“So long as neither man nor beast has seen or heard us, we are safe,” said Lord John. “From the time they know we are here our troubles begin. There are no signs that they have found us out as yet. We want to have a good look at our neighbours before we get on visiting terms.”

“But we must go further,” I said.

“By all means, my boy! We will go further. But with common sense. Above all, we must never, unless it is life or death, fire off our guns.”

“But YOU fired yesterday,” said Summerlee.

“Well, I had to. However, the wind was strong. It is not likely that the sound could have travelled far into the plateau. By the way, what shall we call this land?”

“It can only have one name,” said Challenger. “It is called after the man who discovered it. It is Maple White Land.”

So we knew that the place was inhabited by some unknown creatures, and there was that of Maple White’s sketch-book to show that more dreadful and more dangerous monsters might still appear. Our situation was clearly full of danger.

We therefore blocked the entrance to our refuge with several thorny bushes, and left our camp following a small river. Hardly had we started our journey when we came across signs that there were indeed wonders awaiting us. We entered a region where the stream widened out. Suddenly Lord John, who was walking first, stopped.

“Look at this!” said he. “By George, this must be the trail of the father of all birds!”

An enormous three-toed track was imprinted in the soft mud before us. If it were indeed a bird… its foot must be enormous. Lord John looked eagerly round him.

“The track is a fresh one,” said he, “The creature has not passed ten minutes. My God! See, here is the mark of a little one!”

Sure enough, smaller tracks of the same general form were running parallel to the large ones.

“But what do you make of this?” cried Professor Summerlee, pointing to what looked like the huge print of a five-fingered hand among the three-toed marks.

“I guess I know!” cried Challenger, in an ecstasy. “It is a creature walking erect upon three-toed feet, and occasionally putting one of its five-fingered forepaws on the ground. Not a bird, my dear Roxton… not a bird.”

“A beast?”

“No, a reptile – a dinosaur. Nothing else could have left such a track. Who in the world could have hoped to have seen a sight like that?”

Following the tracks, we passed through the brushwood and trees. Beyond was an open area, and there were five of the most extraordinary creatures that I have ever seen. Two being adults and three young ones. In size they were enormous. Even the babies were as big as elephants! All five were sitting up, balancing themselves upon their broad, powerful tails and their huge three-toed hind-feet, while with their small five-fingered front-feet they pulled down the branches. I do not know that I can describe their appearance to you better than by saying that they looked like monstrous kangaroos, with skins like black crocodiles.

I do not know how long we stayed motionless gazing at this marvelous spectacle. A strong wind blew towards us and we were well concealed, so there was no chance of discovery. The strength of the parents seemed to be limitless, for one of them, having some difficulty in reaching the leaves, put his fore-legs round the trunk and tore it down. The action seemed, as I thought, to show not only the great development of its muscles, but also the small one of its brain. The tree came crashing down on the head of it. The incident made it think, apparently, that the neighbourhood was dangerous, and it slowly went through the wood, followed by its mate and its three enormous babies. Then they vanished from our sight.