like of which, of course, they never had seen. They
pulled and hauled upon me, and some of them struck me; but for the most
part they were not inclined to brutality. It was only the hairier
ones, who most closely resembled the Sto-lu, who maltreated me. At
last my captors led me into a great cave in the mouth of which a fire
was burning. The floor was littered with filth, including the bones of
many animals, and the atmosphere reeked with the stench of human bodies
and putrefying flesh. Here they fed me, releasing my arms, and I ate
of half-cooked aurochs steak and a stew which may have been made of
snakes, for many of the long, round pieces of meat suggested them most
nauseatingly.

The meal completed, they led me well within the cavern, which they
lighted with torches stuck in various crevices in the light of which I
saw, to my astonishment, that the walls were covered with paintings and
etchings. There were aurochs, red deer, saber-tooth tiger, cave-bear,
hyaenadon and many other examples of the fauna of Caspak done in
colors, usually of four shades of brown, or scratched upon the surface
of the rock. Often they were super-imposed upon each other until it
required careful examination to trace out the various outlines. But
they all showed a rather remarkable aptitude for delineation which
further fortified Bowen's comparisons between these people and the
extinct Cro-Magnons whose ancient art is still preserved in the caverns
of Niaux and Le Portel. The Band-lu, however, did not have the bow and
arrow, and in this respect they differ from their extinct progenitors,
or descendants, of Western Europe.

Should any of my friends chance to read the story of my adventures upon
Caprona, I hope they will not be bored by these diversions, and if they
are, I can only say that I am writing my memoirs for my own edification
and therefore setting down those things which interested me
particularly at the time. I have no desire that the general public
should ever have access to these pages; but it is possible that my
friends may, and also certain savants who are interested; and to them,
while I do not apologize for my philosophizing, I humbly explain that
they are witnessing the groupings of a finite mind after the infinite,
the search for explanations of the inexplicable.

In a far recess of the cavern my captors bade me halt. Again my hands
were secured, and this time my feet as well. During the operation they
questi