The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1925-05-05

CHATTER lN-CoNTINUED
What occurred was this lord
John had shot au alouii (which ts
a small. plg Ike animal-aut hair
o. IL having been given 10 the In
clans. We were cooking the other
half upon our nr. There De- a
,hnl GA the air after dark. and we
had al drawn close 20 the Maze,
Tho night was moonlcss. but there
were some stars. and one could see
for little distance across The plain
Wei. suddenly out OF the DARK
ness out of the night. there ssoop-
ed something with a swish like an
Hirpiano. The whole group Of as
were covered Tor an instant hy q
canopy Of leathery wings and had
momcniaTy vision ~ long
Enake-llke meek. a ficrcc. rcd greedy
eye, and a great swapping beak.
filled. 20 my Amusement. with lt-
tie. cleaning teeth. The neat in-
slant u was gune-and 80 was our
dinner A husc black shadow, go
air. for an instant the monster
wings hiotted out the stars. and
then Il vanished over the brow o.
the cliff above Us. We an sat In
amazed silence round the fire. like
the heroes OF Nirgu when the Har
pies came down upon them. u
was Summarize who WAS the first
10 speak
Professor Challenger. said be
IN a solemn voice. which quAycred
with emotion. Il owe you Nn apollo.
gy SIR am very much In the
wrong. and I beg that you VIII for
set what IL past"
X was handsomely SAID. and the
two men for the first TING shook
hands So much We hays gained
by this clear vision o. cur frat
pierOdactyl II was worth a stolen
supper 10 bring two such men TO
scther.
But II prehistoric life existed Up.
on the plateau II was not super.
abundant. FOR we had no further
glimpse Of Il during the next three
days. During this time We tray-
crsed a barren and forhiddins
country, which altsrnatsd between
stony desert and desolaie marshes
fun Of many Wild fowl. upon the
north and east Of the cliffs. From
that direction the place Is really
Inaccessible, and. were Il not for
hardish ledge which runs al the
very base Of the preeipice. VIC
should have lad 10 turn hack
Many times we were up 10 our
waists In the slime and hlubber OF
an old. semi-tropical swamp. To
make matters worse, the place
seemed TO be a favorite breeding
place for the Jaracaca snake. the
most yenomous and aggressive In
South America Again and again
these horrible creatures came with.
Ing and springlnS towards Us
across the surface Of this putrld
log. and II was only BY keeping cur
shot guns forever ready that we
could feel safe from them. One
tunnel-shaped depression in the mo
rass. OF livid green in color from
soma hchen which festered In II.
viii always remain as a nightmare
memory In my mind. II seems TO
have been a special nest Of these
yerrnins. and the slopes were alive
with them, all writing IN our d.
rection. for II is a peculiarly OF the
Jaracaca that he viii always at.
tack men az first sight. There were
roo many for US 70 shoot. 80 we
fairly took 20 our heels and run
until We were exhausted. shall
always remember an we looked back
how far behind we could see the
heads and necks OF our horrible
purzuers rising and failing amid
The reeds. Jaracaca Swamp we
named II in the map which VIC are
constructing.
The cliffs upon the farther side
had lost their rudy tint. being
ohocolate-brown in color: the vcEe.
tation was more scattered along the
top Of them. and they had sunk 10
800 or 400 feet In height. but In no
place did we find any point where
they could be assembled II any.
thing. they we're moro impossible
than al the first point where we
had met them. Their absolute
steepness is indicated in the photo.
graph which I took over the stony
desert.
Surely" said !, as we discussed
,he situation. "the rain must find
its way down somehow. There are
bound 70 be water-channels In the
rOcks.'
Our young friend has glimpses