Many of the trees under which we
passed had their branches bowed down with fruit, some of which were of
familiar sorts, while other varieties were new. By observing which of
them were pecked by the birds we avoided all danger of poison and added
a delicious variety to our food reserve. In the jungle which we
traversed were numerous hard-trodden paths made by the wild beasts, and
in the more marshy places we saw a profusion of strange footmarks,
including many of the iguanodon. Once in a grove we observed several
of these great creatures grazing, and Lord John, with his glass, was
able to report that they also were spotted with asphalt, though in a
different place to the one which we had examined in the morning. What
this phenomenon meant we could not imagine.

We saw many small animals, such as porcupines, a scaly ant-eater, and a
wild pig, piebald in color and with long curved tusks. Once, through a
break in the trees, we saw a clear shoulder of green hill some distance
away, and across this a large dun-colored animal was traveling at a
considerable pace. It passed so swiftly that we were unable to say
what it was; but if it were a deer, as was claimed by Lord John, it
must have been as large as those monstrous Irish elk which are still
dug up from time to time in the bogs of my native land.

Ever since the mysterious visit which had been paid to our camp we
always returned to it with some misgivings. However, on this occasion
we found everything in order.

That evening we had a grand discussion upon our present situation and
future plans, which I must describe at some length, as it led to a new
departure by which we were enabled to gain a more complete knowledge of
Maple White Land than might have come in many weeks of exploring. It
was Summerlee who opened the debate. All day he had been querulous in
manner, and now some remark of Lord John's as to what we should do on
the morrow brought all his bitterness to a head.

"What we ought to be doing to-day, to-morrow, and all the time," said
he, "is finding some way out of the trap into which we have fallen.
You are all turning your brains towards getting into this country. I
say that we should be scheming how to get out of it."

"I am surprised, sir," boomed Challenger, stroking his majestic beard,
"that any man of science should commit himself to so ignoble a
sentiment. You are in a land which offers such an inducement to the
ambitious naturalist as non