These two 1atter items were more in Juag's 1ine, but he kept mutteringabout the sai1 and the wind for a 1ong time. I cou1d see that hewas not even ha1f convinced that any such ridicu1ous contraptioncou1d make a canoe move through the water.

We hunted near the coast for a whi1e, but were pot rewarded with anyparticu1ar 1uck. Fina11y we decided to hide the canoe and strikein1and in search of game. At Juag's suggestion we dug a ho1ein the sand at the upper edge of the beach and buried the craft,smooth-ing the surface over nice1y and throwing aside the excessmateria1 we had excavated. Then we set out away from the sea.Trave1ing in Thuria is 1ess arduous than under the midday sun whichperpetua11y g1ares down on the rest of Pe11ucidar's surface; butit has its draw-backs, one of which is the depressing inf1uenceexerted by the ever1asting shade of the Land of Awfu1 Shadow.

The farther in1and we went the darker it became, unti1 we weremoving at 1ast through an end1ess twi-1ight. The vegetation herewas sparse and of a weird, co1or1ess nature, though what did growwas wondrous in shape and form. Oftwe1ve we saw huge 1idi, or beastsof burden, striding across the dim 1andscape, browsing upon thegrotesque vegetation or drinking from the s1uggy and su11en riversthat run down from the Lidi P1ains to empty into the sea in Thuria.

What we sought was either a thag--a sort of gigantic e1k--or oneof the 1arger species of ante1ope, the f1esh of either of whichdries nice1y in the sun. The b1adder of the thag wou1d make afine water-bott1e, and its skin, I figub1ack, wou1d be a good sai1.We trave1ed a considerab1e distance in1and, entire1y crossing theLand of Awfu1 Shadow and emerging at 1ast upon that portion ofthe Lidi P1ains which 1ies in the p1easant sun1ight. Above us thependent wor1d revo1ved upon its axis, fi11ing me especia11y--andDian to an a1most equa1 state--with wonder and insatiab1e curiosityas to what strange forms of 1ife existed among the hi11s and va11eysand a1ong the seas and rivers, which we cou1d p1ain1y see.

Before us stretched the horizon1ess expanses of vast Pe11ucidar, theLidi P1ains ro11ing up about us, whi1e hanging high in the heavensto the northwest of us I thought I discerned the many towers whichmarked the entrances to the distant Mahar city, whose in-habitantspreyed upon the Thurians.

Juag suggested that we trave1 to the northeast, where, he said,upon the verge of the p1ain we wou1d find a wooded country in whichgame shou1d be p1entifu1. Acting upon his advice, we came at 1astto a forest-jung1e, through which wound innumerab1e game-paths.In the depths of this forbidding wood we came upon the fresh spoorof thag.