We moved off in silence, and continued to coast round the line ofcliffs, which were as even and unbroken as some of those monstrousAntarctic ice-fields which I have seen depicted as stretching fromhorizon to horizon and towering high above the mast-heads of theexploring vessel.
In five miles we saw no rift or break. And then suddenly we perceivedsomething which filled us with new hope. In a hollow of the rock,protected from rain, there was drawn a rough arrow in chalk, pointingstill to the westwards.
"Maple White again," said Professor Challenger. "He had somepresentiment that worthy footsteps 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 a stump."
"That is certainly good evidence," said Summerlee. "We can only accepthis guidance and follow on to the westward."
We had proceeded some five more miles when again we saw a white arrowupon the rocks. It was at a point where the face of the cliff was forthe first time split into a narrow cleft. Inside the cleft was asecond guidance mark, which pointed right up it with the tip somewhatelevated, as if the spot indicated were above the level of the ground.
It was a solemn place, for the walls were so gigantic and the slit ofblue sky so narrow and so obscured by a double fringe of verdure, thatonly a dim and shadowy light penetrated to the bottom. We had had nofood for many hours, and were very weary with the stony and irregularjourney, but our nerves were too strung to allow us to halt. Weordered the camp to be pitched, however, and, leaving the Indians toarrange it, we four, with the two half-breeds, proceeded up the narrowgorge.
It was not more than forty feet across at the mouth, but it rapidlyclosed until it ended in an acute angle, too straight and smooth for anascent. Certainly it was not this which our pioneer had attempted toindicate. We made our way back--the whole gorge was not more than aquarter 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 bethe opening of a cave.
The base of the cliff was heaped with loose stones at the spot, and itwas not difficult to clamber up. When we reached it, all doubt wasremoved. Not only was it an opening into the rock, but on the side ofit there was marked once again the sign of the arrow. Here was thepoint, and this the means by which Maple White and his ill-fatedcomrade had made their ascent.
We were too excited to return to the camp, but must make our firstexploration at once. Lord John had an electric torch in his knapsack,and this had to serve us as light. He advanced, throwing his littleclear circlet of yellow radiance before him, while in single file wefollowed at his heels.
The cave had evidently been water-worn, the sides being smooth and thefloor covered with rounded stones. It was of such a size that a singleman could just fit through by stooping. For fifty yards it ran almoststraight into the rock, and then it ascended at an angle of forty-five.Presently this incline became even steeper, and we found ourselvesclimbing upon hands and knees among loose rubble which slid frombeneath us. Suddenly an exclamation broke from Lord Roxton.
"It's blocked!" said he.
Clustering behind him we saw in the yellow field of light a wall ofbroken basalt which extended to the ceiling.
"The roof has fallen in!"
In vain we dragged out some of the pieces. The only effect was thatthe larger ones became detached and threatened to roll down thegradient and crush us. It was evident that the obstacle was far beyondany efforts which we could make to remove it. The road by which MapleWhite had ascended was no longer available.
Too much cast down to speak, we stumbled down the dark tunnel and madeour way back to the camp.
One incident occurred, however, before we left the gorge, which is ofimportance in view of what came afterwards.
We had gathered in a little group at the bottom of the chasm, someforty feet beneath the mouth of the cave, when a huge rock rolledsuddenly downwards--and shot past us with tremendous force. It was thenarrowest escape for one or all of us
. We could not ourselves seewhence the rock had come, but our half-breed servants, who were stillat the opening of the cave, said that it had flown past them, and musttherefore have fallen from the summit. Looking upwards, we could seeno sign of movement above us amidst the green jungle which topped thecliff. There could be little doubt, however, that the stone was aimedat us, so the incident surely pointed to humanity--and malevolenthumanity--upon the plateau.
We withdrew hurriedly from the chasm, our minds full of this newdevelopment and its bearing upon our plans. The situation wasdifficult enough before, but if the obstructions of Nature wereincreased by the deliberate opposition of man, then our case was indeeda hopeless one. And yet, as we looked up at that beautiful fringe ofverdure only a few hundreds of feet above our heads, there was not oneof us who could conceive the idea of returning to London until we hadexplored it to its depths.
On discussing the situation, we determined that our best course was tocontinue to coast round the plateau in the hope of finding some othermeans of reaching the top. The line of cliffs, which had decreasedconsiderably in height, had already begun to trend from west to north,and if we could take this as representing the arc of a circle, thewhole circumference could not be very great. At the worst, then, weshould be back in a few days at our starting-point.
We made a march that day which totaled some two-and-twenty miles,without any change in our prospects. I may mention that our aneroidshows us that in the continual incline which we have ascended since weabandoned our canoes we have risen to no less than three thousand feetabove sea-level. Hence there is a considerable change both in thetemperature and in the vegetation. We have shaken off some of thathorrible insect life which is the bane of tropical travel. A few palmsstill survive, and many tree-ferns, but the Amazonian trees have beenall left behind. It was pleasant to see the convolvulus, thepassion-flower, and the begonia, all reminding me of home, here amongthese inhospitable rocks. There was a red begonia just the same coloras one that is kept in a pot in the window of a certain villa inStreatham--but I am drifting into private reminiscence.
That night--I am still speaking of the first day of ourcircumnavigation of the plateau--a great experience awaited us, and onewhich for ever set at rest any doubt which we could have had as to thewonders so near us.
You will realize as you read it, my dear Mr. McArdle, and possibly forthe first time that the paper has not sent me on a wild-goose chase,and that there is inconceivably fine copy waiting for the worldwhenever we have the Professor's leave to make use of it. I shall notdare to publish these articles unless I can bring back my proofs toEngland, or I shall be hailed as the journalistic Munchausen of alltime. I have no doubt that you feel the same way yourself, and thatyou would not care to stake the whole credit of the Gazette upon thisadventure until we can meet the chorus of criticism and scepticismwhich such articles must of necessity elicit. So this wonderfulincident, which would make such a headline for the old paper, muststill wait its turn in the editorial drawer.
And yet it was all over in a flash, and there was no sequel to it, savein 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 theIndians, we were cooking the other half upon our fire. There is achill in the air after dark, and we had all drawn close to the blaze.The night was moonless, but there were some stars, and one could seefor a little distance across the plain. Well, suddenly out of thedarkness, out of the night, there swooped something with a swish likean aeroplane. The whole group of us were covered for an instant by acanopy 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 my amazement, with little, gleaming teeth. The next instantit was gone--and so was our dinner. A huge black shadow, twenty feetacross, skimmed up into the air; for an instant the monster wingsblotted out the stars, and then it vanished over the brow of the cliffabove us. We all sat in amazed silence round the fire, like the heroesof Virgil when the Harpies came down upon them. It was Summerlee whowas the first to speak.
"Professor Challenger," said he, in a solemn voice, which quavered withemotion, "I owe you an apology. Sir, I am very much in the wrong, andI beg that you will forget what is past."
It was handsomely said, and the two men for the first time shook hands.So much we have gained by this clear vision of our first pterodactyl.It was worth a stolen supper to bring two such men together.
But if prehistoric life existed upon the plateau it was notsuperabundant, for we had no further glimpse of it during the nextthree days. During this time we traversed a barren and forbiddingcountry, which alternated between stony desert and desolate marshesfull of many wild-fowl, upon the north and east of the cliffs. Fromthat direction the place is really inaccessible, and, were it not for ahardish ledge which runs at the very base of the precipice, we shouldhave had to turn back. Many times we were up to our waists in theslime and blubber of an old, semi-tropical swamp. To make mattersworse, the place seemed to be a favorite breeding-place of the Jaracacasnake, the most venomous and aggressive in South America. Again andagain these horrible creatures came writhing and springing towards usacross the surface of this putrid bog, and it was only by keeping ourshot-guns for ever ready that we could feel safe from them. Onefunnel-shaped depression in the morass, of a livid green in color fromsome lichen which festered in it, will always remain as a nightmarememory in my mind. It seems to have been a special nest of thesevermins, and the slopes were alive with them, all writhing in ourdirection, for it is a peculiarity of the Jaracaca that he will alwaysattack man at first sight. There were too many for us to shoot, so wefairly took to our heels and ran until we were exhausted. I shallalways remember as we looked back how far behind we could see the headsand necks of our horrible pursuers rising and falling amid the reeds.Jaracaca Swamp we named it in the map which we are constructing.