ad passed on
into the forest. We all stopped to examine that monstrous spoor. If
it were indeed a bird--and what animal could leave such a mark?--its
foot was so much larger than an ostrich's that its height upon the same
scale must be enormous. Lord John looked eagerly round him and slipped
two cartridges into his elephant-gun.

"I'll stake my good name as a shikarree," said he, "that the track is a
fresh one. The creature has not passed ten minutes. Look how the
water is still oozing into that deeper print! By Jove! See, here is
the mark of a little one!"

Sure enough, smaller tracks of the same general form were running
parallel to the large ones.

"But what do you make of this?" cried Professor Summerlee,
triumphantly, pointing to what looked like the huge print of a
five-fingered human hand appearing among the three-toed marks.

"Wealden!" cried Challenger, in an ecstasy. "I've seen them in the
Wealden clay. It is a creature walking erect upon three-toed feet, and
occasionally putting one of its five-fingered forepaws upon the ground.
Not a bird, my dear Roxton--not a bird."

"A beast?"

"No; a reptile--a dinosaur. Nothing else could have left such a track.
They puzzled a worthy Sussex doctor some ninety years ago; but who in
the world could have hoped--hoped--to have seen a sight like that?"

His words died away into a whisper, and we all stood in motionless
amazement. Following the tracks, we had left the morass and passed
through a screen of brushwood and trees. Beyond was an open glade, and
in this were five of the most extraordinary creatures that I have ever
seen. Crouching down among the bushes, we observed them at our leisure.

There were, as I say, five of them, two being adults and three young
ones. In size they were enormous. Even the babies were as big as
elephants, while the two large ones were far beyond all creatures I
have ever seen. They had slate-colored skin, which was scaled like a
lizard's and shimmered where the sun shone upon it. All five were
sitting up, balancing themselves upon their broad, powerful tails and
their huge three-toed hind-feet, while with their small five-fingered
front-feet they pulled down the branches upon which they browsed. I do
not know that I can bring their appearance home to you better than by
saying that they looked like monstrous kangaroos, twenty feet in
length, and with skins like black crocodiles.

I do not know how long we stayed mo