tral Europe, as described in my "Travels in the
Forgotten Continent."

In the lake region where I now found myself, the waters abounded with
ichthyosauri, and along the margins the iguanodon dragged his obscene bulk
in indolent immunity. Great flocks of pterodactyls, their bodies as large
as those of oxen and their necks enormously long, clamored and fought in
the air, the broad membranes of their wings making a singular musical
humming, unlike anything that I had ever heard. Between them and the
ichthyosauri there was incessant battle, and I was constantly reminded of
the ancient poet's splendid and original comparison of man to

dragons of the prime
That tare each other in their slime.

When brought down with my electric rifle and properly roasted, the
pterodactyl proved very good eating, particularly the pads of the toes.

In urging my raft along the shore line of one of the stagnant lagoons one
day I was surprised to find a broad rock jutting out from the shore, its
upper surface some ten _coprets_ above the water. Disembarking, I ascended
it, and on examination recognized it as the remnant of an immense mountain
which at one time must have been 5,000 _coprets_ in height and doubtless
the dominating peak of a long range. From the striations all over it I
discovered that it had been worn away to its present trivial size by
glacial action. Opening my case of instruments, I took out my
petrochronologue and applied it to the worn and scratched surface of the
rock. The indicator at once pointed to K 59 xpc 1/2! At this astonishing
result I was nearly overcome by excitement: the last erosions of the
ice-masses upon this vestige of a stupendous mountain range which they had
worn away, had been made as recently as the year 1945! Hastily applying my
nymograph, I found that the name of this particular mountain at the time
when it began to be enveloped in the mass of ice moving down upon it from
the north, was "Pike's Peak." Other observations with other instruments
showed that at that time the country circumjacent to it had been inhabited
by a partly civilized race of people known as Galoots, the name of their
capital city being Denver.

That evening at the hour of 23 I set up my aerial isochronophone[3] and
reported to his gracious Majesty the Ahkoond as follows:

[3] This satire was published in the San Francisco _Examiner_ many
years before the invention of wireless telegraphy; so I retain