The three of us then walked forward across to the great portico which loured across the plain at us. As I had surmised, there was another plinth in front of it, which bore the same strange hieroglyphs we had already noted outside the mountain range and which, according to Scarsdale, bore so sinister an inscription. I took some photographs while Prescott stood looking round in the dim light; Scarsdale had gone over to the plinth and was laboriously copying out the inscription. It seemed to correspond to some passage in the Professor's copy of The Ethics of Ygor, for I saw him excitedly comparing extracts as he scribbled. When I had finished my photographic work, I put the camera back in its case and waited with Prescott. Neither of us spoke to the other.
We went on for several minutes until the portico had grown so large that the greater part of it was now lost to us in the shimmering vastness above; the right-hand side of the massive stone blocks of which the lintel was composed, bore two lines of inscription only and I photographed these while Scarsdale again noted them. He then radioed Van Damm' personally and gave him an account of our actions for the doctor’s log.
As we went forward again I saw that a vast flight of steps led upwards into the gloom; the interior was not entirely dark however, and fluted openings in the roof let through the phosphorescence from above. I observed wryly to myself that we were now twice removed from the earth above and that we were plunging from the eternal twilight into the stygian abyss; I wondered how many transformations there would be, each, like a series of Chinese boxes, more subtly wrought than the last and each more irrevocably committing us to this underground cosmos with its own arid and sterile atmosphere.
As we went under the portico the Professor observed to me in level tones that we would make Camp Four just outside the entrance the following day. To my surprise the warm, dry wind still blew as we went up the stairs. These were singular indeed and took us some time to mount. Their construction seemed to be of some light-coloured stone like marble or granite; they were not worn in any way and looked as freshly- minted as the day the unknown masons had completed their work.
But the most extraordinary thing about them was their dimensions and configuration. Scarsdale's exclamation reached a climax of admiration as we went upwards and Prescott and I could not help joining in. The steps were the most remarkable I had ever seen. Each was about two feet high, so that we had to scramble awkwardly over the lip, using both our hands to get leverage; the step, if that was the right term, then ran across for more than ten feet before the next pushed upwards into the dimness, and the whole process on our part was repeated. Our progress was necessarily slow under these circumstances and as the warm wind blew steadily down towards us, I was soon perspiring fairly heavily.
Our eyes were by now used to the lower level of light inside and we did not need to use the lanterns in our helmets. I did note, however, that a narrow band of ornamentation ran along each side of the steps, separating it from the wall and I drew this to the Professor's attention. I used my head lamp for this and Scarsdale took a sketch of the zig-zag patterning which ran along the double banding of the step border. I took several pictures for the record and then we went on.
Fortunately, the flight of steps was fairly short, though of great length, due to the ten or twelve feet levels in between each one. At the top we walked forward into what looked like a long rock gallery, perfectly built, and illuminated by the fluted interstices from above. It is now the time to become perfectly precise in my description of the scene, so I must choose my words carefully. We had not gone far into the gallery before I saw that along each side were ranged hundreds of what I must call, for want of a better term, jars. They were in single file, about two feet out from each wall and each bore above it a twin-lettered symbol.
I went up close and pushed at the rim of one of the vessels; though of great thickness and weight it rocked slightly. As far as we could make out in the available light the jars were greyish in colour, about five feet high by about two feet across. They were sealed at the tops with a flat stopper of what looked like clay or rock, cemented with some mucous- like substance round the edges which caught the light of my lantern and glittered. The seal also bore hieroglyphs corresponding to those on the wall above. The sides of the jar, from the indications given at the neck were about an inch thick. They had no necks or shaping such as we understand but were merely cylindrical with a flat base and the same circumference all the way up.
Scarsdale cleared his throat which made an unpleasant rasping noise in the gloom of the gallery. The sound went echoing down the long vista and I saw Prescott visibly start and look about him. He and the Professor conferred together and presently came back to me. The Professor had a geologist's kit with him, containing various small hammers, cold chisels and other implements. He and Prescott chose tools to their liking and selecting the nearest jar, commenced to loosen its sealing stopper. Working from opposite sides, while I reinforced the available lighting from my helmet lantern, they commenced to chip away at the bonding material.
The chinking as the hammer heads descended on to the chisels stirred unnatural echoes in the gallery and once again I saw Prescott, who was staring about him as if to guard our activities from intruders, visibly wince. I could understand his feeling as the echoes seemed to vibrate down the gallery and continue long after they should have died away in the natural order of events. Of course the configuration of the gallery was probably responsible for this eccentric aural phenomena but its effect was unnerving to say the least.
The Professor and his companion worked on for several minutes and their efforts seemed to be having a visible effect; there was a steadily widening crack in the material between the neck of the jar and the sealing disc and in about a quarter of an hour the seal began to give. The Professor and Prescott then both transferred their efforts to one side, and inserting their chisels under the stopper attempted to break the final layer of coagulant material. I heard a sharp crack, a muffled exclamation from Scarsdale who had slipped over, the stopper gave suddenly and there was a rush of air or gas from within the flask accompanied by a most shocking stench which made me feel quite ill. I turned away, groping towards the steps and the entrance of the gallery.
I leaned against one of the jars to clear that loathsome odour from my nostrils. I was thus some feet away from where Prescott and Scarsdale, their activities recommenced, had lifted away the stopper. The back of Prescott was between me and the jar, with the Professor on the far side. There was a grating noise, as the vessel was lifted on to its edge and the two men started to ease something out. I heard a muffled thump, the empty jar rolled with a hollow echo to one side and Prescott gave a loud shriek which jarred my nerves.
I jumped forward, the odour momentarily forgotten, to see Prescott backing away from something on the floor of the gallery; his face was white as he turned to me and his lips moved without formulating any words. I pushed round him somewhat unceremoniously and had to bite my own tongue to prevent my cry from joining the echoes of his own.
The creature which lay before us in shimmery putrescence on the rock bed of the gallery was unlike anything in my experience. It was about four to five feet high, with a shrivelled, white maggot-like body from which depended two stringy lower limbs, hinged in three places and packed behind it. On its back were gigantic wing-cases of bluish sheen. The thing appeared to be all the colours of the rainbow but as we watched the hues lost their brilliance, faded and finally died to a neutral brown as it degenerated in the air of the tunnel.