orge at one point were fully seven hundred feet high,
absolutely perpendicular, and of solid rock. It was as if the hill had
been split wide open with one blow of a tremendous broad-ax. Beyond the
elevation the channel spread out fan-fashion, creating a funnel-like bay
or inlet from the sea.

4. There was no other land in sight. As far as the eye could reach with
the aid of lenses there was nothing but water, a mighty waste of water.

5. The wind, which had veered around to the south, was cold and dry.

6. A curving beach of almost snowy whiteness extended for a mile or so
along the northern shore, about half way between the entrance to the
channel and the eastern point of land. Inside the fringe of trees that
lined this beach stretched what appeared to be a long strip of rolling
meadow-land, reaching far up the hillsides.

7. Monkeys, parrots and snakes abounded in the forest. An occasional
gay-plumaged bird of the toucan variety, but larger than the ordinary
South American species, was seen, while large numbers of plump birds of
the tinamou family went drumming off through the forest at the approach
of the party. Penguins strutted in complete "full dress" among the rocks
of the southern shore. A dead armadillo of extraordinary dimensions was
found near the foot of the slope. It was at least thrice the size of
the common South American mammal. The same could be said of the single
iguana encountered. This large lizard, which was alive, must have been
fully ten feet from head to tail, and gave rise to the belief that the
supposedly extinct iguanodon, described by the scientists as attaining a
length of thirty feet, might any day be discovered in the fastnesses
of this unexplored land. The mere existence of this rather amiable,
unfrightened monster was of the greatest significance. If it were known
to man, why had it never been reported in zoological or natural history
journals?

8. The trees on the mountain-side were thick and stunted, with
interlocking limbs that created a sort of endless canopy which the sun
was unable to penetrate. The cool, dry wind that swept the slope would
account, however, for the surprising absence of moisture in soil and
vegetation in the dense shade of the trees. Oak, elm, spruce, even
walnut, and other trees of a sturdy character indigenous to the
temperate zone were identified. What appeared to be a clump of cypress
trees, fantastic, misshapen objects that seemed to, shrink back in
terr