I see in reading over the last few pages that I neglected to state that Lys
finally discovered that the Neanderthal man possessed a language. She has
learned to speak it, and so have I, to some extent. It was he—his name he says
is Am, or Ahm—who told us that this country is called Caspak. When we asked him
how far it extended, he waved both arms about his head in an all-including
gesture which took in, apparently, the entire universe. He is more tractable
now, and we are going to release him, for he has assured us that he will not
permit his fellows to harm us. He calls us Galus and says that in a short time
he will be a Galu. It is not quite clear to us what he means. He says that
there are many Galus north of us, and that as soon as he becomes one he will go
and live with them.
Ahm went out to hunt with us yesterday and was much impressed by the ease with
which our rifles brought down antelopes and deer. We have been living upon the
fat of the land, Ahm having shown us the edible fruits, tubers and herbs, and
twice a week we go out after fresh meat. A certain proportion of this we dry
and store away, for we do not know what may come. Our drying process is really
smoking. We have also dried a large quantity of two varieties of cereal which
grow wild a few miles south of us. One of these is a giant Indian maize—a lofty
perennial often fifty and sixty feet in height, with ears the size of a man’s
body and kernels as large as your fist. We have had to construct a second store
house for the great quantity of this that we have gathered.
_September_ 3, 1916: Three months ago today the torpedo from the
_U_-33 started me from the peaceful deck of the American liner upon the
strange voyage which has ended here in Caspak. We have settled down to an
acceptance of our fate, for all are convinced that none of us will ever see the
outer world again. Ahm’s repeated assertions that there are human beings like
ourselves in Caspak have roused the men to a keen desire for exploration. I
sent out one party last week under Bradley. Ahm, who is now free to go and come
as he wishes, accompanied them. They marched about twenty-five miles due west,
encountering many terrible beasts and reptiles and not a few manlike creatures
whom Ahm sent away. Here is Bradley’s report of the expedition:
Marched fifteen miles the first day, camping on the bank of a large stream
which runs southward. Game was plentiful and we saw several varieties which we
had not before encountered in Caspak. Just before making camp we were charged
by an enormous woolly rhinoceros, which Plesser dropped with a perfect shot. We
had rhinoceros-steaks for supper. Ahm called the thing “Atis.” It was almost a
continuous battle from the time we left the fort until we arrived at camp. The
mind of man can scarce conceive the plethora of carnivorous life in this lost
world; and their prey, of course, is even more abundant.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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