At the Earth’s Core · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for At the Earth’s Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Chapter 1
Prologue
The narrator introduces the incredulous tale of a man he met in the Sahara, who claims to have spent ten years in a hidden inner world. The man's sincerity and a strange creature he brought back convince the narrator of the story's truth.
Chapter 2
I: Toward the Eternal Fires
David Innes recounts his early life and his partnership with the inventor Abner Perry to build a mechanical subterranean prospector, the 'Iron Mole.' They embark on a test voyage into the earth, facing extreme temperatures, ammonia fumes, and an ice stratum, before nearly suffocating from depleted air. The craft eventually stops, and Innes realizes they have turned upward and are safe, though he loses consciousness.
Chapter 3
A Strange World
David Innes regains consciousness after a brief blackout and revives Abner Perry. They discover that the Iron Mole has surfaced in a bizarre, alien landscape with a motionless, oversized sun and no horizon. After exploring the coast, they are attacked by a massive, bear-like creature, forcing them to climb trees for safety. Perry's initial attempt to climb fails, but David helps him, and they both escape into the branches, though the beast begins to bend the tree to reach them.
Chapter 4
A Change of Masters
David Innes and Abner Perry are captured by ape-like creatures and brought to a tree village. After being reunited, Perry reveals that they have traveled to the inner world of Pellucidar, where a stationary sun creates eternal noon. They are then taken by gorilla-like men and chained alongside noble human prisoners, enduring a seemingly endless march across a sunbaked plain.
Chapter 5
IV: Dian the Beautiful
David Innes and Abner Perry continue their forced march as captives of the Sagoths. David learns the language of his fellow prisoners from a young woman named Dian the Beautiful, who tells him she is fleeing from Jubal the Ugly One. She describes the Mahars as the ruling race of Pellucidar and explains that the Sagoths are their servants. David inadvertently offends Dian by touching her, but Ghak reveals that Dian is his niece, the daughter of kings. Hooja the Sly One makes unwanted advances toward Dian. The group passes a salt sea filled with prehistoric reptiles, and Perry identifies them as Plesiosaurs and Ichthyosaurs. David uses Perry's praying as a ruse to intimidate the Sagoths, gaining them respect. They finally arrive at the buried city of Phutra.
Chapter 6
Slaves
David Innes and Abner Perry, enslaved in Phutra, plan an escape. David discovers sleeping Mahars and proposes killing them to flee, but Perry objects on moral grounds, arguing the Mahars are an intelligent dominant race. Perry reveals the Mahars' history: a female-only race sustained by a chemical formula for egg fertilization, hidden in Phutra. He suggests stealing this secret to empower humanity. They forge weapons and are joined by Ghak. Hooja the Sly One is recaptured, but Dian remains missing, deepening David's feelings for her. Ghak's homing instinct offers hope for navigation in Pellucidar's vast, starless world.
Chapter 7
The Beginning of Horror
David, Perry, and Ghak attempt to escape but are swept into a forced march to witness the punishment of two recaptured slaves. At an arena, they observe a spectacle where a man and woman fight a thag and a tarag. The woman is not Dian, to David's relief. The bull thag leaps the barrier, causing chaos and a stampede.
Chapter 8
VII: Freedom
David Innes escapes from Phutra and crosses the plain, grappling with guilt over leaving Perry behind. He reaches a valley with an inland sea, where he is pursued by a copper-skinned man. After commandeering the man's log boat, a sea serpent attacks the pursuer, and David, moved by compassion, drives a spear into the monster's jaws to save him.
Chapter 9
The Mahar Temple
David Innes escapes from the Mahar temple after falling into a tank, discovers a hidden exit, and later meets Ja, a Mezop fisherman. Ja explains the Mezops' truce with the Mahars and shows David the temple's interior, where they witness a Mahar religious ceremony involving hypnotic control over human slaves.
Chapter 10
IX: The Face of Death
David Innes awakens exhausted and hungry on an island, eventually finds a hidden canoe, and paddles back to the mainland. He resolves to return to Phutra to reunite with Perry and Ghak, despite the slim chances of escape. While exploring a canyon leading to a beach, he is cornered by a giant labyrinthodon. Ja appears and helps him climb to safety using a spear, saving him from the prehistoric predator.
Chapter 11
Phutra Again
David Innes is rescued by Ja, who offers him friendship and a place in his tribe. David explains his need to return to Phutra to rescue Perry and Dian, and debates the shape of Pellucidar with Ja. Despite Ja's warnings, David returns voluntarily to the Mahar city, convincing the Sagoth guards of his loyalty.
Chapter 12
XI: Four Dead Mahars
David Innes is sentenced to the experimental pits for telling the truth about the outer world. He escapes his chains using a dropped surgical instrument and flees through the corridors. He finds the three sleeping Mahars he had planned to kill, then reunites with Perry and Ghak. Disguised under a load of skins, he returns to the lower levels, kills the three Mahars, and stumbles into the secret chamber containing the Great Secret. In a fight with two Mahars, he kills both and seizes the book. In that moment, he realizes he loves Dian the Beautiful.
Chapter 13
Pursuit
David Innes, Ghak, Perry, and Hooja escape Phutra disguised in Mahar skins. After a harrowing flight through Pellucidar's dangerous wilderness, they reach the foothills of Sari only to spot Sagoth pursuers. Ghak refuses to abandon Perry, carrying him to hasten their escape, while Hooja is sent ahead to warn the Sarians.
Chapter 14
The Sly One
David Innes, Ghak, and Perry flee from the Sagoths through a canyon toward Sari, but Hooja the Sly One betrays them by failing to summon help. David sacrifices himself by leading the Sagoths up a separate canyon to allow Ghak and Perry to escape. He uses his bow and arrows to kill two Sagoths, then takes refuge on a narrow ledge near a cave, where he faces both approaching Sagoths and a giant cave bear emerging from the cave.
Chapter 15
The Garden of Eden
David Innes, having fled from Dian's rejection, discovers a secluded valley he calls his 'Garden of Eden' and establishes a cave home. After a period of solitude, he returns to Dian and forcefully declares his love, only to discover she reciprocates. Their newfound happiness is threatened by the arrival of Jubal the Ugly One, whom David must fight to protect Dian.
Chapter 16
Back to Earth
David Innes recounts his return to the outer world and his preparations to go back to Pellucidar, including a battle against Sagoths and Mahars, the recovery of slaves including Hooja the Sly One, and the narrator's subsequent failed search for Innes in the Sahara.
