The Explorer

“Good evening, Lord Bellington. And how is my Lordship on this lovely night?”

           “Good evening to you, Mr. Stanley. It is indeed quite a nice night for star gazing. But tell me, I am curious about what brings you here to my planetarium?”

           “Well, to be truthful, I was hoping I might have a word with your Lordship.  I’m planning an expedition to Tibet this coming winter.”

           “An expedition, you say?  If I’m not mistaken, you’ve just returned from the Congo in Africa, have you not?”

“You are absolutely correct, your Lordship. I am presently in the process of categorizing some of the items I discovered there.  I’m also writing a complete report of my journey into the country’s most profound and darkest area.  I dare say very little is known about the Congo.”

“Might I ask you to refresh my memory as to why you partook in this dangerous trip in the first place, Mr. Stanley?”

“Certainly. One day as I was visiting the British Exploring Society, it was brought to my attention that deep in the Congo River Basin, a legend is told by an ancient tribe of people. It tells of a giant creature, as big as an elephant, living in Lake Tele. The description of this gigantic beast sounds as though it closely resembles a long-necked sauropod of pre-historic times. It remains very secretive, and even though it is a herbivore, it will viciously attack any animal that comes close to it, including man. The natives call it Mokele Mbembe. The translation of its name means “one who stops the flow of rivers.”

“Fascinating! Did you have any trouble locating this beast?”

“Good God, yes! The journey was most arduous. But, as I said before, the Congo is mostly unexplored. It took me nearly six months to blaze a trail to reach the village where the story originated. As the Congo is located on the equator, it is hot and muggy most of the year, except for winter when the climate turns dry and cool. So that is when I chose to depart. I figured that after leaving the city of Bandundu, I would follow the river to the center of the country. However, I wasn’t counting on the jungle being so resistant; thus, the journey took over six months instead of three as I originally thought.  It was already sweltering hot when we arrived.”

“Good grief, Mr.Stanley. If that were me, I’d be hard-pressed to continue under those conditions.”

“That’s not the half of it, my Lord. We had to hack our way through with machetes most of the time. That made for slow going. Then the incessant insects! Day and night, the biting, stinging, sucking our blood! It was maddening. I saw a herd of antelope rush into piranha-infested waters to try and escape from the black flies. And on top of that, I lost two porters to jungle fever.”

“Jungle fever? What in the name of God is that?”

“Oh, Lord Bellington, believe me when I tell you it is the most severe form of malaria you can contract. Watching those poor devils die like that was horrible. It also saddened me, for I knew their families back at base camp would never see them again, for we had to bury them there in the jungle.”

“I suppose the other porters didn’t take kindly to the idea of being buried in the jungle if the same thing happened to them.”

“Well, actually, Sir, that wasn’t one of my problems with them. But rather, the deeper we went into the jungle toward the swamplands, the more nervous they became. They were convinced we were cursed and being followed by demons and all manner of things. A few wanted to turn back and go home, but I said no, for I needed every man jack of them. Nonetheless, one night under darkness, a few of them slipped away. I never did find out if they made it back or not. It made it difficult for Mr. Olson, my co-leader, and myself; we now had to carry the supplies. I should mention that we also had a young American student along. He is studying archeology.”

“Please be honest with me, Mr.Stanley. Was there never a time when you and your Mr.Olson felt like turning back? Were you not afraid of running into this pre-historic monster, waiting in the lake of Tele to tear you into pieces?”

“I must confess to your Lordship that between the heat and the loss of men and just the jungle itself, we were often depressed, and fore longed. But when discussing our expedition’s nature and the thought of discovering a living fossil, why that would bolster our spirits greatly!”

“Jolly good! Please continue. What happened when you reached the village?”

”We came to a well-worn path by the river’s edge and were greatly relieved to have done so. We had traveled quite a ways along it when we were suddenly surrounded by natives pointing spears at us. I can’t begin to tell you how shocked we were. They proded us along until we finally came to a clearing surrounded by grass and reed huts. Their chief came out of the central hut and stood before us. He was malnourished like the rest of the men we had met. Short of stature, perhaps four feet tall, no more than four and a half at best. Everyone had those protruding bellies of people whose diets were lacking.

In my group, I had a porter who spoke a language very similar to theirs and could communicate why we were there. I removed an illustration from my rucksack and showed it to the leader. His eyes widened, and his small brown face paled somewhat. It was a picture of a brontosaur. He excitedly took hold of my arm and led me to an enormous thigh bone—he then pointed to the bone and then to the direction of the lake. When asked if there were more of these, he nodded furiously.”

“How terribly excited you must have been, Mr.Stanley. To have traveled so far and now realize your quest was about to be fulfilled. Please continue.”

“Indeed we were, Lord Bellington. Our enthusiasm was unquenchable. I gave the picture to the chief, who placed it inside his hut. That night the villagers put on a celebration for our arrival. They built a large fire in the center of the village and danced to the sound of beating drums. The women gave us food and a strong drink made from plants. It was quite intoxicating. The young American added salt to one of the dishes, and all the women were amazed by the flavor. As the night went on, this American chap slipped away, and I didn’t see him again till the following day. He told me he had a bad feeling about the chief and didn’t trust him. He suggested that we set up our camp close to the river’s edge in case we must depart in a hurry.”

“And did you do so?”

“I’ll admit I didn’t feel the same way as him but decided not to throw caution to the wind and did as he had suggested. We searched the lake for signs of the big animal for three days and found nothing: no half-eaten trees, no footprints in the mud, or any more bones.”

“I dare say you must have been most downhearted?”

“Oh, indeed we were, your Lordship. I let the chief of the tribe know that we would be leaving to return home. However, he seemed reluctant to let us go. I feared he would dispose of us for our provisions and supplies, for I would often see him gazing at them. So I offered a few to pacify him and said we’d leave in another three days. I told my men to be ready because we would go that night around two in the morning while they all slept. The young American told me that five dug-outs were moored to the river bank and would be more than enough to transport us home. He said he would signal us at two am and watch for it. It was also the first time I noticed that he wore a bullwhip on his hip.”

“I should think that a rather odd thing to carry around. But that’s what I like about Americans, they can be so strange at times! Ha, Ha!”

“Quite. So at two o’clock in the morning, I hear this fellow screaming, “Get in the boats! Get in the boats!” Behind him is a glow in the sky, and as I watch it, it gets brighter and brighter. He had set fire to one of the empty huts to distract the natives so that we could escape! And here I am today!”

“I must say, that was quite a harrowing escape. What did you say this fellow’s name was again?”

“Let me think a minute, for it was an odd name. His last name is Jones, but his first name was the same as an American state, city, or something. I have it written down and will let you know later. But here’s the real thing about our quick departure. This Jones fellow noticed that in the chief’s hut, the chief had hung up the dinosaur picture right over a little alter upon which lay an egg about the size of an ostrich egg. So I present to you, my Lord, a perfectly preserved dinosaur egg and a request for funding for my Tibetan expedition.”

“By Jove, yes! And make sure to bring that Jones fellow with you. I can’t wait to hear all about it!  Ha, ha, ha!”