The first thing which I saw filled me with amazement.  When I described the view from the summit of the great tree, I said that on the farther cliff I could see a number of dark spots, which appeared to be the mouths of caves.  Now, as I looked up at the same cliffs, I saw discs of light in every direction, ruddy, clearly-defined patches, like the port-holes of a liner in the darkness.  For a moment I thought it was the lava-glow from some volcanic action; but this could not be so.  Any volcanic action would surely be down in the hollow and not high among the rocks.  What, then, was the alternative?  It was wonderful, and yet it must surely be.  These ruddy spots must be the reflection of fires within the caves—­fires which could only be lit by the hand of man.  There were human beings, then, upon the plateau.  How gloriously my expedition was justified!  Here was news indeed for us to bear back with us to London!

For a long time I lay and watched these red, quivering blotches of light.  I suppose they were ten miles off from me, yet even at that distance one could observe how, from time to time, they twinkled or were obscured as someone passed before them.  What would I not have given to be able to crawl up to them, to peep in, and to take back some word to my comrades as to the appearance and character of the race who lived in so strange a place!  It was out of the question for the moment, and yet surely we could not leave the plateau until we had some definite knowledge upon the point.

Lake Gladys—­my own lake—­lay like a sheet of quicksilver before me, with a reflected moon shining brightly in the center of it.  It was shallow, for in many places I saw low sandbanks protruding above the water.  Everywhere upon the still surface I could see signs of life, sometimes mere rings and ripples in the water, sometimes the gleam of a great silver-sided fish in the air, sometimes the arched, slate-colored back of some passing monster.  Once upon a yellow sandbank I saw a creature like a huge swan, with a clumsy body and a high, flexible neck, shuffling about upon the margin.  Presently it plunged in, and for some time I could see the arched neck and darting head undulating over the water.  Then it dived, and I saw it no more.

My attention was soon drawn away from these distant sights and brought back to what was going on at my very feet.  Two creatures like large armadillos had come down to the drinking-place, and were squatting at the edge of the water, their long, flexible tongues like red ribbons shooting in and out as they lapped.  A huge deer, with branching horns, a magnificent creature which carried itself like a king, came down with its doe and two fawns and drank beside the armadillos.  No such deer exist anywhere else upon earth, for the moose or elks which I have seen would hardly have reached its shoulders.  Presently it gave a warning snort, and was off with its family among the reeds, while the armadillos also scuttled for shelter.  A new-comer, a most monstrous animal, was coming down the path.