THE QUATERHORSE BALLS UP
The swathes of usually verdant grass were stained with a dirty yellow pigment, as a result of the unseasonably high levels of unremitting sunshine. Water holes were reduced to muddy puddles, with there resident wildlife on the verge of permanent eradication.
Only in the slightly higher altitudes was it possible to propagate any kind of agriculture, and natural vegetation was scarce. However, local peasants managed to scrape an existence from the arid rock strewn soil, with makeshift terraces and irrigation channels torn from the tortured earth.
Few man built structures existed, other than crude temporary shelters and the occasional bolder and straw hovel. No villages or extended settlements were currently present, although archaeological digs had unearthed a surprisingly large series of ancient dwellings cut in to the base rock and subsoil.
It was in this bleak and inhospitable environment that Professor Julius Quaterhorse proposed to set up his base camp and experimental HQ.
To be continued...........
