The Mountains Of Madness
CHAPTER I (Part 1)

I was forced to make a speech because the people of science had refused to follow my advice without knowing why. It is completely against my wishes that I tell my reasons for opposing this antarctic invasion — with its massive fossil hunt and extravagant ancient ice melting — and I am increasingly reluctant due to warnings I may be in vain. Doubt over the actual facts, as I must express, is inevitable; but if I suppress what seems extraordinary and extraordinary there will be nothing left. The photographs kept secret until now, both the ordinary and the latter, will be taken into account for my sake; for they are very clear and vivid. However, they will be in doubt because of the hard efforts made to carry out counterfeiting. The ink drawings, of course, would be scorned as obvious deception; despite the peculiarities of the technique art experts have to put forward and ask.

In the end I had to rely on the judgment and the standing of some scientific leaders who, on the one hand, were, having sufficient independence of mind to weigh my data on its own merits is convincing or in the light of certain primordial and very confusing myths - cycles; and on the other hand, in the light of certain primordial and very confusing myths - cycles; and on the other hand, in the same way, enough influence to deter the general world of exploration from any reckless and over-ambitious program in that madness mountain region. It is an unfortunate fact that relatively unknown people like myself and my colleagues, who are only connected to a small university, are, have little chance to make an impression where very strange or very controversial things are highly noticed.

Further we fight back, that we are not in the strictest sense, specialists in the field of concern. As a geologist, my object in leading the Miskatonic University Expedition is fully to secure rock and soil specimens of deep levels from different parts of the Antarctic continent, aided by an incredible drill designed by Prof Frank H. Pabodie from our engineering department.  I don't want to be a pioneer in any other field than this; but I really hope that the use of this new mechanical device at different points along the previously explored path will lead to lightweight materials that until now have not been affordable by ordinary collection methods. Pabodie drilling equipment, as the public already knows from our report, is unique and radical in that it is lightweight, easy to carry, and easy to carry, and its capacity to combine the principle of ordinary artesis drill with the principle of small round rock drill in such a way as to quickly overcome the strata of various hardness. Steel heads, jointed rods, gasoline motors, collapsible wooden cranes, dynamic fittings, cording, garbage disposal auger, and cross-section piping for holes five inches wide and 1000 feet deep were all formed, with the required accessories, there is no load greater than three sevens - Edge sledges can carry; this is made possible by the smart aluminum alloys that most metal objects are made of. Four large Dornier jets, specially designed to fly at the incredible altitude required in the Antarctic plateau and with the fast-moving fuel-heating and starter devices employed by Pabodie, were built, it can transport our entire expedition from bases at the edge of large ice barriers to a variety of suitable inland points, and from this point sufficient dog quotas will serve us.

We plan to cover an area of one Antarctic season — or longer, if absolutely necessary — allows, operating mostly in the mountains and in the highlands south of the Ross Sea; the region is explored in varying degrees by Shackleton, Amundsen, Scott, and Byrd. With frequent camp shifts, carried out by aircraft and involving considerable distances to be of geologic significance, we expect to excavate an unprecedented amount of material; he said; especially in the pre-Cambrian strata so narrow a variety of earlier antarctic specimens have been secured. We also want to acquire as much as possible the highest range of fossil rocks, because the early life history of this bleak world of ice and death is of the utmost importance to our knowledge of the Earth's past. That the continent of Antarctica used to be temperate and even tropical, with full vegetable and animal life where mosses, marine fauna, arachnids, and penguins on the northern edge were the only survivors, it is a matter of general information; and we hope to expand that information in variety, accuracy, and detail. When a simple bore reveals signs of fossils, we will enlarge the hole by detonation to obtain a specimen of suitable size and conditions.

The public knows about the Miscatonic Expedition through our frequent wireless reports to Arkham Advertiser and the Associated Press, and through subsequent articles by Pabodie and I.  We are composed of four men from the University of — Pabodie, Lake biology department, Atwood from physics department (also a meteorologist), and, and I represent geology and have a nominal command of — in addition to sixteen assistants; seven graduate students from Miskatonic and nine skilled mechanics. Of these sixteen, twelve are qualified aircraft pilots, all but two of whom are competent wireless carriers.  Eight of them understood navigation by compass and sextant, as did Pabodie, Atwood, and I. In addition, of course, our two ships — former wood whalers, which are reinforced for ice conditions and have steam auxiliary — fully manned.  The Nathaniel Derby Pickman Foundation, aided by some special contributions, financed the expedition; hence our preparations were meticulous despite the lack of major publicity.  The dogs, sleds, machines, camp materials, and uncoupled parts of our five planes were delivered in Boston, and there our ships were loaded.  We are very well equipped for our specific purpose, and in all matters relating to supply, regimen, transportation, and camp construction, we benefit from the outstanding examples of many of our recent outstanding predecessors. It was the unusual number and fame of these predecessors who carried out our own expedition — despite quite a lot — being so little noticed by the world in general.

The Elder