Pellucidar · Chapter
Traveling with Terror explained
David Innes and Abner Perry camp by a peaceful river, where Perry recounts the chaos that followed David's departure: Hooja's lies led to Dian's disappearance, tribal wars shattered the federation, and the Mahars exploited the division.
What happens
David Innes and Abner Perry camp by a peaceful river, where Perry recounts the chaos that followed David's departure: Hooja's lies led to Dian's disappearance, tribal wars shattered the federation, and the Mahars exploited the division. Determined to find Dian, David insists on crossing the Mountains of the Clouds. They kill a cave bear for its fur, fashion cold-weather gear, and build a base hut. Their systematic search for a pass is harrowing, with constant attacks from bears and wolves, and Perry obsessively counts their dwindling ammunition.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Resilience
David and Perry endure extreme cold, predatory beasts, and dwindling supplies in their quest to cross the mountains.
Deception and Betrayal
Hooja's lies about David cause Dian's disappearance, tribal war, and the federation's ruin.
Exploration and Discovery
Systematic mapping and search for a pass across the Mountains of the Clouds, a region never before seen by man.
Characters to notice
- David Innes
Narrator and protagonist; determined to find Dian and rebuild the empire.
- Abner Perry
Recounts the fall of the federation and his own ordeal; anxious about ammunition.
- Dian the Beautiful
Disappeared after Hooja's lies; David's primary motivation.
- Hooja the Sly One
Betrayed David by lying about his intentions, causing Dian's flight and tribal war.
- Ghak the Hairy One
Sarian leader who refused to believe David's defection; led his tribe in the conflict.
- Dacor the Strong One
Dian's brother and Amozite leader; grief-stricken and suspicious of David.
- Ja the Mezop
Provided directions to Anoroc via the Mountains of the Clouds.
Key passages
“And thus, your majesty," he concluded, "has faded back into the oblivion of the Stone Age our wondrous dream and with it has gone the First Empire of Pellucidar.”
Perry tells David that their dream of civilization has collapsed and the First Empire of Pellucidar is lost.
Perry summarizes the destruction of their federation.
“To me she was worth forty empires.”
David values Dian far more than any empire.
David's priority is finding Dian, not rebuilding the empire.
“We cannot endure the arctic cold of those high flung passes, and to traverse the endless miles about this interminable range might require a year or more.”
Perry argues they cannot survive the cold or take the long route around the mountains.
Perry's objection to crossing the mountains.
“It is one of the peculiarities of life within Pellucidar that man is more often the hunted than the hunter.”
In Pellucidar, humans are typically prey rather than predators.
Describes the constant danger from carnivores.