Хребти божевілля

           Itwasonlyintheonelate-builthousewiththedecadentcarvingsthatweobtainedanyforeshadowingofthefinalcalamityleadingtothecity’sdesertion. Undoubtedlytheremusthavebeenmanysculpturesofthesameageelsewhere,evenallowingfortheslackenedenergiesandaspirationsofastressfulanduncertainperiod;indeed,verycertainevidenceoftheexistenceofotherscametousshortlyafterward. Butthiswasthefirstandonlysetwedirectlyencountered. Wemeanttolookfartherlateron;butasIhavesaid,immediateconditionsdictatedanotherpresentobjective. Therewould,though,havebeenalimit—forafterallhopeofalongfutureoccupancyoftheplacehadperishedamongtheOldOnes,therecouldnotbuthavebeenacompletecessationofmuraldecoration. Theultimateblow,ofcourse,wasthecomingofthegreatcoldwhichonceheldmostoftheearthinthrall,andwhichhasneverdepartedfromtheill-fatedpoles —thegreatcoldthat,attheworld’sotherextremity,putanendtothefabledlandsofLomarandHyperborea. 

           Justwhenthistendencybeganintheantarctic,itwouldbehardtosayintermsofexactyears. Nowadayswesetthebeginningofthegeneralglacialperiodsatadistanceofaboutfivehundredthousandyearsfromthepresent,butatthepolestheterriblescourgemusthavecommencedmuchearlier. Allquantitativeestimatesarepartlyguesswork,butitisquitelikelythatthedecadentsculpturesweremadeconsiderablylessthanamillionyearsago,andthattheactualdesertionofthecitywascompletelongbeforetheconventionalopeningofthePleistocene—fivehundredthousandyearsago—asreckonedintermsoftheearth’swholesurface.