OUR ARRIVAL AND SAFE DESCENT.
As the _Sirius_ gradually descended the last few hundred feet, Sandy
was busy getting out the rope ladder; Graham confined his attention to
the motors and steering apparatus; whilst on the balcony Temple and the
Doctor kept a close watch, the latter on the alert for every possible
contingency, and from time to time calling out instructions to Graham
for his guidance. We all of us remarked the greater buoyancy of the
_Sirius_ in the lower Martial atmosphere than was the case in that of
the Earth, and our descent was slow and easy in the extreme. In fact,
so buoyant had the _Sirius_ become, that we had great fears of ever
reaching ground at all without assistance from below. But eventually
the good _Sirius_ settled down through a dense growth of vegetation of
some kind, snapping tall tapering stems like straws, crashing through
giant reeds like so many grass stalks, and then sinking for a couple
of feet into the soft slimy soil of what was evidently a dismal swampy
jungle. Here, at last, the _Sirius_ came to rest amidst a forest of
mighty stems, whose branches met overhead and formed a gloomy bower
above and around it.
We now armed ourselves with our revolvers and hunting-knives before
attempting to pass down the ladder, one end of which was already
lying on the ground. Each one felt that to Doctor Hermann the honour
justly belonged of being the first to set foot on this new world; and,
accordingly, he led the way down the steps into the gloom, carrying a
powerful electric hand-lamp, followed by Temple and Graham; Sandy, with
poor old Rover in his arms, bringing up the rear. The air soon began
to have a most remarkable and exhilarating effect upon us all. Each
one felt a buoyancy of spirits, a sense of lightness, and an increase
of physical strength never known before; these effects we rightly
attributed to the specific gravity of Mars, which is so much less than
that of Earth. They were intensely exciting moments for us as, one by
one, we climbed down the time-and-travel-worn sides of the _Sirius_,
fighting our way through the vegetation which clustered around us,
until the bottom rung of the ladder was reached, and we felt the
ground of a new world beneath our feet. But the country where we had
chanced to descend was sullen and uninviting; even the light from the
Martial moons, shining so fairly, high up in the dark blue sky, failed
to penetrate the dismal shadows of this swampy wilderness; whilst the
lurid reflection in the heavens from a distant crater only intensified
the horrible scene of gloom.
But amid the shadows and the vapours of this reeking marsh we could
see sufficient with our lamp to tell us that we were surrounded by
vegetation totally different from anything we had left behind us on
Earth. The reeds were stupendous, with fluted and flattened stems,
eighteen inches in width, rising straight as arrows from the stagnant
water, their crowns lost to view in the night haze, and mingling
together far above the roof of the _Sirius_.
The malarious vapours rising from the stagnant water and the rotting
vegetation were deadly in their subtleness, and in spite of our
ever-increasing excitement and curiosity, Doctor Hermann insisted for
our health's sake that we should return to the _Sirius_. A night amidst
such poisonous gases might have stricken each one of us down with a
fatal fever. It was well that we did so, for before morning dawned the
dangers of our position were manifested in various startling ways.
Soon, huge banks of black clouds spread across the sky like shrouds,
and drops of rain began to patter on the windows.
"My friends," said Doctor Hermann, "the best advice I can give is that
we stay inside the _Sirius_ until dawn. Sandy had better prepare us
some food; we have not eaten for the past eight hours, and it is of
the greatest importance that we take every care of ourselves, for we
may have our strength and endurance put to the severest tests in the
near future. Besides, this marsh is full of pestilence; we cannot be
too careful: and, further, from the closeness of the atmosphere and the
look of the heavens, I predict a storm within the next hour or so."
"You are quite right, Doctor," rejoined Temple; whilst Sandy, as became
the dutiful servant he was, began to act on the Doctor's wishes, and
very soon had spread before us a right royal repast, which bore ample
testimony not only to his culinary skill, but to the still ample
resources of our larder. A bottle of our best wine was uncorked in
honour of the occasion, and we sat down well-prepared to do justice to
what Temple called our "triumphal feast."
Convivial and merry was our meal, notwithstanding the dismal
surroundings; and so gay and light-hearted did we feel that even the
reeking swamp was toasted, for, after all, in spite of its gloom and
its pestilential breath, it was the first ground to echo our foot-falls
on this new world.
"One more bottle of wine, my comrades," said Temple, as soon as our
meal was over, "and let Sandy have a double allowance of whisky
to-night. We must inaugurate the termination of our journey in a right
festive way."
"What a triumph for Science, for Electricity in particular, we have
won!" said Doctor Hermann. "Here's to our continued success, and to the
people of Mars, if such there be----"
But before the Doctor could complete his toast the whole apartment was
filled with a lurid flash of bluish light, and before we could recover
from our surprise the vault of heaven was shaken by an appalling peal
of thunder.
"The storm is on us, Doctor," exclaimed Graham, "and to all appearance
it is far too close to be pleasant."
A few moments after, another and a brighter flash of lightning lit up
the gloomy swamp, and almost simultaneously the thunder bellowed out in
a quick succession of cracking reports, dying away in rumblings and
growlings which were tossed from echo to echo in the wilderness. Then
down came the rain in a drowning deluge, roaring on the foliage, and
churning the surface of the sleeping lake into a torrent of bubbling,
boiling foam.
Towards the end of the storm we had another surprise, which filled us
with the direst alarm. An exclamation from Temple brought us all to the
window of the _Sirius_ which overlooked the lake. With blanched face,
and eyes fixed intently upon the water, he pointed to the seething pool.
"Tell me if I am mad or dreaming," he shouted in his terror.
[Illustration: ITS HUGE, SCALY CARCASS.]
Truly, indeed, his alarm was not without cause, for there, coming
slowly from the water on to the shore, and in the direction of the
_Sirius_, was the first representative we had seen of animal life in
Mars. How shall we attempt to describe this hideous amphibious monster,
as it appeared lit up by the almost incessant flashes of lightning?
Only its enormous head and forequarters were yet visible--a huge scaly
carcase, mapped out with phosphorescent light, a square-looking head
with pointed snout, and with two monstrous eyes attached to stalk-like
shafts about a foot in length, which in the brief intervals of darkness
shone like balls of fire. Raising its head on its long pliant neck,
it sniffed the air as if in anger, and then began to crawl out of the
pool, yard after yard of its repulsive body emerging, its head nearly
reaching the _Sirius_ before its tapering fish-like tail was drawn from
the water. We could hear the grinding, crunching sound of its scaly
body as it was slowly drawn along the swampy ground, and so near had
it come to us that we could see a coarse, bushy mane hanging round its
lower neck in dripping folds. The hideous reptile, for such we must
call it, passed on without noticing the _Sirius_, although we felt its
rough, scaly body rub against the sides; and as its hideous, mighty
coils disappeared into the gloomy swamp, leaving a luminous, slimy
track behind them we could detect huge protuberances like warts along
its back, here and there varied with spiky fins, which were from time
to time half-raised, as though the horrible creature were about to
engage in combat.
"Doctor," said Temple, in his alarm, "if this is a fair sample of the
creatures we have come to live amongst, I really think it time we
began to think about getting back again. I don't like the idea of such
neighbours at all. Besides, we may yet meet with monsters more terrible
still, and what is of greater importance to us, we may not escape their
notice so easily next time. We should require an army to protect us
from such creatures as this."
"Gently, gently, Temple; you are not a naturalist, and cannot be
expected to feel my enthusiasm."
No less than nine of these terrible monsters came from the lake during
the hour that we watched, and all took the same beaten track into the
swamps that the first had followed, and we saw them no more. Temple
could scarcely conceal a shudder, as he looked at the now placid water.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, "who would have dreamed that such creatures were
lying beneath its surface?"
Certainly the Doctor alarmed us, when we heard him coolly bidding
Sandy to seek and slaughter these loathsome creatures.
"Sandy," said he, "you must get me one of those serpents to morrow.
It will be most interesting to dissect so magnificent a type of the
Reptilia. I may not have another such opportunity."
"Na, na, Doctor, I could na do it--I could na do it, mon," he replied
deprecatingly.
"Doctor, I am afraid, if you press your request, we shall have Sandy
wanting to give us all a week's notice," said Graham, assuming an air
of mock gravity as he spoke.
"I dinna want to do anything o' the kind, Mr. Graham."
"All right, Sandy my boy, I'll make a bargain with you," answered
Graham, laughing. "If I kill the beastie, will you help to cut him up?"
"Na, na, Mr. Graham, it is na a joking matter. I will ha' nothing to do
with it; for as sure as you do, bad luck'll be followin' us. We'd best
not meddle wi' the likes o' them."
"Well, Sandy," said the Doctor, "you must have had sufficient
experience of me, by this time, to know that I never ask a man to do
anything I am afraid to do myself. I spoke thoughtlessly, and will do
the killing myself."
By the time these reptiles had passed out of sight, the storm had
well-nigh subsided. Sleep was beyond us, the sight of these reptiles
alone was enough to keep us awake for a week. We longed, oh, how we
longed for the dawn! But more surprises were in store for us, ere that
eventful night had passed away.
The awful storm seemed to have stirred into activity the wild beasts of
this lonesome marsh, and many curious cries resounded from its depths.
Now a muffled yell, or a chorus of loud bellowings would be heard,
as if some gigantic creatures were fighting each other to the death.
Then more musical calls would break the oppressive stillness--here,
there, and everywhere from the thickets they came, but the animals that
produced them were invisible in the gloom. Our curiosity was excited to
the utmost limits of human endurance.
It must have been about an hour before the dawn when we were terrified,
beyond all description, by a crash against one of the windows of the
_Sirius_, followed by a moan as of pain, so appalling, so unearthly,
that our very blood seemed to curdle with horror. Even Doctor Hermann
himself was visibly disconcerted. Perhaps it was owing to the highly
wrought state of our nerves, but all of us, for the moment, were too
terror-stricken to move. In the Doctor's case the alarm was only
momentary, and with intrepid courage he rushed to the broken window,
firing a couple of shots from his revolver at some dread shape
struggling to enter the apartment. The Doctor was a poor hand with such
a weapon; both bullets missed their mark; and before a third shot could
be fired, the frightful creature had vanished. Moan after moan was
heard; now near, then far away in the distance, sounding more like the
voices of tortured souls, than of any material being. In a few moments,
another of these mysterious creatures appeared, and this time we
watched it approach with rapt astonishment, as it floated through the
air in the full focus of the rays from our electric lamps. No creature
of Earth possesses such means of locomotion. It looked like a huge
dark ball, perhaps six feet in diameter; and as it came towards us, we
noticed that it was revolving with enormous rapidity, forcing its way
through the air, evidently on the same principle as a screw-propeller
in the water.
Graham had by this time regained his self-possession, and, with his
rifle in hand, as this monster approached, he said:
"Doctor, shall I fire?"
"Yes, Graham, by all means; but be absolutely sure of your aim before
doing so."
Almost before the Doctor had finished speaking, the crack of Graham's
rifle rang out; but the animal continued its course, and came with a
crash against the _Sirius_. The shot had told, nevertheless, and we
heard its body fall through the reeds, and drop with a heavy thud on
the spongy ground.
"Well done, Mr. Graham! A splendid shot! He's doon! He's doon!" sang
out Sandy at the top of his voice, evidently both pleased and comforted
beyond measure, to see that these strange beings we had come amongst
were not proof against earthly powder and ball.