The
most wonderful things have happened
and are continually happening
to us. All the paper that I possess
consists of five old note-books
and a lot of scraps, and I have
only the one stylographic pencil;
but so long as I can move my
hand I will continue to set down
our experiences and impressions,
for, since we are the only men
of the whole human race to see
such things, it is of enormous
importance that I should record
them whilst they are fresh in
my memory and before that fate
which seems to be constantly
impending does actually overtake
us. Whether Zambo can at last
take these letters to the river,
or whether I shall myself in
some miraculous way carry them
back with me, or, finally, whether
some daring explorer, coming
upon our tracks with the advantage,
perhaps, of a perfected monoplane,
should find this bundle of manuscript,
in any case I can see that what
I am writing is destined to immortality
as a classic of true adventure.
On the morning after our being
trapped upon the plateau by the
villainous Gomez we began a new
stage in our experiences. The
first incident in it was not
such as to give me a very favorable
opinion of the place to which
we had wandered. As I roused
myself from a short nap after
day 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, purplish
grape. Astonished at the sight,
I leaned forward to 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 two professors to my side.
"Most interesting," said Summerlee,
bending over my shin. "An enormous
blood-tick, as yet, I believe,
unclassified."
"The first-fruits of our labors," said
Challenger in his booming, pedantic
fashion. "We cannot do less than
call it Ixodes Maloni. The very
small inconvenience of being
bitten, my young friend, cannot,
I am sure, weigh with you as
against the glorious privilege
of having your name inscribed
in the deathless roll of zoology.
Unhappily you have crushed this
fine specimen at the moment of
satiation."
"Filthy vermin!" I
cried.
Professor Challenger raised
his great eyebrows 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 like
myself the blood-tick, with its
lancet-like proboscis and its
distending stomach, is as beautiful
a work of Nature as the peacock
or, for that matter, the aurora
borealis. It pains me to hear
you speak of it in so unappreciative
a fashion. No doubt, with due
diligence, we can secure some
other specimen."
"There can be no doubt of that," said
Summerlee, grimly, "for one has
just disappeared behind your
shirt-collar."
Challenger sprang into the
air bellowing like 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
the horrible pests, and it was
clear that we must shift our
camp.
But first of all it was necessary
to make our arrangements with
the faithful negro, who appeared
presently on the pinnacle with
a number of tins of cocoa and
biscuits, which he tossed over
to us. Of the stores which remained
below he was ordered to retain
as much as would keep him for
two months. The Indians were
to have the remainder as a reward
for their services and as payment
for taking our letters back to
the Amazon. Some hours later
we saw them in single file far
out upon the plain, each with
a bundle on his head, making
their way back along the path
we had come. Zambo occupied our
little tent at the base of 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 the tick-laden
bushes until we came to a small
clearing thickly surrounded by
trees upon all sides. There were
some flat slabs of rock in the
center, with an excellent well
close by, and there we sat in
cleanly comfort while we 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 these sounds there were
no signs of life.
Our first care was to make
some sort of list of our own
stores, so that we might know
what we had to rely upon. What
with the things we had ourselves
brought up and those which Zambo
had sent across on the rope,
we were fairly well supplied.
Most important of all, in view
of the dangers which might surround
us, we had our four rifles and
one thousand three hundred rounds,
also a shot-gun, but not more
than a hundred and fifty medium
pellet cartridges. In the matter
of provisions we had enough to
last for several weeks, with
a sufficiency of tobacco and
a few scientific implements,
including a large telescope and
a good field-glass. All these
things we collected together
in the clearing, and as a first
precaution, we cut down with
our hatchet and knives a number
of thorny bushes, which we piled
round in a circle some fifteen
yards in diameter. This was to
be our headquarters for the time--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 ourselves secure, 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 were to be
found among the tangle of trees
which girt us in. One huge gingko
tree, topping all the others,
shot its great limbs and maidenhair
foliage over the fort which we
had constructed. In its shade
we continued our discussion,
while Lord John, who had quickly
taken command in the hour of
action, gave us his views.
"So long as neither man nor
beast has seen or heard us, we
are safe," said he. "From the
time they know we are here our
troubles begin. There are no
signs that they have found us
out as yet. So our game surely
is to lie low for a time and
spy out the land. We want to
have a good look at our neighbors
before we get on visitin' terms."
"But we must advance," I
ventured to
remark.
"By
all means,
sonny my boy!
We will advance. But with common
sense. We must never go so far
that we can't get back to our
base. Above all, we must never,
unless it is life or death, fire
off our guns."
"But YOU fired yesterday," said
Summerlee.
"Well,
it couldn't
be helped.
However, the
wind was strong
and blew outwards. It is not
likely that the sound could have
traveled far into the plateau.
By the way, what shall we call
this place? I suppose it is up
to us to give it a name?"
There were several suggestions,
more or less happy, but Challenger's
was final.
"It can only have one name," said
he. "It is called after the pioneer
who discovered it. It is Maple
White Land."
Maple White Land it became,
and so it is named 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 White Land was the pressing
subject before us. We had the
evidence of our own eyes that
the place was inhabited by some
unknown creatures, and there
was that of Maple White's sketch-book
to show that more dreadful and
more dangerous monsters might
still appear. That there might
also prove to be human occupants
and that they were of a malevolent
character was suggested by the
skeleton impaled upon the bamboos,
which could not have got there
had it not been dropped from
above. Our situation, stranded
without possibility of escape
in such a land, was clearly full
of danger, and our reasons endorsed
every measure of caution which
Lord John's experience could
suggest. Yet it was surely impossible
that we should halt on the edge
of this world of mystery when
our very souls were tingling
with impatience to push forward
and to pluck the heart from it.
We therefore blocked the entrance
to our zareba by filling it up
with several thorny bushes, and
left our camp with the stores
entirely surrounded by this protecting
hedge. We then slowly and cautiously
set forth into the unknown, following
the course of the little stream
which flowed from our spring,
as it should always serve us
as a guide on our return.
Hardly had we started when
we came across signs 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
was the botanist of the party,
recognized as forms of conifera
and of cycadaceous plants which
have long passed away in the
world below, we entered a region
where the stream widened out
and formed a considerable bog.
High reeds of a peculiar type
grew thickly before 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 imprinted in the soft mud
before us. The creature, whatever
it was, had crossed the swamp
and had passed on into the forest.
We all stopped to examine that
monstrous spoor. If it were indeed
a bird--and what animal could
leave such a mark?-- its foot
was so much larger than an ostrich's
that its height upon the same
scale must be enormous. Lord
John looked eagerly round him
and slipped 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 same general form were
running parallel to the large
ones.
"But what do you make of this?" cried
Professor Summerlee, triumphantly,
pointing to what looked like
the huge print of a five-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 some ninety
years ago; but who in the world
could have hoped--hoped--to have
seen a sight like that?"
His words died away into a
whisper, and we all stood in
motionless amazement. Following
the tracks, we had left the morass
and passed through a screen of
brushwood and trees. Beyond was
an open glade, and in this were
five 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, two being 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 was scaled like a lizard's
and shimmered where the sun shone
upon it. All five were sitting
up, balancing themselves upon
their broad, powerful tails and
their huge three-toed hind-feet,
while with their small five-fingered
front-feet they pulled down the
branches upon which they browsed.
I do not know that I can bring
their appearance home to you
better than by saying that they
looked like monstrous kangaroos,
twenty feet in length, and with
skins like black crocodiles.
I do not know how long we stayed
motionless gazing at this marvelous
spectacle. A strong wind blew
towards us and we were well concealed,
so there was no chance of discovery.
From time to time the little
ones played round their parents
in unwieldy gambols, the great
beasts bounding into the air
and falling with dull thuds upon
the earth. The strength of the
parents seemed to be limitless,
for one of them, having some
difficulty in reaching a bunch
of foliage which grew upon a
considerable-sized tree, put
his fore-legs round the trunk
and tore it down as if it had
been a sapling. The action seemed,
as I thought, to show not only
the great development of its
muscles, but also the small one
of its brain, for the whole weight
came crashing down upon the top
of it, and it uttered a series
of shrill yelps to show that,
big as it 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 their skins 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
his finger on the trigger of
his elephant-gun, his eager hunter's
soul shining from his fierce
eyes. What would he not give
for one such head to place between
the two crossed oars above the
mantelpiece in his snuggery at
the Albany! And yet his reason
held him in, for all our exploration
of the wonders of this unknown
land depended upon our presence
being concealed from its inhabitants.
The two professors were in silent
ecstasy. In their excitement
they had unconsciously seized
each other by the hand, and stood
like two little children in the
presence of a marvel, Challenger's
cheeks bunched up into a seraphic
smile, and Summerlee's sardonic
face softening for the moment
into wonder and reverence.
"Nunc dimittis!" he cried at
last. "What will they say in
England of this?"
"My dear Summerlee, I will
tell you with great confidence
exactly what they will say in
England," said Challenger. "They
will say that you are an infernal
liar 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 saw five 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 the editorial boot in return," said
Lord John. "Things look a bit
different from the latitude of
London, young fellah my lad.
There's many a man who never
tells his adventures, for he
can't hope to be believed. Who's
to blame them? For this will
seem a bit of a dream to ourselves
in a month or two. WHAT did you
say they were?"
"Iguanodons," said Summerlee. "You'll
find their footmarks all over
the Hastings sands, in Kent,
and in Sussex. The South of England
was alive with them when there
was plenty of good lush green-stuff
to keep them going. Conditions
have changed, and the beasts
died. Here it seems that the
conditions have not changed,
and the beasts have lived."
"If ever we get out of this
alive, I must have a head with
me," said Lord John. "Lord, how
some of that Somaliland-Uganda
crowd would turn a beautiful
pea-green if they saw it! I don't
know what you chaps think, but
it strikes 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
a constant menace and as we looked
up into their shadowy foliage
vague terrors crept into one's
heart. It is true that these
monstrous creatures which we
had seen were lumbering, inoffensive
brutes which were unlikely to
hurt anyone, but in this world
of wonders what other survivals
might there not be--what fierce,
active horrors ready to pounce
upon us from their lair among
the rocks or brushwood? I knew
little of prehistoric life, but
I had a clear remembrance of
one book which I had read in
which it spoke of creatures who
would live upon our lions and
tigers as a cat lives upon mice.
What if these also were to be
found in the woods 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
around us. It was a loathsome
adventure, and one of which I
hate to think. If, as Lord John
said, the glade of the iguanodons
will remain with us as a dream,
then surely the swamp of the
pterodactyls will 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
partly because at every second
step one or other of our professors
would fall, with a cry of wonder,
before some flower or insect
which presented him with a new
type. We may have traveled two
or three miles in all, keeping
to the right of the line of the
stream, when we came upon a considerable
opening in the trees. A belt
of brushwood led up to a tangle
of rocks--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 low gabbling
and whistling sound, which filled
the air with a constant clamor
and appeared to come from some
spot immediately before us. Lord
John held up his hand as a signal
for us to stop, and he made his
way swiftly, stooping and running,
to the line of rocks. We saw
him peep over them and give a
gesture 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
up his hand as a signal for caution.
His whole bearing made me feel
that something wonderful but
dangerous lay before us.
Creeping to his side, we looked
over the rocks. 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 the plateau. It
was bowl-shaped and at the bottom,
some hundreds of yards from where
we lay, were pools of green-scummed,
stagnant water, fringed with
bullrushes. It was a weird place
in itself, but its occupants
made it seem like a scene from
the Seven Circles of Dante. The
place was a rookery of pterodactyls.
There were hundreds of them congregated
within view. All the bottom area
round the water-edge was alive
with their young ones, and with
hideous mothers brooding upon
their leathery, yellowish eggs.
From this crawling flapping mass
of obscene reptilian 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 living
creatures, sat the horrible males,
absolutely motionless save for
the rolling of their red eyes
or an occasional snap of their
rat-trap beaks as a dragon-fly
went past them. Their huge, membranous
wings were closed by folding
their fore-arms, so that they
sat like gigantic old women,
wrapped in hideous web-colored
shawls, and with their ferocious
heads protruding above them.
Large and small, not less than
a thousand of these filthy creatures
lay in the hollow before us.
Our professors would gladly
have stayed there all day, so
entranced were they by this opportunity
of studying the life of a prehistoric
age. They pointed out the fish
and dead birds lying about among
the rocks as proving the nature
of the food of these creatures,
and I heard them congratulating
each other on having cleared
up the point why the bones of
this flying dragon are found
in such great 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 upon proving some point
which Summerlee had contested,
thrust his head over the rock
and nearly brought destruction
upon us all. In an instant the
nearest male gave a shrill, whistling
cry, and flapped its twenty-foot
span of leathery wings as it
soared up into the air. The females
and young ones huddled together
beside the water, while the whole
circle of sentinels rose one
after the other and sailed off
into the sky. It was a wonderful
sight to see at least a hundred
creatures of such enormous size
and hideous appearance all swooping
like swallows with swift, shearing
wing-strokes above us; but soon
we realized that it was not one
on which we could afford to linger.
At first the great brutes flew
round in a huge ring, as if to
make sure what the exact extent
of the danger might be. Then,
the flight grew lower and the
circle narrower, until they were
whizzing round and round us,
the dry, rustling flap of their
huge slate-colored wings filling
the air with a volume of sound
that made me think 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 the circle closed in
upon us, until the tips of the
wings of those nearest to us
nearly touched our faces. We
beat at them with the stocks
of our guns, 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 to his 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 pick him up I
was again struck from behind
and dropped on the top of him.
At the same instant I heard the
crash of Lord John's elephant-gun,
and, looking up, saw one of the
creatures with a broken wing
struggling upon the ground, spitting
and gurgling at us with a wide-opened
beak and blood-shot, goggled
eyes, like some devil in a medieval
picture. Its comrades had flown
higher at the sudden sound, and
were circling above our heads.
"Now," cried Lord John, "now
for our lives!"
We staggered through the brushwood,
and even as we reached the trees
the harpies were on us again.
Summerlee was knocked down, but
we tore him up and rushed among
the trunks. Once there we were
safe, for those huge wings had
no space for their sweep beneath
the branches. As we limped homewards,
sadly mauled and discomfited,
we saw them for a long time flying
at a great height against the
deep blue sky above our heads,
soaring round and round, no bigger
than wood-pigeons, with their
eyes no doubt still following
our progress. At last, however,
as we reached the thicker woods
they gave up the chase, and we
saw them no more.
A
most interesting
and convincing
experience," said Challenger,
as we halted beside the brook
and he bathed a swollen knee. "We
are exceptionally well informed,
Summerlee, as to the habits of
the enraged pterodactyl."
Summerlee was wiping the blood
from a cut in his forehead, while
I was tying up a nasty stab in
the muscle of the neck. Lord
John had the shoulder of his
coat torn away, 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 coat could
only have been torn by a bite.
In my own case, I was beaten
about the head by their wings,
so we have had a remarkable exhibition
of their various methods of offence."
"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 than to 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," said I, with conviction.
"It may do no harm," said he. "Among
these woods there must be many
loud cracks from splitting or
falling trees which would be
just like the sound of a gun.
But now, if you are of my opinion,
we have had thrills enough for
one day, and had best get back
to the surgical box at the camp
for some carbolic. Who knows
what venom these beasts may have
in their hideous jaws?"
But surely no men ever had
just such a day since the world
began. Some fresh surprise was
ever in store for us. When, following
the course of our brook, we at
last reached our glade and saw
the thorny barricade of our camp,
we thought that our adventures
were at an end. But we had something
more to think of before we could
rest. The gate of Fort Challenger
had been untouched, the walls
were unbroken, and yet it had
been visited by some strange
and powerful 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 might have come and gone;
but of its malevolent strength
there was ample evidence in the
condition of our stores. They
were strewn at random all over
the ground, and one tin of meat
had been crushed into pieces
so as to extract the contents.
A case of cartridges had been
shattered into matchwood, and
one of the brass shells lay shredded
into pieces beside it. Again
the feeling of vague horror came
upon our souls, and we gazed
round with frightened eyes at
the dark shadows which lay around
us, in all of which some fearsome
shape might be lurking. How good
it was when we were hailed by
the voice of Zambo, and, going
to the edge of the plateau, saw
him sitting grinning at us upon
the top of the opposite pinnacle.
"All well, Massa Challenger,
all well!" he cried. "Me stay
here. No fear. You always find
me when you want."
His honest black face, and
the immense view before us, which
carried us half-way back to the
affluent of the Amazon, helped
us to remember that we really
were upon this earth in the twentieth
century, and had not by some
magic been conveyed to some raw
planet in its earliest and wildest
state. How difficult it was to
realize that the violet line
upon the far horizon was well
advanced to that great river
upon which huge steamers ran,
and folk talked of the small
affairs of life, while we, marooned
among the creatures of a bygone
age, could but gaze towards it
and yearn for all that it meant!
One other memory remains with
me of this wonderful day, and
with it I will close this letter.
The two professors, their tempers
aggravated no doubt by their
injuries, had fallen out as to
whether our assailants were of
the genus pterodactylus or dimorphodon,
and high words had ensued. To
avoid their wrangling I moved
some little way apart, and was
seated smoking upon the trunk
of a fallen tree, when Lord John
strolled over in my direction.
"I say, Malone," said he, "do
you remember that 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 reeds were?"
"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, and strolled back to where
the voices of the contending
men of science rose in a prolonged
duet, the high, strident note
of Summerlee rising and falling
to the sonorous bass of Challenger.
I should have thought no more
of Lord John'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
I dropped into an exhausted sleep.
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