me, meaningless hieroglyphics, I explained my plan to him. To my
surprise he was horrified.

"It would be murder, David," he cried.

"Murder to kill a reptilian monster?" I asked in astonishment.

"Here they are not monsters, David," he replied. "Here they are
the dominant race--we are the 'monsters'--the lower orders. In
Pellucidar evolution has progressed along different lines than
upon the outer earth. These terrible convulsions of nature time
and time again wiped out the existing species--but for this fact
some monster of the Saurozoic epoch might rule today upon our own
world. We see here what might well have occurred in our own history
had conditions been what they have been here.

"Life within Pellucidar is far younger than upon the outer crust.
Here man has but reached a stage analogous to the Stone Age of
our own world's history, but for countless millions of years these
reptiles have been progressing. Possibly it is the sixth sense
which I am sure they possess that has given them an advantage over
the other and more frightfully armed of their fellows; but this
we may never know. They look upon us as we look upon the beasts
of our fields, and I learn from their written records that other
races of Mahars feed upon men--they keep them in great droves, as
we keep cattle. They breed them most carefully, and when they are
quite fat, they kill and eat them."

I shuddered.