The Lost World · Chapter
XIV: Those Were the Real Conquests explained
The expedition awakens exhausted after their ordeal with the ape-men.
What happens
The expedition awakens exhausted after their ordeal with the ape-men. They decide to seek out the Indian tribe they rescued, hoping to gain their alliance and find a way off the plateau. The Indians, called the Accala, reveal their hatred for the ape-men (Doda). A rescue party of Indians arrives by canoe, led by the father of the young chief they saved. A war council is held, and the Indians persuade the expedition to join them in a raid against the ape-men. The chapter ends with the group preparing for battle, observing the Indians' domesticated iguanodons and the strange geological features of the plateau.
Themes in this chapter
Survival and Fellowship
The expedition and the Accala Indians form an alliance for mutual survival against the ape-men, highlighting the theme of cooperation in the face of danger.
Imperialism and Exploration
The white explorers assume leadership and join a native war party, reflecting imperialist attitudes of the era where Europeans often intervened in indigenous conflicts.
Characters to notice
- Professor G. E. Challenger
Expands like a flower at the Indians' homage; lectures on the racial type of the Accala; agrees to cooperate in the raid.
- Lord John Roxton
Eager to settle a score with the ape-men; decides to join the Indian raid; shows interest in the blue clay pits.
- Professor Summerlee
Weak and limping but full of surly courage; reluctantly agrees to join the raid, though he questions its relevance to the expedition's goals.
- E. D. Malone
Narrator; still weak from the morning's shock; agrees to join the raid; observes the bedraggled appearance of his companions.
- Wild Indians
The Accala tribe; small, wiry, well-built men with lank black hair; show deep respect for their young chief; form a rescue party and prepare for war against the ape-men.
Key passages
“We had imagined that our pursuers, the ape-men, knew nothing of our brushwood hiding-place, but we were soon to find out our mistake.”
The group thought the ape-men were unaware of their hiding spot, but they quickly realized they were wrong.
Sets up the tension and danger of the ape-men's cunning.
“The type of these people, whether judged by cranial capacity, facial angle, or any other test, cannot be regarded as a low one; on the contrary, we must place it as considerably higher in the scale than many South American tribes which I can mention.”
Challenger asserts that the Accala are not a primitive race, but are actually more advanced than many other South American tribes.
Reflects Victorian racial pseudoscience and Challenger's authoritative tone.
“What is the use of returning? Sooner or later the thing must be done. Your comrades have been murdered. What if I have returned safe? These others have been done to death. There is no safety for any of us. We are assembled now and ready.”
The young chief argues that they cannot go back without action, as their people have been killed and there is no safety unless they fight.
Shows the chief's leadership and the tribe's resolve for war.