The Wonders of the Permian 185 



likely to see here. I say we because I could not 

 believe that He who had brought Maud and me 

 through so many adventures would take her 

 bright presence away forever. These thoughts 

 were in my mind as I watched a reptile come 

 into full view out of the jungle. 



The most wonderful thing about him, was that 

 he carried on his back an enormous hump. The 

 spines in the center of the column were at least 

 three feet high, and packed around the base were 

 masses of muscle and ligaments, tapering to a 

 sharp point at the top of the spine. A cross sec- 

 tion would be wedge shaped. I learned after- 

 wards from a study of the skeleton, that as the 

 centra of the vertebrae were very weak they were 

 held firmly in place by the crossing ligaments 

 that were wound around the centra and spines in 

 intermingled masses. This creature had come 

 out of the jungle for water interested me greatly. 

 He was about ten feet long from head to the long 

 end of the delicate tail. I was surprised to see 

 him suddenly dive back into the jungle with all 

 the speed at his command. The Eryops too sud- 

 denly stopped croaking and a nerve wrecking sil- 

 ence, covered me as with a pall. The reptiles and 

 amphibians sought refuge in the jungle of the 

 bottom of the lake. And that body of water but 

 a second before so full of life and activity lay a 

 mirror, silent as the grave, looking in the direc- 

 tion from which neither reptile or amphibian had 

 run for shelter, I heard too, an unaccustomed 



