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Rh sound of water, as it rushed and roared over its narrow, rocky bed.

We followed this opening for some time until we came to a place small enough to form a bridge.

After going through the same performance as at the first opening, I was safely landed on the other side, and we proceeded as before.

As I was borne along I made a thousand conjectures concerning these strange creatures.

They were evidently not monkeys, for they had the power of speech.

Certainly not men; as some of them had short tails.

What could they be?

Suddenly Darwin's theory flashed through my mind.

Yes! Undoubtedly they were the missing link.

But, how account for the phosphorescent light they emitted?

This, I reasoned, might be the effect of the fungi they fed on, the essence of which, having thoroughly impregnated their bodies, passed through the pores of their skin.

Whether this was possible I could not say, but it was the only way I could account for it.

Reasoning thus, I lost a great deal of the fear that had at first possessed me, and observed my captors with increased interest.