object of this expedition,
Lord John. I assure you that I little thought when I left my
professional chair in London that it was for the purpose of heading a
raid of savages upon a colony of anthropoid apes."

"To such base uses do we come," said Lord John, smiling. "But we are
up against it, so what's the decision?"

"It seems a most questionable step," said Summerlee, argumentative to
the last, "but if you are all going, I hardly see how I can remain
behind."

"Then it is settled," said Lord John, and turning to the chief he
nodded and slapped his rifle.

The old fellow clasped our hands, each in turn, while his men cheered
louder than ever. It was too late to advance that night, so the
Indians settled down into a rude bivouac. On all sides their fires
began to glimmer and smoke. Some of them who had disappeared into the
jungle came back presently driving a young iguanodon before them. Like
the others, it had a daub of asphalt upon its shoulder, and it was only
when we saw one of the natives step forward with the air of an owner
and give his consent to the beast's slaughter that we understood at
last that these great creatures were as much private property as a herd
of cattle, and that these symbols which had so perplexed us were
nothing more than the marks of the owner. Helpless, torpid, and
vegetarian, with great limbs but a minute brain, they could be rounded
up and driven by a child. In a few minutes the huge beast had been cut
up and slabs of him were hanging over a dozen camp fires, together with
great scaly ganoid fish which had been speared in the lake.

Summerlee had lain down and slept upon the sand, but we others roamed
round the edge of the water, seeking to learn something more of this
strange country. Twice we found pits of blue clay, such as we had
already seen in the swamp of the pterodactyls. These were old volcanic
vents, and for some reason excited the greatest interest in Lord John.
What attracted Challenger, on the other hand, was a bubbling, gurgling
mud geyser, where some strange gas formed great bursting bubbles upon
the surface. He thrust a hollow reed into it and cried out with
delight like a schoolboy then he was able, on touching it with a
lighted match, to cause a sharp explosion and a blue flame at the far
end of the tube. Still more pleased was he when, inverting a leathern
pouch over the end of the reed, and so filling it with the gas, he was
able to send it soaring up