Chapter 11 11. I became a hero once

John, Lord Ruxton, was right when he thought that the hideous animals that attacked us might harbor venom in their mouths.The morning after our first expedition to the plateau, Somerley and I were in great pain and fever, while Challenger's knee was so swollen that he could hardly walk.We remained, therefore, in camp all day, while Lord John toiled hard, heightening and thickening the wall of thorns which was our only barrier.All this long day I felt that we were being closely watched, though I cannot say by whom or from where. The impression was so strong that I told it to Professor Challenger, but he said it was my heat.Yet the feeling of some imminent danger grew stronger.

That night (the third at Mepoo White) we had an experience which left us with a horrible impression.We are grateful to Lord John for his hard work in making the camp walls taller and thicker.We were all sleeping around the dying fire, when we were awakened by terrible cries and shrieks.The sound seemed to come from somewhere a few hundred yards from the camp.Then, there was another voice, a low laugh.For three or four minutes this terrible duet continued, while all the branches were shaken by the flight of frightened birds.Then the sound stopped abruptly.We sat for a long time in silence, while Lord John added twigs to the fire, and the red flames illuminated the fixed faces of my companions.

"What is it?" I asked quietly. "We'll find out tomorrow morning," said Lord John. "Close to us, not beyond this glade." "We have had the privilege of hearing prehistoric tragedy, a drama that took place in the reeds on the banks of the Chora lagoon, where larger animals killed smaller animals," said Challenger, in a tone of majesty that I used to hear in Never heard in his voice. "Man is fortunate that these terrible animals appeared when they were extinct, and their courage and their bows and arrows would be of no use against them."

Somerley raised his hand. "Hush!" he cried. "I must have heard something!" In the silence, we hear the deep, rhythmic breathing of the animal.It circled our campsite stealthily and slowly, then stopped by the gate.We hear the animal panting, but our thorny shrub branches separate us from the horror of the night.Each of us grabbed a rifle, and Lord John pulled down a small bush and made a hole in the fence. "Oops!" he murmured. "I see it." I bent over his shoulder and looked through the hole in the wall.Sure enough, I saw it too.This thing is not as tall as a horse, but its low, rhythmic breathing shows that it is a deformed life form.As it moved, I saw two horrible, pale green eyes.

"I think it's going to jump!" I said, ready to shoot. "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" murmured Lord John. "A shot can be heard for miles on a still night." "If it jumps over the wall, we're finished," said Somerley, laughing nervously. "No, it can't be made to jump over," cried Lord John, "but don't shoot. Maybe I can do something, anyway, I'll try my luck." He picked up a burning branch and sent it gently through the hole in the wall.The beast moved forward.Lord John shoved the burning branch into the brute's face, and in an instant there was a clatter in the undergrowth, and the frightened intruder was gone.

"I suppose the fire will frighten him," said Lord John, laughing, when he came back and threw the branch into the fire. "You shouldn't take such a risk!" we all yelled. "There's no other way. If we shot him and wounded him, he'd jump on us right away. So what's it?" We learned people looked at each other with some hesitation. "Personally, I'm not sure I can say which species it is," said Somerley, lighting his pipe over the fire. "We're almost certain tonight that he said he was in contact with some type of carnivorous dinosaur," Challenger said. "I have expressed my opinion that such things are possible on the plateau."

"We must remember," observed Somerley, "that there are many prehistoric forms of life that have not survived to the present day. It would not be correct to suppose that we should have names for everything we might encounter." "Exactly. Perhaps our best hope is to be able to try to work out a rough classification. Tomorrow some further evidence may help us in this regard, and now we can resume our interrupted rest .” "But there must be no watch," said Lord John, and made up his mind. "In a country like this, we can't take chances. From now on, each of us will work every two hours."

From now on we always have one person to watch the night. In the morning we discovered the source of that hideous cry that had terrified us at night.Iguanodon Glade was the scene of this horrific carnage.When we saw pools of blood and huge chunks of flesh thrown everywhere on the green grass, I initially assumed that a group of animals had been killed, but looking more closely at the remains of the animals, we found all these All from a great defenseless beast torn to pieces by some animal perhaps no bigger but more ferocious. We two professors sat and looked at one piece after another, the huge teeth marks and huge paw marks left on these meat blocks.

"These markings," said Professor Challenger, "remind me of a saber-toothed cat, but this animal seems to me unquestionably larger and more reptilian. Personally I imagine a raptor." "Or Megalosaurus," said Somerley. "Exactly. Any kind of carnivorous dinosaur." "May I ask, what is this mark on the skin of the Iguanodon?" asked Lord John. On the slate-colored skin, in one place above the shoulder, there was a dark circle of some substance that looked like pitch.None of us could tell what it was, though Somerley said he had seen the same mark on a cub.

"I'm inclined to agree with my friend and colleague, Professor Somerley, that the marks are asphalt," Challenger said. "Because this plateau, in its true nature, was created by intense volcanic activity, and since bitumen is always regarded as a substance connected with volcanic activity, I have no doubt that it exists on this plateau in a free liquid state. , and these animals may have been stained by passing there." We only mapped a small part of the plateau that morning, because we had been moving east of the river instead of west of the river to avoid the pterosaur swamp.in that position.The place is densely forested, and our progress is poor.

All that morning we walked among the lovely flowers.Mostly white or yellow flowers.These flowers, our professor explained, were of primitive flower shape, and in many places the ground was completely covered with flowers, and the fragrance was almost intoxicating as we walked on this wonderful carpet.Bees are busy all around us.Many of the trees we passed below were laden with fruit, some familiar and others unknown.We judge whether we will be poisoned by observing which fruits the birds eat.In the jungle, the paths stepped by many wild animals intersected, and on some swamps with high humidity, we saw many strange footprints, including the footprints of many iguanodon.We once again saw several of these large animals, and Lord John, through his glass, reported to us that, though not on the shoulders, they also had tar-marks on their bodies.How this happened, we cannot imagine. We saw many small animals, such as a porcupine, a scaly anteater, and a wild boar with long tusks.Sometimes, through gaps in the trees, we saw green hills in the distance, and a dun animal was climbing over the hills.It ran so fast that we couldn't tell what kind of animal it was. We've been terrified every time we've come back since something strangely patronized our tent.But then we found out that everything was normal. We had a long discussion that evening about our situation and our future plans, which led to a plan for a fuller understanding of Mepuo White.Somoli spoke first. "We should find a way to find a way out of this trap we've fallen into," he said. "You all turn your minds to go deeper into this country. I say we should plan how to get out of here." "I wonder, sir," bellowed Challenger, stroking his bushy beard, "to hear you say such things. You are in a land where there has been something for a natural scientist since the beginning of the world. No one has ever had such an opportunity, and you propose to leave before completing your investigation. I would have liked you to have something better to say, Professor Somerley." "You have to remember," said Somerley, "that I have a whole host of students waiting for me in London. This puts me in a different position than you, Professor Challenger. For, as far as I know, you have never Responsible teaching." Lord John hastily interrupted the conversation. "I must say," said he, "that I do not intend to return to London until I know the place much better than I do now." "I'd never dare go into the offices of my paper and meet old McArdle," I said. "He will never forgive me for leaving a plateau that I haven't explored. And, in my opinion, it's not worth discussing, because we can't go down if we want to go." "Our young friend has common sense," Challenger expressed his opinion. "We can't go down, so it's a waste of energy to discuss this issue." "It's useless to do anything else," said Somerley, hiding his face in the mist from his pipe. "Let me remind you that we are here commissioned by that meeting of the Zoological Society of London with a fully qualified mission. The mission was to check the veracity of Professor Challenger's report. We have already completed that mission. Therefore , our work is done. As for the expedition to the plateau, the work is so heavy that it would require a large expedition with special equipment, and if we intend to do it ourselves, the only possible outcome is that we will never be able to bring Our great contribution to science. Professor Challenger found a way to get us up when it seemed impossible, and I think we should now ask him to find a way to get us back to the world we came from .” Somerley seemed to have a point, and even Challenger did, since he had only wanted to confirm his report to those who doubted him. "The problem of going down appears at first glance to be extremely difficult," he said, "yet I have no doubt that a man of knowledge will be able to solve it. I am ready to agree with my colleague that a long stay at Mepoo White is not an option." Yes. However, I absolutely refuse to leave at once, and we shall at least make a superficial survey of the country, and be able to bring back some sort of topographical map." Summerley disagreed. "We have spent two days on the expedition," said he, "and as to the geography of the place we know no more than at the beginning. It is clear that here and there are dense forests, which It will take months to survey it. I don't see a mountain in the middle of the plateau from which we can make a general picture." At that moment I had an idea.I happened to see the tree in whose shade we camped.The trunk is very tall.If this part of the plateau happens to be the highest point, then this gigantic and remarkable tree can serve as a watchtower for the whole plateau.As long as I can put my legs on the bottom of the giant branch, then I can climb to the top. My friends appreciate my idea. Lord John put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't know why we didn't think of it before! There's still an hour left until dark, but if you have your notebook with you, you might be able to sketch the place. I'll help you up." There were many branches for climbing up, so I climbed very fast, and in a blink of an eye, I couldn't see anything below except the green leaves.But this tree is huge, looking up, the leaves on the head are not thin at all.There's something thick and bushy on the branch I'm standing on.I put my face against the side of it to see what was behind it, and what I saw nearly fell out of the tree in horror. A face was staring straight into mine—only a foot or two away.It was a human face, long and white; the nose was flat, the lower jaw protruded, and a beard grew on the chin.The eyes under the bushy eyebrows are fierce, and when it opened its mouth, I saw two rows of sharp teeth growing inside.For a split second I saw hatred and malice in those eyes.Then there was a look of fear, and it got into the green leaves.I saw a hairy, pigskin-pink body that was gone in no time. "What's the matter?" cried Ruxton from below. "Is something wrong?" "Did you see that?" I yelled. "I hear voices. What is it?" Terrified by the sudden and strange countenance of the ape-man, I prepared to climb down and tell my companions what I had encountered.But I've climbed so high on this great tree that it would seem foolish to abandon my mission and go back. So after a long rest, I resumed my climb.Soon the leaves were thinning around me and I felt the wind in my face.When I reached the highest point, I settled myself on a handy tree branch and looked down: what a wonderful panorama of this strange country. The sun was setting, and the evening was bright and clear, so that I could see the whole of the plateau below, a cobbled outline about thirty miles in width and twenty in width.All sides are inclined to the central lake.In the evening light, the lake is green and beautiful.Reeds grow by the lake.There are several sandbars in the lake, which are golden in the light of the setting sun.On the edge of these sandbars lay many long black squirrels. Looking through the telescope in my hand, I could clearly see that they were all alive, but I couldn't say what they were. From our side of the plateau the forested slopes descended five or six miles down to the central lake.Below me I saw the glade where the iguanodon haunted, and a circular opening in some woods farther down leading to the swamp where the pterosaur was.On the opposite side from me were basalt cliffs about two hundred feet high, with forested slopes below them, and along the foot of these red cliffs, I saw through the telescope black holes that looked like It's the mouth of the cave, and at one mouth, there's a white thing moving, but I can't make out what it is.I sat and mapped the whole plateau until sunset.Then I climbed down from the tree, and joined my companions, and this time I was the hero of the expedition.It's the way I thought of it myself, and I realized it myself.Here is the map, and it will save us a month's labor in an unforeseen peril.Everyone shook my hand solemnly. But before discussing the details of my map, I had to tell them about the ape-man I saw in the tree. "He's always been there," I said. "How do you know?" asked Lord John. "Because I have a constant feeling that something is watching us. I mentioned it to you, Professor Challenger." "Our young friends did say such things," Challenger said. "Okay, tell me, does this animal have a tail?" "No." "What do the feet look like?" "Then I didn't pay attention." "In South America, there are thirty-six species of monkeys, but no apes have been heard of. However, it is clear that there are in this place. The question we should solve is whether it is more similar to apes or closer to humans. To solve this problem , is our immediate task.” "Not an immediate task," said Somerley sharply. "Now that, by the mental and physical power of Mr Malone (I cannot help quoting this sentence), we have obtained our map, and our only immediate task is to leave this dreadful place, leaving further investigation to Someone else. You all agreed to do it until Mr. Malone got the map." "Well," said Challenger, "to be honest, I'd love to let our friends know the results of our expedition. But how we get down here, I haven't got an idea yet. But never and never have I Problems that an original mind cannot solve, I promise you, tomorrow I will turn my attention to the question of how we get on." That night, by firelight and the light of a single candle, the first map of the lost world was drawn.From my watchtower, every detail I noted down was painted there.Challenger's pencil rested on the large blank that marked the lake. "What do we call it?" he asked. "It's up to you, lad, what name you give the lake," said Lord John. "You're the first to see it, and if you were to write 'Lake Malone' on a map, no one would disagree." "Of course, of course. Let our young friend name it!" said Challenger. "Well," I said slowly. "Let it be called Lake Gladys!" Challenger looked at me sympathetically, shaking his big head. "Boys are always boys," he said. "Just call it Lake Gladys!"