Chapter 9 9. Who could have predicted it?

A terrible thing has happened among us.I cannot predict how the difficulties will end.Maybe we'll spend our days in this weird place where no one else can get in.We are as far away from any human assistance as we are on the moon.It is only our own qualities that can save us.I have had three remarkable men for my company, three men of great intellect and great courage.This is our only hope. Now I will write to you in the order in which the events led us to the impasse. We were about seven miles from the plateau of the Red Cliffs when I finished my last letter.The cliffs are at least a thousand feet high in some places.Traces of rich vegetation appear on the summit.There are bushes near the edge, and there are many tall trees far behind, but we can't see traces of life.

We camped at the foot of the cliff that night.The cliff above us is not only vertical, but also the shape of the high place makes it impossible to climb up.Closer to us was a tall, not too wide, pyramid-like rock that I had seen in photographs.The very top of the rock is as high as the plateau, but separated by fractures.On the peak of the rock grew a tree.The rock isn't very high by comparison--like five or six hundred feet, I think. "Right up there," said Professor Challenger, pointing to the tree, "I saw a pterosaur for the first time. I got halfway up the rock before I knocked it down. Good mountaineer, I thought. , like me, can climb to the top of the rock, though it doesn't bring him any closer to the plateau."

I looked at Professor Somerley when Professor Challenger was talking about his pterodactyl, and for the first time I saw signs—he was beginning to believe that Challenger was not a liar.There wasn't that skeptical smile on his lips, but instead, excitement and surprise.Challenger saw it too, and got his first taste of victory. "Of course," he said sarcastically, "Professor Somerley will understand that when I say a pterosaur, I mean a crane—just a featherless crane with Very tough skin, membranous wings, and teeth in the gums." He bowed and bowed until his colleague turned and walked away.

In the morning, after a breakfast of coffee and cassava—we had to save our supplies—we held a consultation on the best possible way to climb the plateau above us. Challenger chaired the meeting.Come to think of it, he's sitting on a rock with a funny boy's straw hat on the back of his head.Below sat the three of us: young, robust, tanned from days in the field; Sommerlier, dignified but still fussy, smoking a pipe; Speaker's Lord John.Behind us were Gomuz, Zampo, Manuel and some Indians.At the same time, in front of us, there are huge rocks that prevent us from reaching our destination.

"On the previous expedition," said our leader, "I tried every means to climb the cliff, and I need not say that I had nowhere to go, and I don't think anyone else could, because I was a mountaineer. I didn't bring climbing things last time, but this time I did. With their help, I was sure to climb to the top of that isolated rock, but as long as the top of the rock is not connected with the plateau, I can't climb up. Useful. On the last expedition, the onset of the rainy season limited my time, and I could only observe about six miles east of us, and could not find my way up. So, what shall we do now?"

"If you have explored the east," said Professor Somerley, "we must explore the west to see if there is a way up." "It is so," said Lord John. "We circle the plateau until either we find an easy way up or we return to our original point of departure." "As I have explained to our young friend," said Challenger, "there would be no easy access there either, for if there were a few, the plateau would not be isolated from the world. Yet I admit that it is quite possible that there are places where expert mountaineers can reach the summit but animals with reduced mobility cannot come down. Certainly there must be a spot from which ascent is possible."

"How did you know there would be that way, sir?" asked Somerley sharply. "Because of the American, Mepuo White went up, otherwise how could he see the monster he sketched in his notebook?" "You have no facts to prove it," said Somerley. "I admit the plateau you mentioned, because I have seen it, but I have no evidence that there is any form of life there." "Sir, it really doesn't matter what you admit or don't admit." He looked up at the plateau, and then, startling us, he jumped off the rock, grabbed Sommerli by the jaw, and pushed his face up. "Oh, sir!" he cried. "See, the animal forms of life on the plateau?"

A black, shiny thing appeared over the edge of the cliff, and hung there for a minute.We saw a very large snake with a flat head.Then, it slowly disappeared. Summerley was so taken by the situation that he didn't notice Challenger grabbing his jaw.Now he broke free and regained his dignity. "Professor Challenger," he said, "I shall be glad if you don't hold my jaw when you speak. Even the presence of a very common stone-pile boa constrictor does not give you that kind of freedom." .” "But anyway, there's life on the plateau," his colleague replied triumphantly. "I have stated this important fact. I have a suggestion that we must pull up our tents and go west until we find our way up."

The ground at the foot of the cliff was stone, and walking was slow and difficult.But then suddenly we came across the remnants of a past campsite: a few empty boxes of Chicago meat cans, an empty bottle, a broken canning knife, bits and pieces of the Chicago Democrat. "Not mine," said Challenger. "It must be Maple White's." Lord John had been watching the tall tree-like fern, in whose shadow the bivouac had once been made. "Hey, look at this," he said, "I believe it's a signpost." A piece of hardwood nailed to the tree, it points west. "It's most likely a road sign," said Challenger. "What else could it be?" Our forerunner was on a perilous journey, and he left this mark, so that anyone who follows him may know which way he walked.As we go, we may meet other markers,"

We did see other marks, but they were the most unexpected.At the bottom of the cliff grows a tall bamboo, such as we have seen in our travels.Many of the bamboos were twenty feet high, with sharp, stiff tips, and they looked like spears, and as we were walking through the bamboo forest, I saw a white thing in the bamboo forest.That's a skull.The whole skeleton is there too, but the skull is not in one place. With a few blows of our Indians we cleared a small area and were able to study this past tragedy carefully.Boots were among the relics and it was clear that the deceased was a European.Among the bones was a gold watch from Hudson, New York, and a pen on a chain.There is also a silver cigarette case inscribed "Jan Chow, a gift from AES".The state of the metal suggests that such an unfortunate end happened not so long ago.

"Who could he be?" said Lord John. "Poor fellow, every bone in him is broken." "There was also bamboo growing through his ribs," Sommerli said. "Bamboo is a fast-growing plant, but bamboo grows to a height of twenty feet. There is no way this man could have died here." "Before I came to you," said Professor Challenger, "I asked about Mepoo White. I found out that four years ago, two years before I saw his dead body, he passed through Rosario. .At that time he was not only himself, but he had a friend, an American named James Kaufel, so I think there is no doubt that we are looking at the remains of James Kaufl." "There is no doubt how he died," said Lord John. "He fell or was pushed from above." We were speechless in amazement and continued along the edge of the cliff. We had walked five miles when we suddenly saw something which filled us with new hope.In a hollow in the rock where it sheltered from the rain, there was a chalked front still pointing west. "It's Maple White again," said Professor Challenger. "So, does he have chalk?" "In his knapsack, among other things, I found a box of pastels." We walked another five miles and saw the white arrowhead on the rock again.This is the first narrow break in the cliff face.There is a second mark inside the break, pointing straight up. We hadn't eaten for hours, we were tired from the journey, but we were too excited to rest and eat.We let the Indians pitch tents, and the four of us, with Gomuz and Manuel, walked up the break. At the foot of the cliff is a pile of rocks, and it is very difficult to climb up.We soon came to the entrance of a hole, and again we saw the marks made by arrows.This is the place that Mepuo White and his companions had climbed. We were so excited that none of us wanted to go back to the tent.Lord Yoko has a flashlight in his rucksack, and he's shining it for us.He goes ahead and we follow. The hole was nearly level for fifty yards, then rose at a forty-five-degree angle.The road immediately became steeper and we had to climb on our hands and knees.Suddenly Lord Ruxton cried out. "It's blocked. The roof has collapsed." We have no way to remove this obstacle.The way Mepuo White went up is now impassable. We were too disappointed to speak, so we crawled down the dark passage.Walk back to the campsite. Before we left the place of rupture, however, an accident happened, which, you will see, was extraordinary. Forty feet or so below the mouth of the cave, we were all together, and a rock rolled down on us with tremendous force.We ourselves could not see where the rock had rolled down, but our servants were still at the mouth of the cave, and said the rock had fallen and rolled past them, so it must have fallen from the top.Looking up, above our heads, there was no sign of activity in the green jungle on the cliff.There is no doubt that the stone was aimed at us, which means that there are people on the plateau. While discussing our situation, we decided to continue walking around the plateau in the hope of discovering another way to reach it.At worst, we will return to our starting point after a few days. We walked twenty-two miles that day, and found no way up there.May I add that our barometer indicates.After leaving the kayak we had ascended to an altitude of three thousand feet.Therefore, there are great variations in climate and flora.Without the bugs that are dreaded in tropical travel, the Amazon plains are far behind, although there are still a few palm trees and many tree-like ferns. That night, a strange thing happened before our eyes. Lord John downed a little pig-like animal, and gave half to the Indians, and we roasted the other half over the fire.It was cool after dark and we all sat by the fire.There was no moon that night, but there were stars, and people couldn't see too far.At this time, suddenly from the darkness, from the night, something like an airplane with a swishing sound flew.In an instant its leather wings covered all of us. I saw a long snake-like neck, a pair of fierce red eyes, and a big beak. To my surprise, the mouth was full of Little White Fang.In a blink of an eye it was gone—and our dinner was gone, too.A gigantic black figure, twenty feet across, flew into the air, the monster's wings covering the stars, and then vanishing on the edge of the cliff above us.We sat around, too surprised to speak.Summerley was the first to break the silence. "Professor Challenger," he said, his solemn voice full of emotion, "I apologize to you. Sir, I have been wrong in the past, and I beg you to forget the past." Two people shake hands for the first time.The reconciliation between these two was worth the loss of a dinner. However, for the next three days, we did not see the prehistoric life living on the plateau. During this period, we walked through the barren land full of stones and the swamp full of mud.From the east and north, the cliff is inaccessible.Many times we were waist down in perennial, subtropical swamps.And this place seems to be the Yarakaka snake's favorite place.This snake is the most venomous and most aggressive snake in South America.Again and again these fearsome animals crawled toward us, and we were only reassured by our shotguns always at the ready: on my maps we called this swamp the Yarakaka Swamp. Although in some places the height of the cliffs was only three or four hundred feet, we found no way to ascend them.The cliffs are steep, as you can see in the photos I took. "Sure," I said, discussing the situation, "the rain must have a way. There must be a way in the rock." "But we have seen that there are no down-courses in the rocks," said Professor Challenger, putting his hand on my shoulder. "So, where does the rain go?" I asked. "I figured if it doesn't flow out, it has to flow in." "Then there's a lake in the middle." "I think so," "It's very likely that this lake is a former crater," Sommerli said. "Of course the formation of the whole system is due to high volcanism. I think the surface of the plateau is high around, low in the middle, and there is a large lake in the center." On the sixth day we walked around the plateau and returned to the place where we camped for the first time by the isolated rock.We were disappointed because there was absolutely no place where the most nimble man could hope to scale a cliff.Mepuo White's chalk marks indicated that he could not go up to the place where he himself went up. What should we do now?In about two months, the rainy season will start.The rock is harder than marble, and our time forbids any attempt to carve a road from such heights.It was not surprising that we looked disappointed that night.Before I fell asleep, I saw Challenger sitting by the fire, his huge head in his hands, lost in deep thought. But it was a very different Challenger who greeted us in the morning. "Fixed!" he cried, his teeth gleaming in his beard. "Gentlemen, you may congratulate me, and you may congratulate each other yourselves. Problem solved." "Have you found your way up?" "I think so," "where?" Instead of answering, he pointed to the pyramid-shaped rock on the right. Our faces—at least mine—showed disappointment when we saw that rock.I believe it is possible to climb it, but between that rock and the plateau lies a terrible chasm. "We'll never get past that," I sighed. "We can at least get to the top," he said. "When we're up there, I want to show you what an inventive mind can do." After breakfast, we opened the climbing kit brought by our leader.Lord John was an experienced mountaineer, and Somerley had climbed mountains a few times, so I was the only one in the group who hadn't really climbed, but I was strong and vigorous. The first half of the climb was perfectly fine, but from there it kept getting steeper and I don't think I'll be able to climb it any more, nor Sommerli.But by this time Challenger had climbed to the top and fastened the rope around the trunk of the tree that grew there.Relying on this rope, we quickly went up to the small grassy platform on the summit. The whole plain of Brazil lay before us. The foreground is full of rocks and long slopes with ferns.Farther on, the yellow and green bamboo grove we walked through could be seen, and then, gradually, the vegetation became denser until a vast forest stretched for at least two thousand miles. I am still looking at this wonderful landscape, the professor's hand digging heavily on my shoulders. "Come here, my young friend," said he, "never look back. Go straight to the goal." I turned around and saw that the height of the plateau was exactly the level of our feet, and the green bushes, occasionally a few trees, were so close to the plateau that it was hard to believe how inaccessible it was! With one arm around the tree trunk, I poked my head over the abyss, and the little black shadow of our servant watched us from far below. "That's really rare," said Professor Somerley's voice. I turned and saw him observing the tree with great interest.I seem to recognize this kind of tree. "What," I cried, "a beech tree!" "Exactly," said Somerley. "A fellow countryman I met in a faraway place." "My good sir, not only a fellow countryman," said Challenger, "but a valuable ally, and this beech tree will help solve our problems." "Really!" cried Lord John, "a bridge." "Exactly, my friend, a bridge! Time is not in vain. I spent an hour last night thinking of our situation, if only a bridge had fallen to be thrown over the abyss." This is of course an excellent idea.The tree was over sixty feet high, and if it fell in just the right place, it could easily step over the abyss.Challenger came up with the ax over his shoulder, and now he's handing it to me. "Our young friend," said he, "you are best suited for this kind of task. I beseech you, however, to do exactly what you are told." A little over an hour later, with a loud crack, the tree fell, our bridge to the unknown. No one spoke, we all shook hands with Professor Challenger, who held up his straw hat and bowed deeply to everyone in turn. "I claim the honor," he said, "of being the first to go, into the unknown," As he approached the bridge, Lord John reached for his coat. "My dear fellow," said he, "I must never allow you to do this." "Not allowed, sir!" He turned his head back, his beard thrust forward. "It's not that you don't know that if it's a matter of science, I'll listen to you, because you're a scientist. But in the details of practical life, you must listen to me. We're about to break into an unfamiliar place, This place may be full of enemies." "Well, sir, what do you suggest?" Challenger asked, shrugging his broad shoulders. "Malone and I go down again, and we'll come up with four guns, and then one can go in first, and the rest cover him with guns, and wait until he sees that the place is safe before the rest go in." Challenger still objected, but Somerley and I thought that Lord John should be our leader when such details of life came into question.Climbing up and down is now a simple matter.In less than an hour, we brought up four rifles and a shotgun.Our servants also came up, and Lord John ordered them to bring supplies and bullets, as our expedition was likely to be very long. It was time for Challenger to cross the bridge into the unknown. With an ax on his back, he sat on the bridge with his legs dangling over the abyss, and he bumped along the trunk of the tree, and soon reached the opposite bank.He stood up, waving his arms in the air. "At last," he cried, "at last." I stood and watched him, afraid that a beast would come out from the green screen behind him and pounce on him.But all was still, except for a strangely shaped and colorful bird that flew up from under his feet and disappeared into the woods. Somerley was second, and crossed the bridge with two guns slung over his back, so that both professors were armed.Next was me, trying not to look down into the horrible abyss I was crossing.As for Lord John, he came over without using anything to keep his balance.He must have nerves of steel. In this way, the four of us entered the lost world, to the land that Mepuo White had visited.For the four of us, it was a moment of glorious triumph.No one expected what awaited us. We turned around the edge, and walked about fifty yards through the bushes, when suddenly there was a frightful cracking sound behind us.We ran back along the road we had walked, and the bridge was gone. Far below the cliff, I saw a bunch of branches and the trunk.That's our beech tree.Then we saw Gomuz's face, but it was no longer the familiar Gomuz, his eyes were burning with hatred. "Lord Ruxton!" he cried, "Lord John Ruxton!" "Why," said our companion, "here I am." "Yes, where are you, you English dog, you stay there! I waited and waited, and now my meeting has come at last. You found it difficult to get up, and now you will find it even harder to get down." We were too scared to speak.The face disappeared for a while and then reappeared. "I nearly stoned you in that cave," he cried, "but it's better, let death torment you slowly. You'll lay your body to the bone, and no one will know where you died. When As you slowly die, think of Rafz, the man you shot dead five years ago in the Putumayo River. I am his brother. Now I die with peace, revenge and revenge." He disappeared again, and then all was silent. Gomuz scrambled down the cliff, but before he reached the ground Lord John ran along the edge of the plateau to a place where he could be seen.His rifle fired, followed by the sound of a distant body falling to the ground. Ruxton came back among us, his face as granite. "Silly of me," he said bitterly, "I forgot that these people have very good memories." Now we can't get past this broken place.There is the plain, leading to where we hid our kayaks, and beyond the horizon, the creek that leads back to civilization.But the link was broken, and now we just sat in the bushes and waited for Zambo, our loyal Negro.Soon, his honest black face, and then his huge body, appeared above the rock opposite the break. "What can I do now?" he yelled. "You tell me, I'll do it." This is an easy question to ask but not easy to answer.One thing is clear, he is our only link with the outside world, and he must not leave us. "No, no!" he D11 said. "I won't leave you. You can always find me here. But I can't keep the Indians, they say there are too many Gurupuris in this place, they want to go home, I can't keep them from going. " It is true that our Indians have expressed in many ways that they are weary of the journey and are anxious to return.We understand that Zambo is telling the truth, and that it is impossible for him to keep them. "Keep them till tomorrow, Zambo," I cried, "then I can send them home with a letter." "Well, sir, I promise to let them go back tomorrow," said the Negro. "But what do you want me to do now?" There were many things to be asked of him, and the honest Negro did them all.He helped us to rope our supplies across the abyss.Then he went down and brought up two more bags of various items--we all shipped them in the same way.It was dusk the last time he went down, and he promised to keep the Indians waiting until tomorrow. That's it, I borrowed the light of a candle and spent almost the entire first night on the plateau writing down our encounters. Tomorrow (or rather today, for it is daylight as I write this) we shall begin our expedition in this strange land.When I shall be able to write again--if I shall be able to write again--I don't know, I can see that the Indians are still there, and I'm sure the faithful Zambo will be coming for my letters soon. Desperate again - I don't see any hope of our return.Near the edge of the plateau, there are no big trees to build a bridge over the broken.Our combined physical strength cannot move a trunk so well suited for this purpose.The rope is too short, let's go down with it.It's over, our situation is hopeless.