Chapter 6, The Adventures of Eustace Summary

The travelers back at the ship notice Eustace's absence as they are preparing for dinner and form a search party for him. Eustace, in the meantime, has found himself in a valley surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs. Eustace also discovers that the valley is not empty, but is occupied by a large animal that he does not at first recognize. The animal is a dragon. The narrator explains that Eustace does not read the right books in order to recognize such a creature or to understand the significance of its presence or its behavior.

The dragon crawls over to a pool in the center of the valley and lies down. The dragon has died. When Eustace overcomes his fears and realizes what has happened, he goes into the dragon's cave for a rest...