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much material that I may have made some mistakes, but I think they are but
minor and few.
I see in reading over the last few pages that I neglected to state that Lys finally
discovered that the Neanderthal man possessed a language. She has learned to
speak it, and so have I, to some extent. It was he--his name he says is Am, or
Ahm--who told us that this country is called Caspak. When we asked him how
far it extended, he waved both arms about his head in an all-including gesture
which took in, apparently, the entire universe. He is more tractable now, and we
are going to release him, for he has assured us that he will not permit his fellows
to harm us. He calls us Galus and says that in a short time he will be a Galu. It is
not quite clear to us what he means. He says that there are many Galus north of
us, and that as soon as he becomes one he will go and live with them.
Ahm went out to hunt with us yesterday and was much impressed by the ease
with which our rifles brought down antelopes and deer. We have been living upon
the fat of the land, Ahm having shown us the edible fruits, tubers and herbs, and
twice a week we go out after fresh meat. A certain proportion of this we dry and
store away, for we do not know what may come. Our drying process is really
smoking. We have also dried a large quantity of two varieties of cereal which
grow wild a few miles south of us. One of these is a giant Indian maize--a lofty
perennial often fifty and sixty feet in height, with ears the size of a man's body
and kernels as large as your fist. We have had to construct a second store house
for the great quantity of this that we have gathered.
September 3, 1916: Three months ago today the torpedo from the U-33 started
me from the peaceful deck of the American liner upon the strange voyage which
has ended here in Caspak. We have settled down to an acceptance of our fate, for
all are convinced that none of us will ever see the outer world again. Ahm's
repeated assertions that there are human beings like ourselves in Caspak have
roused the men to a keen desire for exploration. I sent out one party last week
under Bradley. Ahm, who is now free to go and come as he wishes, accompanied
them. They marched about twenty-five miles due west, encountering many
terrible beasts and reptiles and not a few manlike creatures whom Ahm sent
away. Here is Bradley's report of the expedition:
Marched fifteen miles the first day, camping on the bank of a large stream which
runs southward. Game was plentiful and we saw several varieties which we had
not before encountered in Caspak. Just before making camp we were charged by
an enormous woolly rhinoceros, which Plesser dropped with a perfect shot. We
had rhinoceros-steaks for supper. Ahm called the thing "Atis." It was almost a
continuous battle from the time we left the fort until we arrived at camp. The
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