The Lost World
boyhood. So long as I followed it down I must come to 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 account of the tangled brush-wood, but I was always
within earshot of its tinkle and splash.
As one descended the slope the woods became thinner, 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 these great creatures--it was twenty
feet at least from tip to tip--rose up from somewhere near me and
soared into the air. As it passed across the face of the moon the
light shone clearly through the membranous wings, and it looked like a
flying skeleton against the white, tropical radiance. I crouched low
among the bushes, for I knew from past experience that with a single
cry the creature could bring a hundred of its loathsome mates about my
ears. It was not until it had settled again that I dared to steal
onwards upon my journey.
The night had been exceedingly still, but as 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 at last 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 the bubbling of some great pot. Soon I came upon the
source of it, for in the center of a small clearing I found a lake--or
a pool, rather, for it was not larger than the basin of the Trafalgar
Square fountain--of some black, pitch-like stuff, the surface of which
rose and fell in 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 volcanic
outburst which had raised this strange plateau so many years ago had
not yet entirely spent its forces. Blackened rocks and mounds of lava
I had already seen everywhere peeping out from amid the luxuriant
vegetation which draped them, but this asphalt pool in the jungle was
the first sign that we had of actual existing activity on the slopes of
the ancient crater. I had no time to examine it further for I had need
to hurry if I were to be back in camp in the morning.
It was a fearsome walk, and one which will be with me so long as memory
holds. In the great moonlight clearings I slunk along among the
shadows on the margin. In the jungle I crept forward, stopping with a
beating heart whenever I heard, as I often did, the crash of breaking
branches as some wild beast went past. Now and then great shadows
loomed up for an instant and were gone--great, silent shadows which
seemed to prowl upon padded feet. How often I stopped with the
intention of returning, and yet every time my pride conquered my fear,
and sent me on again until my object should be attained.
At last (my watch showed that it was one in the morning) I saw the
gleam of water amid the openings of the jungle, and ten minutes later I
was among the reeds upon the borders of the central lake. I was
exceedingly dry, so I lay down and took a long draught of its waters,
which were fresh and cold. There was a broad pathway with many tracks
upon 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 huge isolated block of lava. Up this I climbed, and, lying on
the top, I had an excellent view in every direction.
The first thing which I saw filled me with amazement. When I described
the view from the summit of the great tree, I said that on the farther
cliff I could see a number of dark spots, which appeared to be the
mouths of caves. Now, as I looked up at the same cliffs, I saw discs
of light in every direction, ruddy, clearly-defined patches, like the
port-holes of a liner in the darkness. For a moment I thought it was
the lava-glow from 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 of fires
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 or
were obscured as someone passed before them. What would I not have
given to be able to crawl up to them, to peep in, and to take back some
word to my comrades as to the appearance 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
definite knowledge upon the point.
Lake Gladys--my own lake--lay like a sheet of 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 could see signs of life,
sometimes mere rings and ripples in the water, sometimes the gleam of a
great silver-sided fish in the air, sometimes the arched, slate-colored
back of some passing monster. Once upon a yellow sandbank I saw a
creature like a huge swan, with a clumsy body and a high, flexible
neck, shuffling about upon the margin. Presently it plunged in, and
for some time I 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 these distant sights and brought
back to what was going on at my very feet. Two creatures like large
armadillos had come down to the drinking-place, and were squatting at
the edge of the water, their long, flexible tongues like red ribbons
shooting in and out as they lapped. A huge deer, with branching horns,
a magnificent creature which carried itself like a king, came down with
its doe and two fawns and drank beside the armadillos. No such deer
exist anywhere else upon earth, for the moose or elks which I have seen
would hardly have reached its shoulders. Presently it gave a warning
snort, and was off 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 have seen that ungainly shape,
that arched back with triangular fringes along it, that strange
bird-like head held close to the ground. Then it came back, to me. It
was the stegosaurus--the very creature which Maple White had preserved
in his sketch-book, and which had been the first object which arrested
the attention of Challenger! There he was--perhaps the very specimen
which the American artist had encountered. The ground shook beneath
his tremendous weight, and his gulpings of water resounded through the
still night. For five minutes he was so close to my rock that by
stretching out my hand I could have touched the hideous waving hackles
upon his back. Then he lumbered away and was lost among the boulders.
Looking at my watch, I saw that it was half-past two o'clock, and high
time, therefore, that I started upon my homeward journey. There was no
difficulty about the direction in which I should return for all along I
had kept the little brook upon my left, and it opened into the central
lake within a stone's-throw of the boulder upon which I had been lying.
I set off, therefore, in high spirits, for I felt that I had done good
work and was bringing back a fine budget of news for my companions.
Foremost of all, of course, were the sight of 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 strange creatures, and I had seen several land
forms of primeval life which we had not before encountered. I
reflected as I walked that few men in the world could have spent a
stranger night or added more to human knowledge in the course of it.
I was plodding up the slope, turning these thoughts 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 a growl, low, deep, and
exceedingly menacing. Some strange creature was evidently near me, but
nothing could be seen, so I hastened more rapidly upon my way. I had
traversed half a mile or so when suddenly the sound was repeated, still
behind me, but louder and more menacing than before. My heart stood
still within me as it flashed 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 other to pieces was
a part of the strange struggle for existence, but that they should turn
upon modern man, that they should deliberately track and hunt down the
predominant human, was a staggering and fearsome thought. I remembered
again the blood-beslobbered face which we had seen in the glare of Lord
John's torch, like some horrible vision from the deepest circle of
Dante's hell. With my knees shaking beneath me, I stood and 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
of the bushes--nothing else could I see. Then from out of the silence,
imminent and threatening, there came once more that low, throaty
croaking, far louder and closer than before. There could no longer be
a doubt. Something was on my trail, and was closing in upon me every
minute.
I stood like a man paralyzed, still staring at the ground which I had
traversed. Then suddenly I saw it. There was movement among the
bushes at the far 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 beast moved like a
kangaroo, springing along in an erect position upon its powerful hind
legs, while its front ones were held bent in front of it. It was of
enormous size and power, like an erect elephant, but its movements, in
spite of its bulk, were exceedingly alert. For a moment, as I saw its
shape, I hoped that it was an iguanodon, which I knew to be harmless,
but, ignorant as I was, I soon saw that this was a very different
creature. Instead of the gentle, deer-shaped head of the great
three-toed leaf-eater, this beast had a broad, squat, toad-like face
like that which had alarmed us in our camp. His ferocious cry and the
horrible energy of his pursuit both assured me that this was surely one
of the great flesh-eating dinosaurs, the most terrible beasts which
have ever walked this earth. As the huge brute loped along it dropped
forward upon its fore-paws and brought its nose to the ground every
twenty yards or so. 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 had taken.
Even now when I think of that nightmare the sweat 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
or tree, but I was in a bushy jungle with nothing higher than a sapling