Pellucidar | Page 9

or eight feet above the turf. This spot I called Greenwich. The boulder was the "Royal
Observatory."
I had made a start! I cannot tell you what a sense of relief was imparted to me by the

simple fact that there was at least one spot within Pellucidar with a familiar name and a
place upon a map.
It was with almost childish joy that I made a little circle in my note-book and traced the
word Greenwich beside it.
Now I felt I might start out upon my search with some assurance of finding my way back
again to the prospector.
I decided that at first I would travel directly south in the hope that I might in that
direction find some familiar landmark. It was as good a direction as any. This much at
least might be said of it.
Among the many other things I had brought from the outer world were a number of
pedometers. I slipped three of these into my pockets with the idea that I might arrive at a
more or less accurate mean from the registrations of them all.
On my map I would register so many paces south, so many east, so many west, and so on.
When I was ready to return I would then do so by any route that I might choose.
I also strapped a considerable quantity of ammuni-tion across my shoulders, pocketed
some matches, and hooked an aluminum fry-pan and a small stew-kettle of the same
metal to my belt.
I was ready--ready to go forth and explore a world!
Ready to search a land area of 124,110,000 square miles for my friends, my
incomparable mate, and good old Perry!
And so, after locking the door in the outer shell of the prospector, I set out upon my quest.
Due south I traveled, across lovely valleys thick-dotted with graz-ing herds.
Through dense primeval forests I forced my way and up the slopes of mighty mountains
searching for a pass to their farther sides.
Ibex and musk-sheep fell before my good old revolver, so that I lacked not for food in the
higher altitudes. The forests and the plains gave plentifully of fruits and wild birds,
antelope, aurochsen, and elk.
Occasionally, for the larger game animals and the gigantic beasts of prey, I used my
express rifle, but for the most part the revolver filled all my needs.
There were times, too, when faced by a mighty cave bear, a saber-toothed tiger, or huge
felis spelaea, black-maned and terrible, even my powerful rifle seemed pitifully
inadequate--but fortune favored me so that I passed unscathed through adventures that
even the recollection of causes the short hairs to bristle at the nape of my neck.
How long I wandered toward the south I do not know, for shortly after I left the

prospector something went wrong with my watch, and I was again at the mercy of the
baffling timelessness of Pellucidar, forging steadily ahead beneath the great, motionless
sun which hangs eternally at noon.
I ate many times, however, so that days must have elapsed, possibly months with no
familiar landscape rewarding my eager eyes.
I saw no men nor signs of men. Nor is this strange, for Pellucidar, in its land area, is
immense, while the human race there is very young and consequently far from numerous.
Doubtless upon that long search mine was the first human foot to touch the soil in many
places--mine the first human eye to rest upon the gorgeous wonders of the landscape.
It was a staggering thought. I could not but dwell upon it often as I made my lonely way
through this virgin world. Then, quite suddenly, one day I stepped out of the peace of
manless primality into the presence of man--and peace was gone.
It happened thus:
I had been following a ravine downward out of a chain of lofty hills and had paused at its
mouth to view the lovely little valley that lay before me. At one side was tangled wood,
while straight ahead a river wound peacefully along parallel to the cliffs in which the hills
terminated at the valley's edge.
Presently, as I stood enjoying the lovely scene, as insatiate for Nature's wonders as if I
had not looked upon similar landscapes countless times, a sound of shouting broke from
the direction of the woods. That the harsh, discordant notes rose from the throats of men I
could not doubt.
I slipped behind a large boulder near the mouth of the ravine and waited. I could hear the
crashing of underbrush in the forest, and I guessed that whoever came came
quickly--pursued and pursuers, doubtless.
In a short time some hunted animal would break into view, and a moment later a score of
half-naked savages would