chapters 4-5

Ned Malone is spending another evening in the company of Gladys Hungerton and her father. Her father
thinks Ned is visiting him, but Ned is actually there to see Gladys. He has fallen in love with the lovely
vivacious Gladys and is working up the courage to express his feelings to her.

At last he is alone with her, so he is thinking of how to propose to her, but she cuts him off before he is
able to speak. She tells him she knows he is about to propose and she hopes he reconsiders his actions.
He asks her why he would not make a worthy husband. She tells him she has always wanted a man of
daring, who would risk his life in the pursuit of great deeds. She cites the example of Lord Stanley, as a
man willing to risk all to achieve his goals. She wants to be the woman behind a man of such great
accomplishments. She tells him she wants to marry a famous man.

Ned explains to her that these opportunities are few and far between, so the chances of him pursuing a
death defying dream is slim. Gladys asserts that he needs to make his own chances and then go after
them. Ned leaves her to fulfill his mission of becoming an adventurer and risk all, to win the heart of
Gladys.

Ned is a reporter for the Daily Gazette. He approaches his editor, McArdle, with the request that he be
sent on a mission for the newspaper. He wants a story which will earn him fame and Gladys' respect. His
editor tells him newspapers seldom pursue such stories anymore, because of the expense involved in
sending a reporter to a far off place.

He does have an idea for a story for Ned, though, it seems he has been following Professor Challenger,
who after an expedition in South America, two years prior, made some claims, which he was not able to
substantiate. McArdle wants to expose Professor Challenger as fraud to the world. The professor has
already assaulted one reporter, who tried to interview him, so Ned is not excited about the prospect of
speaking him.

Ned calls upon his old friend, Tarp Henry, who is on the staff of Nature and as he is a bacteriologist, he is
somewhat acquainted with the writings and reputation of Professor Challenger. Tarp tells Ned what
Challenger supposedly found in South America. It seems the professor claimed he discovered some
unusual animals there, but only had some bad photographs to show as proof of his discovery. After being
interviewed by newspapers and ridiculed by them, Challenger refuses to discuss his discovery with
anyone. Challenger also has a reputation of being a bully and highly egotistical man, who others agree
does have a high intellect.

Tarp tries to help Ned understand what it is that Challenger found, by giving him a copy of a translation
of an argument Challenger had with some other scientists at a conference in Vienna. From this
translation Ned is able to find one line, which he can almost understand, to use in a letter to Challenger.
He convinces Tarp to lend him a piece of stationary with Tarp's address on it, so the letter will seem as if
it comes from a student scientist. He writes to Professor Challenger telling him he respects the
professor's point of view on evolution, but he has some questions he would like to ask him in person. He
asks to meet with Professor Challenger the next Wednesday at 11am. He now only needs to wait and see
if Professor Challenger responds to his letter.

The professor agrees to see Ned on the day he suggested, as long as Ned follows his rules. Ned needs to
bring the envelope the professor's letter was sent in to the meeting, as proof he is who he claims to be
and therefore allowing him admittance to Challenger's home. Challenger is taking this precaution
because he does not want to have any journalists enter his home.

Ned arrives at Challenger's home and after presenting the envelope is allowed inside, where he is met by
Mrs. Challenger. She warns Ned to leave immediately if Challenger seems to become violent, because he
has injured others who did not leave quickly enough. Ned has told Mrs. Challenger he is a journalist, so
she fears for his safety if her husband discovers his true occupation.

Ned hopes he can keep up his ruse of being a scientist long enough to gain Challenger's trust and
interview him. Unfortunately, Challenger starts to question him about specific scientific matters and Ned
is discovered to be a fraud.

Challenger, who though short has a massive head, shoulders, and chest, comes at Ned. Ned begins to
become angry also and the two of them are soon locked in a fight, which has them tumbling down the
hall, through the front door, and out into the street. Once on the street, the local policeman is there to
stop further violence. Ned does not press charges against Challenger, in fact, he takes the blame for the
fight, saying Challenger warned him and he did not back off. With this result, Challenger softens slightly
and asks the young reporter back into the house for further discussions.
Ned is trying to find a daring deed to accomplish, in order to win the love of Gladys Hungerton. He is
assigned a story by his editor, which entails him interviewing an abusive professor about his expedition
in South America. Ned manages to find a way to meet the professor, which leads to a physical fight. Ned
is learning that being an adventurer is not as easy as he thought.

chapters 6-8

After the policeman left, Ned and Challenger returned to the house, where a furious Mrs. Challenger was
waiting. She called her husband a bully for his treatment of Ned, but once she saw that Ned was safe,
she calmed down. Her husband and Ned returned to the professor's study to continue their
conversation.

Challenger explained to Ned he felt Ned had some good feelings toward him, because he took
responsibility for the fight. He also told Ned he will tell him the story of his adventure in South America,
as long as Ned promised not to publish a word of it without his expressed permission. Ned did not like
this condition, but he went along with it.

It seemed Challenger was on a trip to explore the Amazon River, when he encountered a tribe of Cucama
Indians. They were kind to him and in return he used what medicines he had to help heal some of the
sick and injured in the tribe. On his return back up the river these same people were waiting for him,
which he thought was because they were happy to see him again. The truth was they were once again in
need of his medical services.

A white man had staggered into the camp exhausted and near death, and by the time Challenger
reached him, the man had died. Challenger found the man's knapsack, which had his name on it. He was
Maple White of Detroit, Michigan and he also had a sketchpad with him. The sketchpad was in sorry
shape, but it did hold a number of sketches. Most were of native people and scenery along the Amazon
River, but at the back of the book was a sketch of an animal like none ever seen by humans. This sketch
caught the attention of the Professor and he used the sketches of the land to determine where the
drawing of the animal was made.

The professor convinced the natives to take him to this place. They did not want to go, because it was in
a part of the forest where terrible spirits were supposed to live. Once he was able to secure two guides,
they traveled there and saw for themselves some most unusual creatures. Challenger was able to
produce some physical evidence for Ned to see; one piece was a wing of some sort. It looked similar to a
bat wing, except it was larger than a bat wing and it was shaped differently. It did look like a pterodactyl
wing pictured in a book he showed Ned. He also showed Ned two badly damaged pictures of the area
drawn in the sketchbook.

The whole area is surrounded by cliffs, which the professor felt cut it off from the rest of the world, so
the changes which caused other creatures to die out did not affect those living there. Ned is convinced
the professor is telling the truth about his discovery. Challenger asked Ned to attend a lecture at the
Zoological Institute to see him make a few remarks, after the main lecturer had spoken.

Ned's editor, McArdle, was not happy about his report. He could not believe Ned accepted Challenger's
story, nor could he understand how Ned would agree not to write a word of what Challenger said. He did
insist Ned write an article about the events which occur at the Zoological Institute meeting that evening.
Ned agreed to this because it is a public event, so Challenger could not censor what he writes.

Ned had dinner with Tarp Henry to tell him about his interview with Professor Challenger. Tarp was very
skeptical about Challenger's evidence. He thought Professor George Challenger had drawn the sketches
in the sketchbook and faked the photographs. Ned was beginning to question his own conclusions about
the veracity of the professor's claims. Ned asked Tarp to accompany him to the lecture, so both of them
might judge the professor again.

At the lecture hall they found a large contingent of people already there waiting for Professor Challenger
to make his appearance, many of them were medical students, who were in a boisterous mood. The
lecturer was Mr. Waldron who gave a talk on the formation of the world.

During the lecture, whenever Mr. Waldron would speak of extinct prehistoric animals Professor
Challenger would call out "question". Mr. Waldron did his best to laugh off this behavior or to totally
ignore the outburst. It did disrupt the lecture though and caused Mr. Waldron to become distracted.

Finally, it was time for Professor Challenger to make his motion to thank Mr. Waldron. Instead,
Challenger used his time to discredit the lecturer's stance that prehistoric animals were extinct. He was
shouted down as a liar and told to prove his assertions.
Challenger answered these calls with a call of his own, a call to form a committee to test his findings. He
asked for one or more of those assembled to go to South America and find the animals he claimed were
there. Professor Summerlee, Professor of Comparative Anatomy volunteered, as did Ned Malone and
Lord John Roxton, who is a sportsman and a traveler. At first the other two did not want a member of the
press along on the adventure, but Professor Ronald Murray, the chairman of the Zoological Society,
decided it might be beneficial to have a reporter along on the expedition. After the lecture Lord John
Roxton asked Ned to his rooms so he might have a word with him.

Ned had gone from believing Professor George Challenger was a fraud to believing in him and back to
questioning his judgement of the man. He had also found his great and dangerous deed in an expedition
to South America. Challenger was also getting the chance he sought, to prove to others the truth of what
he has been saying about the animals in South America.

chapters 9-10

Ned Malone and Lord John Roxton retire to Lord John's rooms to discuss the upcoming expedition. Lord
John, who is an accomplished sportsman, has his wall full of trophies and the trappings of a man who is
an adventurer.

He asks Ned if he will do him a favor, which is to help him feed his upstairs neighbor who taken ill, after
being drunk for days. The problem is the man is an accomplished marksman and he has vowed to kill
anyone who tries to feed him. Ned, while not happy about the situation, agrees to help Lord John save
his neighbor. Lord John then lets Ned know he was only testing him, to see if he had the courage
necessary for the adventure they are about to embark upon. Lord John feels the success of the
expedition rests with him and Ned, because he feels Professor Summerlee will be more of a hindrance
than a help.

Lord John is also concerned with Ned's ability to shoot a rifle, because in the jungles of South America
the ability to shoot straight can mean the difference between life and death. Ned tells him he is an
average shot, which in Lord John's estimation is not good enough. He loans Ned one of his rifles for the
journey.

They decide to book passage on a boat for South America and leave the Wednesday of the following
week. They speak of how neither one of them know Professor Challenger well, but they both believe he
may be telling the truth. Lord John believes him, because he has traveled extensively in South America
and can fathom there being such a place as Challenger describes.

After his meeting with Lord John, Ned meets with his editor, McArdle, and the two decide to talk to the
chief of the paper, Sir George Beaumont, about Ned's assignment. Ned will write letters to McArdle,
which will be published when they are given permission by Challenger.

As the three men are boarding the boat Challenger meets them with instructions to open an envelope
containing the location of the animals, after they reach a town called Manaos. He also tells Ned he may
print whatever he likes about the expedition, as long as he does not give away where the men are on the
continent.

The three men arrive in South America and travel to the town of Manaos. They have hired some men to
aid them in their journey, they are Zambo, Gomez, Manuel, Mojo, Jose, and Fernando. At the appointed
hour the men open the envelope Challenger gave them as they boarded the ship. Inside the envelope is
a blank sheet of paper; the men are confused and Mr. Summerlee is angry, as he feels the trip has been a
colossal waste of time. Just as they are discussing what this means, Challenger appears at the door to
their room. He has come by boat to take command of the expedition. He has also made arrangements
for the same two Indians, who went with him to the secret place the first time, to join them now. He has
hired a boat, the Esmeralda, to take them down the Amazon.

On August 6 the men must disembark from the Esmeralda and use canoes to go deeper into the area
around the river. The men are now traversing the smaller rivers which sprout from the Amazon.
Professor Challenger and Professor Summerlee are at odds, as they argue about every subject of
conversation.

As they move further down the river the men begin to hear the beat of drums. It is the Indian tribes
watching the men's progress down the river. They are waiting for an opportunity to attack; the
drumbeats mean "We will kill you if we can".

After a few days, Challenger sees his first marker that they are on the correct trail, it is an Assai palm
tree. He now feels more confident that they are on the correct course. Three days later they push
through to the land that is forbidden to the Indians, the land of the Curupuri.
They reach an area where they can no longer use the canoes and everyone must help carry the
provisions. It is here Professor Summerlee challenges Professor Challenger's authority to lead the group.
He tells him he is, after all, on trial for his discovery and so should not be telling the others what to do.
Lord John and Ned calm the two men and the expedition continues on its way.

Ten days later as the men are walking Professor Challenger spots a large flying animal. He tells
Summerlee it is a pterodactyl, but Summerlee is certain it is a stork. Lord John tells Ned it is unlike any
animal he has ever seen.

The men are now about seven miles away from the plateau Challenger discovered, which he says
contains the prehistoric animals.

The men have sailed to South America, traveled down the Amazon, and trekked to an area very near the
plateau Challenger found. The two professors have not gotten along, but Lord John and Ned have done
their best to keep harmony among the group

chapters

11-12

Lord John, Professor Challenger, Professor Summerlee and Ned Malone have reached the bottom of the
plateau. The problem they face is how to scale the cliffs which surround it, in order to gain entry onto
the plateau. The men spend several days working their way around the base looking for an area that is
scalable.

The first thing they encounter, as they survey the plateau's base, is the camp which was set up by Maple
White. It includes, among other things, a sign attached to the base of a tree, which points out the
direction he followed to enter the plateau. As they follow the direction of the sign the men encounter a
patch of tall bamboo and Ned discovers the remains of a man. They decide he must have been traveling
with Maple White, because of the sheds of European clothing found on the skeleton and a watch with
the initials J.C. on it. Challenger tells the others he spoke with a priest, who had met Maple White and he
confirmed Maple White was traveling with a man named James Clover.
The men find arrows drawn in white chalk at various spots around the base. They finally find an arrow
inside a narrow cleft of a rock face that points up. They order the natives traveling with them to pitch a
camp and they go inside the cleft to explore it. Finding nothing the men are discouraged, until Lord John
notices a cave opening above their heads in the cleft. The men climb into the cave and follow it until they
are stopped, by an area which has been obstructed by a rock slide. Even though they are discouraged,
the men decide to continue with their exploration of the cliffs.

That night they kill a pig-like animal to eat for supper and as they are cooking it a pterodactyl swoops
down over their heads, taking the animal for its supper. This occurrence causes Professor Summerlee to
apologize to Professor Challenger for his skepticism of Challenger's claims. Following this incident, the
two men become friends and allies.

It takes them six days to finish exploring the circumference of the plateau, all the time looking for a place
to climb up the cliffs and enter it. At the end of their exploration, they have found no way to access the
place they had traveled so far to see.

The men are very discouraged by this outcome and go to bed feeling as if their trip has been for nothing.
The next morning Challenger is full of hope and tells the others he has solved their problem. He has
them scale the pinnacle they saw upon reaching the plateau area, even though there is a wide space
between it and the surface of the plateau. After they all reach the top, they discover the beech tree they
had been using to anchor themselves to the top of the pinnacle, could also be used to bridge the gap.

Ned and Lord John cut down the tree and Lord John makes sure they are armed before they try to cross
the bridge. This is because during the exploration of the cave a bolder came crashing down at the men.
They decided it could have killed them and a person must have rolled the stone. Because of this, they are
now taking precautions before entering the plateau. As part of these precautions, they have two of the
natives scale the precipice to help defend them. The men all make it safely over the bridge, but soon
after the tree bridge is pushed down into the gap by Gomez, one of the native guides. He is avenging the
death of his brother by Lord John. Lord John retaliates to this act by killing Gomez.

Zamo, another one of the guides, stays loyal to the men and provides them with provisions. He also
promises to stay nearby to help them in any way he can.
The next day the men begin to cautiously explore their new home. They first find a place to make a kind
of fort, a campsite protected by thorny plants and trees under some rocks for protection. Zamo is still
there providing the men with the provisions they so desperately need.

They decide to name their campsite Fort Challenger and the plateau Maple White Land. These names
honor Professor Challenger and Maple White, the discoverer of the plateau.

They see a family of iguanodons as they are walking through the plateau. After watching them for a
while they stumble upon a volcanic pit, which is a breeding place (rookery) for pterodactyls. All is going
well as they observe these dinosaurs in their natural habitat, until Lord John decides to look over the
edge of the pit.

The male pterodactyls spot him and attack the men in an attempt to kill them. It is only through the use
of Lord John's elephant gun and quickly running to the shelter of a wood that the men escape. Upon
returning home, they have found that some animal has gained entry to their camp, by using the
branches of a tree, and ruined some of their supplies.

At the end of the day Lord John is fascinated by the color of the clay in the volcanic pit, because the clay
was blue. Ned has no idea what the significance of blue clay is, but he is curious.

The men experience the wonder of seeing living dinosaurs in and around the plateau. They also are
stranded on the plateau, because Gomez is seeking revenge for the death of his brother. The men are all
learning to cooperate in order to survive their unusual circumstance.

chapters 13-14

Ned Malone and Professor Summerlee have become ill from the bites they received during the
pterodactyl attack the day before. They are in considerable pain and are running high fevers, also
Professor Challenger is nursing a bruised knee from the attack. Lord John is trying to further fortify the
camp, after finding it had been attacked in their absence. Ned has spent the day feeling as if he is being
watched, he cannot see anything, but he cannot shake the strange feeling.
That night, while everyone is asleep, a great noise arises from the area outside the camp. It is the noise
of an animal being killed and another animal vocalizing its need to kill. The victor then comes after the
men in the camp, but Lord John is able to frighten it away with a torch. He fears if they try to shoot it, it
would either become enraged or they would end up shooting each other in their frantic attempt to kill
the beast.

The next morning the men find the pieces of the dead animal strewn about the ground. The two
professors feel either an allosaurus or a megalosaurus was the aggressor and the dead animal was an
iguanodon. The dead animal has a circle of some black substance on its hide, which the two professors
feel is asphalt.

It is also decided the men would take two hour shifts during the night to watch for predators coming
near the camp. Also, Professor Summerlee begins to push Professor Challenger to find a way off the
plateau. He feels they have spent enough time in the last two days exploring the island and it is now time
to return home. As much as the others want to stay and explore some more, they cannot easily refute
his argument that they have succeeded in their quest to prove Professor Challenger's assertion correct.

In order to expedite the process of making a map of the plateau, Ned climbs the gingko tree, which is the
tallest tree on the plateau. He encounters there an ape like animal, which has a very human-looking face.
He knows this is the animal which gave him the feeling of being watched.

Ned is able to climb to the very top of the tree and from there he draws a rough sketch of the plateau.
He also discovers a lake they have not seen before and insists on naming it Lake Gladys, in honor of his
love in England.

That night happy with himself for his accomplishment of climbing the tree and bringing back the map of
the plateau, Ned decides to go for a walk. He remembers Gladys telling him, "There are heroisms all
round us." So even though he is frightened, he keeps on walking further into the interior of the plateau.
He checks his gun to make sure it is ready if needed, only to find he has brought the shells for the rifle,
but the gun is a shotgun. It is of no use to him as a gun, but he can use it to hit something if needed.

His first discovery is the asphalt pit, where the animals became streaked with the sticky substance, he
feels it is the last vestiges of the volcano which formed the plateau. He continually hears the animals in
the dark forest, but he cannot see them. He comes across a large tall block of lava, which he climbs to
have a better view of the land around him. He notices the black areas he thought were caves are now
illuminated and concludes they must be inhabitated by a human-like species. The thought of finding
humanoids on the plateau fills him with excitement.

As he is drinking water from Lake Gladys, he notices two large armadillo creatures by his feet. They are
also drinking from the lake and soon they are joined by a very large deer creature and its family. All of
these animals scurry away when a stegosaurus appears, to have its fill from the lake.

Ned decides he must make his way back to the camp, as it is two-thirty in the morning. He is walking
back to the camp when he hears a strange growling-snorting sound coming from behind him. He hastens
his pace in an effort to put as much distance between himself and whatever is making the sound. But the
animal is tracking him and follows him, no matter what he does to elude it. He finally falls into a pit filled
with rotting corpses of animals, while he is trying to escape the pit, he realizes it has been dug by human
hands.

As he is making his way back to camp he hears a single gunshot. He thinks the others awoke to find him
gone and shot the gun to help guide him back to camp. He hurries back to camp to find the others gone,
the camp in shambles, the edible supplies gone, and a pool of blood on the ground. He is stunned by this
turn of events.

He remembers Zambo is still waiting for the men to return, so he calls out to him for help as he needs a
rope and wants to send on his letters to his editor. Zambo tells Ned one of the natives has returned and
he will take Ned's letters and his request for more rope to the Indian village. Ned agrees to the plan and
finishes his third letter in time for the man to take it to the village.

Ned and the others face danger from the dinosaurs, but they work out a plan to try to keep them safe.
Ned makes a crude map of the plateau and takes a harrowing night time walk, from which he returns to
find the others gone and a pool of blood on the ground. He feels alone and frightened, also he realizes
how much he has relied on the others during this expedition.

chapters 15-16 

Ned woke up to the face of Lord John staring down on him and he is overjoyed by the news the others
are not dead. He is taken aback by Lord John's appearance and behavior though, because he is wearing
torn clothing and his face is scratched and has dried blood on it. Lord John is imploring Ned to get up,
gather guns, ammunition, and food as quickly as possible. He also tells Ned to remain silent and follow
him as quickly as possible.

The reason for his appearance and his haste, is because he and the others were caught by ape-men
while Ned was on his walk the night before. These creatures, who are a mixture of human and ape, have
their own language and social structure. They have been watching the expedition since they arrived at
their camp and the night before descended on them from the gingko tree. They took the men and tied
them up as they lay on the ground.

Challenger managed to rise to his feet and loudly voiced his objections to how he and the others were
being treated. It is then the chief of the ape-men noticed he and Challenger were very similar in looks,
because of this he decided to treat Challenger as his friend. Summerlee and Lord John did not have such
an advantage, but Challenger was able to help them in a limited way.

After the men had been marched three to four miles to the ape-men's village, Challenger was treated
very well while Summerlee and Lord John were tied up beneath a tree. Challenger convinced the chief to
allow him to feed them some fruit and while he did this he also loosened their bindings.

The ape-men occupy one side of the plateau and humans hold the other side, because of this the two
sides are constantly at war. While the three men were in the ape-man village, they witnessed the
treatment of some humans who were caught by the ape-men. The ape-men killed two of the humans
immediately, and had four of them jump to their death on the sharp bamboo, where the three men had
found the skeleton earlier. Lord John is afraid the ape-men have every intention of having Professor
Summerlee jump also.

Lord John escaped that morning and made a beeline to the camp in hopes of finding something to help
their plight. He is very happy to have the help of Ned. The two of them evade the search parties, which
are looking for Ned and Lord John, and arrive back at the village in time to kill the chief, just as he is
about to order the execution of Summerlee. The men shoot many of the ape-men and return to their
camp.

Just as they are about to celebrate their escape from death, the remaining human's show up and want
the men to protect them. The four men are now trying to return the humans to their cave village.
Professor Challenger has told Ned he would not be happy if Ned mentioned in his articles Challenger's
resemblance to the ape-man chief. Ned agrees to Challengers request.

The humans who are called the Accala, are a tribe of Indians, who live in the caves Ned had seen the
previous night. There is a young man who the other tribe members are very deferential to, his name is
Maretas. The Indians call the ape-men, Doda and they are afraid of them, but at the same time they
want to eradicate them from the plateau.

Ned is caught by a Doda, while he is looking for a missing Accala. The Doda tries to break his neck, but
Lord John shoots at him and Ned is rescued.

The men and the three remaining Accala reach Lake Gladys, where they are met by a large contingent of
tribesmen in canoes; leading this group is Maretas' father, the chief of the Accala. The men are a rescue
party in search of the chief's son and his other tribesmen. The men decide, after an impassioned speech
by Maretas, to enter into a final battle with the Doda. They ask Ned and the others to join them in this
last battle, which the men agree to do. They meet with resistance as they approach the Doda village, but
the Accala, with the help of Challenger and the others are successful. The Doda males are all put to
death and the females and children are made slaves to the Accala.

With this war over, Challenger agrees to focus all his attention on finding a way off the plateau. He has
found an inflammable gas, which is lighter than air, near the lake they camped at before setting out to
destroy the Doda. He tells Ned he can use this gas, but Ned does not know how he will use it. At the
same place Lord John has found some more blue clay, which seems to make him happy. While at the
lake, Challenger and Summerlee observed some fresh-water plesiosaurus, which gave them a thrill
beyond words.

Ned and Lord John rescue Professors Challenger and Summerlee from the ape-men and return to their
camp. They are then drawn into a battle between the Indian tribe called the Accala and the ape-men,
who are called the Doda. The men realize, after the battle, it is time to spend all their energy on finding a
way off the plateau.

chapters 15-16
Ned and the others are enjoying living in a camp near the Accala's, but independent from them. The
Accalas consider the men a sort of good luck charm, so they refuse to help them find a way off the
plateau. The only one who is willing to help is Maretas, the chief's son, who they helped rescue.

The men have made some more discoveries in their additional time there, for instance they now know
the Accalas keep iguanodons in a way that is reminiscent of how we keep cattle. They have also learned
the caves, in which the Accala live, have drawings of all the animals on the plateau on their walls. If for
some reason all the living beings on the plateau should cease to exist, a record of them will still survive
on the walls of the caves.

The tribe is terrorized one day by huge frog like beings, which are impervious to bullets. These two
dinosaurs would simply fall on their victims, crushing them with the weight of their bodies. The only way
they are eventually stopped is by being pelleted with poision-dipped arrows, which the Accala shoot at
them.

The members of the expedition also encountered ichthyosaurus, deadly water snakes, and a
phororachus just to name a few of the dinosaurs they see or are pursued by. They are able to kill some to
take back as proof of their findings.

Sir John is still interested in the pterodactyls and has built himself a protective cage to wear when he is
near their rookery. Ned cannot understand his fascination with the creatures.

Challenger, who has been working on a method of escape, finally shows the others his idea. He has
rigged up a type of balloon using the gas from the mud geyser and a dried stomach from a fish lizard, by
putting a harness around it, he can control the balloon. His intention is to use it as a type of hot air
balloon to bring the men, one by one, back down to the surface. Professor Summerlee is not excited
about the idea of being a passenger on such a conveyance.

But before they can get very far with this plan, Maretas brings Ned a piece of bark with a crude map on
it. It shows the storage caves and marks one as special point of interest to the men. The men decide to
explore it and after a misstep, eventually find the right passage out of the side of the plateau. The next
night, after gathering their belongings, the men make their escape.
They return to the civilized world and find great excitement about their journey and discovery. They did
not know the rest of the world has been aware of their exploits. The men are scheduled to give a report
to the Zoological Institute, which has to be moved from the Zoological Hall to Queen's Hall, because of
the number of people who want to be in attendance.

Professor Summerlee gives an accounting of their adventures, leaving out the exact location of the
plateau and the shooting death of the native guide. At the end Dr. James Illingworth of Edinburgh, stands
up and asks to be allowed to make an amendment to the proceedings. He calls into question the veracity
of the report. He insinuates the men may have embellished their findings to gain notoriety.

The general feeling of the audience is this man should sit down and be quiet. Some others are on his
side, but Professor Challenger takes the matter into his own hands. He talks about the insects they have
brought back and the pictures they have in their possession, both of which are decried by the audience.
He then brings out his secret piece of evidence, a baby pterodactyl.

The audience goes wild at the sight of the frightening creature, so much so that they in turn frighten the
creature. It takes flight and flies around the hall, eventually escaping through an open window.

This last piece of evidence convinces the naysayers and the audience hoists the four men upon their
shoulders and carry them through the streets. The parade lasts until midnight, when the men are once
again allowed to go into Lord John's rooms at the Albany.

The pterodactyl is spotted several times, the last by a ship at sea. It is presumed it died at sea as it tried
to return home.

Ned returns to Gladys's home to claim his bride, but unfortunately, she has in his absence become the
wife of another man. This man is not a man of adventure, but instead he is a law clerk. Ned is saddened
by the news, but he soon rallies from this set back.

One night as the four men are gathered together in Lord John's rooms, Lord John tells them the reason
he was so interested in the blue clay at the volcanic pit. He had seen similar clay only one other place,
the De Beers Diamond Mine of Kimberley and that is why he was eager to explore amongst the
pterodactyls. He did find diamonds there, and was able to bring home a substantial amount of them,
which he shared with the others.

Challenger is going to open a private museum with his share of the money. Professor Summerlee is going
to retire from teaching so he can classify chalk fossils and Lord John is going to mount another
expedition to the plateau. Ned has decided, since Gladys is married, that he will join Lord John in
exploring the plateau.

The men return home to great excitement and some criticism. Challenger silences the skeptics by
producing a live dinosaur and Ned is saddened to learn Gladys has married. The men are happy to find
out about the windfall of money coming their way, because of Lord John's diamond find. They all return
from their adventures changed men, who will never look at the world in the same way as they did
before.