"consist of a series of twenty-seven
connecting chambers, and present the appearance of having been eroded by
running water in some far-gone age when a mighty river found its way to the
south through this single breach in the barrier of rock and ice that hems the
country of the pole.”
"That I should have lived to
witness the reality of the fabled Carrion Caves! If these indeed be they, we have found a way
beyond the ice-barrier. The ancient chronicles of the first historians of
Barsoom—so ancient that we have for ages considered them mythology—record the
passing of the yellow men from the ravages of the green hordes that overran
Barsoom as the drying up of the great oceans drove the dominant races from
their strongholds.
"They tell of the wanderings of the remnants of
this once powerful race, harassed at every step, until at last they found a way
through the ice-barrier of the north to a fertile valley at the pole. At the opening to the subterranean passage
that led to their haven of refuge a mighty battle was fought in which the
yellow men were victorious, and within the caves that gave ingress to their new
home they piled the bodies of the dead, both yellow and green, that the stench
might warn away their enemies from further pursuit.
"And ever since that long-gone day have the dead
of this fabled land been carried to the Carrion Caves, that in death and decay
they might serve their country and warn away invading enemies. Here, too, is
brought, so the fable runs, all the waste stuff of the nation—everything that
is subject to rot, and that can add to the foul stench that assails our
nostrils.
"And death lurks at every step among rotting
dead, for here the fierce apts lair, adding to the putrid accumulation with the
fragments of their own prey which they cannot devour. It is a horrid avenue to
our goal, but it is the only one."
. . .
"If it be true, and let us pray that such may be
the case," I said, "then here may we solve the mystery of the
disappearance of Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium, and Mors Kajak, his son, for no
other spot upon Barsoom has remained unexplored by the many expeditions and the
countless spies that have been searching for them for nearly two years. The
last word that came from them was that they sought Carthoris, my own brave son,
beyond the ice-barrier.
“The bones of dead men lay man high upon the broad
floor of the first cave, and over all was a putrid mush of decaying flesh,
through which the apts had beaten a hideous trail toward the entrance to the
second cave beyond. The roof of this
first apartment was low, like all that we traversed subsequently, so that the
foul odors were confined and condensed to such an extent that they seemed to
possess tangible substance. One was almost tempted to draw his short-sword and
hew his way through in search of pure air beyond.
“It was not until we had passed through seven caves of
different sizes and varying but little in the power and quality of their
stenches that we met with any physical opposition. Then, within the eighth
cave, we came upon a lair of apts.
“A full score of the
mighty beasts were disposed about the chamber. Some were sleeping, while others
tore at the fresh-killed carcasses of new-brought prey, or fought among
themselves in their love-making. Here in
the dim light of their subterranean home the value of their great eyes was
apparent, for these inner caves are shrouded in perpetual gloom that is but
little less than utter darkness. (WM VIII)Artwork by the master, Joe Jusko
Map by Neal McDonald
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