Read "The Metal Monster" by Abraham Merritt online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The dawn, streaming into the niche, awakened us. A covey of partridges venturing too close yielded three to our guns. We breakfasted well, and a little later were pushing on down the cleft.
Its descent, though gradual, was continuous, and therefore I was not surprised when soon we began to come upon evidences of semi-tropical vegetation. Giant rhododendrons and tree ferns gave way to occasional clumps of stately kopek and clumps of the hardier bamboos. We added a few snow cocks to our larder -- although they were out of their habitat, flying down into the gorge from their peaks and table-lands for some choice tidbit.