I will not bore those whom this narrative may reach by an accountof our luxurious voyage upon the Booth liner, nor will I tell ofour week's stay at Para (save that I should wish to acknowledgethe great kindness of the Pereira da Pinta Company in helping usto get together our equipment). I will also allude very brieflyto our river journey, up a wide, slow-moving, clay-tinted stream,in a steamer which was little smaller than that which had carriedus across the Atlantic. Eventually we found ourselves throughthe narrows of Obidos and reached the town of Manaos. Here wewere rescued from the limited attractions of the local inn byMr. Shortman, the representative of the British and BrazilianTrading Company. In his hospital Fazenda we spent our time untilthe day when we were empowered to open the letter of instructionsgiven to us by Professor Challenger. Before I reach the surprisingevents of that date I would desire to give a clearer sketch of mycomrades in this enterprise, and of the associates whom we hadalready gathered together in South America. I speak freely, andI leave the use of my material to your own discretion, Mr.McArdle, since it is through your hands that this report mustpass before it reaches the world.

The scientific attainments of Professor Summerlee are too wellknown for me to trouble to recapitulate them. He is betterequipped for a rough expedition of this sort than one wouldimagine at first sight. His tall, gaunt, stringy figure isinsensible to fatigue, and his dry, half-sarcastic, and oftenwholly unsympathetic manner is uninfluenced by any change inhis surroundings. Though in his sixty-sixth year, I have neverheard him express any dissatisfaction at the occasional hardshipswhich we have had to encounter. I had regarded his presence as anencumbrance to the expedition, but, as a matter of fact, I am nowwell convinced that his power of endurance is as great as my own. In temper he is naturally acid and sceptical. From the beginninghe has never concealed his belief that Professor Challenger isan absolute fraud, that we are all embarked upon an absurdwild-goose chase and that we are likely to reap nothing butdisappointment and danger in South America, and correspondingridicule in England. Such are the views which, with muchpassionate distortion of his thin features and wagging of histhin, goat-like beard, he poured into our ears all the way fromSouthampton to Manaos. Since landing from the boat he hasobtained some consolation from the beauty and variety of theinsect and bird life around him, for he is absolutelywhole-hearted in his devotion to science. He spends his daysflitting through the woods with his shot-gun and hisbutterfly-net, and his evenings in mounting the many specimenshe has acquired. Among his minor peculiarities are that he iscareless as to his attire, unclean in his person, exceedinglyabsent-minded in his habits, and addicted to smoking a shortbriar pipe, which is seldom out of his mouth. He has been uponseveral scientific expeditions in his youth (he was withRobertson in Papua), and the life of the camp and the canoe isnothing fresh to him.

Lord John Roxton has some points in common with ProfessorSummerlee, and others in which they are the very antithesis toeach other. He is twenty years younger, but has something of thesame spare, scraggy physique. As to his appearance, I have, as Irecollect, described it in that portion of my narrative which Ihave left behind me in London. He is exceedingly neat and primin his ways, dresses always with great care in white drill suitsand high brown mosquito-boots, and shaves at least once a day. Like most men of action, he is laconic in speech, and sinksreadily into his own thoughts, but he is always quick to answer aquestion or join in a conversation, talking in a queer, jerky,half-humorous fashion. His knowledge of the world, and veryespecially of South America, is surprising, and he has awhole-hearted belief in the possibilities of our journey which isnot to be dashed by the sneers of Professor Summerlee. He has agentle voice and a quiet manner, but behind his twinkling blueeyes there lurks a capacity for furious wrath and implacableresolution, the more dangerous because they are held in leash. He spoke little of his own exploits in Brazil and Peru, but itwas a revelation to me to find the excitement which was caused byhis presence among the riverine natives, who looked upon him astheir champion and protector. The exploits of the Red Chief, asthey called him, had become legends among them, but the realfacts, as far as I could learn them, were amazing enough.

These were that Lord John had found himself some years before inthat no-man's-land which is formed by the half-defined frontiersbetween Peru, Brazil, and Columbia. In this great district thewild rubber tree flourishes, and has become, as in the Congo, acurse to the natives which can only be compared to their forcedlabor under the Spaniards upon the old silver mines of Darien. A handful of villainous half-breeds dominated the country, armedsuch Indians as would support them, and turned the rest intoslaves, terrorizing them with the most inhuman tortures in orderto force them to gather the india-rubber, which was then floateddown the river to Para. Lord John Roxton expostulated on behalfof the wretched victims, and received nothing but threats andinsults for his pains. He then formally declared war againstPedro Lopez, the leader of the slave-drivers, enrolled a band ofrunaway slaves in his service, armed them, and conducted acampaign, which ended by his killing with his own hands thenotorious half-breed and breaking down the system which he represented.

No wonder that the ginger-headed man with the silky voice and thefree and easy manners was now looked upon with deep interest uponthe banks of the great South American river, though the feelingshe inspired were naturally mixed, since the gratitude of thenatives was equaled by the resentment of those who desired toexploit them. One useful result of his former experiences wasthat he could talk fluently in the Lingoa Geral, which is thepeculiar talk, one-third Portuguese and two-thirds Indian, whichis current all over Brazil.

I have said before that Lord John Roxton was a South Americomaniac. He could not speak of that great country without ardor, and thisardor was infectious, for, ignorant as I was, he fixed myattention and stimulated my curiosity. How I wish I couldreproduce the glamour of his discourses, the peculiar mixtureof accurate knowledge and of racy imagination which gave themtheir fascination, until even the Professor's cynical andsceptical smile would gradually vanish from his thin face ashe listened. He would tell the history of the mighty river sorapidly explored (for some of the first conquerors of Peruactually crossed the entire continent upon its waters), and yetso unknown in regard to all that lay behind its ever-changing banks.

"What is there?" he would cry, pointing to the north. "Wood andmarsh and unpenetrated jungle. Who knows what it may shelter? And there to the south? A wilderness of swampy forest, whereno white man has ever been. The unknown is up against us onevery side. Outside the narrow lines of the rivers what doesanyone know? Who will say what is possible in such a country? Why should old man Challenger not be right?" At which directdefiance the stubborn sneer would reappear upon ProfessorSummerlee's face, and he would sit, shaking his sardonic headin unsympathetic silence, behind the cloud of his briar-root pipe.

So much, for the moment, for my two white companions, whosecharacters and limitations will be further exposed, as surely asmy own, as this narrative proceeds. But already we have enrolledcertain retainers who may play no small part in what is to come. The first is a gigantic negro named Zambo, who is a blackHercules, as willing as any horse, and about as intelligent. Him we enlisted at Para, on the recommendation of the steamshipcompany, on whose vessels he had learned to speak a halting English.

It was at Para also that we engaged Gomez and Manuel, twohalf-breeds from up the river, just come down with a cargoof redwood. They were swarthy fellows, bearded and fierce,as active and wiry as panthers. Both of them had spent theirlives in those upper waters of the Amazon which we were aboutto explore, and it was this recommendation which had caused LordJohn to engage them. One of them, Gomez, had the furtheradvantage that he could speak excellent English. These men werewilling to act as our personal servants, to cook, to row, or tomake themselves useful in any way at a payment of fifteen dollarsa month. Besides these, we had engaged three Mojo Indians fromBolivia, who are the most skilful at fishing and boat work of allthe river tribes. The chief of these we called Mojo, after histribe, and the others are known as Jose and Fernando. Three whitemen, then, two half-breeds, one negro, and three Indians made upthe personnel of the little expedition which lay waiting for itsinstructions at Manaos before starting upon its singular quest.

At last, after a weary week, the day had come and the hour. I ask you to picture the shaded sitting-room of the Fazenda St.Ignatio, two miles inland from the town of Manaos. Outside laythe yellow, brassy glare of the sunshine, with the shadows of thepalm trees as black and definite as the trees themselves. The airwas calm, full of the eternal hum of insects, a tropical chorusof many octaves, from the deep drone of the bee to the high,keen pipe of the mosquito. Beyond the veranda was a smallcleared garden, bounded with cactus hedges and adorned withclumps of flowering shrubs, round which the great blue butterfliesand the tiny humming-birds fluttered and darted in crescents ofsparkling light. Within we were seated round the cane table,on which lay a sealed envelope. Inscribed upon it, in the jaggedhandwriting of Professor Challenger, were the words:--

"Instructions to Lord John Roxton and party. To be opened atManaos upon July 15th, at 12 o'clock precisely."

Lord John had placed his watch upon the table beside him.

"We have seven more minutes," said he. "The old dear is very precise."

Professor Summerlee gave an acid smile as he picked up theenvelope in his gaunt hand.

"What can it possibly matter whether we open it now or in sevenminutes?" said he. "It is all part and parcel of the same systemof quackery and nonsense, for which I regret to say that thewriter is notorious."

"Oh, come, we must play the game accordin' to rules," said Lord John. "It's old man Challenger's show and we are here by his good will,so it would be rotten bad form if we didn't follow his instructionsto the letter."

"A pretty business it is!" cried the Professor, bitterly. "It struck me as preposterous in London, but I'm bound to saythat it seems even more so upon closer acquaintance. I don'tknow what is inside this envelope, but, unless it is somethingpretty definite, I shall be much tempted to take the next down-river boat and catch the Bolivia at Para. After all, I havesome more responsible work in the world than to run aboutdisproving the assertions of a lunatic. Now, Roxton, surelyit is time."

"Time it is," said Lord John. "You can blow the whistle." He took up the envelope and cut it with his penknife. From ithe drew a folded sheet of paper. This he carefully opened outand flattened on the table. It was a blank sheet. He turnedit over. Again it was blank. We looked at each other in abewildered silence, which was broken by a discordant burst ofderisive laughter from Professor Summerlee.

"It is an open admission," he cried. "What more do you want? The fellow is a self-confessed humbug. We have only to returnhome and report him as the brazen imposter that he is."

"Invisible ink!" I suggested.

"I don't think!" said Lord Roxton, holding the paper to the light. "No, young fellah my lad, there is no use deceiving yourself. I'll go bail for it that nothing has ever been written uponthis paper."

"May I come in?" boomed a voice from the veranda.

The shadow of a squat figure had stolen across the patch of sunlight. That voice! That monstrous breadth of shoulder! We sprang to ourfeet with a gasp of astonishment as Challenger, in a round, boyishstraw-hat with a colored ribbon--Challenger, with his hands in hisjacket-pockets and his canvas shoes daintily pointing as he walked--appeared in the open space before us. He threw back his head, andthere he stood in the golden glow with all his old Assyrianluxuriance of beard, all his native insolence of drooping eyelidsand intolerant eyes.

"I fear," said he, taking out his watch, "that I am a few minutestoo late. When I gave you this envelope I must confess that Ihad never intended that you should open it, for it had been myfixed intention to be with you before the hour. The unfortunatedelay can be apportioned between a blundering pilot and anintrusive sandbank. I fear that it has given my colleague,Professor Summerlee, occasion to blaspheme."

"I am bound to say, sir," said Lord John, with some sternness ofvoice, "that your turning up is a considerable relief to us, forour mission seemed to have come to a premature end. Even now Ican't for the life of me understand why you should have worked itin so extraordinary a manner."

Instead of answering, Professor Challenger entered, shook handswith myself and Lord John, bowed with ponderous insolence toProfessor Summerlee, and sank back into a basket-chair, whichcreaked and swayed beneath his weight.

"Is all ready for your journey?" he asked.

"We can start to-morrow."

"Then so you shall. You need no chart of directions now, sinceyou will have the inestimable advantage of my own guidance. From the first I had determined that I would myself preside overyour investigation. The most elaborate charts would, as youwill readily admit, be a poor substitute for my own intelligenceand advice. As to the small ruse which I played upon you in thematter of the envelope, it is clear that, had I told you all myintentions, I should have been forced to resist unwelcomepressure to travel out with you."

"Not from me, sir!" exclaimed Professor Summerlee, heartily. "So long as there was another ship upon the Atlantic."

Challenger waved him away with his great hairy hand.

"Your common sense will, I am sure, sustain my objection andrealize that it was better that I should direct my own movementsand appear only at the exact moment when my presence was needed. That moment has now arrived. You are in safe hands. You willnot now fail to reach your destination. From henceforth I takecommand of this expedition, and I must ask you to complete yourpreparations to-night, so that we may be able to make an earlystart in the morning. My time is of value, and the same thingmay be said, no doubt, in a lesser degree of your own. I propose,therefore, that we push on as rapidly as possible, until I havedemonstrated what you have come to see."

Lord John Roxton has chartered a large steam launch, the Esmeralda,which was to carry us up the river. So far as climate goes, itwas immaterial what time we chose for our expedition, as thetemperature ranges from seventy-five to ninety degrees bothsummer and winter, with no appreciable difference in heat. In moisture, however, it is otherwise; from December to May isthe period of the rains, and during this time the river slowlyrises until it attains a height of nearly forty feet above itslow-water mark. It floods the banks, extends in great lagoonsover a monstrous waste of country, and forms a huge district,called locally the Gapo, which is for the most part too marshyfor foot-travel and too shallow for boating. About June thewaters begin to fall, and are at their lowest at Octoberor November. Thus our expedition was at the time of the dryseason, when the great river and its tributaries were more orless in a normal condition.

The current of the river is a slight one, the drop being notgreater than eight inches in a mile. No stream could be moreconvenient for navigation, since the prevailing wind issouth-east, and sailing boats may make a continuous progress tothe Peruvian frontier, dropping down again with the current. In our own case the excellent engines of the Esmeralda coulddisregard the sluggish flow of the stream, and we made as rapidprogress as if we were navigating a stagnant lake. For threedays we steamed north-westwards up a stream which even here, athousand miles from its mouth, was still so enormous that fromits center the two banks were mere shadows upon the distant skyline. On the fourth day after leaving Manaos we turned into a tributarywhich at its mouth was little smaller than the main stream. It narrowed rapidly, however, and after two more days' steamingwe reached an Indian village, where the Professor insisted thatwe should land, and that the Esmeralda should be sent back to Manaos. We should soon come upon rapids, he explained, which would make itsfurther use impossible. He added privately that we were nowapproaching the door of the unknown country, and that the fewerwhom we took into our confidence the better it would be. To thisend also he made each of us give our word of honor that we wouldpublish or say nothing which would give any exact clue as to thewhereabouts of our travels, while the servants were all solemnlysworn to the same effect. It is for this reason that I amcompelled to be vague in my narrative, and I would warn my readersthat in any map or diagram which I may give the relation of placesto each other may be correct, but the points of the compass arecarefully confused, so that in no way can it be taken as an actualguide to the country. Professor Challenger's reasons for secrecymay be valid or not, but we had no choice but to adopt them,for he was prepared to abandon the whole expedition rather thanmodify the conditions upon which he would guide us.

It was August 2nd when we snapped our last link with the outerworld by bidding farewell to the Esmeralda. Since then four dayshave passed, during which we have engaged two large canoes fromthe Indians, made of so light a material (skins over a bambooframework) that we should be able to carry them round any obstacle. These we have loaded with all our effects, and have engaged twoadditional Indians to help us in the navigation. I understandthat they are the very two--Ataca and Ipetu by name--whoaccompanied Professor Challenger upon his previous journey. They appeared to be terrified at the prospect of repeating it,but the chief has patriarchal powers in these countries, andif the bargain is good in his eyes the clansman has littlechoice in the matter.

So to-morrow we disappear into the unknown. This account I amtransmitting down the river by canoe, and it may be our last wordto those who are interested in our fate. I have, according toour arrangement, addressed it to you, my dear Mr. McArdle, and Ileave it to your discretion to delete, alter, or do what you likewith it. From the assurance of Professor Challenger's manner--andin spite of the continued scepticism of Professor Summerlee--Ihave no doubt that our leader will make good his statement, andthat we are really on the eve of some most remarkable experiences.