Part 7 (1/2)
He handed e bird stands on the tree
It appears to have a considerable beak I should say it was a pelican”
”I cannot congratulate you upon your eyesight,” said the Professor
”It is not a pelican, nor, indeed, is it a bird Itthat particular specimen It was the only absolute proof ofaith ible corroboration
”I had it It was unfortunately lost with so raphs I clutched at it as it disappeared in the swirl of the rapids, and part of its as left in my hand I was insensible ashed ashore, but the miserable remnant of my superb specimen was still intact; I now lay it before you”
From a drawer he produced what seee bat It was at least two feet in length, a curved bone, with a ested
”Nothing of the sort,” said the Professor, severely ”Living, as I do, in an educated and scientific atmosphere, I could not have conceived that the first principles of zoology were so little known Is it possible that you do not know the ele of a bird is really the forearers with membranes between?
Now, in this case, the bone is certainly not the forearle le bone, and therefore that it cannot belong to a bat But if it is neither bird nor bat, what is it?”
My se was exhausted
”I really do not know,” said I
He opened the standard work to which he had already referredto the picture of an extraordinary flying monster, ”is an excellent reproduction of the di reptile of the Jurassic period On the next page is a diagra Kindly compare it with the specimen in your hand”
A wave of amazement passed over etting away fro The sketch, the photographs, the narrative, and now the actual specimen--the evidence was complete I said so--I said so warmly, for I felt that the Professor was an ill-usedeyelids and a tolerant slea that I ever heard of!” said I, though it was my journalistic rather than my scientific enthusiasm that was roused ”It is colossal You are a Columbus of science who has discovered a lost world I'm awfully sorry if I seemed to doubt you
It was all so unthinkable But I understand evidence when I see it, and this should be good enough for anyone”
The Professor purred with satisfaction
”And then, sir, what did you do next?”
”It was the wet season, Mr Malone, and e cliff, but I was unable to find any way to scale it The pyramidal rock upon which I saw and shot the pterodactyl was e to get half way to the top of that Froht I had a better idea of the plateau upon the top of the crags It appeared to be very large; neither to east nor to west could I see any end to the vista of green-capped cliffs Below, it is a swaion, full of snakes, insects, and fever It is a natural protection to this singular country”
”Did you see any other trace of life?”
”No, sir, I did not; but during the week that we lay encae noises from above”
”But the creature that the American dre do you account for that?”
”We can only suppose that he must have made his way to the summit and seen it there We know, therefore, that there is a way up We know equally that it must be a very difficult one, otherwise the creatures would have co country Surely that is clear?”
”But how did they come to be there?”
”I do not think that the problem is a very obscure one,” said the Professor; ”there can only be one explanation South Aranite continent At this single point in the interior there has been, in soreat, sudden volcanic upheaval These cliffs, I may ree perhaps as Sussex, has been lifted up en bloc with all its living contents, and cut off by perpendicular precipices of a hardness which defies erosion from all the rest of the continent What is the result? Why, the ordinary laws of Nature are suspended The various checks which influence the struggle for existence in the world at large are all neutralized or altered Creatures survive which would otherwise disappear You will observe that both the pterodactyl and the stegosaurus are Jurassic, and therefore of a great age in the order of life They have been artificially conserved by those strange accidental conditions”