whole land was infested by these and similar horrid monsters, life

would be impossible upon it, and we decided that we would only

search long enough to find and take aboard fresh water and such meat

and fruits as might be safely procurable and then retrace our way

beneath the cliffs to the open sea.

And so at last we turned into our narrow bunks, hopeful, happy

and at peace with ourselves, our lives and our God, to awaken the

following morning refreshed and still optimistic. We had an easy

time getting away--as we learned later, because the saurians do

not commence to feed until late in the morning. From noon to

midnight their curve of activity is at its height, while from

dawn to about nine o'clock it is lowest. As a matter of fact, we

didn't see one of them all the time we were getting under way,

though I had the cannon raised to the deck and manned against

an assault. I hoped, but I was none too sure, that shells might

discourage them. The trees were full of monkeys of all sizes and

shades, and once we thought we saw a manlike creature watching us

from the depth of the forest.

Shortly after we resumed our course upstream, we saw the mouth of

another and smaller river emptying into the main channel from the

south--that is, upon our right; and almost immediately after we

came upon a large island five or six miles in length; and at

fifty miles there was a still larger river than the last coming

in from the northwest, the course of the main stream having now

changed to northeast by southwest. The water was quite free from

reptiles, and the vegetation upon the banks of the river had

altered to more open and parklike forest, with eucalyptus and

acacia mingled with a scattering of tree ferns, as though two

distinct periods of geologic time had overlapped and merged.

The grass, too, was less flowering, though there were still

gorgeous patches mottling the greensward; and lastly, the fauna

was less multitudinous.

Six or seven miles farther, and the river widened considerably;

before us opened an expanse of water to the farther horizon, and

then we sailed out upon an inland sea so large that only a shore-

line upon our side was visible to us. The waters all about us

were alive with life. There were still a few reptiles; but there

were fish by the thousands, by the millions.

The water of the inland sea was very warm, almost hot, and the

atmosphere was hot and heavy above it. It seemed strange that