerlee, who wasthe botanist of the party, recognized as forms of conifera and of cycadaceous plants which have long passed away in the worldbelow, we entered a region where the stream widened out and formed a considerable bog.

high reeds of a peculiar type grew thicklybefore us, which were pronounced to be equisetacea, or mare's-tails, with tree-ferns scattered amongst them, all of them swaying in a brisk wind. suddenly lord john, who was walking first,halted with uplifted hand. "look at this!" said he."by george, this must be the trail of the father of all birds!" an enormous three-toed track was imprintedin the soft mud before us. the creature, whatever it was, had crossedthe swamp and had passed on into the forest.

we all stopped to examine that monstrousspoor. if it were indeed a bird--and what animalcould leave such a mark?--its foot was so much larger than an ostrich's that itsheight upon the same scale must be enormous. lord john looked eagerly round him andslipped two cartridges into his elephant- gun."i'll stake my good name as a shikarree," said he, "that the track is a fresh one. the creature has not passed ten minutes.look how the water is still oozing into that deeper print!by jove!

see, here is the mark of a little one!" sure enough, smaller tracks of the samegeneral form were running parallel to the large ones. "but what do you make of this?" criedprofessor summerlee, triumphantly, pointing to what looked like the huge print of afive-fingered human hand appearing among the three-toed marks. "wealden!" cried challenger, in an ecstasy."i've seen them in the wealden clay. it is a creature walking erect upon three-toed feet, and occasionally putting one of its five-fingered forepaws upon the ground.

not a bird, my dear roxton--not a bird.""a beast?" "no; a reptile--a dinosaur.nothing else could have left such a track. they puzzled a worthy sussex doctor someninety years ago; but who in the world could have hoped--hoped--to have seen asight like that?" his words died away into a whisper, and weall stood in motionless amazement. following the tracks, we had left themorass and passed through a screen of brushwood and trees. beyond was an open glade, and in this werefive of the most extraordinary creatures that i have ever seen.crouching down among the bushes, we

observed them at our leisure. there were, as i say, five of them, twobeing adults and three young ones. in size they were enormous. even the babies were as big as elephants,while the two large ones were far beyond all creatures i have ever seen. they had slate-colored skin, which wasscaled like a lizard's and shimmered where the sun shone upon it. all five were sitting up, balancingthemselves upon their broad, powerful tails and their huge three-toed hind-feet, whilewith their small five-fingered front-feet

they pulled down the branches upon whichthey browsed. i do not know that i can bring theirappearance home to you better than by saying that they looked like monstrouskangaroos, twenty feet in length, and with skins like black crocodiles. i do not know how long we stayed motionlessgazing at this marvelous spectacle. a strong wind blew towards us and we werewell concealed, so there was no chance of discovery. from time to time the little ones playedround their parents in unwieldy gambols, the great beasts bounding into the air andfalling with dull thuds upon the earth.

the strength of the parents seemed to belimitless, for one of them, having some difficulty in reaching a bunch of foliagewhich grew upon a considerable-sized tree, put his fore-legs round the trunk and toreit down as if it had been a sapling. the action seemed, as i thought, to shownot only the great development of its muscles, but also the small one of itsbrain, for the whole weight came crashing down upon the top of it, and it uttered a series of shrill yelps to show that, big asit was, there was a limit to what it could endure. the incident made it think, apparently,that the neighborhood was dangerous, for it

slowly lurched off through the wood,followed by its mate and its three enormous infants. we saw the shimmering slaty gleam of theirskins between the tree-trunks, and their heads undulating high above the brush-wood.then they vanished from our sight. i looked at my comrades. lord john was standing at gaze with hisfinger on the trigger of his elephant-gun, his eager hunter's soul shining from hisfierce eyes. what would he not give for one such head toplace between the two crossed oars above the mantelpiece in his snuggery at thealbany!

and yet his reason held him in, for all ourexploration of the wonders of this unknown land depended upon our presence beingconcealed from its inhabitants. the two professors were in silent ecstasy. in their excitement they had unconsciouslyseized each other by the hand, and stood like two little children in the presence ofa marvel, challenger's cheeks bunched up into a seraphic smile, and summerlee's sardonic face softening for the moment intowonder and reverence. "nunc dimittis!" he cried at last."what will they say in england of this?" "my dear summerlee, i will tell you withgreat confidence exactly what they will say

in england," said challenger. "they will say that you are an infernalliar and a scientific charlatan, exactly as you and others said of me.""in the face of photographs?" "faked, summerlee! clumsily faked!""in the face of specimens?" "ah, there we may have them!malone and his filthy fleet street crew may be all yelping our praises yet. august the twenty-eighth--the day we sawfive live iguanodons in a glade of maple white land.put it down in your diary, my young friend,

and send it to your rag." "and be ready to get the toe-end of theeditorial boot in return," said lord john. "things look a bit different from thelatitude of london, young fellah my lad. there's many a man who never tells hisadventures, for he can't hope to be believed.who's to blame them? for this will seem a bit of a dream toourselves in a month or two. what did you say they were?""iguanodons," said summerlee. "you'll find their footmarks all over thehastings sands, in kent, and in sussex. the south of england was alive with themwhen there was plenty of good lush green-

stuff to keep them going. conditions have changed, and the beastsdied. here it seems that the conditions have notchanged, and the beasts have lived." "if ever we get out of this alive, i musthave a head with me," said lord john. "lord, how some of that somaliland-ugandacrowd would turn a beautiful pea-green if they saw it! i don't know what you chaps think, but itstrikes me that we are on mighty thin ice all this time."i had the same feeling of mystery and danger around us.

in the gloom of the trees there seemed aconstant menace and as we looked up into their shadowy foliage vague terrors creptinto one's heart. it is true that these monstrous creatureswhich we had seen were lumbering, inoffensive brutes which were unlikely tohurt anyone, but in this world of wonders what other survivals might there not be-- what fierce, active horrors ready to pounceupon us from their lair among the rocks or brushwood? i knew little of prehistoric life, but ihad a clear remembrance of one book which i had read in which it spoke of creatures whowould live upon our lions and tigers as a

cat lives upon mice. what if these also were to be found in thewoods of maple white land! it was destined that on this very morning--our first in the new country--we were to find out what strange hazards lay aroundus. it was a loathsome adventure, and one ofwhich i hate to think. if, as lord john said, the glade of theiguanodons will remain with us as a dream, then surely the swamp of the pterodactylswill forever be our nightmare. let me set down exactly what occurred. we passed very slowly through the woods,partly because lord roxton acted as scout

before he would let us advance, and partlybecause at every second step one or other of our professors would fall, with a cry of wonder, before some flower or insect whichpresented him with a new type. we may have traveled two or three miles inall, keeping to the right of the line of the stream, when we came upon aconsiderable opening in the trees. a belt of brushwood led up to a tangle ofrocks--the whole plateau was strewn with boulders. we were walking slowly towards these rocks,among bushes which reached over our waists, when we became aware of a strange lowgabbling and whistling sound, which filled

the air with a constant clamor and appeared to come from some spot immediately beforeus. lord john held up his hand as a signal forus to stop, and he made his way swiftly, stooping and running, to the line of rocks. we saw him peep over them and give agesture of amazement. then he stood staring as if forgetting us,so utterly entranced was he by what he saw. finally he waved us to come on, holding uphis hand as a signal for caution. his whole bearing made me feel thatsomething wonderful but dangerous lay before us.

creeping to his side, we looked over therocks. the place into which we gazed was a pit,and may, in the early days, have been one of the smaller volcanic blow-holes of theplateau. it was bowl-shaped and at the bottom, somehundreds of yards from where we lay, were pools of green-scummed, stagnant water,fringed with bullrushes. it was a weird place in itself, but itsoccupants made it seem like a scene from the seven circles of dante.the place was a rookery of pterodactyls. there were hundreds of them congregatedwithin view. all the bottom area round the water-edgewas alive with their young ones, and with

hideous mothers brooding upon theirleathery, yellowish eggs. from this crawling flapping mass of obscenereptilian life came the shocking clamor which filled the air and the mephitic,horrible, musty odor which turned us sick. but above, perched each upon its own stone,tall, gray, and withered, more like dead and dried specimens than actual livingcreatures, sat the horrible males, absolutely motionless save for the rolling of their red eyes or an occasional snap oftheir rat-trap beaks as a dragon-fly went past them. their huge, membranous wings were closed byfolding their fore-arms, so that they sat

like gigantic old women, wrapped in hideousweb-colored shawls, and with their ferocious heads protruding above them. large and small, not less than a thousandof these filthy creatures lay in the hollow our professors would gladly have stayedthere all day, so entranced were they by this opportunity of studying the life of aprehistoric age. they pointed out the fish and dead birdslying about among the rocks as proving the nature of the food of these creatures, andi heard them congratulating each other on having cleared up the point why the bones of this flying dragon are found in suchgreat numbers in certain well-defined

areas, as in the cambridge green-sand,since it was now seen that, like penguins, they lived in gregarious fashion. finally, however, challenger, bent uponproving some point which summerlee had contested, thrust his head over the rockand nearly brought destruction upon us all. in an instant the nearest male gave ashrill, whistling cry, and flapped its twenty-foot span of leathery wings as itsoared up into the air. the females and young ones huddled togetherbeside the water, while the whole circle of sentinels rose one after the other andsailed off into the sky. it was a wonderful sight to see at least ahundred creatures of such enormous size and

hideous appearance all swooping likeswallows with swift, shearing wing-strokes above us; but soon we realized that it wasnot one on which we could afford to linger. at first the great brutes flew round in ahuge ring, as if to make sure what the exact extent of the danger might be. then, the flight grew lower and the circlenarrower, until they were whizzing round and round us, the dry, rustling flap oftheir huge slate-colored wings filling the air with a volume of sound that made methink of hendon aerodrome upon a race day. "make for the wood and keep together,"cried lord john, clubbing his rifle. "the brutes mean mischief."

the moment we attempted to retreat thecircle closed in upon us, until the tips of the wings of those nearest to us nearlytouched our faces. we beat at them with the stocks of ourguns, but there was nothing solid or vulnerable to strike. then suddenly out of the whizzing, slate-colored circle a long neck shot out, and a fierce beak made a thrust at us.another and another followed. summerlee gave a cry and put his hand tohis face, from which the blood was streaming.i felt a prod at the back of my neck, and turned dizzy with the shock.

challenger fell, and as i stooped to pickhim up i was again struck from behind and dropped on the top of him. at the same instant i heard the crash oflord john's elephant-gun, and, looking up, saw one of the creatures with a broken wingstruggling upon the ground, spitting and gurgling at us with a wide-opened beak and blood-shot, goggled eyes, like some devilin a medieval picture. its comrades had flown higher at the suddensound, and were circling above our heads. "now," cried lord john, "now for ourlives!" we staggered through the brushwood, andeven as we reached the trees the harpies

were on us again. summerlee was knocked down, but we tore himup and rushed among the trunks. once there we were safe, for those hugewings had no space for their sweep beneath the branches. as we limped homewards, sadly mauled anddiscomfited, we saw them for a long time flying at a great height against the deepblue sky above our heads, soaring round and round, no bigger than wood-pigeons, with their eyes no doubt still following ourprogress. at last, however, as we reached the thickerwoods they gave up the chase, and we saw

them no more. "a most interesting and convincingexperience," said challenger, as we halted beside the brook and he bathed a swollenknee. "we are exceptionally well informed,summerlee, as to the habits of the enraged pterodactyl." summerlee was wiping the blood from a cutin his forehead, while i was tying up a nasty stab in the muscle of the neck. lord john had the shoulder of his coat tornaway, but the creature's teeth had only grazed the flesh.

"it is worth noting," challenger continued,"that our young friend has received an undoubted stab, while lord john's coatcould only have been torn by a bite. in my own case, i was beaten about the headby their wings, so we have had a remarkable exhibition of their various methods ofoffence." "it has been touch and go for our lives,"said lord john, gravely, "and i could not think of a more rotten sort of death thanto be outed by such filthy vermin. i was sorry to fire my rifle, but, by jove!there was no great choice." "we should not be here if you hadn't," saidi, with conviction. "it may do no harm," said he.

"among these woods there must be many loudcracks from splitting or falling trees which would be just like the sound of agun. but now, if you are of my opinion, we havehad thrills enough for one day, and had best get back to the surgical box at thecamp for some carbolic. who knows what venom these beasts may havein their hideous jaws?" but surely no men ever had just such a daysince the world began. some fresh surprise was ever in store forus. when, following the course of our brook, weat last reached our glade and saw the thorny barricade of our camp, we thoughtthat our adventures were at an end.

but we had something more to think ofbefore we could rest. the gate of fort challenger had beenuntouched, the walls were unbroken, and yet it had been visited by some strange andpowerful creature in our absence. no foot-mark showed a trace of its nature,and only the overhanging branch of the enormous ginko tree suggested how it mighthave come and gone; but of its malevolent strength there was ample evidence in thecondition of our stores. they were strewn at random all over theground, and one tin of meat had been crushed into pieces so as to extract thecontents. a case of cartridges had been shatteredinto matchwood, and one of the brass shells

lay shredded into pieces beside it. again the feeling of vague horror came uponour souls, and we gazed round with frightened eyes at the dark shadows whichlay around us, in all of which some fearsome shape might be lurking. how good it was when we were hailed by thevoice of zambo, and, going to the edge of the plateau, saw him sitting grinning at usupon the top of the opposite pinnacle. "all well, massa challenger, all well!" hecried. "me stay here.no fear. you always find me when you want."

his honest black face, and the immense viewbefore us, which carried us half-way back to the affluent of the amazon, helped us toremember that we really were upon this earth in the twentieth century, and had not by some magic been conveyed to some rawplanet in its earliest and wildest state. how difficult it was to realize that theviolet line upon the far horizon was well advanced to that great river upon whichhuge steamers ran, and folk talked of the small affairs of life, while we, marooned among the creatures of a bygone age, couldbut gaze towards it and yearn for all that it meant!

one other memory remains with me of thiswonderful day, and with it i will close this letter. the two professors, their tempersaggravated no doubt by their injuries, had fallen out as to whether our assailantswere of the genus pterodactylus or dimorphodon, and high words had ensued. to avoid their wrangling i moved somelittle way apart, and was seated smoking upon the trunk of a fallen tree, when lordjohn strolled over in my direction. "i say, malone," said he, "do you rememberthat place where those beasts were?" "very clearly.""a sort of volcanic pit, was it not?"

"exactly," said i. "did you notice the soil?""rocks." "but round the water--where the reedswere?" "it was a bluish soil. it looked like clay.""exactly. a volcanic tube full of blue clay.""what of that?" i asked. "oh, nothing, nothing," said he, andstrolled back to where the voices of the contending men of science rose in aprolonged duet, the high, strident note of

summerlee rising and falling to thesonorous bass of challenger. i should have thought no more of lordjohn's remark were it not that once again that night i heard him mutter to himself:"blue clay--clay in a volcanic tube!" they were the last words i heard before idropped into an exhausted sleep. chapter xi"for once i was the hero" lord john roxton was right when he thoughtthat some specially toxic quality might lie in the bite of the horrible creatures whichhad attacked us. on the morning after our first adventureupon the plateau, both summerlee and i were in great pain and fever, while challenger'sknee was so bruised that he could hardly

limp. we kept to our camp all day, therefore,lord john busying himself, with such help as we could give him, in raising the heightand thickness of the thorny walls which were our only defense. i remember that during the whole long day iwas haunted by the feeling that we were closely observed, though by whom or whencei could give no guess. so strong was the impression that i toldprofessor challenger of it, who put it down to the cerebral excitement caused by myfever. again and again i glanced round swiftly,with the conviction that i was about to see

something, but only to meet the dark tangleof our hedge or the solemn and cavernous gloom of the great trees which arched aboveour heads. and yet the feeling grew ever stronger inmy own mind that something observant and something malevolent was at our very elbow. i thought of the indian superstition of thecurupuri--the dreadful, lurking spirit of the woods--and i could have imagined thathis terrible presence haunted those who had invaded his most remote and sacred retreat. that night (our third in maple white land)we had an experience which left a fearful impression upon our minds, and made usthankful that lord john had worked so hard

in making our retreat impregnable. we were all sleeping round our dying firewhen we were aroused--or, rather, i should say, shot out of our slumbers--by asuccession of the most frightful cries and screams to which i have ever listened. i know no sound to which i could comparethis amazing tumult, which seemed to come from some spot within a few hundred yardsof our camp. it was as ear-splitting as any whistle of arailway-engine; but whereas the whistle is a clear, mechanical, sharp-edged sound,this was far deeper in volume and vibrant with the uttermost strain of agony andhorror.

we clapped our hands to our ears to shutout that nerve-shaking appeal. a cold sweat broke out over my body, and myheart turned sick at the misery of it. all the woes of tortured life, all itsstupendous indictment of high heaven, its innumerable sorrows, seemed to be centeredand condensed into that one dreadful, agonized cry. and then, under this high-pitched, ringingsound there was another, more intermittent, a low, deep-chested laugh, a growling,throaty gurgle of merriment which formed a grotesque accompaniment to the shriek withwhich it was blended. for three or four minutes on end thefearsome duet continued, while all the

foliage rustled with the rising of startledbirds. then it shut off as suddenly as it began. for a long time we sat in horrifiedsilence. then lord john threw a bundle of twigs uponthe fire, and their red glare lit up the intent faces of my companions and flickeredover the great boughs above our heads. "what was it?" i whispered."we shall know in the morning," said lord john."it was close to us--not farther than the glade."

"we have been privileged to overhear aprehistoric tragedy, the sort of drama which occurred among the reeds upon theborder of some jurassic lagoon, when the greater dragon pinned the lesser among the slime," said challenger, with moresolemnity than i had ever heard in his voice."it was surely well for man that he came late in the order of creation. there were powers abroad in earlier dayswhich no courage and no mechanism of his could have met. what could his sling, his throwing-stick,or his arrow avail him against such forces

as have been loose to-night?even with a modern rifle it would be all odds on the monster." "i think i should back my little friend,"said lord john, caressing his express. "but the beast would certainly have a goodsporting chance." summerlee raised his hand. "hush!" he cried."surely i hear something?" from the utter silence there emerged adeep, regular pat-pat. it was the tread of some animal--the rhythmof soft but heavy pads placed cautiously upon the ground.it stole slowly round the camp, and then

halted near our gateway. there was a low, sibilant rise and fall--the breathing of the creature. only our feeble hedge separated us fromthis horror of the night. each of us had seized his rifle, and lordjohn had pulled out a small bush to make an embrasure in the hedge."by george!" he whispered. "i think i can see it!" i stooped and peered over his shoulderthrough the gap. yes, i could see it, too. in the deep shadow of the tree there was adeeper shadow yet, black, inchoate, vague--

a crouching form full of savage vigor andmenace. it was no higher than a horse, but the dimoutline suggested vast bulk and strength. that hissing pant, as regular and full-volumed as the exhaust of an engine, spoke of a monstrous organism. once, as it moved, i thought i saw theglint of two terrible, greenish eyes. there was an uneasy rustling, as if it werecrawling slowly forward. "i believe it is going to spring!" said i,cocking my rifle. "don't fire!don't fire!" whispered lord john. "the crash of a gun in this silent nightwould be heard for miles.

keep it as a last card." "if it gets over the hedge we're done,"said summerlee, and his voice crackled into a nervous laugh as he spoke."no, it must not get over," cried lord john; "but hold your fire to the last. perhaps i can make something of the fellow.i'll chance it, anyhow." it was as brave an act as ever i saw a mando. he stooped to the fire, picked up a blazingbranch, and slipped in an instant through a sallyport which he had made in our gateway.the thing moved forward with a dreadful snarl.

lord john never hesitated, but, runningtowards it with a quick, light step, he dashed the flaming wood into the brute'sface. for one moment i had a vision of a horriblemask like a giant toad's, of a warty, leprous skin, and of a loose mouth allbeslobbered with fresh blood. the next, there was a crash in theunderwood and our dreadful visitor was gone. "i thought he wouldn't face the fire," saidlord john, laughing, as he came back and threw his branch among the faggots."you should not have taken such a risk!" we all cried.

"there was nothin' else to be done.if he had got among us we should have shot each other in tryin' to down him. on the other hand, if we had fired throughthe hedge and wounded him he would soon have been on the top of us--to say nothin'of giving ourselves away. on the whole, i think that we are jollywell out of it. what was he, then?"our learned men looked at each other with some hesitation. "personally, i am unable to classify thecreature with any certainty," said summerlee, lighting his pipe from the fire.

"in refusing to commit yourself you are butshowing a proper scientific reserve," said challenger, with massive condescension. "i am not myself prepared to go fartherthan to say in general terms that we have almost certainly been in contact to-nightwith some form of carnivorous dinosaur. i have already expressed my anticipationthat something of the sort might exist upon this plateau." "we have to bear in mind," remarkedsummerlee, "that there are many prehistoric forms which have never come down to us. it would be rash to suppose that we cangive a name to all that we are likely to

meet.""exactly. a rough classification may be the best thatwe can attempt. to-morrow some further evidence may help usto an identification. meantime we can only renew our interruptedslumbers." "but not without a sentinel," said lordjohn, with decision. "we can't afford to take chances in acountry like this. two-hour spells in the future, for each ofus." "then i'll just finish my pipe in startingthe first one," said professor summerlee; and from that time onwards we never trustedourselves again without a watchman.

in the morning it was not long before wediscovered the source of the hideous uproar which had aroused us in the night.the iguanodon glade was the scene of a horrible butchery. from the pools of blood and the enormouslumps of flesh scattered in every direction over the green sward we imagined at firstthat a number of animals had been killed, but on examining the remains more closely we discovered that all this carnage camefrom one of these unwieldy monsters, which had been literally torn to pieces by somecreature not larger, perhaps, but far more ferocious, than itself.

our two professors sat in absorbedargument, examining piece after piece, which showed the marks of savage teeth andof enormous claws. "our judgment must still be in abeyance,"said professor challenger, with a huge slab of whitish-colored flesh across his knee. "the indications would be consistent withthe presence of a saber-toothed tiger, such as are still found among the breccia of ourcaverns; but the creature actually seen was undoubtedly of a larger and more reptiliancharacter. personally, i should pronounce forallosaurus." "or megalosaurus," said summerlee.

"exactly.any one of the larger carnivorous dinosaurs would meet the case. among them are to be found all the mostterrible types of animal life that have ever cursed the earth or blessed a museum." he laughed sonorously at his own conceit,for, though he had little sense of humor, the crudest pleasantry from his own lipsmoved him always to roars of appreciation. "the less noise the better," said lordroxton, curtly. "we don't know who or what may be near us. if this fellah comes back for his breakfastand catches us here we won't have so much

to laugh at.by the way, what is this mark upon the iguanodon's hide?" on the dull, scaly, slate-colored skinsomewhere above the shoulder, there was a singular black circle of some substancewhich looked like asphalt. none of us could suggest what it meant,though summerlee was of opinion that he had seen something similar upon one of theyoung ones two days before. challenger said nothing, but looked pompousand puffy, as if he could if he would, so that finally lord john asked his opiniondirect. "if your lordship will graciously permit meto open my mouth, i shall be happy to

express my sentiments," said he, withelaborate sarcasm. "i am not in the habit of being taken totask in the fashion which seems to be customary with your lordship. i was not aware that it was necessary toask your permission before smiling at a harmless pleasantry." it was not until he had received hisapology that our touchy friend would suffer himself to be appeased. when at last his ruffled feelings were atease, he addressed us at some length from his seat upon a fallen tree, speaking, ashis habit was, as if he were imparting most

precious information to a class of athousand. "with regard to the marking," said he, "iam inclined to agree with my friend and colleague, professor summerlee, that thestains are from asphalt. as this plateau is, in its very nature,highly volcanic, and as asphalt is a substance which one associates withplutonic forces, i cannot doubt that it exists in the free liquid state, and that the creatures may have come in contact withit. a much more important problem is thequestion as to the existence of the carnivorous monster which has left itstraces in this glade.

we know roughly that this plateau is notlarger than an average english county. within this confined space a certain numberof creatures, mostly types which have passed away in the world below, have livedtogether for innumerable years. now, it is very clear to me that in so longa period one would have expected that the carnivorous creatures, multiplyingunchecked, would have exhausted their food supply and have been compelled to either modify their flesh-eating habits or die ofhunger. this we see has not been so. we can only imagine, therefore, that thebalance of nature is preserved by some

check which limits the numbers of theseferocious creatures. one of the many interesting problems,therefore, which await our solution is to discover what that check may be and how itoperates. i venture to trust that we may have somefuture opportunity for the closer study of the carnivorous dinosaurs.""and i venture to trust we may not," i observed. the professor only raised his greateyebrows, as the schoolmaster meets the irrelevant observation of the naughty boy. "perhaps professor summerlee may have anobservation to make," he said, and the two

savants ascended together into somerarefied scientific atmosphere, where the possibilities of a modification of the birth-rate were weighed against the declineof the food supply as a check in the struggle for existence. that morning we mapped out a small portionof the plateau, avoiding the swamp of the pterodactyls, and keeping to the east ofour brook instead of to the west. in that direction the country was stillthickly wooded, with so much undergrowth that our progress was very slow. i have dwelt up to now upon the terrors ofmaple white land; but there was another

side to the subject, for all that morningwe wandered among lovely flowers--mostly, as i observed, white or yellow in color, these being, as our professors explained,the primitive flower-shades. in many places the ground was absolutelycovered with them, and as we walked ankle- deep on that wonderful yielding carpet, thescent was almost intoxicating in its sweetness and intensity. the homely english bee buzzed everywherearound us. many of the trees under which we passed hadtheir branches bowed down with fruit, some of which were of familiar sorts, whileother varieties were new.

by observing which of them were pecked bythe birds we avoided all danger of poison and added a delicious variety to our foodreserve. in the jungle which we traversed werenumerous hard-trodden paths made by the wild beasts, and in the more marshy placeswe saw a profusion of strange footmarks, including many of the iguanodon. once in a grove we observed several ofthese great creatures grazing, and lord john, with his glass, was able to reportthat they also were spotted with asphalt, though in a different place to the onewhich we had examined in the morning. what this phenomenon meant we could notimagine.

we saw many small animals, such asporcupines, a scaly ant-eater, and a wild pig, piebald in color and with long curvedtusks. once, through a break in the trees, we sawa clear shoulder of green hill some distance away, and across this a large dun-colored animal was traveling at a considerable pace. it passed so swiftly that we were unable tosay what it was; but if it were a deer, as was claimed by lord john, it must have beenas large as those monstrous irish elk which are still dug up from time to time in thebogs of my native land. ever since the mysterious visit which hadbeen paid to our camp we always returned to

it with some misgivings. however, on this occasion we foundeverything in order. that evening we had a grand discussion uponour present situation and future plans, which i must describe at some length, as itled to a new departure by which we were enabled to gain a more complete knowledge of maple white land than might have come inmany weeks of exploring. it was summerlee who opened the debate. all day he had been querulous in manner,and now some remark of lord john's as to what we should do on the morrow brought allhis bitterness to a head.

"what we ought to be doing to-day, to-morrow, and all the time," said he, "is finding some way out of the trap into whichwe have fallen. you are all turning your brains towardsgetting into this country. i say that we should be scheming how to getout of it." "i am surprised, sir," boomed challenger,stroking his majestic beard, "that any man of science should commit himself to soignoble a sentiment. you are in a land which offers such aninducement to the ambitious naturalist as none ever has since the world began, andyou suggest leaving it before we have acquired more than the most superficialknowledge of it or of its contents.

i expected better things of you, professorsummerlee." "you must remember," said summerlee,sourly, "that i have a large class in london who are at present at the mercy ofan extremely inefficient locum tenens. this makes my situation different fromyours, professor challenger, since, so far as i know, you have never been entrustedwith any responsible educational work." "quite so," said challenger. "i have felt it to be a sacrilege to diverta brain which is capable of the highest original research to any lesser object. that is why i have sternly set my faceagainst any proffered scholastic

appointment." "for example?" asked summerlee, with asneer; but lord john hastened to change the conversation. "i must say," said he, "that i think itwould be a mighty poor thing to go back to london before i know a great deal more ofthis place than i do at present." "i could never dare to walk into the backoffice of my paper and face old mcardle," said i.(you will excuse the frankness of this report, will you not, sir?) "he'd never forgive me for leaving suchunexhausted copy behind me.

besides, so far as i can see it is notworth discussing, since we can't get down, even if we wanted." "our young friend makes up for many obviousmental lacunae by some measure of primitive common sense," remarked challenger. "the interests of his deplorable professionare immaterial to us; but, as he observes, we cannot get down in any case, so it is awaste of energy to discuss it." "it is a waste of energy to do anythingelse," growled summerlee from behind his pipe. "let me remind you that we came here upon aperfectly definite mission, entrusted to us

at the meeting of the zoological institutein london. that mission was to test the truth ofprofessor challenger's statements. those statements, as i am bound to admit,we are now in a position to endorse. our ostensible work is therefore done. as to the detail which remains to be workedout upon this plateau, it is so enormous that only a large expedition, with a veryspecial equipment, could hope to cope with it. should we attempt to do so ourselves, theonly possible result must be that we shall never return with the importantcontribution to science which we have

already gained. professor challenger has devised means forgetting us on to this plateau when it appeared to be inaccessible; i think thatwe should now call upon him to use the same ingenuity in getting us back to the worldfrom which we came." i confess that as summerlee stated his viewit struck me as altogether reasonable. even challenger was affected by theconsideration that his enemies would never stand confuted if the confirmation of hisstatements should never reach those who had doubted them. "the problem of the descent is at firstsight a formidable one," said he, "and yet

i cannot doubt that the intellect can solveit. i am prepared to agree with our colleaguethat a protracted stay in maple white land is at present inadvisable, and that thequestion of our return will soon have to be faced. i absolutely refuse to leave, however,until we have made at least a superficial examination of this country, and are ableto take back with us something in the nature of a chart." professor summerlee gave a snort ofimpatience. "we have spent two long days inexploration," said he, "and we are no wiser

as to the actual geography of the placethan when we started. it is clear that it is all thickly wooded,and it would take months to penetrate it and to learn the relations of one part toanother. if there were some central peak it would bedifferent, but it all slopes downwards, so far as we can see.the farther we go the less likely it is that we will get any general view." it was at that moment that i had myinspiration. my eyes chanced to light upon the enormousgnarled trunk of the gingko tree which cast its huge branches over us.

surely, if its bole exceeded that of allothers, its height must do the same. if the rim of the plateau was indeed thehighest point, then why should this mighty tree not prove to be a watchtower whichcommanded the whole country? now, ever since i ran wild as a lad inireland i have been a bold and skilled tree-climber. my comrades might be my masters on therocks, but i knew that i would be supreme among those branches. could i only get my legs on to the lowestof the giant off-shoots, then it would be strange indeed if i could not make my wayto the top.

my comrades were delighted at my idea. "our young friend," said challenger,bunching up the red apples of his cheeks, "is capable of acrobatic exertions whichwould be impossible to a man of a more solid, though possibly of a morecommanding, appearance. i applaud his resolution." "by george, young fellah, you've put yourhand on it!" said lord john, clapping me on the back."how we never came to think of it before i can't imagine! there's not more than an hour of daylightleft, but if you take your notebook you may

be able to get some rough sketch of theplace. if we put these three ammunition casesunder the branch, i will soon hoist you on to it." he stood on the boxes while i faced thetrunk, and was gently raising me when challenger sprang forward and gave me sucha thrust with his huge hand that he fairly shot me into the tree. with both arms clasping the branch, iscrambled hard with my feet until i had worked, first my body, and then my knees,onto it. there were three excellent off-shoots, likehuge rungs of a ladder, above my head, and

a tangle of convenient branches beyond, sothat i clambered onwards with such speed that i soon lost sight of the ground andhad nothing but foliage beneath me. now and then i encountered a check, andonce i had to shin up a creeper for eight or ten feet, but i made excellent progress,and the booming of challenger's voice seemed to be a great distance beneath me. the tree was, however, enormous, and,looking upwards, i could see no thinning of the leaves above my head. there was some thick, bush-like clump whichseemed to be a parasite upon a branch up which i was swarming.

i leaned my head round it in order to seewhat was beyond, and i nearly fell out of the tree in my surprise and horror at whati saw. a face was gazing into mine--at thedistance of only a foot or two. the creature that owned it had beencrouching behind the parasite, and had looked round it at the same instant that idid. it was a human face--or at least it was farmore human than any monkey's that i have ever seen. it was long, whitish, and blotched withpimples, the nose flattened, and the lower jaw projecting, with a bristle of coarsewhiskers round the chin.

the eyes, which were under thick and heavybrows, were bestial and ferocious, and as it opened its mouth to snarl what soundedlike a curse at me i observed that it had curved, sharp canine teeth. for an instant i read hatred and menace inthe evil eyes. then, as quick as a flash, came anexpression of overpowering fear. there was a crash of broken boughs as itdived wildly down into the tangle of green. i caught a glimpse of a hairy body likethat of a reddish pig, and then it was gone amid a swirl of leaves and branches. "what's the matter?" shouted roxton frombelow.

"anything wrong with you?""did you see it?" i cried, with my arms round the branch andall my nerves tingling. "we heard a row, as if your foot hadslipped. what was it?" i was so shocked at the sudden and strangeappearance of this ape-man that i hesitated whether i should not climb down again andtell my experience to my companions. but i was already so far up the great treethat it seemed a humiliation to return without having carried out my mission. after a long pause, therefore, to recovermy breath and my courage, i continued my

ascent. once i put my weight upon a rotten branchand swung for a few seconds by my hands, but in the main it was all easy climbing. gradually the leaves thinned around me, andi was aware, from the wind upon my face, that i had topped all the trees of theforest. i was determined, however, not to lookabout me before i had reached the very highest point, so i scrambled on until ihad got so far that the topmost branch was bending beneath my weight. there i settled into a convenient fork,and, balancing myself securely, i found

myself looking down at a most wonderfulpanorama of this strange country in which we found ourselves. the sun was just above the western sky-line, and the evening was a particularly bright and clear one, so that the wholeextent of the plateau was visible beneath me. it was, as seen from this height, of anoval contour, with a breadth of about thirty miles and a width of twenty. its general shape was that of a shallowfunnel, all the sides sloping down to a considerable lake in the center.

this lake may have been ten miles incircumference, and lay very green and beautiful in the evening light, with athick fringe of reeds at its edges, and with its surface broken by several yellow sandbanks, which gleamed golden in themellow sunshine. a number of long dark objects, which weretoo large for alligators and too long for canoes, lay upon the edges of these patchesof sand. with my glass i could clearly see that theywere alive, but what their nature might be i could not imagine. from the side of the plateau on which wewere, slopes of woodland, with occasional

glades, stretched down for five or sixmiles to the central lake. i could see at my very feet the glade ofthe iguanodons, and farther off was a round opening in the trees which marked the swampof the pterodactyls. on the side facing me, however, the plateaupresented a very different aspect. there the basalt cliffs of the outside werereproduced upon the inside, forming an escarpment about two hundred feet high,with a woody slope beneath it. along the base of these red cliffs, somedistance above the ground, i could see a number of dark holes through the glass,which i conjectured to be the mouths of caves.

at the opening of one of these somethingwhite was shimmering, but i was unable to make out what it was. i sat charting the country until the sunhad set and it was so dark that i could no longer distinguish details. then i climbed down to my companionswaiting for me so eagerly at the bottom of the great tree.for once i was the hero of the expedition. alone i had thought of it, and alone i haddone it; and here was the chart which would save us a month's blind groping amongunknown dangers. each of them shook me solemnly by the hand.

but before they discussed the details of mymap i had to tell them of my encounter with the ape-man among the branches."he has been there all the time," said i. "how do you know that?" asked lord john. "because i have never been without thatfeeling that something malevolent was watching us.i mentioned it to you, professor challenger." "our young friend certainly said somethingof the kind. he is also the one among us who is endowedwith that celtic temperament which would make him sensitive to such impressions."

"the whole theory of telepathy----" begansummerlee, filling his pipe. "is too vast to be now discussed," saidchallenger, with decision. "tell me, now," he added, with the air of abishop addressing a sunday-school, "did you happen to observe whether the creaturecould cross its thumb over its palm?" "no, indeed." "had it a tail?""no." "was the foot prehensile?" "i do not think it could have made off sofast among the branches if it could not get a grip with its feet."

"in south america there are, if my memoryserves me--you will check the observation, professor summerlee--some thirty-sixspecies of monkeys, but the anthropoid ape is unknown. it is clear, however, that he exists inthis country, and that he is not the hairy, gorilla-like variety, which is never seenout of africa or the east." (i was inclined to interpolate, as i lookedat him, that i had seen his first cousin in kensington.) "this is a whiskered and colorless type,the latter characteristic pointing to the fact that he spends his days in arborealseclusion.

the question which we have to face iswhether he approaches more closely to the ape or the man. in the latter case, he may well approximateto what the vulgar have called the 'missing link.'the solution of this problem is our immediate duty." "it is nothing of the sort," saidsummerlee, abruptly. "now that, through the intelligence andactivity of mr. malone" (i cannot help quoting the words), "we have got our chart,our one and only immediate duty is to get ourselves safe and sound out of this awfulplace."

"the flesh-pots of civilization," groanedchallenger. "the ink-pots of civilization, sir. it is our task to put on record what wehave seen, and to leave the further exploration to others.you all agreed as much before mr. malone got us the chart." "well," said challenger, "i admit that mymind will be more at ease when i am assured that the result of our expedition has beenconveyed to our friends. how we are to get down from this place ihave not as yet an idea. i have never yet encountered any problem,however, which my inventive brain was

unable to solve, and i promise you that to-morrow i will turn my attention to the question of our descent." and so the matter was allowed to rest.but that evening, by the light of the fire and of a single candle, the first map ofthe lost world was elaborated. every detail which i had roughly noted frommy watch-tower was drawn out in its relative place.challenger's pencil hovered over the great blank which marked the lake. "what shall we call it?" he asked."why should you not take the chance of perpetuating your own name?" saidsummerlee, with his usual touch of acidity.

"i trust, sir, that my name will have otherand more personal claims upon posterity," said challenger, severely. "any ignoramus can hand down his worthlessmemory by imposing it upon a mountain or a river.i need no such monument." summerlee, with a twisted smile, was aboutto make some fresh assault when lord john hastened to intervene."it's up to you, young fellah, to name the lake," said he. "you saw it first, and, by george, if youchoose to put 'lake malone' on it, no one has a better right.""by all means.

let our young friend give it a name," saidchallenger. "then," said i, blushing, i dare say, as isaid it, "let it be named lake gladys." "don't you think the central lake would bemore descriptive?" remarked summerlee. "i should prefer lake gladys." challenger looked at me sympathetically,and shook his great head in mock disapproval."boys will be boys," said he. "lake gladys let it be." chapter xii"it was dreadful in the forest" i have said--or perhaps i have not said,for my memory plays me sad tricks these

days--that i glowed with pride when threesuch men as my comrades thanked me for having saved, or at least greatly helped,the situation. as the youngster of the party, not merelyin years, but in experience, character, knowledge, and all that goes to make a man,i had been overshadowed from the first. and now i was coming into my own. i warmed at the thought.alas! for the pride which goes before a fall! that little glow of self-satisfaction, thatadded measure of self-confidence, were to lead me on that very night to the mostdreadful experience of my life, ending with

a shock which turns my heart sick when ithink of it. it came about in this way. i had been unduly excited by the adventureof the tree, and sleep seemed to be impossible. summerlee was on guard, sitting hunchedover our small fire, a quaint, angular figure, his rifle across his knees and hispointed, goat-like beard wagging with each weary nod of his head. lord john lay silent, wrapped in the southamerican poncho which he wore, while challenger snored with a roll and rattlewhich reverberated through the woods.

the full moon was shining brightly, and theair was crisply cold. what a night for a walk!and then suddenly came the thought, "why not?" suppose i stole softly away, suppose i mademy way down to the central lake, suppose i was back at breakfast with some record ofthe place--would i not in that case be thought an even more worthy associate? then, if summerlee carried the day and somemeans of escape were found, we should return to london with first-hand knowledgeof the central mystery of the plateau, to which i alone, of all men, would havepenetrated.

i thought of gladys, with her "there areheroisms all round us." i seemed to hear her voice as she said it. i thought also of mcardle.what a three column article for the paper! what a foundation for a career!a correspondentship in the next great war might be within my reach. i clutched at a gun--my pockets were fullof cartridges--and, parting the thorn bushes at the gate of our zareba, quicklyslipped out. my last glance showed me the unconscioussummerlee, most futile of sentinels, still nodding away like a queer mechanical toy infront of the smouldering fire.

i had not gone a hundred yards before ideeply repented my rashness. i may have said somewhere in this chroniclethat i am too imaginative to be a really courageous man, but that i have anoverpowering fear of seeming afraid. this was the power which now carried meonwards. i simply could not slink back with nothingdone. even if my comrades should not have missedme, and should never know of my weakness, there would still remain some intolerableself-shame in my own soul. and yet i shuddered at the position inwhich i found myself, and would have given all i possessed at that moment to have beenhonorably free of the whole business.

it was dreadful in the forest. the trees grew so thickly and their foliagespread so widely that i could see nothing of the moon-light save that here and therethe high branches made a tangled filigree against the starry sky. as the eyes became more used to theobscurity one learned that there were different degrees of darkness among thetrees--that some were dimly visible, while between and among them there were coal- black shadowed patches, like the mouths ofcaves, from which i shrank in horror as i passed.

i thought of the despairing yell of thetortured iguanodon--that dreadful cry which had echoed through the woods. i thought, too, of the glimpse i had in thelight of lord john's torch of that bloated, warty, blood-slavering muzzle.even now i was on its hunting-ground. at any instant it might spring upon me fromthe shadows--this nameless and horrible monster.i stopped, and, picking a cartridge from my pocket, i opened the breech of my gun. as i touched the lever my heart leapedwithin me. it was the shot-gun, not the rifle, which ihad taken!

again the impulse to return swept over me. here, surely, was a most excellent reasonfor my failure--one for which no one would think the less of me.but again the foolish pride fought against that very word. i could not--must not--fail.after all, my rifle would probably have been as useless as a shot-gun against suchdangers as i might meet. if i were to go back to camp to change myweapon i could hardly expect to enter and to leave again without being seen. in that case there would be explanations,and my attempt would no longer be all my

own. after a little hesitation, then, i screwedup my courage and continued upon my way, my useless gun under my arm. the darkness of the forest had beenalarming, but even worse was the white, still flood of moonlight in the open gladeof the iguanodons. hid among the bushes, i looked out at it. none of the great brutes were in sight.perhaps the tragedy which had befallen one of them had driven them from their feeding-ground. in the misty, silvery night i could see nosign of any living thing.

taking courage, therefore, i slippedrapidly across it, and among the jungle on the farther side i picked up once again thebrook which was my guide. it was a cheery companion, gurgling andchuckling as it ran, like the dear old trout-stream in the west country where ihave fished at night in my boyhood. so long as i followed it down i must cometo the lake, and so long as i followed it back i must come to the camp. often i had to lose sight of it on accountof the tangled brush-wood, but i was always within earshot of its tinkle and splash. as one descended the slope the woods becamethinner, and bushes, with occasional high

trees, took the place of the forest.i could make good progress, therefore, and i could see without being seen. i passed close to the pterodactyl swamp,and as i did so, with a dry, crisp, leathery rattle of wings, one of thesegreat creatures--it was twenty feet at least from tip to tip--rose up fromsomewhere near me and soared into the air. as it passed across the face of the moonthe light shone clearly through the membranous wings, and it looked like aflying skeleton against the white, tropical radiance. i crouched low among the bushes, for i knewfrom past experience that with a single cry

the creature could bring a hundred of itsloathsome mates about my ears. it was not until it had settled again thati dared to steal onwards upon my journey. the night had been exceedingly still, butas i advanced i became conscious of a low, rumbling sound, a continuous murmur,somewhere in front of me. this grew louder as i proceeded, until atlast it was clearly quite close to me. when i stood still the sound was constant,so that it seemed to come from some stationary cause. it was like a boiling kettle or thebubbling of some great pot. soon i came upon the source of it, for inthe center of a small clearing i found a

lake--or a pool, rather, for it was notlarger than the basin of the trafalgar square fountain--of some black, pitch-like stuff, the surface of which rose and fellin great blisters of bursting gas. the air above it was shimmering with heat,and the ground round was so hot that i could hardly bear to lay my hand on it. it was clear that the great volcanicoutburst which had raised this strange plateau so many years ago had not yetentirely spent its forces. blackened rocks and mounds of lava i hadalready seen everywhere peeping out from amid the luxuriant vegetation which drapedthem, but this asphalt pool in the jungle

was the first sign that we had of actual existing activity on the slopes of theancient crater. i had no time to examine it further for ihad need to hurry if i were to be back in camp in the morning. it was a fearsome walk, and one which willbe with me so long as memory holds. in the great moonlight clearings i slunkalong among the shadows on the margin. in the jungle i crept forward, stoppingwith a beating heart whenever i heard, as i often did, the crash of breaking branchesas some wild beast went past. now and then great shadows loomed up for aninstant and were gone--great, silent

shadows which seemed to prowl upon paddedfeet. how often i stopped with the intention ofreturning, and yet every time my pride conquered my fear, and sent me on againuntil my object should be attained. at last (my watch showed that it was one inthe morning) i saw the gleam of water amid the openings of the jungle, and ten minuteslater i was among the reeds upon the borders of the central lake. i was exceedingly dry, so i lay down andtook a long draught of its waters, which were fresh and cold. there was a broad pathway with many tracksupon it at the spot which i had found, so

that it was clearly one of the drinking-places of the animals. close to the water's edge there was a hugeisolated block of lava. up this i climbed, and, lying on the top, ihad an excellent view in every direction. the first thing which i saw filled me withamazement. when i described the view from the summitof the great tree, i said that on the farther cliff i could see a number of darkspots, which appeared to be the mouths of now, as i looked up at the same cliffs, isaw discs of light in every direction, ruddy, clearly-defined patches, like theport-holes of a liner in the darkness. for a moment i thought it was the lava-glowfrom some volcanic action; but this could

not be so.any volcanic action would surely be down in the hollow and not high among the rocks. what, then, was the alternative?it was wonderful, and yet it must surely be. these ruddy spots must be the reflection offires within the caves--fires which could only be lit by the hand of man.there were human beings, then, upon the plateau. how gloriously my expedition was justified!here was news indeed for us to bear back with us to london!for a long time i lay and watched these

red, quivering blotches of light. i suppose they were ten miles off from me,yet even at that distance one could observe how, from time to time, they twinkled orwere obscured as someone passed before what would i not have given to be able tocrawl up to them, to peep in, and to take back some word to my comrades as to theappearance and character of the race who lived in so strange a place! it was out of the question for the moment,and yet surely we could not leave the plateau until we had some definiteknowledge upon the point. lake gladys--my own lake--lay like a sheetof quicksilver before me, with a reflected

moon shining brightly in the center of it.it was shallow, for in many places i saw low sandbanks protruding above the water. everywhere upon the still surface i couldsee signs of life, sometimes mere rings and ripples in the water, sometimes the gleamof a great silver-sided fish in the air, sometimes the arched, slate-colored back ofsome passing monster. once upon a yellow sandbank i saw acreature like a huge swan, with a clumsy body and a high, flexible neck, shufflingabout upon the margin. presently it plunged in, and for some timei could see the arched neck and darting head undulating over the water.then it dived, and i saw it no more.

my attention was soon drawn away from thesedistant sights and brought back to what was going on at my very feet. two creatures like large armadillos hadcome down to the drinking-place, and were squatting at the edge of the water, theirlong, flexible tongues like red ribbons shooting in and out as they lapped. a huge deer, with branching horns, amagnificent creature which carried itself like a king, came down with its doe and twofawns and drank beside the armadillos. no such deer exist anywhere else uponearth, for the moose or elks which i have seen would hardly have reached itsshoulders.

presently it gave a warning snort, and wasoff with its family among the reeds, while the armadillos also scuttled for shelter.a new-comer, a most monstrous animal, was coming down the path. for a moment i wondered where i could haveseen that ungainly shape, that arched back with triangular fringes along it, thatstrange bird-like head held close to the then it came back, to me. it was the stegosaurus--the very creaturewhich maple white had preserved in his sketch-book, and which had been the firstobject which arrested the attention of challenger!

there he was--perhaps the very specimenwhich the american artist had encountered. the ground shook beneath his tremendousweight, and his gulpings of water resounded through the still night. for five minutes he was so close to my rockthat by stretching out my hand i could have touched the hideous waving hackles upon hisback. then he lumbered away and was lost amongthe boulders. looking at my watch, i saw that it washalf-past two o'clock, and high time, therefore, that i started upon my homewardjourney. there was no difficulty about the directionin which i should return for all along i

had kept the little brook upon my left, andit opened into the central lake within a stone's-throw of the boulder upon which ihad been lying. i set off, therefore, in high spirits, fori felt that i had done good work and was bringing back a fine budget of news for mycompanions. foremost of all, of course, were the sightof the fiery caves and the certainty that some troglodytic race inhabited them.but besides that i could speak from experience of the central lake. i could testify that it was full of strangecreatures, and i had seen several land forms of primeval life which we had notbefore encountered.

i reflected as i walked that few men in theworld could have spent a stranger night or added more to human knowledge in the courseof it. i was plodding up the slope, turning thesethoughts over in my mind, and had reached a point which may have been half-way to home,when my mind was brought back to my own position by a strange noise behind me. it was something between a snore and agrowl, low, deep, and exceedingly menacing. some strange creature was evidently nearme, but nothing could be seen, so i hastened more rapidly upon my way. i had traversed half a mile or so whensuddenly the sound was repeated, still

behind me, but louder and more menacingthan before. my heart stood still within me as itflashed across me that the beast, whatever it was, must surely be after me.my skin grew cold and my hair rose at the thought. that these monsters should tear each otherto pieces was a part of the strange struggle for existence, but that theyshould turn upon modern man, that they should deliberately track and hunt down the predominant human, was a staggering andfearsome thought. i remembered again the blood-beslobberedface which we had seen in the glare of lord

john's torch, like some horrible visionfrom the deepest circle of dante's hell. with my knees shaking beneath me, i stoodand glared with starting eyes down the moonlit path which lay behind me.all was quiet as in a dream landscape. silver clearings and the black patches ofthe bushes--nothing else could i see. then from out of the silence, imminent andthreatening, there came once more that low, throaty croaking, far louder and closerthan before. there could no longer be a doubt. something was on my trail, and was closingin upon me every minute. i stood like a man paralyzed, still staringat the ground which i had traversed.

then suddenly i saw it. there was movement among the bushes at thefar end of the clearing which i had just traversed.a great dark shadow disengaged itself and hopped out into the clear moonlight. i say "hopped" advisedly, for the beastmoved like a kangaroo, springing along in an erect position upon its powerful hindlegs, while its front ones were held bent in front of it. it was of enormous size and power, like anerect elephant, but its movements, in spite of its bulk, were exceedingly alert.

for a moment, as i saw its shape, i hopedthat it was an iguanodon, which i knew to be harmless, but, ignorant as i was, i soonsaw that this was a very different creature. instead of the gentle, deer-shaped head ofthe great three-toed leaf-eater, this beast had a broad, squat, toad-like face likethat which had alarmed us in our camp. his ferocious cry and the horrible energyof his pursuit both assured me that this was surely one of the great flesh-eatingdinosaurs, the most terrible beasts which have ever walked this earth. as the huge brute loped along it droppedforward upon its fore-paws and brought its

nose to the ground every twenty yards orso. it was smelling out my trail. sometimes, for an instant, it was at fault.then it would catch it up again and come bounding swiftly along the path i hadtaken. even now when i think of that nightmare thesweat breaks out upon my brow. what could i do?my useless fowling-piece was in my hand. what help could i get from that? i looked desperately round for some rock ortree, but i was in a bushy jungle with nothing higher than a sapling within sight,while i knew that the creature behind me

could tear down an ordinary tree as thoughit were a reed. my only possible chance lay in flight. i could not move swiftly over the rough,broken ground, but as i looked round me in despair i saw a well-marked, hard-beatenpath which ran across in front of me. we had seen several of the sort, the runsof various wild beasts, during our expeditions. along this i could perhaps hold my own, fori was a fast runner, and in excellent condition. flinging away my useless gun, i set myselfto do such a half-mile as i have never done

before or since. my limbs ached, my chest heaved, i feltthat my throat would burst for want of air, and yet with that horror behind me i ranand i ran and ran. at last i paused, hardly able to move. for a moment i thought that i had thrownhim off. the path lay still behind me. and then suddenly, with a crashing and arending, a thudding of giant feet and a panting of monster lungs the beast was uponme once more. he was at my very heels.

i was lost.madman that i was to linger so long before i fled!up to then he had hunted by scent, and his movement was slow. but he had actually seen me as i started torun. from then onwards he had hunted by sight,for the path showed him where i had gone. now, as he came round the curve, he wasspringing in great bounds. the moonlight shone upon his hugeprojecting eyes, the row of enormous teeth in his open mouth, and the gleaming fringeof claws upon his short, powerful forearms. with a scream of terror i turned and rushedwildly down the path.

behind me the thick, gasping breathing ofthe creature sounded louder and louder. his heavy footfall was beside me. every instant i expected to feel his gripupon my back. and then suddenly there came a crash--i wasfalling through space, and everything beyond was darkness and rest. as i emerged from my unconsciousness--whichcould not, i think, have lasted more than a few minutes--i was aware of a most dreadfuland penetrating smell. putting out my hand in the darkness i cameupon something which felt like a huge lump of meat, while my other hand closed upon alarge bone.

up above me there was a circle of starlitsky, which showed me that i was lying at the bottom of a deep pit.slowly i staggered to my feet and felt myself all over. i was stiff and sore from head to foot, butthere was no limb which would not move, no joint which would not bend. as the circumstances of my fall came backinto my confused brain, i looked up in terror, expecting to see that dreadful headsilhouetted against the paling sky. there was no sign of the monster, however,nor could i hear any sound from above. i began to walk slowly round, therefore,feeling in every direction to find out what

this strange place could be into which ihad been so opportunely precipitated. it was, as i have said, a pit, withsharply-sloping walls and a level bottom about twenty feet across. this bottom was littered with great gobbetsof flesh, most of which was in the last state of putridity.the atmosphere was poisonous and horrible. after tripping and stumbling over theselumps of decay, i came suddenly against something hard, and i found that an uprightpost was firmly fixed in the center of the hollow. it was so high that i could not reach thetop of it with my hand, and it appeared to

be covered with grease.suddenly i remembered that i had a tin box of wax-vestas in my pocket. striking one of them, i was able at last toform some opinion of this place into which i had fallen.there could be no question as to its nature. it was a trap--made by the hand of man.the post in the center, some nine feet long, was sharpened at the upper end, andwas black with the stale blood of the creatures who had been impaled upon it. the remains scattered about were fragmentsof the victims, which had been cut away in

order to clear the stake for the next whomight blunder in. i remembered that challenger had declaredthat man could not exist upon the plateau, since with his feeble weapons he could nothold his own against the monsters who roamed over it. but now it was clear enough how it could bedone. in their narrow-mouthed caves the natives,whoever they might be, had refuges into which the huge saurians could notpenetrate, while with their developed brains they were capable of setting such traps, covered with branches, across thepaths which marked the run of the animals

as would destroy them in spite of all theirstrength and activity. man was always the master. the sloping wall of the pit was notdifficult for an active man to climb, but i hesitated long before i trusted myselfwithin reach of the dreadful creature which had so nearly destroyed me. how did i know that he was not lurking inthe nearest clump of bushes, waiting for my reappearance? i took heart, however, as i recalled aconversation between challenger and summerlee upon the habits of the greatsaurians.

both were agreed that the monsters werepractically brainless, that there was no room for reason in their tiny cranialcavities, and that if they have disappeared from the rest of the world it was assuredly on account of their own stupidity, whichmade it impossible for them to adapt themselves to changing conditions. to lie in wait for me now would mean thatthe creature had appreciated what had happened to me, and this in turn wouldargue some power connecting cause and effect. surely it was more likely that a brainlesscreature, acting solely by vague predatory

instinct, would give up the chase when idisappeared, and, after a pause of astonishment, would wander away in searchof some other prey? i clambered to the edge of the pit andlooked over. the stars were fading, the sky waswhitening, and the cold wind of morning blew pleasantly upon my face.i could see or hear nothing of my enemy. slowly i climbed out and sat for a whileupon the ground, ready to spring back into my refuge if any danger should appear. then, reassured by the absolute stillnessand by the growing light, i took my courage in both hands and stole back along the pathwhich i had come.

some distance down it i picked up my gun,and shortly afterwards struck the brook which was my guide.so, with many a frightened backward glance, i made for home. and suddenly there came something to remindme of my absent companions. in the clear, still morning air theresounded far away the sharp, hard note of a single rifle-shot. i paused and listened, but there wasnothing more. for a moment i was shocked at the thoughtthat some sudden danger might have befallen but then a simpler and more naturalexplanation came to my mind.

it was now broad daylight.no doubt my absence had been noticed. they had imagined, that i was lost in thewoods, and had fired this shot to guide me home. it is true that we had made a strictresolution against firing, but if it seemed to them that i might be in danger theywould not hesitate. it was for me now to hurry on as fast aspossible, and so to reassure them. i was weary and spent, so my progress wasnot so fast as i wished; but at last i came into regions which i knew. there was the swamp of the pterodactylsupon my left; there in front of me was the

glade of the iguanodons.now i was in the last belt of trees which separated me from fort challenger. i raised my voice in a cheery shout toallay their fears. no answering greeting came back to me.my heart sank at that ominous stillness. i quickened my pace into a run. the zareba rose before me, even as i hadleft it, but the gate was open. i rushed in.in the cold, morning light it was a fearful sight which met my eyes. our effects were scattered in wildconfusion over the ground; my comrades had

disappeared, and close to the smoulderingashes of our fire the grass was stained crimson with a hideous pool of blood. i was so stunned by this sudden shock thatfor a time i must have nearly lost my reason. i have a vague recollection, as oneremembers a bad dream, of rushing about through the woods all round the empty camp,calling wildly for my companions. no answer came back from the silentshadows. the horrible thought that i might never seethem again, that i might find myself abandoned all alone in that dreadful place,with no possible way of descending into the

world below, that i might live and die in that nightmare country, drove me todesperation. i could have torn my hair and beaten myhead in my despair. only now did i realize how i had learned tolean upon my companions, upon the serene self-confidence of challenger, and upon themasterful, humorous coolness of lord john roxton. without them i was like a child in thedark, helpless and powerless. i did not know which way to turn or what ishould do first. after a period, during which i sat inbewilderment, i set myself to try and

discover what sudden misfortune could havebefallen my companions. the whole disordered appearance of the campshowed that there had been some sort of attack, and the rifle-shot no doubt markedthe time when it had occurred. that there should have been only one shotshowed that it had been all over in an instant. the rifles still lay upon the ground, andone of them--lord john's--had the empty cartridge in the breech. the blankets of challenger and of summerleebeside the fire suggested that they had been asleep at the time.

the cases of ammunition and of food werescattered about in a wild litter, together with our unfortunate cameras and plate-carriers, but none of them were missing. on the other hand, all the exposedprovisions--and i remembered that there were a considerable quantity of them--weregone. they were animals, then, and not natives,who had made the inroad, for surely the latter would have left nothing behind. but if animals, or some single terribleanimal, then what had become of my comrades?a ferocious beast would surely have destroyed them and left their remains.

it is true that there was that one hideouspool of blood, which told of violence. such a monster as had pursued me during thenight could have carried away a victim as easily as a cat would a mouse. in that case the others would have followedin pursuit. but then they would assuredly have takentheir rifles with them. the more i tried to think it out with myconfused and weary brain the less could i find any plausible explanation. i searched round in the forest, but couldsee no tracks which could help me to a conclusion.

once i lost myself, and it was only by goodluck, and after an hour of wandering, that i found the camp once more.suddenly a thought came to me and brought some little comfort to my heart. i was not absolutely alone in the world.down at the bottom of the cliff, and within call of me, was waiting the faithful zambo.i went to the edge of the plateau and looked over. sure enough, he was squatting among hisblankets beside his fire in his little camp.but, to my amazement, a second man was seated in front of him.

for an instant my heart leaped for joy, asi thought that one of my comrades had made his way safely down.but a second glance dispelled the hope. the rising sun shone red upon the man'sskin. he was an indian.i shouted loudly and waved my handkerchief. presently zambo looked up, waved his hand,and turned to ascend the pinnacle. in a short time he was standing close to meand listening with deep distress to the story which i told him. "devil got them for sure, massa malone,"said he. "you got into the devil's country, sah, andhe take you all to himself.

you take advice, massa malone, and comedown quick, else he get you as well." "how can i come down, zambo?""you get creepers from trees, massa malone. throw them over here. i make fast to this stump, and so you havebridge." "we have thought of that.there are no creepers here which could bear us." "send for ropes, massa malone.""who can i send, and where?" "send to indian villages, sah.plenty hide rope in indian village. indian down below; send him."

"who is he?"one of our indians. other ones beat him and take away his pay.he come back to us. ready now to take letter, bring rope,--anything." to take a letter!why not? perhaps he might bring help; but in anycase he would ensure that our lives were not spent for nothing, and that news of allthat we had won for science should reach our friends at home. i had two completed letters alreadywaiting. i would spend the day in writing a third,which would bring my experiences absolutely

up to date. the indian could bear this back to theworld. i ordered zambo, therefore, to come againin the evening, and i spent my miserable and lonely day in recording my ownadventures of the night before. i also drew up a note, to be given to anywhite merchant or captain of a steam-boat whom the indian could find, imploring themto see that ropes were sent to us, since our lives must depend upon it. these documents i threw to zambo in theevening, and also my purse, which contained three english sovereigns.

these were to be given to the indian, andhe was promised twice as much if he returned with the ropes. so now you will understand, my dear mr.mcardle, how this communication reaches you, and you will also know the truth, incase you never hear again from your unfortunate correspondent. to-night i am too weary and too depressedto make my plans. to-morrow i must think out some way bywhich i shall keep in touch with this camp, and yet search round for any traces of myunhappy friends.

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