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Volume 7002

TARZAN OF THE APES
Summary and Comments by John Martin: Pt. II
Chapters 8 - 14

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TARZAN OF THE APES, CHAPTER VIII: THE TREE-TOP HUNTER

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This chapter is devoted primarily to Tarzan's first effort to stalk and kill Sabor. The effort is unsuccessful, as far as Sabor's demise is concerned, but is useful to the maturing jungle lord in learning his limitations, and how to overcome them.

After Tarzan kills his step-father, Tublat the ape, in the preceding chapter, the tribe of apes moves on, and Burroughs no doubt has great fun reporting that the apes searched for food such as cabbage-palm, gray plums, pisangs and scitamines.

Cabbage and plums are familiar terms, so the reader can conjure up some sort of image. But pisang is not found in the average U.S. dictionary of today (though it may have been in dictionary's of ERB's day). It takes an internet search to nail down the meaning of pisang, and ERB didn't have the internet to assist him, so there's no telling where he picked up the Malayan word for banana, or why he decided to use it in a book about Africa. Perhaps he did it just to force the reader to expand his mind!!!

Cabbage-palm is actually any of several palms, such as the assai, with edible, terminal buds, and gray plums are, duh, a variety of plums.

The word scitamine comes from India, where it describes the curcuma longa, a root-like plant which is a tumeric. It is externally grayish but internally of a deep, lively yellow or saffron color and has a slight aromatic smell and bitterish, slightly acrid taste. It's used for dye, medicine, condiment or chemical tests. The first and last uses were not required by the great apes, so more likely they enjoyed its condiment properties and may have benefited, unknowingly, from its medicinal qualities.

Having succeeded in slaying Tublat, Tarzan begins thinking seriously about killing a lioness. His reason is to use its hide as a kind of clothing, since he has noticed in the books in his father's cabin that his race wears this type of thing. He has no idea why man wears such things until he huddles with his tribe through a terrific wind and rain storm, described in vivid detail by ERB, and thinks how nice it would have been to have had something to wrap around himself. He is also feeling some pride at this point, that the books have revealed that all animals but man go naked. His quest might have been simpler if he had settled on the hide of, say, Bara the deer. But he sets his sights highly rather quickly.

Tarzan attempts to subdue Sabor with his lasso, and the plan succeeds only until Sabor rends the offending grass rope with her teeth. Tarzan taunts Sabor from the treetops for several hours, including a well-aimed throw with a squishy fruit, before getting bored and heading back to the ape tribe.
- - - - -
STORMY PASSAGE: Then, suddenly, the jungle giants whipped back, lashing their mighty tops in angry and deafening protest. A vivid and blinding light flashed from the whirling, inky clouds above. The deep canonade of roaring thunder belched forth its fearsome challenge. The deluge came — all hell broke loose upon the jungle.

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1. Tarzan of the Apes in Portugal.
2. A 1951 Goulden edition of Tarzan of the Apes.
See this and other editions at Marten Jonker's website:
3. South Africa edition of Tarzan of the Apes in Afrikaans, a language derived from
the form of Dutch brought to the Cape by Protestant settlers in the 17th century.

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TARZAN OF THE APES, CHAPTER IX: MAN AND MAN

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Up to this point, Tarzan has led a relatively sheltered life. No, not sheltered from Sabor, from Bolgani, or Mangani on a rampage, but sheltered, geographically, this chapter tells us, by high hills which shut it off on three sides, and the ocean which formed a barrier on the fourth.

This geographical fence, in turn, provided a shelter for Tarzan from the presence of man, as "...the area traversed by his tribe was watered by no great river to bring down the savage natives of the interior. How big was this area? Chapter V tells us the great apes generally ranged over an area which ran 25 miles along the ocean and 50 miles inland. That equates to 1,250 square miles, or 800,000 acres, the approximate size of either Joshua Tree National Park in California, or the entire state of Rhode Island.

But, at the same time that Tarzan becomes a young man of 18, other men enter into his world—the remnants of a tribe, fleeing from a run-in with soldiers, intrudes into his world and makes a home along a small river. With man comes trouble. At first, the blacks fear to venture far into the hostile jungle. But, at last, Kulonga, son of the chief, does so and, coming upon Tarzan's foster mother, Kala, kills her with one of his poison-tipped arrows. The reader grieves with Tarzan as he weeps over his slain mother, the only creature in his world who ever had manifested love and affection for him, and then the reader accompanies Tarzan along his trail of vengeance as he tracks the killer.

Catching up to Kulonga is child's play for Tarzan, but he is wise enough to withhold his vengeance until he has learned all he can about this man. By the time Tarzan kills Kulonga, he has discovered the location of the village. And once he has completed his revenge, he appropriates the black's knife, sheath and belt, his headdress, a copper anklet, and his bow and poisoned arrows. Nothing is said about whether Kulonga wore a loin cloth and whether Tarzan also may have taken that. We know he was interested in some kind of attire because of his earlier, unsuccessful efforts to rob Sabor of her coat. By watching Kulonga kill a couple of animals, Tarzan deduces that there is something deadly about the arrow tips other than their mere sharpness, so no doubt he avoided the natural impulse to test the sharpness with a fingertip, an act which could have resulted in his death.

Kulonga's use of the bow gives Tarzan a living picture of the scene Tarzan has seen in the children's book in his dead parents' cabin, with the caption: "A stands for Archer." But back in Chapter VI, we are told the book read: "A is for Archer." Slightly different wording. There were a number of children's books in the cabin and, no doubt, there was one book with each version!
Kulonga had originally set out with a spear, as well, but it had been lost when he threw it at Kala. He barely grazed her, so had to finish her off with an arrow. But the approach of other apes kept him from retrieving his spear. So, at this point, Tarzan probably doesn't know that spears exist.

In this chapter, Tarzan's knowledge of man increases rapidly, as he sees Kulonga make fire, cook food, use weapons, and live in villages.
- - - - -
QUOTABLE QUOTE: "Quick was Sabor, the lioness, and quick were Numa and Sheeta, but Tarzan of the Apes was lightning."
- - - - -
First reference to other Greystoke:
A few times in this volume, Burroughs gives us a contrast between the activities of Tarzan and the activities of the Greystoke title-holder in London. As Tarzan eats raw boar, the title-holder, Tarzan's uncle, the youngest brother of his father, is seen dining on chops, and sends them back to the chef because they are underdone.

1. Armed Services edition of "Tarzan of the Apes," 1940,
distributed free to troops along with other popular titles of the day.
2. The back cover of the Armed Services edition of "Tarzan of the Apes,"
distributed free to troops during World War II, reports that the publication was
by arrangement with The Edgar Rice Burroughs Publishing Company, Tarzana, California.

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TARZAN OF THE APES, CHAPTER X: THE FEAR PHANTOM

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Rule No. 1: If you are planning to build a primitive native village in the African jungle, and you want it free from constant harassment by young ape-men, DO NOT build your village near large, overhanging trees.

Rule No. 2: Don't complain about what happens if you disobey Rule No. 1.

After disposing of Kulonga, the murderer of his ape mother, in the previous chapter, Tarzan sets out to investigate the native village to which Kulonga was headed. Tarzan noticed that, as if for his convenience, "...at one point the forest touched the village...."

That portion of the forest included an ideal observation post, "...a great tree, heavy laden with thick foliage and loaded with pendant loops of giant creepers. From this almost impenetrable bower above the village he crouched...."

Below him, he observed native life but, most captivating, directly below him was a woman who was dipping arrows in a pot of what seemed to be the very fluid that dealt death to those it touched.
When some natives discovered the body of Kulonga hanging in the tree where Tarzan had left it, the village emptied as everyone went to see the sight. Never one to miss an opportunity, Tarzan dropped into the village and explored a hut which, we learn later, just happened to be Kulonga's home. Inside, Tarzan saw spears on the wall although he didn't know what they were. He decided to steal one at a later date, as he intended to leave with his hands full of all the arrows he could carry. As he examined objects in the hut, he piled them in the center of the dwelling, finally placing a pot upsidedown atop the pile. He then added one of two skulls that were kicking around in the hut and then, with a spark of inspiration, he removed the headress he had taken from Kulonga and placed it atop a skull—a grinning, grisly joke that would bring horror, not laughter, to the returning villagers.

With the tribe coming back into the village, carrying the deceased Kulonga, Tarzan quickly made his escape after first grabbing some arrows and tipping over the pot of poison. The natives, including village chief Mbonga, Kulonga's father, were gripped to the core of their superstitious souls by the display that Tarzan had left behind. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship!

In this chapter we are told that Tarzan was not a sentimentalist, and had never had the opportunity to learn anything of the brotherhood of man. To him, all others, except those of Kerchak's tribe, were enemies. Tantor the elephant, alone, was the exception. In the previous chapter it was noted that he had made friends with Tantor: "How? Ask me not. But this is known to the denizens of the jungle, that on many moonlit nights Tarzan of the Apes and Tantor, the elephant, walked together, and where the way was clear Tarzan rode, perched high upon Tantor's mighty back."

It is a bit chilling to read that Tarzan "...joyed in killing, and that he killed with a joyous laugh upon his handsome lips betokened no innate cruelty. He killed for food most often, but, being a man, he sometimes killed for pleasure, a thing which no other animal does; for it has remained for man alone among all creatures to kill senselessly and wantonly for the mere pleasure of inflicting suffering and death."

I don't know if ERB owned a housecat but, if he did, he might have altered that statement slightly, as some animals apparently do kill for the heck of it. Nonetheless, while some animals may kill for sport, they are only operating by instinct. It is certainly true that man is the only creature that sits up nights thinking up new and ingenious methods of doing in his fellow man and other creatures.
- - - - -
THE WAY OF THE JUNGLE: "His savage life among the fierce wild brutes of the jungle left no opening for any thought that these could be aught else than enemies. Similarity of form led him into no erroneous conception of the welcome that would be accorded him should he be discovered by these, the first of his own kind he had ever seen."

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1. This British edition of "Tarzan of the Apes" has a Four Square books label on the cover and spine
"but the back cover lists it as a New English Library title,"
writes Michael Tierney in "Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology."
Artist for this cover was Ronald William "Josh" Kirby.

NOTE FROM MICHAEL TIERNEY: Since the Chronology was released, I've discovered new information about the artist of this particular cover, and have rewritten the text on this section. The second printing will have the following: Tarzan of the Apes in May 1967 was the only volume in this batch illustrated by Giorgio De Gaspari, and was labeled on the front and spine with Four Square as the publisher. However, the back lists it as a New English Library title. This rest of this new batch was illustrated by Ronald William “Josh” Kirby (1928–2001), who enjoyed a very prolific career as a book cover artist after learning his craft at the Liverpool City School of Art. Earlier covers by Kirby included Ian Fleming’s Moonraker for Pan Books, Isaac Asimov’s The Currents of Space for Panther, and both Ray Bradbury’s The Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit 451 for Corgi. Over his nearly 50-year career Kirby created so many covers for the greatest science fiction, fantasy and adventure authors of the day, he could merit an art chronology of his own. Previous covers by Mortelmans were often recreated and enhanced. Chronological numbering was added to the blood-red spines.

2. "Tarzan of the Apes" first-version paperback by Four Square of Great Britain in 1959
with art by Edward Mortelmans, according to Michael Tierney.
Tierney notes that on the cover blurb "Four Square repeats Methuen's mistake of claiming that
Tarzan was born and raised on a desert island."
3. The second version of the Four Square "Tarzan of the Apes" paperback
had the title at the bottom of the cover instead of at the top.
British editions are pictured and discussed in
Michael Tierney's "Edgar Rice Burroughs 100 Year Art Chronology."

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TARZAN OF THE APES, CHAPTER XI: KING OF THE APES

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Well before the book reaches its midpoint (pages 125-140 out of 392, chapter 11 out of 28) Tarzan becomes the king of his ape tribe. The one who, as a child in a cradle, was saved by Kala from Kerchak's deadly intentions, now grows up to vanquish that same Kerchak and take over his position as leader of the apes.

Kerchak, we are told in Chapter IV, was 20 years old when one-year-old Tarzan came into the tribe. Since Tarzan is 18 by Chapter XI, Kerchak must be 37. I don't know the lifespan that ERB imagined his apes to have, but Tarzan, for sure, was not beating up on an old man. The way ERB describes the battle, it could just as easily have been won by King Kerchak; Tarzan's muscles play a part in the battle (ERB describes him as six feet tall and "mighty muscled" with "great rolling sinews"), but it is his wits and his knife that give him the edge.

All along, Kerchak has been jealous of and annoyed by Tarzan, but he is given new reasons in this chapter, which is full of plenty of other adventures.

After bragging to the apes about his new weapons (and annoying Kerchak), Tarzan returns to his cabin and finds the metal box with his father's diary, written in script AND French! (a double challenge for the ape-man!), along with a photo of his father and a golden locket studded with diamonds. Tarzan likes the photo of the man who he doesn't know is his father. He puts everything back in the box except the locket, which he places around his neck.

Then, it's back to Mbonga's village for more arrows, and Tarzan sees the full depravity of this tribe as they bring in a captive to torture, kill and eat. Tarzan plays a grisly joke on the natives, stealing a skull from Kulonga's old hut and tossing it, from a tall tree, into their midst. Thereafter, they assume a god is visiting them and set out daily offerings for it.

On the way home, Tarzan encounters and kills Sabor and sleeps off his exhaustion in the fork of a tree, wrapped in Sabor's freshly skinned pelt.

When he gets back to his ape tribe, it is his bragging about killing Sabor that pushes Kerchak beyond the limits of sanity and the ape's resultant rage triggers the battle that gives Tarzan the kingship of the apes.
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POINTS TO PONDER:
1. While Tarzan is in the village hut, looking for the skull, a native woman comes in to rummage around for a cooking pot. Where did this primitive tribe get cooking pots? They may have had the ability to make clay pots, but if they had metal pots they no doubt got them in trades with other Africans. Did primitive cannibals cook in clay pots, or acquire metal pots, or did they just roast meat on a stick over the fire? How many cartoons have shown cannibals stewing explorers in a big iron pot? Where did these cannibals get those pots?

2. When Tarzan sees the full skeletons in the cabin, he pays them no heed at all, nor does he disturb them, even on subsequent trips when he searches for other "stuff" in the cabin. When he enters Kulonga's hut (twice so far) and sees the skulls, he is immediately taken with the idea of moving them and using them as props for jokes, once fitting one of them with Kulonga's headress and once tossing a skull into a crowd of natives. What explains Tarzan's different treatment of the human remains?
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ANOTHER COMPARISON TO OTHER GREYSTOKE:
The first comparison to the other Greystoke in London, the one holding the title that rightfully belongs to Tarzan, is in Chapter IX. The second follows Tarzan's victory cry after killing Sabor, and the fearful reaction of the other jungle denizens: "And in London another Lord Greystoke was speaking to his kind in the House of Lords, but none trembled at the sound of his soft voice."
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VICTORY CRY OF THE BULL APE:
So far, ERB hasn't used the term by which fans usually refer to this. In Chapter VII it was "the wild and terrible cry of his people"; after killing Sabor it is "the awful challenge of the victorious bull ape" and after killing Kerchak it is "the fierce, wild cry of the conqueror." All different ways of referring to the same thing.
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OMINOUS WARNING:
After his second visit to Mbonga's tribe, we are told: "But the seed of fear was deep sown, and had he but known it, Tarzan of the Apes had laid the foundation for much future misery for himself and his tribe."
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SPECIAL PASSAGE:
"Kerchak was dead.
"Withdrawing the knife that had so often rendered him master of far mightier muscles than his own, Tarzan of the Apes placed his foot upon the neck of his vanquished enemy, and once again, loud through the forest rang the fierce, wild cry of the conqueror.
"And thus came the young Lord Greystoke into the kingship of the Apes."

1. “The Illustrated Tarzan Book No. 1," 1928, retold the tale of “Tarzan of the Apes” in 300 Hal Foster illustrations,
which had originally appeared in the newspaper strip.
This book was to be the first of a series of illustrated Tarzan books.
G&D published it in the same format that Cupples & Leon was using to publish their “Little Orphan Annie” cartoon strips in book form,
but the Tarzan book had no sequels because it was not successful.
However, The Burroughs Bibliophiles later went on to publish many of the Rex Maxon Tarzan comic panels
in books that were of a similar format, but softcover.
The entire Fosters book is reprinted in ERBzine (Also see the “Companion Page” link near the top):
http://www.erbzine.com/mag23/2390.html
2. The Big Little Book version of “Tarzan of the Apes”," 1929, featured a cover and 307 illustrations by Juanita Bennett.
3. “Tarzan,” printed in 1935 and 1936 as a Tarzan Cup ice cream giveaway, featured cover and 36 illustrations by Juanita Bennett.
It was a 144-page abridgement of the first half of the “Tarzan of the Apes” BLB.
4. “Tarzan and His Jungle Friends,” 1936, was a 128-abridgement of the last half of the “Tarzan of the Apes” BLB
featuring 62 illustrations by Juanita Bennett. It was an odd-sized (3” by 3”) Tarzan Cup ice cream giveaway.
Covers and info for the above BLBs are featured in the ERBzine BLB Bibliography
http://www.erbzine.com/mag0/0044b.html

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TARZAN OF THE APES, CHAPTER XII: MAN'S REASON

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Tarzan won the kingship of the apes at the end of the last chapter, and he gives it up at the end of this chapter. However, he could win the title back at any time in the future so, in that sense, he can always become the king of whatever apes he is around.

Tarzan does not lose his kingship; he abdicates, as a result of his reasoning process, the process that gives this chapter its title.

Once he is king, Tarzan quickly gains an enemy: Terkoz feared Tarzan's knife and arrows and, therefore, "...confined the manifestation of his objections to petty disobediences and irritating mannerisms." (We've all known people like this).

Man's Reason, exercised by Tarzan, leads the ape band to good spots for finding food and, when they raid the tribe of Mbonga's crops at night, he teaches the value of leaving, unmolested, any food they cannot eat.

Man's Reason also motivates Mbonga's tribe to seek a new village site, in a vain effort to escape the tormentor who comes and steals arrows and plays grisly jokes. Their search for a new village intrudes upon the apes' peaceful jungle and so the apes, too, must move on.

Tarzan tires of his duties as king of the apes. Man's Reason has shown him he is not an ape, and it is logical for him to seek out his own people.

The opportunity comes as a result of a battle with Terkoz. Tarzan loses his grip on his knife in the fight, but "...there was that which had raised him far above his fellows of the jungle—that little spark which spells the whole vast difference between man and brute—Reason." Tarzan's Reason brings him around to Terkoz's back, where he can avoid the beast's fangs; he accidently achieves, and then realizes the value of, a half-Nelson hold, and Reason shows him the advantage of doubling it to a full-Nelson.

Man's Reason then saves Terkoz's life, as Tarzan decides to give the beast a chance to surrender rather than to have his neck broken, thus preserving a valuable fighter for the tribe. So here we learn for the first time the ape word "Kagoda" which, depending on inflection and circumstance, can either mean "Do you surrrender?" or "I surrender"—the ape equivalent of our "Uncle."

Tarzan, having proven again his right to be king, then calls the male apes together and tells them they must choose another to rule "...for Tarzan will not return."

And back he goes toward his parents' cabin to continue his quest for knowledge of "His Own Kind," which happens to be the name of the next chapter.
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KEY PASSAGE:
"As he had grown older, he found that he had grown away from his people. Their interests and his were far removed. They had not kept pace with him, nor could they understand aught of the many strange and wonderful dreams that passed through the active brain of their human king. So limited was their vocabulary that Tarzan could not even talk with them of the many new truths, and the great fields of thought that his reading had opened up before his longing eyes, or make known ambitions which stirred his soul."

1. Through the 1950s, Grosset & Dunlap kept eight of the first 11 Tarzan titles in print,
but didn't add "Tarzan of the Apes" until 1960. it featured the same type of binding art as the other books
but its jacket featured a Gerald McCann painting instead of one by C.E. Monroe, as on the other books.
2. In 1967, Grosset & Dunlap reprinted its series of nine of the first eleven volumes of the Tarzan series,
including "Tarzan of the Apes," with the Gerald McCann art on the cover.
These were a hair taller than the 1950s editions and the dust jacket image from the earlier books
was printed directly onto the cover of these books.
The technical term for this is "case wrapped," writes Robert B. Zeuschner in "Edgar Rice Burroughs: The Bibliography"

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TARZAN OF THE APES, CHAPTER XIII: HIS OWN KIND

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Throughout this story, Edgar Rice Burroughs has been shaping his hero into someone who will be appealing to Jane Porter. Tarzan has, for starters, some human intelligence, which serves him well in taking a few steps toward civilizing himself through the resources in the cabin of his parents, and his success in learning to communicate through writing. ERB gets Tarzan's ape mother out of the way to remove his last tie to the ape band. Though Tarzan grows up as an ape, Burroughs keeps him sexually pure from fiddling around with other apes or the primitive cannibal gals (we must assume all this, based on what we DO know, and Tarzan's character). Tarzan has learned to swim and, therefore, keeps fairly clean. Burroughs saves Tarzan from the unacceptable status of becoming a cannibal.

But when this chapter arrives, in which we meet Jane, Tarzan still has a couple of niceties to add: He must have some kind of covering to wear around his privates, and he must be clean-looking, as in "clean shaven." And so, those things happen in the first part of this chapter.

Without all of these things shaping Tarzan into what he is (the "Forest God" of Chapter XV) Jane would have been repulsed by the naked, bearded, ignorant, and possibly disease-ridden and filed-tooth creature she could have met in the jungle.

Her meeting with the handsome Tarzan, though, is still in the future, as Tarzan views Jane from the foliage during this chapter, but doesn't yet make the lady's acquaintance.
After leaving his ape tribe, Tarzan decides to make himself over as much as possible like other humans, and adorns himself with jewelry he has robbed from the only humans he knows, the cannibals. Before long, he kills another cannibal and is able to add a doeskin loincloth to his accoutrements. Later, fearing his budding facial growth is making him into an ape, Tarzan learns to shave with his hunting knife.

Tarzan observes a party of sailors ashore near his beloved cabin, and sees the first effects of a firearm when one of the sailors kills another, probably the leader. When the sailors go back to the ship, Tarzan is enraged to discover his cabin has been ransacked. In his battle with Terkoz, he had acquired a rip that loosened his scalp from above his left eye to his right ear. For the first time, we see his anger rising to cause the resulting scar to "burn" as inflamed crimson.

Tarzan writes a warning sign for his cabin door. The sailors return with five people whom they intend to abandon. They are Professor Archimedes Q. Porter and his daughter Jane, Samuel T. Philander, William Cecil Clayton, and Jane's maid, Esmeralda, whom ERB cuts off without a last name.

Tarzan, from his hiding place, heaves a spear into the shoulder of seaman Snipes, who is about to shoot Clayton.

The absent-minded Professor Porter wanders off into the jungle with Mr. Philander in tow and soon Clayton, leaving Jane and Esmeralda with the protection of Snipes' pistol (dropped when Tarzan speared him), takes Tarzan's spear and sets off into the jungle to look for the two older men.

Jane and Esmeralda barricade themselves in the cabin, Jane keeping the stiff upper lip to comfort her maid, but inwardly extremely worried about the ultimate fate of the quintet.
- - - - -
KEY PASSAGE:
“His straight and perfect figure, muscled as the best of the ancient Roman gladiators must have been muscled, and yet with the soft and sinuous curves of a Greek god, told at a glance the wondrous combination of enormous strength with suppleness and speed.
“A personification, was Tarzan of the Apes, of the primitive man, the hunter, the warrior.
With the noble poise of his handsome head upon those broad shoulders, and the fire of life and intelligence in those fine, clear eyes, he might readily have typified some demi-god of a wild and warlike bygone people of his ancient forest.”

.

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TARZAN OF THE APES, CHAPTER XIV: AT THE MERCY OF THE JUNGLE

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Those who are "at the mercy of the jungle" are the five castaways abandoned by the mutineers of the Arrow. Jane and Esmeralda are the best off, with the protection of the cabin built by Tarzan's father, but Professor Porter and Mr. Philander wandered off in the last chapter and they continue to roam, off stage, throughout this chapter, facing unknown terrors. William Clayton, meanwhile, is off in another direction, looking for the two men, and we see his terrors first-hand through the watchful eyes of Tarzan.

In truth, the jungle has no mercy, and would have had none on any of these. Fortunately, Tarzan of the Apes has quickly developed a liking for these five which, while Tarzan would not know the definition of mercy, nonetheless motivates him to act in such a way that it serves the same purpose.

“...somehow, intuitively he liked the young man and the two old men, and for the girl he had a strange longing which he scarcely understood. As for the big black woman, she was evidently connected in some way to the girl, and so he liked her, also.”

Clayton is first stalked by Sheeta, whom Tarzan, unseen to Clayton, drives away with "the awful cry of the challenging ape." Numa then decides to lunch on Clayton, but is not as easily handled. Tarzan must first shoot a poisoned arrow into Numa and then drop on his back and knife him to death. We read here something of the strength of Tarzan: "With lightning speed an arm that was banded layers of iron muscle encircled the huge neck, and the great beast was raised from behind, roaring and pawing the air—raised as easily as Clayton would have lifted a pet dog."

With this act, Tarzan not only saves Clayton, but also reveals his presence. Tarzan next offers to share some of the lion's meat with Clayton, who declines.

Clayton at first believes that this is the "Tarzan of the Apes" who wrote the warning note on the cabin, but gives up that idea when he realizes that Tarzan cannot speak English. Ape talk didn't sound very "pretty." ERB writes that Tarzan's "...replies, now vocal, were in a strange tongue, which resembled the chattering of monkeys mingled with the growling of some wild beast."

Tarzan begins leading Clayton back in the proper direction toward the cabin and, meanwhile, back at the cabin...

Jane and Esmeralda are terrorized by a lioness which seeks entry to the cabin in order to devour them. Esmeralda takes the easy way out, by fainting. Jane finally remembers the pistol Clayton left her, and lets the lioness, who has managed to stick its head and one paw through the window, have it point blank. Then, she faints too. However, the lioness is only wounded and finally tries again, getting both front legs inside the little window.

Then, we have the first full-fledged cliffhanger chapter ending in the Tarzan series, as we read:

"A moment more and both shoulders through, the long, sinuous body and the narrow hips would glide quickly after.
"It was on this sight that Jane Porter again opened her eyes." - - - - -
KEY PASSAGE:
The man before him was the embodiment of physical perfection and giant strength, yet it was not upon these he depended in his battle with the great cat, for, mighty as were his muscles, they were as nothing by comparison with Numa's. To his agility, to his brain and to his long keen knife he owed his supremacy. .
1. High Adventure No. 33 reprinted “Tarzan of the Apes” as it first appeared in The All Story in 1912.
Back cover of the High Adventure digest featuring the original version of “Tarzan of the Apes.”
The price has gone up a bit from the $6 price shown, but the publication is still available from Adventure House
This digest-size magazine and many other issues reprinting pulp classics are available at adventurehouse.com

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