looming above him are three figures. two are hovitos warriors in full battle paint and loin cloths. they carry long blow guns. but the man in the center draws indy's attention. he is a tall, impressive white man, dressed in full safari outfit including pith helmet. his name is emile belloq. his face is thin, powerful; his eyes hypnotic; his smile charming, yet lethal. his heavily french-accented speech is deep, mellifluous, wonderful. back beyond belloq and his two escorts, thirty more hovitos warriors hover at the edge of the trees.
the tanis digs are laid out below like a painting. trucks, bulldozers, arab workers and german supervisors are everywhere. the excavations themselves are extensive and somewhat random-holes have been dug and then abandoned, foundations and passageways unearthed and then deserted. beyond the main digs, a crude airstrip has been created. sallah points to what appears to be a mound of dirt with a hole in it near the center of the activity.
looking through the instrument, indy gets a line from the map room through the site where the nazis are digging in the dunes to a spot several dunes over. we focus on that virgin spot of well-hidden sand as -
that think dark carpet is moving. it's alive. it's thousands and thousands of deadly poisonous snakes - egyptian asps. and the only thing that seems capable of avoiding this venomous groundcover is the altar. the snakes ebb and flow near it, but never encroach on it, as though repelled by some invisible force.
a lovely island. no sign of man's presence. the sub has stopped at the mouth of a wide cove completely ringed by tall white rock cliffs. suddenly the sub begins to move again. it is headed directly toward the center of the cliffs. indy holds on, mystified, alert. when the cliffs are very close, the sub begins to dive.
in addition to the tabernacle, the second train tunnel entrance, and all the activity, indy's glance rests momentarily on a large, heavy metal door halfway down one wall toward the tabernacle. it bears the words, in german: "danger - munitions"