PLIOCENE PERIOD 
Perchance to bloody carnivores a prey, 
Clean from the scene will all be swept away. 
Fine breeds indeed in time will graze her land, 1 50 
But thither brought by Man's, not Nature's hand. 
Less numerous in Europa than of old 
Seem ape and monkey forms. Perchance the cold, 
Food scarcity, and brute force here portray 
A scene, no Eldorado for their stay. 155 
Yet still in favoured spots they find retreat, 
On woody scenes, where balmy breezes beat. 
In limb, at least, these beings macaques appear, 
But both in tooth and skull they semblance bear 
To India's langurs more, and well they may 160 
Be close allied to those forms of to-day. 
Upheaval and subsidence ever rife 
Are bringing changes o'er these scenes of life. 
Increasing cold in regions to the north 
Is driving life a puzzled pilgrim forth. 165 
North waters now to southern seas are flowing, 
And with increasing keenness winds are blowing 
Across soft scenes, where Nature's fostering hand 
Had brought forth life, as on a tropic land. 
Ah ! men to-day that fain would reach the pole ; 170 
Closing are now the gates that hold your goal. 
For far away within the whitened zone, 
An ice-king sits, hard frozen to his throne : 
'55 
