:15:04
It's right on the edge
of the unexplored regions.
:15:07
When I got back, I found this account
of a Portuguese expedition
:15:12
that went to the same region in 1649.
:15:15
Only one man returned,
Father Luis Mendoz.
:15:19
When they found him in the jungle,
it was assumed he was mad.
:15:23
So we're going to be following a map
drawn up by a lunatic!
:15:27
- He was raving about dragons.
- Dinosaurs.
:15:30
Exactly.
:15:31
Now, according to Luis Mendoz,
:15:35
there's a remote plateau
in the middle of the unmapped territory.
:15:39
He says there's a cave system
leading right the way up to the summit.
:15:44
- His claim makes perfect sense.
- Why?
:15:48
For a pterosaur or any other
prehistoric creature to have survived,
:15:53
it must have been isolated from
the mainstream of evolutionary development.
:15:57
Where do you propose we start
our search for this mythical plateau?
:16:02
- It wasn't mythical to Padre Mendoz!
- How very reassuring.
:16:07
Your mind is as fossilised
as the exhibits in your precious museums!
:16:11
- How dare you!
- Gentlemen! Please.
:16:15
There's a small mission
about a week's journey upriver.
:16:19
It's run by a Reverend Theo Kerr.
:16:22
A Theo Kerr wrote a very silly book
condemning Darwin.
:16:25
- It's the same man.
- Oh, splendid.
:16:41
"Dear Mr McArdle, herewith
my first dispatch, together with expenses."
:16:47
"Notwithstanding our agreement
that you would rewrite my accounts,
:16:51
I have tried to embrace a style
which will appeal to Gazette readers."
:16:56
"After an uneventful journey
of some seven weeks,
:16:59
we find ourselves in the upper reaches
of the mighty Amazon river,