King Solomon's Mines........................................................................................................................................1

H. Ryder Haggard....................................................................................................................................1

IT is a curious thing that at my agefifty five last birthdayI should find myself taking up a pen to try

and write a history. I wonder what sort of a history it will be when I have done it, if I ever come to the end of

the trip! I have done a good many things in my life, which seems a long one to me, owing to my having

begun so young, perhaps. At an age when other boys are at school I was earning my living as a trader in the

old Colony. I have been trading, hunting, fighting, or mining ever since. And yet it is only eight months ago

that I made my pile. It is a big pile now I have got itI don't yet know how bigbut I don't think I would go

through the last fifteen or sixteen months again for it; no, not if I knew that I should come out safe at the end,

pile and all. But then, I am a timid man, and don't like violence, and am pretty sick of adventure. I wonder

why I am going to write this book; it is not in my line. I am not a literary man, though very devoted to the

Old Testament and also to the "Ingoldsby Legends." Let me try and set down my reasons, just to see if I have

Second reason: Because I am laid up here at Durban with the pain and trouble in my left leg. Ever since that

confounded lion got hold of me I have been liable to it, and its being rather bad just now makes me limp

more than ever. There must be some poison in a lion's teeth, otherwise how is it that when your wounds are

healed they break out again, generally, mark you, at the same time of year that you got your mauling? It is a

hard thing that when one has shot sixty five lions, as I have in the course of my life, that the sixtysixth

should chew your leg like a quid of tobacco. It breaks the routine of the thing, and, putting other

considerations aside, I am an orderly man and don't like that. This is by the way.

Third reason: Because I want my boy Harry, who is over there at the hospital in London studying to become a

doctor, to have something to amuse him and keep him out of mischief for a week or so. Hospital work must

sometimes pall and get rather dull, for even of cutting up dead bodies there must come satiety, and as this

history won't be dull, whatever else it may be, it may put a little life into things for a day or two while he is

Fourth reason and last: Because I am going to tell the strangest story that I know of. It may seem a queer

thing to say that, especially considering that there is no woman in it except Foulata. Stop, though! there is

Gagaoola, if she was a woman and not a fiend. But she was a hundred at least, and therefore not

marriageable, so I don't count her. At any rate, I can safely say that there is not a _i_ petticoat _i_ in the

whole history. Well, I had better come to the yoke. It's a stiff place, and I feel as though I were bogged up to

the axle. But "sutjes, sutjes," as the Boers say (I'm sure I don't know how they spell it), softly does it. A

strong team will come through at last, that is if they ain't too poor. You will never do anything with poor

I, Allan Quatermain, of Durban, Natal, Gentleman, make oath and sayThat's how I began my deposition

before the magistrate about poor Khiva's and Ventvo"gel's sad deaths; but somehow it doesn't seem quite the

right way to begin a book. And, besides, am I a gentleman? What is a gentleman? I don't quite know, and yet

I have had to do with niggers no, I'll scratch that word "niggers" out, for I don't like it. I've known natives

who _i_ are _i_, and so you'll say, Harry, my boy, before you're done with this tale, and I have known mean

whites with lots of money and fresh out from home, too, who _ i_ ain't _i_. Well, at any rate I was born a

gentleman, though I've been nothing but a poor travelling trader and hunter all my life. Whether I have

remained so I know not; you must judge of that. Heaven knows I've tried. I've killed many men in my time,

but I have never slain wantonly or stained my hand in innocent blood, only in selfdefence. The Almighty

gave us our lives, and I suppose he meant us to defend them; at least I have always acted on that, and I hope it

won't be brought up against me when my clock strikes. There, there; it is a cruel and a wicked world, and, for

a timid man, I have been mixed up in a deal of slaughter. I can't tell the rights of it, but at any rate I have

never stolen, though I once cheated a Kaffir out of a herd of cattle. But then, he had done me a dirty turn, and

Well, it's eighteen months or so ago since I first met Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good, and it was in this

way. I had been up elephant hunting beyond Bamangwato, and had had bad luck. Everything went wrong that

trip, and to top up with I got the fever badly. So soon as I was well enough I trekked down to the Diamond

Fields, sold such ivory as I had, and also my wagon and oxen, discharged my hunters, and took the postcart

to the Cape. After spending a week in Cape Town, finding that they overcharged me at the hotel, and having

seen everything there was to see, including the botanical gardens, which seem to me likely to confer a great

benefit on the country, and the new Houses of Parliament, which I expect will do nothing of the sort, I

determined to go on back to Natal by the _i_ Dunkeld _i_, then lying in the docks waiting for the _i_

Edinburgh Castle _i_ due in from England. I took my berth and went aboard, and that afternoon the Natal

passengers from the _i_ Edinburgh Castle _i_ transhipped, and we weighed anchor and put out to sea.

Among the passengers who came on board there were two who excited my curiosity. One, a man of about

thirty, was one of the biggestchested and longest armed men I ever saw. He had yellow hair, a big yellow

beard, clearcut features, and large gray eyes set deep into his head. I never saw a finerlooking man, and

somehow he reminded me of an ancient Dane. Not that I know much of ancient Danes, though I remember a

modern Dane who did me out of ten pounds; but I remember once seeing a picture of some of those gentry,

who, I take it, were a kind of white Zulus. They were drinking out of big horns, and their long hair hung

down their backs, and as I looked at my friend standing there by the companionladder, I thought that if one

only let his hair grow a bit, put one of those chain shirts on to those great shoulders of his, and gave him a big

battleaxe and a horn mug, he might have sat as a model for that picture. And, by the way, it is a curious

thing, and just shows how the blood will show out, I found out afterwards that Sir Henry Curtis, for that was

the big man's name, was of Danish blood. He also reminded me strongly of somebody else, but at the time I

The other man, who stood talking to Sir Henry, was short, stout, and dark, and of quite a different cut. I

suspected at once that he was a naval officer. I don't know why, but it is difficult to mistake a navy man. I

have gone shooting trips with several of them in the course of my life, and they have always been just the

best and bravest and nicest fellows I ever met, though given to the use of profane language.

I asked, a page or two back, what is a gentleman? I'll answer it now: a royal naval officer is, in a general sort

of a way, though, of course, there may be a black sheep among them here and there. I fancy it is just the wide

sea and the breath of God's winds that washes their hearts and blows the bitterness out of their minds and

makes them what men ought to be. Well, to return, I was right again; I found out that he _i_ was _i_ a naval

officer, a lieutenant of thirtyone, who, after seventeen years service, had been turned out of her majesty s

employ with the barren honor of a commander's rank, because it was impossible that he should be promoted.

This is what people who serve the queen have to expect: to be shot out into the cold world to find a living just

when they are beginning to really understand their work, and to get to the prime of life. Well, I suppose they

don t mind it, but for my part I had rather earn my bread as a hunter. One's halfpence are as scarce, perhaps,

but you don t get so many kicks. His name I found outby referring to the passengers' listwas

GoodCaptain John Good. He was broad, of medium height, dark, stout, and rather a curious man to look

at. He was so very neat and so very clean shaved, and he always wore an eye glass in his right eye. It

seemed to grow there, for it had no string, and he never took it out except to wipe it. At first I thought he used

to sleep in it, but I afterwards found that this was a mistake. He put it in his trousers pocket when he went to

bed, together with his false teeth, of which he had two beautiful sets that have often, my own being none of

Soon after we had got under way evening closed in, and brought with it very dirty weather. A keen breeze

sprang up off land, and a kind of aggravated Scotch mist soon drove everybody from the deck. And as for

that _i_ Dunkeld _i_, she is a flatbottomed punt, and, going up light as she was, she rolled very heavily. It

almost seemed as though she would go right over, but she never did. It was quite impossible to walk about, so

I stood near the engines, where it was warm, and amused myself with watching the pendulum, which was

fixed opposite to me, swinging slowly backward and forward as the vessel rolled, and marking the angle she

"That pendulum's wrong; it is not properly weighted," suddenly said a voice at my shoulder, somewhat

testily. Looking round I saw the naval officer I had noticed when the passengers came aboard.

"Think so. I don't think at all. Why there" as she righted herself after a roll"if the ship had really rolled to

the degree that thing pointed to then she would never have rolled again, that's all. But it is just like these

Just then the dinnerbell rang, and I was not sorry, far it is a dreadful thing to have to listen to an officer of

the Royal Navy when he gets on to that subject. I only know one worse thing, and that is to hear a merchant

Captain Good and I went down to dinner together, and there we found Sir Henry Curtis already seated. He

and Captain Good sat together, and I sat opposite to them. The captain and I soon got into talk about shooting

and what not, he asking me many questions, and I answering as well as I could. Presently he got on to

"Ah, sir," called out somebody who was sitting near me, "you've got to the right man for that; Hunter

Sir Henry, who had been sitting quite quiet listening to our talk, started visibly.

"Excuse me, sir," he said, leaning forward across the table, and speaking in a low, deep voice, a very suitable

voice, it seemed to me, to come out of those great lungs. "Excuse me, sir, but is your name Allan

The big man made no further remark, but I heard him mutter "fortunate" into his beard.

Presently dinner came to an end, and as we were leaving the saloon Sir Henry came up and asked me if I

would come into his cabin and smoke a pipe. I accepted, and he led the way to the _i_ Dunkeld _i_ deck

cabin, and a very good cabin it was. It had been two cabins, but when Sir Garnet, or one of those big swells,

went down the coast in the _i_ Dunkeld _i_ they had knocked away the partition and never put it up again.

There was a sofa in the cabin, and a little table in front of it. Sir Henry sent the steward for a bottle of

"Mr. Quatermain," said Sir Henry Curtis, when the steward had brought the whiskey and lit the lamp, "the

year before last, about this time, you were, I believe, at a place called Bamangwato, to the north of the

"I was," I answered, rather surprised that this gentleman should be so well acquainted with my movements,

"I was. I took up a wagonload of goods and made a camp outside the settlement, and stopped till I had sold

Sir Henry was sitting opposite to me in a Madeira chair, his arms leaning on the table. He now looked up,

fixing his large gray eyes full upon my face. There was a curious anxiety in them, I thought.

"Oh, yes; he outspanned alongside of me for a fortnight, to rest his oxen before going on to the interior. I had

a letter from a lawyer, a few months back, asking me if I knew what had become of him, which I answered to

"Yes," said Sir Henry, "your letter was forwarded to me. You said in it that the gentleman called Neville left

Bamangwato in the beginning of May, in a wagon, with a driver, a voorlooper, and a Kaffir hunter called Jim,

announcing his intention of trekking, if possible, as far as Inyati, the extreme trading post in the Matabele

country, where he would sell his wagon and proceed on foot. You also said that he did sell his wagon, for, six

months afterwards, you saw the wagon in the possession of a Portuguese trader, who told you that he had

bought it at Inyati from a white man whose name he had forgotten, and that the white man, with a native

"Mr. Quatermain," said Sir Henry, suddenly, "I suppose you know or can guess nothing more of the reasons

of my of Mr. Neville's journey to the northward, or as to what point that journey was directed?"

"I heard something," I answered, and stopped. The subject was one which I did not dare to discuss.

"Mr. Quatermain," said the former, "I am going to tell you a story, and ask your advice, and perhaps your

assistance. The agent who forwarded me your letter told me that I might implicitly rely upon it, as you were,"

he said, "well known and universally respected in Natal, and especially noted for your discretion."

I bowed, and drank some whiskeyand water to hide my confusion, for I am a modest man; and Sir Henry

"Oh," I said, starting; for now I knew who Sir Henry had reminded me of when I first saw. him. His brother

was a much smaller man and had a dark beard, but, now I thought of it, he possessed eyes of the same shade

of gray and with the same keen look in them, and the features, too, were not unlike.

"He was," went on Sir Henry, "my only and younger brother, and till five years ago I do not suppose we were

ever a month away from each other. But just about five years ago a misfortune befell us, as sometimes does

happen in families. We had quarrelled bitterly, and I behaved very unjustly to my brother in my anger." Here

Captain Good nodded his head vigorously to himself. The ship gave a big roll just then, so that the

lookingglass, which was fixed opposite us to starboard, was for a moment nearly over our heads, and as I

was sitting with my hands in my pockets and staring upward, I could see him nodding like anything.

"As I dare say you know," went on Sir Henry, "if a man dies intestate, and has no property but landreal

property it is called in Englandit all descends to his eldest son. It so happened that just at the time when we

quarrelled our father died intestate. He had put off making his will until it was too late. The result was that

my brother, who had not been brought up to any profession, was left without a penny. Of course it would

have been my duty to provide for him, but at the time the quarrel between us was so bitter that I did not to

my shame I say it (and he sighed deeply)offer to do anything. It was not that I grudged him anything, but

I waited for him to make advances, and he made none. I am sorry to trouble you with all this, Mr.

"Quite so, quite so," said the captain. "Mr. Quatermain will, I am sure, keep this history to himself."

"Well," went on Sir Henry, "my brother had a few hundred pounds to his account at the time, and without

saying anything to me he drew out this paltry sum, and, having adopted the name of Neville, started off for

South Africa in the wild hope of making a fortune. This I heard afterwards. Some three years passed, and I

heard. nothing of my brother, though I wrote several times. Doubtless the letters never reached him. But as

time went on I grew more and more troubled about him. I found out, Mr. Quatermain, that blood is thicker

"I found out, Mr. Quatermain, that I would have given half my fortune to know that my brother George, the

"But you never did, Curtis," jerked out Captain Good, glancing at the big man's face.

"Well, Mr. Quatermain, as time went on I became more and more anxious to find out if my brother was alive

or dead, and, if alive, to get him home again. I set inquiries on foot, and your letter was one of the results. So

far as it went it was satisfactory, for it showed that till lately George was alive; but it did not go far enough.

So, to cut a long story short, I made up my mind to come out and look for him myself, and Captain Good was

"Yes," said the captain; "nothing else to do, you see. Turned out by my lords of the admiralty to starve on

halfpay. And now, perhaps, sir, you will tell us what you know or have heard of the gentleman called

"WHAT was it that you heard about my brother's journey at Bamangwato?" said Sir Henry, as I paused to fill

"I heard this," I answered, "and I have never mentioned it to a soul till today. I heard that he was starting for

"I don't know," I said; "I know where they are said to be. I once saw the peaks of the mountains that border

them, but there was a hundred and thirty miles of desert between me and them, and I am not aware that any

white man ever got across it, save one. But perhaps the best thing I can do is to tell you the legend of

Solomon's Mines as I know it, you passing your word not to reveal anything I tell you without my

"Well," I began, "as you may guess, in a general way elephanthunters are a rough set of men, and don't

trouble themselves with much beyond the facts of life and the ways of Kaffirs. But here and there you meet a

man who takes the trouble to collect traditions from the natives, and tries to make out a little piece of the

history of this dark land. It was such a man as this who first told me the legend of Solomon's Mines, now a

matter of nearly thirty years ago. It was when I was on my first elephant hunt in the Matabele country. His

name was Evans, and he was killed next year, poor fellow, by a wounded buffalo, and lies buried near the

Zambesi Falls. I was telling Evans one night, I remember, of some wonderful workings I had found while

hunting koodoo and eland in what is now the Lydenburg district of the Transvaal. I see they have come

across these workings again lately in prospecting for gold, but I knew of them years ago. There is a great

wide wagon road cut out of the solid rock, and leading to the mouth of the working or gallery. Inside the

mouth of this gallery are stacks of gold quartz piled up ready for crushing, which shows that the workers,

whoever they were, must have left in a hurry, and about twenty paces in the gallery is built across, and a

"'Ay,' said Evans, 'but I will tell you a queerer thing than that;' and he went on to tell me how he had found in

the far interior a ruined city, which he believed to be the Ophir of the Bibleand, by the way, other more

learned men have said the same long since poor Evans's time. I was, I remember, listening openeared to all

these wonders, for I was young at the time, and this story of an ancient civilization, and of the treasure which

those old Jewish or Phoenician adventurers used to extract from a country long since lapsed into the darkest

barbarism, took a great hold upon my imagination, when suddenly he said to me, 'Lad, did you ever hear of

the Suliman Mountains up to the northwest of the Mashukulumbwe country?' I told him I never had. 'Ah,

well,' he said, 'that was where Solomon really had his mines his diamond mines, I mean.'

"'Know it? why, what is "Suliman" but a corruption of Solomon? and, besides, an old Isanusi (witch doctor)

up in the Manica country told me all about it. She said that the people who lived across those mountains were

a branch of the Zulus, speaking a dialect of Zulu, but finer and bigger men even; that there lived among them

great wizards, who had learned their art from white men when "all the world was dark," and who had the

"Well, I laughed at this story at the time, though it interested me, for the diamond fields were not discovered

then, and poor Evans went off and got killed, and for twenty years I never thought any more of the matter.

But just twenty years afterwardsand that is a long time, gentlemen; an elephanthunter does not often live

for twenty years at his businessI heard something more definite about Suliman's Mountains and the

country which lies beyond them. I was up beyond the Manica country at a place called Sitanda's Kraal, and a

miserable place it was, for one could get nothing to eat there, and there was but little game about. I had an

attack of fever, and was in a bad way generally, when one day a Portugee arrived with a single

companiona halfbreed. Now I know your Delagoa Portugee well. There is no greater devil unhung, in a

general way, battening as he does upon human agony and flesh in the shape of slaves. But this was quite a

different type of man to the low fellows I had been accustomed to meet; he reminded me more of the polite

dons I have read about. He was tall and thin, with large dark eyes and curling gray mustache. We talked

together a little, for he could speak broken English, and I understood a little Portugee, and he told me that his

name was Jose' Silvestre, and that he had a place near Delagoa Bay; and when he went on next day, with his

halfbreed companion, he said, 'Goodbye,' taking off his hat quite in the old style. 'Good bye, senor,' he

said; 'if ever we meet again I shall be the richest man in the world, and I will remember you.' I laughed a

littleI was too weak to laugh muchand watched him strike out for the great desert to the west,

"A week passed, and I got the better of my fever. One evening I was sitting on the ground in front of the little

tent I had with me, chewing the last leg of a miserable fowl I had bought from a native for a bit of cloth worth

twenty fowls, and staring at the hot, red sun sinking down into the desert, when suddenly I saw a figure,

apparently that of a European, for it wore a coat, on the slope of the rising ground opposite to me, about three

hundred yards away. The figure crept along on its hands and knees, then it got up and staggered along a few

yards on its legs, only to fall and crawl along again. Seeing that it must be somebody in distress, I sent one of

my hunters to help him, and presently he arrived, and who do you suppose it turned out to be?"

"Yes, Jose' Silvestre, or rather his skeleton and a little skin. His face was bright yellow With bilious fever,

and his large, dark eyes stood nearly out of his head, for all his flesh had gone. There was nothing but yellow,

"'Water! for the sake of Christ, water!' he moaned. I saw that his lips were cracked, and his tongue, which

"I gave him water with a little milk in it, and he drank it in great gulps, two quarts or more, without stopping.

I would not let him have any more. Then the fever took him again, and he fell down and began to rave about

Suliman's Mountains, and the diamonds, and the desert. I took him into the tent and did what I could for him,

which was little enough; but I saw how it must end. About eleven o'clock he got quieter, and I lay down for a

little rest and went to sleep. At dawn I woke again, and saw him in the half light sitting up, a strange, gaunt

form, and gazing out towards the desert. Presently the first ray of the sun shot right across the wide plain

before us till it reached the faraway crest of one of the tallest of the Suliman Mountains, more than a hundred

"'There it is" cried the dying man in Portuguese, stretching out his long, thin arm, 'but I shall never reach it,

"Suddenly he paused, and seemed to take a resolution. 'Friend,' he said, turning towards me, 'are you there?

"'Ay,' he answered, 'I shall rest soon; I have time to restall eternity. Listen, I am dying! You have been good

to me. I will give you the paper. Perhaps you will get there if you can live through the desert, which has killed

"Then he groped in his shirt and brought out what I thought was a Boer tobacco pouch of the skin of the

Swartvetpens (sable antelope). It was fastened with a little strip of hide, what we call a rimpi, and this he

tried to untie, but could not. He handed it to me. 'Untie it,' he said. I did so, and extracted a bit of torn yellow

"Then he went on feebly, for he was growing weak: 'The paper has it all, that is on the rag. It took me years to

read. Listen: my ancestor, a political refugee from Lisbon and one of the first Portuguese who landed on these

shores, wrote that when he was dying on those mountains which no white foot ever pressed before or since.

His name was Jose' da Silvestra, and he lived three hundred years ago. His slave, who waited for him on this

side the mountains, found him dead, and brought the writing home to Delagoa. It has been in the family ever

since, but none have cared to read it till at last I did. And I have lost my life over it, but another may succeed,

and become the richest man in the worldthe richest man in the world. Only give it to no one; go yourself!'

"God rest him! he died very quietly, and I buried him deep, with big boulders on his breast; so I do not think

"Well, gentlemen, if you like I will tell you. I have never showed it to anybody yet except my dear wife, who

is dead, and she thought it was all nonsense, and a drunken old Portuguese trader who translated it for me,

and had forgotten all about it next morning. The original rag is at my home in Durban, together with poor

Don Jose's translation, but I have the English rendering in my pocketbook, and a facsimile of the map, if it

"I, Jose' da Silvestra, who am now dying of hunger in the little cave where no snow is on the north side of the

nipple of the southernmost of the two mountains I have named Sheba's Breasts, write this in the year 1590

with a cleft bone upon a remnant of my raiment, my blood being the ink. If my slave should find it when he

comes, and should bring it to Delagoa, let my friend (name illegible) bring the matter to the knowledge of the

king, that he may send an army which, if they live through the desert and the mountains, and can overcome

the brave Kukuanes and their devilish arts, to which end many priests should be brought, will make him the

richest king since Solomon. With my own eyes have I seen the countless diamonds stored in Solomon's

treasure chamber behind the white Death; but through the treachery of Gagool the witchfinder I might bring

nought away; scarcely my life. Let him who comes follow the map, and climb the snow of Sheba's left breast

till he comes to the nipple, on the north side of which is the great road Solomon made, from whence three

days' journey to the King's Place. Let him kill Gagool. Pray for my soul. Farewell.

When I had finished reading the above and shown the copy of the map, drawn by the dying hand of the old

"Well," said Captain Good, "I have been round the world twice, and put in at most ports, but may I be hung if

I ever heard a yarn like that out of a storybook, or in it either, for the matter of that."

"It's a queer story, Mr. Quatermain," said Sir Henry. "I suppose you are not hoaxing us? It is, I how,

"If you think that, Sir Henry," I said, much put out, and pocketing my paper, for I do not like to be thought

one of those silly fellows who consider it witty to tell lies, and who are forever boasting to newcomers of

extraordinary hunting adventures which never happened, "why there is an end of the matter," and I rose to go.

Sir Henry laid his large hand upon my shoulder. "Sit down, Mr. Quatermain," he said, "I beg your pardon; I

see very well you do not wish to deceive us, but the story sounded so extraordinary that I could hardly believe

"You shall see the original map and writing when we reach Durban," I said, somewhat mollified; for really,

when I came to consider, the matter, it was scarcely wonderful that he should doubt my good faith. "But I

have not told you about your brother. I knew the man Jim who was with him. He was a Bechuana by birth, a

good hunter, and, for a native, a very clever man. The morning Mr. Neville was starting, I saw Jim standing

"I did not ask any more questions, for I did not like to lower my dignity by seeming curious, but I was

"'Diamonds! why, then, you are going in the wrong direction; you should head for the Fields.'

"'It is no story, Baas. I once knew a woman who came from there, and got to Natal with her child. She told

"'Your master will feed the assvogels (vultures), Jim, if he tries to reach Suliman's country; and so will you, if

"He grinned. 'Mayhap, Baas. Man must die; I'd rather like to try a new country myself; the elephants are

"'Ah! my boy,' I said, 'you wait till the "pale old man" (death) gets a grip of your yellow throat, and then we'll

"Half an hour after that I saw Neville's wagon move off. Presently Jim came running back. 'Goodbye, Baas,'

he said. 'I didn't like to start without bidding you goodbye, for I dare say you are right, and we shall never

"'No,' says he; 'he is going. He told me he was bound to make his fortune somehow, or try to; so he might as

"'Oh!' said I; 'wait a bit, Jim; will you take a note to your master, Jim, and promise not to give it to him until

"So I took a scrap of paper and wrote on it, 'Let him who comes climb the snow of Sheba's left breast, till he

"'Now, Jim,' I said, 'when you give this to your master, tell him he had better follow the advice implicitly.

You are not to give it to him now, because I don't want him back asking me questions which I won't answer.

"Jim took the note and went, and that is all I know about your brother, Sir Henry; but I am much afraid"

"Mr. Quatermain," said Sir Henry, "I am going to look for my brother; I am going to trace him to Suliman's

Mountains, and over them, if necessary, until I find him, or until I know that he is dead. Will you come with

I am, as I think I have said, a cautious man, indeed a timid one, and I shrank from such an idea. It seemed to

me that to start on such a journey would be to go to certain death, and, putting other things aside, as I had a

"No, thank you, Sir Henry, I think I had rather not," I answered. "I am too old for wildgoose chases of that

sort, and we should only end up like my poor friend Silvestre. I have a son dependent on me, so cannot afford

"Mr. Quatermain," said the former, "I am well off, and I am bent upon this business You may put the

remuneration for your services at whatever figure you like, in reason, and it shall be paid over to you before

we start. Moreover, I will, before we start, arrange that in the event of anything happening to us or to you,

your son shall be suitably provided for. You will see from this how necessary I think your presence. Also, if

by any chance we should reach this place, and find diamonds, they shall belong to you and Good equally. I do

not want them. But of course the chance is as good as nothing, though the same thing would apply to any

ivory we might get. You may pretty well make your own terms with me, Mr. Quatermain; of course I shall

"Sir Henry," said I, "this is the most liberal offer I ever had, and one not to be sneezed at by a poor hunter and

trader. But the job is the biggest I ever came across, and I must take time to think it over. I will give you my

"Very good," answered Sir Henry, and then I said goodnight and turned in, and dreamed about poor,

IT takes from four to five days, according to the vessel and the state of the weather, to run up from the Cape

to Durban. Sometimes, if the landing is bad at East London, where they have not yet got that wonderful

harbor they talk so much of and sink such a mint of money in, one is delayed for twentyfour hours before

the cargo boats can get out to take the goods off. But on this occasion we had not to wait at all, for there were

no breakers on the bar to speak of, and the tugs came out at once with their long strings of ugly,

flatbottomed boats, into which the goods were bundled with a crash. It did not matter what they were, over

they went, slapbang! whether they were china or woollen goods they met with the same treatment. I saw one

case containing four dozen of champagne smashed all to bits, and there was the champagne fizzing and

boiling about in the bottom of the dirty cargoboat. It was a wicked waste, and so evidently the Kaffirs in the

boat thought, for they found a couple of unbroken bottles, and knocking the tops off drank the contents. But

they had not allowed for the expansion caused by the fizz in the wine, and feeling themselves swelling, rolled

about in the bottom of the boat, calling out that the good liquor was "tagati" (bewitched). I spoke to them

from the vessel, and told them that it was the white man's strongest medicine, and that they were as good as

dead men. They went on to the shore in a very great fright, and I do not think that they will touch champagne

Well, all the time we were running up to Natal I was thinking over Sir Henry Curtis's offer. We did not speak

any more on the subject for a day or two, though I told them many hunting yarns, all true ones. There is no

need to tell lies about hunting, for so many curious things happen within the knowledge of a man whose

At last, one beautiful evening in January, which is our hottest month, we steamed along the coast of Natal,

expecting to make Durban Point by sunset. It is a lovely coast all along from East London, with its red

sandhills and wide sweeps of vivid green, dotted here and there with Kaffir kraals, and bordered by a ribbon

of white surf which spouts up in pillars of foam where it hits the rocks. But just before you get to Durban

there is a peculiar richness about it. There are the deep kloofs cut in the hills by the rushing rains of centuries,

down which the rivers sparkle; there is the deepest green of the bush, growing as God planted it, and the other

greens of the mealiegardens and the sugarpatches, while here and there a white house, smiling out at the

placid sea, puts a finish and gives an air of homeliness to the scene. For to my mind, however beautiful a

view may be, it requires the presence of man to make it complete, but perhaps that is because I have lived so

much in the wilderness, and therefore know the value of civilization, though, to be sure, it drives away the

game. The Garden of Eden, no doubt, was fair before man was, but I always think it must have been fairer

when Eve was walking about it. But we had miscalculated a little, and the sun was well down before we

dropped anchor off the Point, and heard the gun which told the good folk that the English mail was in. It was

too late to think of getting over the bar that night, so we went down comfortably to dinner, after seeing the

When we came up again the moon was up, and shining so brightly over sea and shore that she almost paled

the quick, large flashes from the lighthouse. From the shore floated sweet spicy odors that always remind me

of hymns and missionaries, and in the windows of the houses on the Berea sparkle a hundred lights. From a

large brig lying near came the music of the sailors as they worked at getting the anchor up to be ready for the

wind. Altogether it was a perfect night, such a night as you only get in southern Africa, and it threw a

garment of peace over everybody as the moon threw a garment of silver over everything. Even the great

bulldog, belonging to a sporting passenger, seemed to yield to the gentle influences, and, giving up yearning

to come to close quarters with the baboon in a cage on the fo'k'sle, snored happily in the door of the cabin,

We allthat is, Sir Henry Curtis, Captain Good, and myselfwent and sat by the wheel, and were quiet for

"Well, Mr. Quatermain," said Sir Henry, presently, "have you been thinking about my proposals?"

"Ay," echoed Captain Good, "what do you think of them, Mr. Quatermain? I hope you are going to give us

the pleasure of your company as far as Solomon's Mines, or wherever the gentleman you knew as Neville

I rose and knocked out my pipe before I answered. I had not made up my mind, and wanted the additional

moment to complete it. Before the burning tobacco had fallen into the sea it was completed; just that little

extra second did the trick. It is often the way when you have been bothering a long time over a thing.

"Yes, gentlemen," I said, sitting down again, "I will go, and by your leave I will tell you why and on what

"1. You are to pay all expenses, and any ivory or other valuables we may get is to be divided between

"2. That you pay me #500 for my service on the trip before we start, I undertaking to serve you faithfully till

you choose to abandon the enterprise, or tell we succeed, or disaster overtakes us.

"3. That before we start you execute a deed agreeing in the event of my death or disablement, to pay my boy

Harry, who is studying medicine over there in London at Guy's Hospital, a sum of #200 a year for five years,

by which time he ought to be able to earn a living for himself. That is all, I think, and I dare say you will say

"No," answered Sir Henry, "I accept them gladly. I am bent upon this project, and would pay more than that

"Very well. And now that I have made my terms I will tell you my reasons for making up my mind to go.

First of all, gentlemen, I have been observing you both for the last few days, and if you will not think me

impertinent I will say that I like you, and think that we shall come up well to the yoke together. That is

"And now as to the journey itself, I tell you flatly, Sir Henry and Captain Good, that I do not think it probable

that we can come out of it alive, that is, if we attempt to cross the Suliman Mountains. What was the fate of

the old Don da Silvestra three hundred years ago? What was the fate of his descendant twenty years ago?

What has been your brother's fate? I tell you frankly, gentlemen, that as their fate was so I believe ours will

I paused to watch the effect of my words. Captain Good looked a little uncomfortable; but Sir Henry's face

"You may perhaps wonder," I went on, "why, if I think this, I, who am, as I told you, a timid man, should

undertake such a journey. It is for two reasons. First, I am a fatalist, and believe that my time is appointed to

come quite independently of my own movements, and that if I am to go to Suliman Mountains to be killed, I

shall go there and shall be killed there. God Almighty, no doubt, knows his mind about me, so I need not

trouble on that account. Secondly, I am a poor man. For forty years I have hunted and but I have never made

more than a living. Well, gentlemen, I don't know if you are aware that the average life of an elephant

hunter from the time he takes to the trade is from four to five years. So you see I have lived through about

seven generations of my class and I should think that my time cannot be far off, any way. Now, if anything

were to happen to me in the course of business, by the time my debts were paid there would be nothing left to

support my son Harry while he was getting in the way of earning a living, whereas now he would be provided

"Mr. Quatermain," said Sir Henry, who had been giving me the most serious attention, "your motives for

undertaking an enterprise which you believe can only end in disaster reflect a great deal of credit on you.

Whether or not you are right, time and the event, of course, alone can show. But whether you are right or

wrong, I may as well tell you at once that I am going through with it to the end, sweet or bitter. If we are

going to be knocked on the head, all that I have to say is that I hope we shall get a little shooting firsteh,

"Yes, yes," put in the captain. "We have all three of us been accustomed to face danger, and hold our lives in

"And now I vote we go down to the saloon and take an observation, just for luck, you know." And we

Next day we went ashore, and I put Sir Henry and Captain Good up at the little shanty I have on the Berea,

and which I call my home. There are only three rooms and a kitchen in it, and it is built of green brick with a

galvanized iron roof, but there is a good garden, with the best loquottrees in it that I know, and some nice

young mangoes; of which I hope great things. The curator of the botanical gardens gave them to me. It is

looked after by an old hunter of mine, named Jack, whose thigh was so badly broken by a buffalo cow in

Sikukuni's country that he will never hunt again. But he can potter about and garden, being a Griqua by birth.

You can never get your Zulu to take much interest in gardening. It is a peaceful art, and peaceful arts are not

Sir Henry and Good slept in a tent pitched in my little grove of orange trees at the end of the garden (for there

was no room for them in the house), and what with the smell of the bloom and the sight of the green and

golden fruitfor in Durban you will see all three on the tree togetherI dare say it is a pleasant place

enough (for we have few mosquitoes here unless there happens to come an unusually heavy rain).

Well, to get onfor unless I do you will be tired of my story before ever we fetch up at Suliman's

Mountainshaving once made up my mind to go, I set about making the necessary preparations. First I got

the deed from Sir Henry, providing for my boy in case of accidents. There was some little difficulty about

getting this legally executed, as Sir Henry was a stranger here, and the property to be charged was over the

water; but it was ultimately got over with the help of a lawyer, who charged #20 for the joba price that I

thought outrageous. Then I got my check for #500. Having paid this tribute to my bump of caution, I bought

a wagon and a span of oxen on Sir Henry's behalf, and beauties they were. It was a twentytwo foot wagon

with iron axles, very strong, very light, and built throughout of stinkwood. It was not quite a new one,

having been to the Diamond Fields and back, but in my opinion it was all the better for that, for one could see

that the wood was well seasoned. If anything is going to give in a wagon, or if there is green wood in it, it

will show out on the first trip. It was what we call a "halftented" wagonthat is to say, it was only covered

in over the after twelve feet, leaving all the front part free for the necessaries we had to carry with us. In this

after part was a hide "cattle," or bed, on which two people could sleep, also racks for rifles, and many other

little conveniences. I gave #125 for it, and think it was cheap at the price. Then I bought a beautiful team of

twenty salted Zulu oxen, which I had had my eye on for a year or two. Sixteen oxen are the usual number for

a team, but I had four extra to allow for casualties. These Zulu oxen are small and light, not more than half

the size of the Afrikaner oxen, which are generally used for transport purposes; but they will live where the

Afrikaner will starve, and with a light load will make five miles a day better going, being quicker and not so

liable to get footsore. What is more, this lot were thoroughly "salted"that is, they had worked all over

South Africa, and so had become proof (comparatively speaking) against red water, which so frequently

destroys whole teams of oxen when they get on to strange "veldt" (grass country). As for "lung sick," which

is a dreadful form of pneumonia, very prevalent in this country, they had all been inoculated against it. This is

done by cutting a slit in the tail of an ox, and binding in a piece of the diseased lung of an animal which has

died of the sickness. The result is that the ox sickens, takes the disease in a mild form, which causes its tail to

drop off, as a rule about a foot from the root, and becomes proof against future attacks. It seems cruel to rob

the animal of his tail, especially in a country where there are so many flies, but it is better to sacrifice the tail

and keep the ox than to lose both tail and ox, for a tail without an ox is not much good except to dust with.

Still it does look odd to trek along behind twenty stumps, where there ought to be tails. It seems as though

nature had made a trifling mistake, and stuck the stem ornaments of a lot of prize bulldogs on to the rumps of

Next came the question of provisioning and medicines, one which required the most careful consideration, for

what one had to do was to avoid lumbering the wagon up, and yet take everything absolutely necessary.

Fortunately, it turned out that Good was a bit of a doctor, having at some period in his previous career

managed to pass through a course of medical and surgical instruction, which he had more or less kept up. He

was not, of course, qualified, but he knew more about it than many a man who could write M.D. after his

name, as we found out afterwards, and he had a splendidtravelling medicinechest and a set of instruments.

While we were at Durban he cut off a Kaffir's big toe in a way which it was a pleasure to see. But he was

quite flabbergasted when the Kaffir, who had sat stolidly watching the operation, asked him to put on

There remained, when these questions were satisfactorily settled, two further important points for

consideration, namely, that of arms and that of servants. As to the arms I cannot do better than put down a list

of those we finally decided on from among the ample store that Sir Henry had brought with him from

England, and those which I had. I copy it from my pocketbook, where I made the entry at the time:

"Three heavybreech loading double eight elephant guns, weighing about fifteen pounds each, with a charge

of eleven drachms of black powder." Two of these were by a wellknown London firm, most excellent

makers, but I do not know by whom mine, which was not so highly finished, was made. I had used it on

several trips, and shot a good many elephants with it, and it had always proved a most superior weapon,

"Three double 500 expresses, constructed to carry a charge of six drachms," sweet weapons, and admirable

for mediumsized game, such as eland or sable antelope, or for men, especially in an open country and with

"One double No. 12 centralfire Keeper's shotgun, full choke both barrels." This gun. proved of the greatest

This was our total armament, and the reader will doubtless observe that the weapons of each class were of the

same make and calibre, so that the cartridges were interchangeable, a very important point. I make no

apology for detailing it at length, for every experienced hunter will know how vital a proper supply of guns

Now as to the men who were to go with us. After much consultation we decided that their number should be

The driver and leader I got without much difficulty, two Zulus, named respectively Goza and Tom; but the

servants were a more difficult matter. It was necessary that they should be thoroughly trustworthy and brave

men, as in a business of this sort our lives might depend upon their conduct. At last I secured two, one a

Hottentot called Ventvo"gel (windbird), and one a little Zulu named Khiva, who had the merit of speaking

English perfectly. Ventvo"gel I had known before; he was one of the most perfect "spoorers"(game

trackers) I ever had to do with and tough as whipcord. He never seemed to tire. But he had one failing, so

common with his race, drink. Put him within reach of a bottle of grog and you could not trust him. But as we

were going beyond the region of grogshops this little weakness of his did not so much matter.

Having got these two men I looked in vain for a third to suit my purpose, so we determined to start without

one, trusting to luck to find a suitable man on our way up country. But on the evening before the day we had

fixed for our departure the Zulu Khiva informed me that a man was waiting to see me. Accordingly when we

had done dinner, for we were at table at the time, I told him to bring him in. Presently a very tall,

handsomelooking man, somewhere about thirty years of age, and very lightcolored for a Zulu, entered,

and, lifting his knobstick by way of salute, squatted himself down in the corner on his haunches and sat

silent. I did not take any notice of him for a while, fop it is a great mistake to do so. If you rush into

conversation at once a Zulu is apt to think you a person of little dignity or consideration.

I observed, however, that he was a "Keshla" (ringed man), that is, that he wore on his head the black ring,

made of a species of gum polished with fat and worked in with the hair, usually assumed by Zulus on

attaining a certain age or dignity. Also it struck me that his face was familiar to me.

"Yes; the lnkoosi (chief) saw my face at the place of the Little Hand (Isandhlwana) the day before the battle."

Then I remembered. I had been one of Lord Chelmsford's guides in that unlucky Zulu war, and had had the

good fortune to leave the camp in charge of some wagons the day before the battle. While I had been waiting

for the cattle to be inspanned I had fallen into conversation with this man, who held some small command

among the native auxiliaries, and he had expressed to me his doubts of the safety of the camp. At the time I

had told him to hold his tongue, and leave such matters to wiser heads; but afterwards I thought of his words.

"It is this, 'Macumazahn' (that is my Kaffir name, and means the man who gets up in the middle of the night;

or, in vulgar English, he who keeps his eyes open). I hear that you go on a great expedition far into the north

"I hear that yougo even to the Lukanga River, a moon's journey beyond the Manica country. Is this so also,

"Why do you ask whither we go? What is it to thee?" I answered, suspiciously, for the objects of our journey

"It is this, O white men, that if indeed you travel so far I would travel with you."

There was a certain assumption of dignity in the man's mode of speech, and especially in his use of the words

"You forget yourself a little," I said: "Your words come out unawares. That is not the way to speak. What is

your name, and where, is your kraal? Tell us, that we may know with whom we have to deal."

"My name is Umbopa. I am of the Zulu people, yet not of, them. The house of my tribe is in the far north, it

was left behind when the Zulus came down here a 'thousand years ago,' long before Chaka reigned in

Zululand. I have no kraal. I have wandered for many years. I came from the north as a child to Zululand, I

was Cetywayo's man in the Nkomabakosi regiment. I ran away from Zululand and came to Natal because I

wanted to see the white man's ways. Then I served against Cetywayo in the war. Since then I have been

working in Natal. Now I am tired, and would go north again. Here is not my place. I want no money, but I am

I was rather puzzled at this man and his way of speech. It was evident to me from his manner that he was in

the main telling the truth, but he was somehow different from the. ordinary run of Zulus, and I rather

mistrusted his offer to come without pay. Being in a difficulty, I translated his words to Sir Henry and Good,

and asked them their opinion. Sir Henry told me to ask him to stand up. Umbopa did so, at the same time

slipping off the long military greatcoat he wore, and revealing himself naked except for the, moocha round

his centre and a necklace of lions' claws. He certainly was a. magnificentlooking man; I never saw a finer

native. Standing about six foot three high, he was broad in proportion, and very shapely. In that light, too, his

skin looked scarcely more than dark, except here and there where deep, black scars marked old assegai

"I like your looks, Mr. Umbopa, and I will take you as my servant," said Sir Henry in English.

Umbopa evidently understood for he answered in Zulu, "It is well"; and then, with a glance at the white man's

Now I do not propose to narrate at full length all the incidents of our long journey up to Sitanda's Kraal, near

the junction of the Lukanga and Kalukwe rivers, a journey of more than a thousand miles from Durban, the

last three hundred or so of which, owing to the frequent presence of the dreadful "tsetse" fly, whose bite is

We left Durban at the end of January, and it was in the second week of May that we camped near Sitanda's

Kraal. Our adventures on the way were many and various, but as they were of the sort which befall every

African hunter, I shall notwith one exception to be presently detailedset them down here, lest I should

At Inyati, the outlying trading station in the Matabele country; of which Lobengula (a great scoundrel) is

king, we with many regrets parted from our comfortable wagon. Only twelve oxen remained to us out of the

beautiful span of twenty which I had bought at Durban. One we had lost from the bite of a cobra, three had

perished from poverty and the want of water, one had been lost, and the other three had died from eating the

poisonous herb called "tulip." Five more sickened from this cause, but we managed to cure them with doses

of an infusion made by boiling down the tulip leaves. If administered in time this is a very effective

antidote. The wagon and oxen we left in the immediate charge of Goza and Tom, the driver and leader, both

of them trustworthy boys, requesting a worthy Scotch missionary who lived in this wild place to keep an eye

to it. Then, accompanied by Umbopa, Khiva, Ventvo"gel, and half a dozen bearers whom we hired on the

spot, we started off on foot upon our wild quest. I remember we were all a little silent on the occasion of that

departure, and I think that each of us was wondering if we should ever see that wagon again; for my part I

never expected to. For a while we tramped on in silence, till Umbopa, who was marching in front, broke into

a Zulu chant about how some brave men, tired of life and the tameness of things, started off into a great

wilderness to find new things or die, and how, lo, and behold! when they had got far into the wilderness, they

found it was not a wilderness at all, but a beautiful place full of young wives and fat cattle, of game to hunt

Then we all laughed and took it for a good omen. He was a cheerful savage, was Umbopa, in a dignified sort

of way, when he had not got one of his fits of brooding, and had a wonderful trick of keeping one's spirits up.

And now for the one adventure I am going to treat myself to, for I do heartily love a hunting yam.

About a fortnight's march from Inyati we came across a peculiarly beautiful bit of fairlywatered wooded

country: The kloofs in the hills were covered with dense bush, "idoro" bush as the natives call it, and in some

places with the "wachteenbeche" (waitalittle) thorn, and there were great quantities of the beautiful

"machabell" tree, laden with refreshing yellow fruit with enormous stones. This tree is the elephant's favorite

food, and there were not wanting signs that the great brutes were about, for not only was their spoor frequent,

but in many places the trees were broken down and even uprooted. The elephant is a destructive feeder.

One evening, after a long day's march, we came to a spot of peculiar loveliness. At the foot of a bushclad

hill was a dry riverbed, in which, however, were to be found pools of crystal water all trodden round with

the hoofprints of game. Facing this hill was a park like plain, where grew clumps of flattopped mimosa,

varied with occasional glossy leaved machabells, and all round was the great sea of pathless, silent bush.

As we emerged into this riverbed path we suddenly started a troop of tall giraffes, who galloped, or, rather,

sailed off, with their strange gait, their tails screwed up over their backs, and their hoofs rattling like

castanets. They were about three hundred yards from us, and therefore practically out of shot, but Good, who

was walking ahead and had an express loaded with solid ball in his hand, could not resist, but upped gun and

let drive at the last, a young cow. By some extraordinary chance the ball struck it full on the back of the neck,

shattering the spinal column, and that giraffe went rolling head over heels just like a rabbit. I never saw a

"Curse it!" said Goodfor I am sorry to say he had a habit of using strong language when

excitedcontracted no doubt, in the course of his nautical career; "curse it, I've killed him."

"Oh! 'Bougwan' !" reechoed Sir Henry and I; and from that day Good's reputation as a marvelous shot was

established, at any rate among the Kaffirs. Really he was a bad one, but whenever he missed we overlooked it

Having set some of the "boys" to cut off the best of the giraffe meat, we went to work to build a "scherm"

near one of the pools about a hundred yards to the right of it. This is done by cutting a quantity of thorn

bushes and laying them in the shape of a circular hedge. Then the space enclosed is smoothed, and dry

tambouki grass, if obtainable, is made into a bed in the centre, and a fire or fires lighted.

By the time the "scherm" was finished the moon was coming up, and our dinner of giraffe steaks and roasted

marrow bones was ready. How we enjoyed those marrowbones, though it was rather a job to crack them! I

know no greater luxury than giraffe marrow, unless it is elephant's heart, and we had that on the morrow. We

ate our simple meal, pausing at times to thank Good for his wonderful shot, by the light of the full moon, and

then we began to smoke and yarn, and a curious picture we must have made squatted there round the fire. I,

with my short grizzled hair sticking up straight, and Sir Henry with his yellow locks, which were getting

rather long, were rather a contrast, especially as I am thin and short and dark, weighing only nine stone and a

half, and Sir Henry is tall and broad and fair, and weighs fifteen. But perhaps the most curiouslooking of the

three, taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration, was Captain John Good, R.N. There he sat

upon a leather bag, looking just as though he had come in from a comfortable day's shooting in a civilized

country, absolutely clean, tidy, and welldressed. He had on a shootingsuit of brown tweed, with a hat to

match, and neat gaiters. He was, as usual, beautifully shaven, his eyeglass and his false teeth appeared to be

in perfect order, and altogether he was the nearest man I ever had to do with in the wilderness. He even had

"You see, they weigh so little," he said to me, innocently, when I expressed my astonishment at the fact; "I

Well, there we all sat yarning away in the beautiful moonlight, and watching the Kaffirs a few yards off

sucking their intoxicating "daccha" in a pipe of which the mouthpiece was made of the horn of an eland, till

they one by one rolled themselves up in their blankets and went to sleep by the fire, that is, all except

Umbopa, who sat a little apart (I noticed he never mixed much with the other hairs), his chin resting on his

"That's a lion," said I, and we all started up to listen. Hardly had we done so, when from the pool, about a

hundred yards off. came the strident trumpeting of an elephant. "Unkungunklovo! Unkungunklovo!"

(elephant! elephant!) whispered the Kaffirs; and a few minutes afterwards we saw a succession of vast

shadowy forms moving slowly from the direction of the water towards the bush. Up jumped Good, burning

for slaughter, and thinking, perhaps, that it was as easy to kill elephant as he had found it to shoot giraffe, but

"It seems that we are in a paradise of game. I vote we stop here a day or two, and have a go at them," said Sir

I was rather surprised, for hitherto Sir Henry had always been for pushing on as fast as possible, more

especially since we had ascertained at Inyati that about two years ago an Englishman of the name of Neville

had sold his wagon there, and gone on up country; but I suppose his hunter instincts had got the better of him.

Good jumped at the idea, for he was longing to have a go at those elephants; and so, to speak the truth, did I,

for it went against my conscience to let such a herd as that escape without having a pull at them.

"All right, my hearties," said I. "I think we want a little recreation. And now let's turn in, for we ought to be

The others agreed, and we proceeded to make preparations. Good took off his clothes, shook them, put his

eyeglass and his false teeth into his trousers pocket, and, folding them all up neatly, placed them out of the

dew under a comer of his mackintosh sheet. Sir Henry and I contented ourselves with rougher arrangements,

and were soon curled up in our blankets and dropping off into the dreamless sleep that rewards the traveller.

Going, going, goWhat was that? Suddenly from the direction of the water came a sound of violent

scuffling, and next instant there broke upon our ears a succession of the most awful roars. There was no

mistaking what they came from; only a lion could make such a noise as that. We all jumped up and looked

towards the water, in the direction of which we saw a confused mass, yellow and black in color, staggering

and struggling towards us. We seized our rifles, and, slipping on our veldtschoons (shoes made of untanned

hide), ran out of the scherm towards it. By this time it had fallen, and was rolling over and over on the

ground, and by the time we reached it it struggled no longer, but was quite still.

And this was what it was. On the grass there lay a sable antelope bullthe most beautiful of all the African

antelopes quite dead, and transfixed by its great curved horns was a magnificent black maned lion, also

dead. What had happened, evidently, was this. The sable antelope had come down to drink at the pool, where

the lionno doubt the same we had heardhad been lying in wait. While the antelope was drinking the lion

had sprung upon him, but was received upon the sharp, curved horns and transfixed. I once saw the same

thing happen before. The lion, unable to free himself, had torn and beaten at the back and neck of the bull,

As soon as we had sufficiently examined the dead beasts we called the Kaffirs, and between us managed to

drag their carcasses up to the scherm. Then we went in and laid down, to wake no more till dawn.

With the first light we were up and making ready for the fray. We took with us the three eightbore rifles, a

good supply of ammunition, and our large waterbottles filled with weak, cold tea, which I have always

found the best stuff to shoot on. After swallowing a little breakfast we stared. Umbopa, Khiva, and

Ventvo"gel accompanying us. The other Kaffirs we left with instructions to skin the lion and the sable

We had no difficulty in finding the broad elephant trail, which Ventvo"gel, after examination, pronounced to

have been made by between twenty and thirty elephants, most of them fullgrown bulb. But the herd had

moved on some way during the night, and it was nine o'clock, and already very hot, before, from the broken

trees, bruised leaves and bark, and smoking dung, we knew we could not be far off them.

Presently we caught sight of the herd, numbering, as Ventvo"gel had said, between twenty and thirty,

standing in a hollow, having finished their morning meal, and flapping their great ears. It was a splendid

They were about two hundred yards from us. Taking a handful of dry grass I threw it into the air to see how

the wind was; for if once they winded us I knew they would be off before we could get a shot. Finding that, if

anything, it blew from the elephants to us, we crept stealthily on, and, thanks to the cover, managed to get

within forty yards or so of the great brutes. Just in front of us and broadside on stood three splendid bulls, one

of them with enormous tusks. I whispered to the others that I would take the middle one; Sir Henry covered

Boom! boom! boom! went the three heavy rifles, and down went Sir Henry's elephant, dead as a hammer,

shot right through the heart. Mine fell on to its knees, and I thought he was going to die, but in another

moment he was up and off, tearing along straight past me. As he went I gave him the second barrel in his ribs,

and this brought down in good earnest. Hastily slipping in two fresh cartridges, I ran up close to him, and a

ball through the brain put an end to the poor brute's struggles. Then I turned to see how Good had fared with

the big bull, which I had heard screaming with rage and pain as I gave mine its quietus. On reaching the

captain I found him in a great state of excitement. It appeared that on receiving the bullet the bull had turned

and come straight for his assailant, who had barely time to get out of his way, and then charged blindly on

past him, in the direction of our encampment. Meanwhile the herd had crashed off in wild alarm in the other

For a while we debated whether to go after the wounded bull or follow the herd, and finally decided for the

latter alternative, and departed thinking that we had seen the last of those big tusks. I have often wished since

that we had. It was easy work to follow the elephants, for they had left a. trail like a carriage road behind

them, crushing down the thick bush in their furious flight as though it were tambouki grass. But to come up

with them was another matter, and we had struggled on under a broiling sun for over two hours before we

found them. They were, with the exception of one bull, standing together, and I could see, from their unquiet

way and the manner in which they kept lifting their trunks to test the air, that they were on the lookout for

mischief. The solitary bull stood fifty yards or so this side of the herd, over which he was evidently keeping

sentry, and about sixty yards from us. Thinking that he would see or wind us, and that it would probably start

them all off again if we tried to get nearer, especially as the ground was rather open, we all aimed at this bull

and, at my whispered word, fired. All three shots took effect, and down he went, dead. Again the herd started

on, but, unfortunately for them, about a hundred yards farther on was a nullah, or dried watertrack, with

steep banks, a place very much resembling the one the Prince Imperial was killed in in Zululand. Into this the

elephants plunged, and when we reached the edge we found them struggling in wild confusion to get up the

other bank, and filling the air with their screams, and trumpeting as they pushed one another aside in their

selfish panic, just like so many human beings. Now was our opportunity, and, firing away as quick as we

could load, we killed five of the poor beasts, and no doubt should have bagged the whole herd had they not

suddenly given up their attempts to climb the bank and rushed headlong down the nullah. We were too tired

to follow them, and perhaps also a little sick of slaughter, eight elephants being a pretty good bag for one day.

So, after we had rested a little and the Kaffirs had cut out the hearts of two of the dead elephants for supper,

we started homeward, very well pleased with ourselves, having made up our minds to send the bearers on the

Shortly after we had passed the spot where Good had wounded the patriarchal bull we came across a herd of

eland, but did not shoot at them, as we had already plenty of meat. They trotted past us, and then stopped

behind a little patch of bush about a hundred yards away and wheeled round to look at us. As Good was

anxious to get a near view of them, never having seen an eland close, he handed his rifle to Umbopa, and,

followed by Khiva, strolled up to the patch of bush. We sat down and waited for him, not sorry of the excuse

The sun was just going down in its reddest glory, and Sir Henry and I were admiring the lovely scene, when

suddenly we heard an elephant scream, and saw its huge and charging form with uplifted trunk and tail

silhouetted against the great red globe of the sun. Next second we saw something else, and that was Good and

Khiva tearing back towards us with the wounded bull (for it was he) charging after them. For a moment we

did not dare to firethough it would have been little use if we had at that distancefor fear of hitting one of

them, and the next a dreadful thing happened: Good fell a victim to his passion for civilized dress. Had he

consented to discard his trousers and gaiters as we had, and hunt in a flannel shirt and a pair of veldtschoons,

it would have been all right, but as it was his trousers cumbered him in that desperate race, and presently,

when he was about sixty yards from us, his boot, polished by the dry grass, slipped, and down he went on his

We gave a gasp, for we knew he must die, and ran as hard as we could towards him. In three seconds it had

ended, but not as we thought. Khiva, the Zulu boy, had seen his master fall, and, brave lad that he was, had

turned and flung his assegai straight into the elephant's face. It stuck in his trunk.

With a scream of pain the brute seized the poor Zulu, hurled him to the earth, and, placing his huge foot on to

his body about the middle, twined his trunk round his upper part and _i_ tore him in two _i_.

We rushed up, mad with horror, and fired again and again, and presently the elephant fell upon the fragments

As for Good, he got up and wrung his hands over the brave man who had given his life to save him; and

myself, though an old hand, I felt a lump in my throat. Umbopa stood and contemplated the huge dead

WE had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks and get them home and bury them

carefully in the sand under a large tree, which made a conspicuous mark for miles round. It was a

wonderfully fine lot of ivory. I never saw a better, averaging as it did between forty and fifty pounds a tusk.

The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva scaled one hundred and seventypounds the pair, as nearly

As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an antbear hole, together with an assegai to

protect himself with on his journey to a better world. On the third day we started on, hoping that we might

one day return to dig up our buried ivory, and in due course, after a long and wearisome tramp, and many

adventures which I have not space to detail, reached Sitanda's Kraal, near the Lukanga River, the real

startingpoint of our expedition. Very well do I recoiled our arrival at that place. To the right was a scattered

native settlement with a few stone cattle kraals and some cultivated lands down by the water, where these

savages grew their scanty supply of grain, and beyond it great tracts of waving "veldt" covered with tall

grass, over which herds of the smaller game were wandering To the left was the vast desert. This spot

appeared to be the outpost of the fertile country, and it would be difficult to say to what natural causes such

an abrupt change in the character of the soil was due. But so it was. Just below our encampment flowed a

little stream, on the farther side of which was a stony slope, the same down which I had twenty years before

seen poor Silvestre creeping back after his attempt to reach Solomon's Mines, and beyond that slope began

the waterless desert covered with a species of karoo shrub. It was evening when we pitched our camp, and the

great fiery ball of the sun was sinking into the desert, sending glorious rays of manycolored light flying over

all the vast expanse. Leaving Good to superintend the arrangement of our little camp; I took Sir Henry with

me, and we walked to the top of the slope opposite and gazed out across the desert. The air was very clear,

and far, far away I could distinguish the faint blue outlines, here and there capped with white, of the great

"There," I said, "there is the wall of Solomon's Mines, but God knows if we shall ever climb it."

"My brother should be there, and if he is I shall reach him somehow," said Sir Henry, in that tone of quiet

"I hope so," I answered, and turned to go back to the camp, when I saw that we were not alone. Behind us,

The Zulu spoke when he saw that I had observed him, but addressed himself to Sir Henry, to whom he had

"Is it to that land that thou wouldst journey, 'Incubu?" (a native word meaning, I believe, an elephant, and the

name given to Sir Henry by the Kaffirs) he said, pointing towards the mountains with his broad assegai.

I asked him sharply what he meant by addressing his master in that familiar way. It is very well for natives to

have a name for one among themselves, but it is not decent that they should call one by their heathenish

appellations to one's face. The man laughed a quiet little laugh which angered me.

"How dost thou know that I am not the equal of the Inkosi I serve?" he said. "He is of a royal house, no

doubt; one can see it in his size and in his eye; so, mayhap, am I. At least I am as great a man. Be my mouth,

oh, Macumazahn, and say my words to the Inkoos Incubu, my master, for I would speak to him and to thee."

I was. angry with the man, for I am not accustomed to be talked to in that way by Kaffirs but somehow he

impressed me, and besides I was curious to know what he had to say, so I translated, expressing my opinion

at the same time that he was an impudent fellow, and that his swagger was outrageous.

"The desert is wide and there is no water; the mountains are high and covered with snow, and man cannot say

what is beyond them behind the place where the sun sets; how shalt thou come thither, Incubu, and wherefore

"Tell him," answered Sir Henry, "that I go because I believe that a man of my blood, my brother, has gone

"That is so, Incubu; a man I met on the road told me that a white man went out into the desert two years ago

"Nay, I know not. But the man, when I asked what the white man was like, said that he had your eyes and a

black beard. He said, too, that the name of the hunter with him was Jim, that he was a Bechuana hunter and

Sir Henry nodded. "I was sure of it," he said. "If George set his mind upon a thing he generally did it. It was

always so from his boyhood. If he meant to cross the Suliman Berg he has crossed it, unless some accident

"Yes," answered Sir Henry, "it is far. But there is no journey upon this earth that a man may not make if he

sets his heart to it. There is nothing, Umbopa, that he cannot do, there are no mountains he may not climb,

there are no deserts he cannot cross, save a mountain and a desert of which you are spared the knowledge, if

love leads him, and he holds his life in his hand counting it as nothing, ready to keep it or to lose it as

"Great words, my father," answered the Zulu (I always called him a Zulu, though he was not really one),

"great, swelling words, fit to fill the mouth of a man. Thou art right, my father Incubu. Listen! what is life? It

is a feather; it is the seed of the grass, blown hither and thither, sometimes multiplying itself and dying in the

act, sometimes carried away into the heavens. But if the seed be good and heavy it may perchance travel a

little way on the road it will. It is well to try and journey one's road and to fight with the air. Man must die. At

the worst he can but die a little sooner. I will go with thee across the desert and over the mountains, unless

He paused awhile, and then went on with one of those strange bursts of rhetorical eloquence which Zulus

sometimes indulge in, and which, to my mind, full as they are of vain repetitions, show that the race is by no

"What is life? Tell me, O white men, who are wise, who know the secrets of the world, and the world of stars,

and the world that lies above and around the stars; who flash their words from afar without a voice; tell me,

"Ye cannot answer; ye know not. Listen, I will answer. Out of the dark we came, into the dark we go. Like a

stormdriven bird at night we fly out of the Nowhere; for a moment our wings are seen in the light of the fire,

and, lo! we are gone again into the Nowhere. Life is nothing. Life is all. It is the hand with which we hold off

death. It is the glowworm that shines in the nighttime and is black in the morning; it is the white breath of

the oxen in winter; it is the little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself at sunset."

Umbopa laughed. "It seems to me that we are much alike, Incubu. Perhaps I seek a brother over the

I looked at him suspiciously. "What dost thou mean?" I asked; "what dost thou know of the mountains?"

"A little; a very little. There is a strange land there, a land of witchcraft and beautiful things; a land of brave

people and of trees and streams and white mountains and of a great white road. I have heard of it. But what is

"Ye need not fear me, Macumazahn," he said, interpreting my look. "I dig no holes for ye to fall in. I make no

plots. If ever we cross those mountains behind the sun, I will tell what I know. But death sits upon them. Be

And without another word he lifted his spear in salutation and returned towards the camp, where shortly

"Yes," answered I, "too odd by half. I don't like his little ways. He knows something, and won't speak out.

But I suppose. it is no use quarrelling with him. We are in for a curious trip, and a mysterious Zulu won't

Next day we made our arrangements for starting. Of course it was impossible to drag our heavy elephant

rifles and other kit with us across the desert, so, dismissing our bearers, we made an arrangement with an old

native who had a kraal close by to take care of them till we returned. It went to my heart to leave such things

as those sweet tools to the tender mercies of an old thief, of a savage whose greedy eyes I could see gloating

First of all I loaded all the rifles, and informed him that if he touched them they would go off. He instantly

tried the experiment with my eightbore, and it did go off, and blew a hole right through one of his oxen,

which were just then being driven up to the kraal, to say nothing of knocking him head over heels with the

recoil. He got up considerably startled, and not at all pleased at the loss of the ox, which he had the

impudence to ask me to pay for, and nothing would induce him to touch them again.

"Put the live devils up there in the thatch," he said, "out of the way, or they will kill us all."

Then I told him that if, when we came back, one of those things was missing I would kill him and all his

people by witchcraft; and if we died and he tried to steal the things, I would come and haunt him and turn his

cattle mad and his milk sour till life was a weariness, and make the devils in the guns come out and talk to

him in a way he would not like, and generally gave him a good idea of judgment to come. After that he swore

he would look after them as though they were his father's spirit. He was a very superstitious old Kaffir and a

Having thus disposed of our superfluous gear we arranged the kit we five Sir Henry, Good, myself,

Umbopa, and the Hottentot Ventvo"gelwere to take with us on our journey. It was small enough, but do

what we would we could not get it down under about forty pounds a man. This is what it consisted of:

The two Winchester repeating rifles (for Umbopa and Ventvo"gel), with two hundred rounds of cartridge.

A selection of medicine, including an ounce of quinine, and one or two small surgical instruments.

Our knives, a few sundries, such as a compass, matches, a pocketfilter, tobacco, a trowel, a bottle of brandy,

This was our total equipment, a small one, indeed, for such a venture, but we dared not attempt to carry more.

As it was, that load was a heavy one per man to travel across the burning desert with, for in such places every

additional ounce tells upon one. But try as we would we could not see our way to reducingit. There was

With great difficulty, and by the promise of a present of a good hunting knife each, I succeeded in persuading

three wretched natives from the village to come with us for the first stage, twenty miles, and to carry each a

large gourd holding a gallon of water. My object was to enable us to refill our waterbottles after the first

night's march, for we determined to start in the cool of the night. I gave out to these natives that we were

going to shoot ostriches, with which the desert abounded. They jabbered and shrugged their shoulders, and

said we were mad and should perish of thirst, which I must say seemed very probable; but being desirous of

obtaining the knives, which were almost unknown treasures up there, they consented to come, having

probably reflected that, after all, our subsequent extinction would be no affair of theirs.

All next day we rested and slept, and at sunset ate a hearty meal of fresh beef washed down with tea, the last,

as Good sadly remarked, we were likely to drink for many a long day. Then, having made our final

preparations, we lay down and waited for the moon to rise. At last, about nine o'clock, up she came in all her

chastened glory, flooding the wild country with silver light, and, throwing a weird sheen on the vast expanse

of rolling desert before us, which looked as solemn and quiet and as alien to man as the starstudded

firmament above. We rose up, and in a few minutes were ready, and yet we hesitated a little, as human nature

is prone to hesitate on the threshold of an irrevocable step. We three white men stood there by ourselves.

Umbopa, assegai in hand and the rifle across his shoulders, a few paces ahead of us, looked out fixedly across

the desert, the three hired natives, with the gourds of water, and Ventvo"gel were gathered in a little knot

"Gentlemen." said Sir Henry, presently, in his low, deep voice, "we are going on. about as strange a journey

as men can make in this world. It is very doubtful if we can succeed in it. But we are three men who will

stand together for good or for evil to the last. And now before we start let us for a moment pray to the Power

Who shapes the destinies of men, and who ages since has marked out our paths, that it may please him to

Taking off his hat he, for the space of a minute or so, covered his face with his hands, and Good and I did

I do not say that I am a firstrate praying man; few hunters are; and as for Sir Henry, I never heard him

speak like that before, and only once since, though deep down in his heart I believe he is very religious.

Good, too, is pious, though very apt to swear. Anyhow I do not think I ever, excepting on one single

occasion, put in a better prayer in my life than I did during that minute, and somehow I felt the happier for it.

Our future was so completely unknown, and I think the unknown and the awful always bring a man nearer to

We had nothing to guide ourselves by except the distant mountains and old Jose' da Silvestra's chart, which,

considering that it was drawn by a dying and half distraught man on a fragment of linen three centuries ago,

was not a very satisfactory sort of thing to work on. Still, such as it was, our little hope of success depended

on it. If we failed in finding that pool of bad water which the old don marked as being situated in the middle

of the desert, about sixty miles from our startingpoint and as far from the mountains, we must in all

probability perish miserably of thirst. And to my mind the chances of our finding it in that great sea of sand

and karoo scrub seemed almost infinitesimal. Even supposing Da Silvestra had marked it right, what was

there to prevent its having been generations ago dried up by the sun, or trampled in by game, or filled with

On we tramped silently as shades through the night and in the heavy sand. The karoo bushes caught our shins

and retarded us, and the sand got into our veldtschoons and Good's shootingboots, so that every few miles

we had to stop and empty them; but still the night was fairly cool, though the atmosphere was thick and

heavy, giving a sort of creamy feel to the air, and we made fair progress. It was very still and lonely there in

the desert, oppressively so indeed. Good felt this, and once began to whistle the "Girl I left behind me," but

the notes sounded lugubrious in that vast place, and he gave it up. Shortly afterwards a little incident occurred

which, though it made us jump at the time, gave rise to a laugh. Good, as the holder of the compass, which,

being a sailor, of course he thoroughly understood, was leading, and we were toiling along in single file

behind him, when suddenly we heard the sound of an exclamation, and he vanished. Next second there arose

all round us a most extraordinary hubbub, snorts, groans, wild sounds of rushing feet. In the faint light,too;

we could descry dim, galloping forms half hidden by wreaths of sand. The natives threw down their loads and

prepared to bolt, but, remembering that there was nowhere to bolt to, cast themselves upon the ground and

howled out that it was the devil. As for Sir Henry and myself, we stood amazed; nor was our amazement

lessened when we perceived the form of Good careering off in the direction of the mountains, apparently

mounted on the back of a horse and halloing like mad. In another second he threw up his arms, and we heard

him come to the earth with a thud. Then I saw what had happened: we had stumbled right on to a herd of

sleeping quagga, on to the back of one of which Good had actually fallen, and the brute had naturally enough

got up and made off with him. Singing out to the others that it was all right, I ran towards Good, much afraid

lest he should be hurt, but to my great relief found him sitting in the sand, his eyeglass still fixed firmly in

After this we travelled on without any further misadventure till after one o'clock, when we called a halt, and

having drunk a little water, not much, for water was precious, and rested for half an hour, started on again.

On, on we went till at last the east began to blush like the cheek of a girl. Then there came faint rays of

primrose light that changed presently to golden bars, through which the dawn glided out across the desert.

The stars grew pale and paler still till at last they vanished; the golden moon waxed wan, and her mountain

ridges stood out clear against her sickly face like the bones on the face of a dying man; then came spear upon

spear of glorious light flashing far away across the boundless wilderness, piercing and firing the veils of mist

Still we did not halt, though by this time we should have been glad. enough to do so, for We knew that when

once the sun was fully up it would be almost impossible for us to travel in it. At length, about six o'clock, we

spied a little pile of rocks rising out of the plain, and to this we dragged ourselves. As luck would have it,

here we found an overhanging slab of rock carpeted beneath with smooth sand, which afforded a most

grateful shelter from the heat. Underneath this we crept, and having drank some water each and eaten a bit of

It was three o'clock in the afternoon before we woke, to find our three bearers preparing to return. They had

already had enough of the desert, and no number of knives would have tempted them to come a step farther.

So we had a hearty drink, and, having emptied our waterbottles, filled them up again from the gourds they

had brought with them, and then watched them depart on their twenty miles' tramp home.

At halfpast four we also started on. It was lonely and desolate work, for, with the exception of a few

ostriches, there was not a single living creature to be seen on all the vast expanse of sandy plain. It was

evidently too dry for game, and, with the exception of a deadly looking cobra or two, we saw no reptiles. One

insect, however, was abundant, and that was the common or house fly. There they came, "not as single spies,

but in battalions," as I think the Old Testament says somewhere. He is an extraordinary animal, is the house

fly. Go where you will you find him, and so it must always have been. I have seen him enclosed in amber

which must, I was told, have been half a million years old, looking exactly like his descendant of today, and I

have little doubt that when the last man lies dying on the earth he will be buzzing roundif that event should

At sunset we halted, waiting for the moon to rise. At ten she came up beautiful and serene as ever, and, with

one halt about two o'clock in the morning, we trudged wearily on through the night, till at last the welcome

sun put a period to our labors. We drank a little and flung ourselves down, thoroughly tired out, on the sand,

and were soon all asleep. There was no need to set a watch, for we had nothing to fear from anybody or

anything in that vast, untenanted plain. Our only enemies were heat, thirst, and flies, but far rather would I

have faced any danger from man or beast than that awful trinity. This time we were not so lucky as to find a

sheltering rock to guard us from the glare of the sun, with the result that about seven o'clock we woke up

experiencing the exact sensations one would attribute to a beefsteak on a gridiron. We were literally being

baked through and through. The burning sun seemed to be sucking our very blood out of us. We sat up. and

"Phew!" said I, grabbing at the halo of flies which buzzed cheerfully round my head. The heat did not affect

It was hot, indeed, and there was not a bit of shelter to be had. Look where we would there was no rock or

tree; nothing but an unending glare, rendered dazzling by the hot air which danced over the surface of the

"What is to be done?" asked Sir Henry; "we can't stand this for long." We looked at each other blankly.

"I have it," said Good; "we must dig a hole and get into it, and cover ourselves with the karoo bushes."

It did not seem a very promising suggestion, but at least it was better than nothing, so we set to work, and,

with the trowel we had brought with us and our hands, succeeded in about an hour in delving out a patch of

ground about ten feet long by twelve wide to the depth of two feet. Then we cut a quantity of low scrub with

our hunting knives, and, creeping into the hole, pulled it over us all, with the exception of Ventvo"gel, on

whom, being a Hottentot, the sun had no particular effect. This gave us some slight shelter from the burning

rays of the sun, but the heat in that amateur grave can be better imagined than described. The Black Hole of

Calcutta must have been a fool to it; indeed, to this moment; I do not know how we lived through the day.

There we lay panting, and every now and again moistening our lips from our scanty supply of water. Had we

followed our inclinations we should have finished off all we had in the first two hours, but we had to exercise

the most rigid care, for if our water failed us we knew that we must quickly perish miserably.

But everything has an end, if only you live long enough to see it, and somehow that miserable day wore on

towards evening. About three o'clock in the afternoon we determined that we could stand it no longer. It

would be better to die walking than to be slowly killed by heat and thirst in that dreadful hole. So, taking each

of. us a little drink from our fast diminishing supply of water now heated to about the same temperature as a

We had now covered some fifty miles of desert. If my reader will refer to the rough copy and translation of

old Da Silvestra's map he will see that the desert is marked as being forty leagues across, and the "pan bad

water" is set down as being about in the middle of it. Now, forty leagues is one hundred and twenty miles;

consequently, we ought at the most to be. within twelve or fifteen miles of the water, if any should really

Through the. afternoon we crept slowly and painfully along, scarcely doing more than a mile and a half an

hour. At sunset we again rested, waiting for the moon, and, after drinking a little, managed to get some sleep.

Before we lay down Umbopa pointed out to us a slight and indistinct hillock on the flat surface of the desert

about eight miles away. At the distance it looked like an anthill, and as I was dropping off to sleep I fell to

With the moon we started on again, feeling dreadfully exhausted, and suffering tortures from thirst and

prickly heat. Nobody who has not felt it can know what we went through. We no longer walked, we

staggered, now and again falling from exhaustion, and being obliged to call a halt every hour or so. We had

scarcely energy left in us to speak. Up to now Good had chatted and joked, for he was a merry fellow; but

At last, about two o'clock, utterly worn out in body and mind, we came to the foot of this queer hill, or sand

koppie, which did at first sight resemble a gigantic antheap about a hundred feet high, and covering at the

Here we halted, and, driven by our desperate thirst, sucked down our last drops of water. We had but half a

Then we lay down. Just as I was dropping off to sleep I heard Umbopa remark to himself in Zulu,

I shuddered, hot as it was. The near prospect of such an awful death is not pleasant, but even the thought of it

IN two hours' time, about four o'clock, I woke up. As soon as the first heavy demand of bodily fatigue had

been satisfied the torturing thirst from which I was suffering asserted itself. I could sleep no more. I had been

dreaming that I was bathing in a running stream with green banks, and trees upon them, and I awoke to find

myself in that arid wilderness, and to remember that, as Umbopa had said, if we did not find water that day

we must certainly perish miserably. No human creature could live long without water in that heat. I sat up and

rubbed my grimy face with my dry and horny hands. My lips and eyelids were stuck. together, and it was

only after some rubbing and with an effort that I was able to open them. It was not far off the dawn, but there

was none of the bright feel of dawn in the air, which was thick with a hot murkiness I cannot describe. The

others were still sleeping. Presently it began to grow light enough to read, so I drew out a little pocket copy of

the "Ingoldsby Legends" I had brought with me, and read the. "Jackdaw of Rheims." When I got to where

I literally smacked my cracked lips, or, rather, tried to smack them. The mere thought of that pure water made

me mad. If the cardinal had been there with his bell, book, and candle, I would have whipped in and drank his

water up, yes, even if he had already filled it with the suds of soap worthy of washing the hands of the pope,

and I knew that the whole concentrated curse of the Catholic Church should fall upon me for so doing. I

almost think I must have been a little lightheaded with thirst and weariness and want of food; for I fell to

thinking how astonished the cardinal and his nice little boy and the jackdaw would have looked to see a

burnedup browneyed, grizzledhaired little elephanthunter suddenly bound in and put his dirty face into

the basin and swallow every drop of the precious water. The idea amused me so that I laughed or rather

cackled aloud, which woke the others up, and they began to rub _i_ their _i_ dirty faces and get _i_ their _i_

As soon as we were all well awake we fell to discussing the situation, which was serious enough. Not a drop

of water was left. We turned the waterbottles upside down and licked the tops, but it was a failure; they

were as dry as a bone. Good, who had charge of the bottle of brandy, got it out and looked at it longingly; but

Sir Henry promptly took it away from him, for to drink raw spirit would only have been to precipitate the

"If we can trust to the old don's map there should be some about," I said; but nobody seemed to derive much

satisfaction from that remark, it was so evident that no great faith could be put in the map. It was now

gradually growing light, and as we sat blankly staring at each other I observed the Hottentot Ventvo"gel rise

and begin to walk about with his eyes on the ground. Presently he stopped short and, uttering a guttural

"What is it?" we exclaimed, and simultaneously rose and went to where he was standing pointing at the

"No," I answered, "I forgot; and thank God for it." This little discovery put new life into us; it is wonderful

how, when one is in a desperate position, one catches at the slightest hope, and feels almost happy in it. On a

Meanwhile Ventvo"gel was lifting his snub nose, and sniffing the hot air for all the world like an old Impala

Then we felt quite jubilant, for we knew what a wonderful instinct these wildbred men possess.

Just at that moment the sun came up gloriously and revealed so grand a sight to our astonished eyes that for a

For there, not more than forty or fifty miles from us, glittering like silver in the early rays of the morning sun,

were Sheba's breasts; and stretching away for hundreds of miles on each side of them was the great Suliman

Berg. Now that I, sitting here, attempt to describe the extraordinary grandeur and beauty of that sight,

language seems to fail me. I am impotent even before its memory. There, straight before us, were two

enormous mountains, the like of which are not, I believe, to be seen in Africa, if, indeed, there are any other

such in the world, measuring each at least fifteen thousand feet in height, standing not more than a dozen

miles apart, connected by a precipitous cliff of rock, and towering up in awful white solemnity straight into

the sky. These mountains standing thus, like the pillars of a gigantic gateway, are shaped exactly like a

woman's breasts. Their bases swelled gently up from the plain, looking, at that distance, perfectly round and

smooth; and on the top of each was a vast round hillock covered with snow, exactly corresponding to the

nipple on the female breast. The stretch of cliff which connected them appeared to be some thousand feet in

height, and perfectly precipitous, and on each side of them, as far as the eye could reach, extended similar

lines of cliff, broken only here and there by flat, tabletopped mountains, something like the world famed one

To describe the grandeur of the whole view is beyond my powers. There was something so inexpressibly

solemn and overpowering about those huge volcanoesfor doubtless they are extinct volcanoesthat it fairly

took our breath away. For a while the morning lights played upon the snow and the brown and swelling

masses beneath, and then, as though to veil the majestic sight from our curious eyes, strange mists and clouds

gathered and increased around them, till presently we could only trace their pure and gigantic outline swelling

ghostlike through the fleecy envelope. Indeed, as we afterwards discovered, they were normally wrapped in

this curious gauzy mist, which doubtless accounted for one not having made them out more clearly before.

Scarcely had the mountains vanished into cloudclad privacy before our thirst literally a burning

It was all very well for Ventvo"gel to say he smelled water, but look which way we would we could see no

signs of it. So far as the eye could reach there was nothing but arid, sweltering sand and karoo scrub. We

walked round the hillock and gazed about anxiously on the other side, but it was the same story, not a drop of

"Yes," I said, "no doubt it is in the clouds, and about two months hence it will fall and wash our bones."

Sir Henry stroked his yellow beard thoughtfully. "Perhaps it is on the top of the hill," he suggested.

"Let us go and look," I put in, and hopelessly enough we scrambled up the sandy sides of the hillock,

We rushed up to him, and there, sure enough, in a deep cup or indentation on the very top of the

sandkoppie, was an undoubted pool of water. How it came to be in such a strange place we did not stop to

inquire, nor did we hesitate at its black and uninviting appearance. It was water, or a good imitation of it, and

that was enough for us. We gave a bound and a rush, and in another second were all down on our stomachs

sucking up the uninviting fluid as though it were nectar fit for the gods. Heavens, how we did drink! Then,

when we had done drinking, we tore off our clothes and sat down in it, absorbing the moisture through our

parched skins. You, my reader, who have only to turn on a couple of taps and summon "hot" and "cold" from

an unseen, vasty boiler, can have little idea of the luxury of that muddy wallow in brackish, tepid water.

After a while we arose from it, refreshed indeed, and fell to on our biltong, of which we had scarcely been

able to touch a mouthful for twentyfour hours, and ate our fill. Then we smoked a pipe, and lay down by the

side of that blessed pool under the overhanging shadow of the bank and slept till midday.

All that day we rested there by the water, thanking our stars that we had been lucky enough to find it, bad as

it was, and not forgetting to render a due share of gratitude to the shade of the long departed Da Silvestra,

who had corked it down so accurately on the tail of his shirt. The wonderful thing to us was that it should

have lasted so long, and the only way that I can account for it is by the supposition that it is fed by some

Having filled both ourselves and our waterbottles as full as possible, in far better spirits we started off again

with the moon. That night we covered nearly fiveandtwenty miles, but, needless to say, found no more

water, though we were lucky enough on the following day to get a little shade behind some ant heaps. When

the sun rose and, for a while, cleared away the mysterious mists, Suliman's Berg and the two majestic breasts,

now only about twenty miles off, seemed to be towering right above us, and looked grander than ever. At the

approach of evening we started on again, and, to cut a long story short, by daylight next morning found

ourselves upon the lowest slopes of Sheba's left breast, for which we had been steadily steering. By this time

our water was again exhausted and we were suffering severely from thirst, nor indeed could we see any

chance of relieving it till we reached the snow line, far, far above us. After resting an hour or two, driven to it

by our torturing thirst, we went on again, toiling painfully in the burning heat up the lava slopes, for we found

that the huge base of the mountain was composed entirely of lava beds belched out in some farpast age.

By eleven o'clock we were utterly exhausted, and were, generally speaking, in a very bad way indeed. The

lava clinker, over which we had to make our way, though comparatively smooth compared with some clinker

I have heard of, such as that on the island of Ascension, for instance, was yet rough enough to make our feet

very sore, and this, together with our other miseries, had pretty well finished us. A few hundred yards above

us were some large lumps of lava, and towards these we made with the intention of lying down beneath their

shade. We reached them, and to our surprise, so far as we had a capacity for surprise left in us, on a little

plateau or ridge close by we saw that the lava was covered with a dense green growth. Evidently soil formed

from decomposed lava had rested there, and in due course had become the receptacle of seeds deposited by

birds. But we did not take much further interest in the green growth, for one cannot live on grass, like

Nebuchadnezzar. That requires a special dispensation of Providence and peculiar digestive organs. So we sat

down under the rocks and groaned, and I, for one, heartily wished that we had never started on this fool's

errand. As we were siring there I saw Umbopa get up and hobble off towards the patch of green, and a few

minutes afterwards, to my great astonishment, I perceived that usually uncommonly dignified individual

dancing and shouting like a maniac, and waving something green. Off we all scrambled towards him as fast

Then I saw what he had got. It was a melon. We had hit upon a patch of wild melons, thousands of them, and

"Melons!" I yelled to Good, who was next me; and in another second he had his false teeth fixed in one.

I think we ate about six each before we had done, and, poor fruit as they were, I doubt if I ever thought

But melons are not very satisfying, and when we had satisfied our thirst with their pulpy substance, and set a

stock to cool by the simple process of cutting them in two and setting them end on in the hot sun to get cold

by evaporation, we began to feel exceedingly hungry. We had still some biltong left but our stomachs turned

from biltong, and, besides, we. had to be very sparing of it, for we could not say when we should get more

food. Just at this moment a lucky thing happened. Looking towards the desert I saw a flock of about ten large

"Skit, Baas, skit!" (shoot, master, shoot), whispered the Hottentot, throwing himself on his face, an example

Then I saw that the birds were a flock of pauw (bustards), and that they would pass within fifty yards of my

head. Taking one of the repeating Winchesters, I waited till they were nearly over us, and then jumped on to

my feet. On seeing me the pauw bunched up together, as I expected they would, and I fired two shots straight

into the thick of them, and, as luck would have it, brought one down, a fine fellow, that weighed about twenty

pounds. In half an hour we had a fire made of dry melonstalks, and he was toasting over it, and we had such

a feed as we had not had for a week. We ate that pauw nothing was left of him but his bones and his

That night we again went on with the moon, carrying as many melons as we could with us. As we got higher

up we found the air get cooler and cooler, which was a great relief to us, and at dawn, so far as we could

judge, were not more than about a dozen miles from the snowline. Here we found more melons, so had no

longer any anxiety about water, for we knew that we should soon get plenty of snow. But the ascent had now

become very precipitous, and we made but slow progress, not more than a mile an hour. Also that night we

ate our last morsel of biltong. As yet, with the exception of the pauw, we had seen no living thing on the

mountain, nor had we come across a single spring or stream of water, which struck us as very odd,

considering all the snow above us, which must, we thought, melt sometimes. But as we afterwards

discovered, owing to some cause, which it is quite beyond my power to explain, all the streams flowed down

We now began to grow very anxious about food. We had escaped death by thirst, but it seemed probable that

it was only to die of hunger. The events of the next three miserable days are best described by copying the

21st May. Started 11 A.M, finding the atmosphere quite cold enough to travel by day, carrying some

watermelons with us. Struggled on all day, but saw no more melons, having, evidently, passed out of their

district. Saw no game of any sort. Halted for the night at sundown, having had no food for many hours.

22d.Started at sunrise again, feeling very faint and weak. Only made five miles all day; found some

patches of snow, of which we ate, but nothing else. Camped at night under the edge of a great plateau. Cold

bitter. Drank a little brandy each, and huddled ourselves together, each wrapped up in our blanket to keep

ourselves alive. Are now suffering frightfully from starvation and weariness. Thought that Ventvo"gel would

23d.Struggled forward once more as soon as the sun was well up, and had thawed our limbs a little. We

are now in a dreadful plight, and I fear that unless we get food this will be our last day's journey. But little

brandy left. Good, Sir Henry, and Umbopa bear up wonderfully, but Ventvo"gel is in a very bad way. Like

most Hottentots, he cannot stand cold. Pangs of hunger not so bad, but have a sort of numb feeling about the

stomach. Others say the same. We are now on a level with the precipitous chain, or wall of lava, connecting

the two breasts, and the view is glorious. Behind us the great glowing desert rolls away to the horizon, and

before us lies mile upon mile of smooth, hard snow almost level, but swelling gently upward, out of the

centre of which the nipple of the mountain, which appears to be some miles in circumference, rises about four

thousand feet into the sky. Not a living thing is to be seen. God help us, I fear our time has come.

And now I will drop the journal, partly because it is not very interesting reading, and partly because what

All that day (the 23d May) we struggled slowly on up the incline of snow, lying down. from time to time to

rest. A strange, gaunt crew we must have looked, as, laden as we were, we dragged our weary feet over the

dazzling plain, glaring round us with hungry eyes. Not that there was much use in glaring, for there was

nothing to eat. We did not do more than seven miles that day. Just before sunset we found ourselves right

under the nipple of Sheba's left breast, which towered up thousands of feetinto the air above us, a vast,

smooth hillock of frozen snow. Bad as we felt, we could not but appreciate the wonderful scene, made even

more wonderful by the flying rays of light from the setting sun, which here and there stained the snow blood

"I say," gasped Good, presently, "we ought to be somewhere near the cave the old gentleman wrote about."

"Come, Quatermain," groaned Sir Henry, "don't talk like that; I have every faith in the don; remember the

"If we don't find it before dark we are dead men, that is all about it," was my consolatory reply.

For the next ten minutes we trudged on in silence, when suddenly Umbopa, who was marching along beside

me, wrapped up in his blanket and with a leather belt strapped so tight round his stomach, to "make his

hunger small," as he said, that his waist looked like a girl's, caught me by the arm.

I followed his glance, and perceived, some two hundred yards from us, what appeared to be a hole in the

We made the best of our way to the spot, and found, sure enough, that the hole was the mouth of a cave, no

doubt the same as that of which Da Silvestra wrote. We were none too soon, for just as we reached shelter the

sun went down with startling rapidity, leaving the whole place nearly dark. In these latitudes there is but little

twilight. We crept into the cave, which did not appear to be very big, and, huddling ourselves together for

warmth, swallowed what remained of our brandybarely a mouthful eachand tried to forget our

miseries in sleep. But this the cold was too intense to allow us to do. I am convinced that at that great altitude

the thermometer cannot have been less than fourteen or fifteen degrees below freezingpoint. What this

meant to us, enervated as we were by hardship, want of food, and the great heat of the desert, my reader can

imagine better than I can describe. Suffice it to say that it was something as near death from exposure as I

have ever felt. There we sat hour after hour through the bitter night, feeling the frost wander round and nip us

now in the finger, now in the foot, and now in the face. In vain did we huddle up closer and closer; there was

no warmth in our miserable, starved carcasses. Sometimes one of us would drop into an uneasy slumber for a

few minutes, but we could not sleep long, and perhaps it was fortunate, for I doubt if we should ever have

woke again. I believe it was only by force of will that we kept ourselves alive at all.

Not very long before dawn I heard the Hottentot Ventvo"gel, whose teeth had been chattering all night like

castanets, give a deep sigh, and then his teeth stopped chattering. I did not think anything of it at the time,

concluding that he had gone to sleep. His back was resting against mine, and it seemed to grow colder, and

At length the air began to grow gray with light, then swift golden arrows came flashing across the snow, and

at last the glorious sun peeped up above the lava wall and looked in upon our halffrozen forms and upon

Ventvo"gel, sitting there among us stone dead. No wonder his back had felt cold, poor fellow. He had died

when I heard him sigh, and was now almost frozen stiff. Shocked beyond measure, we dragged ourselves

from the corpse (strange the horror we all have of the companionship of a dead body), and left it still sitting

By this time the sunlight was pouring its cold rays (for here they were cold) straight in at the mouth of the

cave. Suddenly I heard an exclamation of fear from some one, and turned my head down the cave.

And this was what I saw. Sitting at the end of it, for it was not more than twenty feet long, was another form,

of which the head rested on the chest and the long arms hung down. I stared at it, and saw that it, too, was a

The others saw it, too, and the sight proved too much for our shattered nerves. One and all we scrambled out

"I am going back," said Sir Henry. "Why?" asked Good. "Because it has struck me thatwhat we sawmay

This was a new idea, and we reentered the cave to put it to the proof, After the bright light outside our eyes,

weak as they were with stating at the snow, could not for a while pierce the gloom of the cave. Presently,

however, we grew accustomed to the semidarkness, and advanced on to the dead form.

Then I went and looked. The corpse was that of a tall man in middle life, with aquiline features, grizzled hair,

and a long black mustache. The skin was perfectly yellow, and stretched tightly over the bones. Its clothing,

with the exception of what seemed to be the remains of a pair of woollen hose, had been removed, leaving the

skeletonlike frame naked. Round the neck hung a yellow ivory crucifix. The corpse was frozen perfectly

"And what is there to prevent his lasting for three thousand years in this atmosphere I should like to know?"

asked Good. "If only the air is cold enough flesh and blood will keep as fresh as New Zealand mutton

forever, and Heaven knows it is cold enough here. The sun never gets in here; no animal comes here to tear or

destroy. No doubt his slave, of whom he speaks on the map, took off his clothes and left him. He could not

have buried him alone. Look here," he went. on, stooping down and picking up a queershaped bone scraped

at the end into a sharp point, "here is the 'cleft bone' that he used to draw the map with."

We gazed astonished for a moment, forgetting our own miseries in the extraordinary and, as it seemed to us,

"Ay," said "Sir Henry, "and here is where he got his ink from," and he pointed to a small wound on the dead

There was no longer any doubt about the matter, which I confess, for my own part, perfectly appalled me.

There he sat, the dead man, whose directions, written some ten generations ago, bad led us to this spot. There

in my own hand was the rude pen with which he had written them, and there round his neck was the crucifix

his dying lips had kissed. Gazing at him my imagination could reconstruct the whole scene: the traveller

dying of cold and starvation, and yet striving to convey the great secret he had discovered to the world; the

awful loneliness of his death, of which the evidence sat before us. It even seemed to me that I could trace in

his strongly marked features a likeness to those of my poor friend Silvestre, his descendant, who had died

twenty years ago in my arms, but perhaps that was fancy. At any rate, there he sat, a sad memento of the fate

that so often overtakes those who would penetrate into the unknown; and there probably he will still sit,

crowned with the dread majesty of death, for centuries yet unborn, to startle the eyes of wanderers like

ourselves, if any such should ever come again to invade his loneliness. The thing overpowered us, already

"Let us go," said Sir Henry, in a low voice; "stay, we will give him a companion," and, lifting up the dead

body of the Hottentot Ventvo"gel, he placed it near that of the old don. Then he stooped down and with a jerk

broke the rotten string of the crucifix round his neck, for his fingers were too cold to attempt to unfasten it. I

believe that he still has it. I took the pen, and it is before me as I writesometimes I sign my name with it.

Then, leaving those two, the proud white man of a past age and the poor Hottentot, to keep their eternal vigil

in the midst of the eternal snows, we crept out of the cave into the welcome sunshine and resumed our path,

wondering in our hearts how many hours it would be before we were even as they are.

When we had gone about half a mile we came to the edge of the plateau, for the nipple of the mountain did

not rise out of its exact centre, though from the desert side it seemed to do so. What lay below us we could

not see, for the landscape was wreathed in billows of morning mist. Presently, however, the higher layers of

mist cleared a little, and revealed, some five hundred yards beneath us, at the end of a long slope of snow, a

patch of green grass, through which a stream was running. Nor was this all. By the stream, basking in the

morning sun, stood and lay a group of from ten to fifteen _i_ large antelopes _i_ at that distance we could not

The sight filled us with an unreasoning joy. There was food in plenty if only we could get it. But the question

was how to get it. The beasts were fully six hundred yards off, a very long shot, and one not to be depended

Rapidly we discussed the advisability of trying to stalk the game, but finally reluctantly dismissed it. To

begin with, the wind was not favorable, and further, we should be certain to be perceived, however careful we

were, against the blinding background of snow which we should be obliged to traverse.

"Well, we must have a try from where we are," said Sir Henry. "Which shall it be, Quatermain, the repeating

Here again was a question. The Winchester repeatersof which we had two, Umbopa carrying poor

Ventvo"gel's as well as his ownwere sighted up to a thousand yards, whereas the expresses were only

sighted to three hundred and fifty, beyond which distance shooting with them was more or less guesswork.

On the other hand, if they did hit, the express bullets, being expanding, were much more likely to bring the

game down. It was a knotty point, but I made up my mind that we must risk it and use the expresses.

"Let each of us take the buck opposite to him. Aim well at the point of the shoulder, and high up," said I;

Then came a pause, each man aiming his level best, as indeed one is likely to do when one knows that life

"Fire!" said Umbopa, in Zulu, and at almost the same instant the three rifles rang out loudly; three clouds of

smoke hung for a moment before us, and a hundred echoes went flying away over the silent snow. Presently

the smoke cleared, and revealedoh, joya great buck lying on its back and kicking furiously in its death

agony. We gave a yell of triumph; we were saved, we should not starve. Weak as we were, we rushed down

the intervening slope of snow, and in ten minutes from the time of firing the animal's heart and liver were

lying smoking before us. But now a new difficulty arose; we had no fuel, and therefore could make no fire to

There was no other way out of the dilemma, and our gnawing hunger made the proposition less distasteful

than it would otherwise have been. So we took the heart and liver and buried them for a few minutes in a

patch of snow to cool them off. Then we washed them in the icecold water of the stream, and lastly ate them

greedily. It sounds horrible enough, but, honestly, I never tasted anything so good as that raw meat. In a

quarter of an hour we were changed men. Our life and our vigor came back to us, our feeble pulses grew

strong again, and the blood went coursing through our veins. But, mindful of the results of over feeding on

starving stomachs, we were careful not to eat too much, stopping while we were still hungry.

"Thank God!" said Sir Henry; "that brute has saved our lives. What is it, Quatermain ?"

I rose and went to look at the antelope, for I was not certain. It was about the size of a donkey, with large,

curved horns. I had never seen one like it before, the species was new to me. It was brown, with faint red

stripes and a thick coat. I afterwards discovered that the natives of that wonderful country called the species

"Inco." It was very rare, and only found at a great altitude, where no other game would live. The animal was

fairly shot high up in the shoulder, though whose bullet it was that brought it down we could not, of course,

discover. I believe that Good, mindful of his marvellous shot at the giraffe, secretly set it down to his own

We had been so busy satisfying our starving stomachs that we had hitherto not found time to look about us.

But now, having set Umbopa to cut off as much of the best meat as we were likely to be able to carry, we

began to inspect our surroundings. The mist had now cleared away, for it was eight o'clock, and the sun had

sucked it up, so we were able to take in all the country before us at a glance. I know not how to describe the

glorious panorama which unfolded itself to our enraptured gaze. I have never seen anything like it before, nor

Behind and over us towered Sheba's snowy breasts, and below some five thousand feet beneath where we

stood, lay league on league of the most lovely champaign country. Here were dense patches of lofty forest,

there a great river wound its silvery way. To the left stretched a vast expanse of rich, undulating veldt or grass

land, on which we could just make out countless herds of game or cattle, at that distance we could not tell

which. This expanse appeared to be ringed in by a wall of distant mountains. To the right the country was

more or less mountainous, that is, solitary hills stood up from its level, with stretches of cultivated lands

between, among which we could distinctly see groups of domeshaped huts. The landscape lay before us like

a map, in which rivers flashed like silver snakes, and Alpine peaks crowned with wildly twisted

snowwreaths rose in solemn grandeur, while over all was the glad sunlight and the wide breath of Nature's

Two curious things struck us as we gazed. First, that the country before us must lie at least five thousand feet

higher than the desert we had crossed, and, secondly, that all the rivers flowed from south to north. As we had

painful reason to know, there was no water at all on the southern side of the vast range on which we stood,

but on the northern side were many streams, most of which appeared to. unite with the great river we could

We sat down for a while and gazed in silence at this wonderful view. Presently Sir Henry spoke.

Good and I looked accordingly, and there, winding away towards the plain, was what appeared to be a wide

turnpike road. We had not seen it at first because it, on reaching the plain, turned behind some broken

country. We did not say anything, at least not much; we were beginning to lose the sense of wonder.

Somehow it did not seem particularly unnatural that we should find a sort of Roman road in this strange land.

"Well," said Good, "it must be quite near us if we cut off to the right. Hadn't we better be making a start?"

This was sound advice, and so soon us we had washed our faces and hands in the stream we acted on it. For a

mile or so we made our way over boulders and across patches of snow, till suddenly, on reaching the top of

the little rise, there lay the road at our feet. It was a splendid road cut out of the solid rock, at least fifty feet

wide, and apparently well kept; but the odd thing about it was that it seemed to begin there. We walked down

and stood on it, but one single hundred paces behind us, in the direction of Sheba's breasts, it vanishedthe

whole surface of the mountain being strewed with boulders interspersed with patches of snow.

"I have it!" said Good; "the road no doubt ran right over the range and across the desert the other side, but the

sand of the desert has covered it up, and above us it has been obliterated by some volcanic eruption of molten

This seemed a good suggestion; at any rate, we accepted it, and proceeded down the mountain. It was a very

different business travelling along down hill on that magnificent pathway with full stomachs, to what it had

been travelling up hill over the snow quite starved and almost frozen. Indeed, had it not been for melancholy

recollections of poor Ventvo"gel's sad fate, and of that grim cave where he kept company with the old don,

we should have been positively cheerful, notwithstanding the sense of unknown dangers before us. Every

mile we walked the atmosphere grew softer and balmier, and the country before us shone with a yet more

luminous beauty. As for the road itself, I never saw such an engineering work, though Sir Henry said that the

No difficulty had been too great for the Old World engineer who designed it. At one place we came to a great

ravine three hundred feet broad and at least a hundred deep. This vast gulf was actually filled in, apparently

with huge blocks of dressed stone, with arches pierced at the bottom for a waterway, over which the road

went sublimely on. At another place it was cut in zigzags out of the side of a precipice five hundred feet deep,

and in a third it tunnelled right through the base of an intervening ridge a space of thirty yards or more.

Here we noticed that the sides of the tunnel were covered with quaint sculptures, mostly of mailed figures

driving in chariots. One, which was exceedingly beautiful, represented a whole battle scene with a convoy of

"Well," said Sir Henry, after inspecting this ancient work of art, "it is very well to call this Solomon's Road,

but my humble opinion is that the Egyptians have been here before Solomon's people ever set a foot on it. If

By midday we had advanced sufficiently far down the mountain to reach the region where wood was to be

met with. First we came to scattered bushes which grew more and more frequent, till at last we found the road

winding through a vast grove of silvertrees similar to those which are to be seen on the slopes of Table

Mountain at Cape Town. I had never before met with them in all my wanderings, except at the Cape, and

"Ah!" said Good, surveying these shining leaved trees with evident enthusiasm, "here is lots of wood, let us

Nobody objected to this, so, leaving the road, we made our way to a stream which was babbling away not far

off, and soon had a goodly fire of dry boughs blazing. Cutting off some substantial hunks from the flesh of

the inco which we had brought with us, we proceeded to toast them on the ends of sharp sticks, as one sees

the Kaffirs do, and ate them with relish. After filling ourselves, we lit our pipes and gave ourselves up to

enjoyment, which, compared to the hardships we had recently undergone, seemed almost heavenly.

The brook, of which the banks were clothed with dense masses of a gigantic species of maidenhair fern

interspersed with feathery tufts of wild asparagus, babbled away merrily at our side, the soft air murmured

through the leaves of the silvertrees, doves cooed around, and brightwinged birds flashed like living gems

The magic of the place, combined with the overwhelming sense of dangers left behind and of the promised

land reached at last, seemed to charm us into silence. Sir Henry and Umbopa sat conversing in, a mixture of

broken English and Kitchen Zulu in a low voice, but earnestly enough, and I lay, with my eyes half shut,

upon that fragrant bed of fern and watchedthem. Presently I missed Good, and looked to see what had

become of him. As I did so I observed him sitting by the bank of the stream, in which he had been bathing.

He had nothing on but his flannel shirt, and, his natural habits of extreme neatness having reasserted

themselves, was actively employed in making a most elaborate toilet. He had washed his guttapercha collar,

thoroughly shaken out his trousers, coat, and waistcoat, and was now folding them up neatly till he was ready

to put them on, shaking his head sadly as he did so over the numerous rents and tears in them which had

naturally resulted from our frightful journey. Then he took his boots, scrubbed them with a handful of fern,

and finally rubbed them over with a piece of fat which he had carefully saved from the inco meat, till they

looked, comparatively speaking, respectable. Having inspected them judiciously through his eyeglass, he

put them on and began a fresh operation. From a little bag he carried he produced a pocket comb in which

was fixed a tiny looking glass and in this surveyed himself. Apparently he was not satisfied, for he

proceeded to do his hair with great care. Then came a pause while he again contemplated the effect; still it

was not satisfactory. He felt his chin, on which was now the accumulated scrub of a ten days' beard. "Surely,"

thought I; "he is not going to try and shave." But so it was. Taking the piece of fat with which he had greased

his boots, he washed it carefully in the stream. Then diving again into the hag, he brought out a little pocket

razor with a guard to it, such as are sold to people afraid of cutting themselves, or to those about to undertake

a sea voyage. Then he vigorously scrubbed his face and chin with the fat and began. But it was evidently a

painful process, for he groaned very much over it, and I was convulsed with inward laughter as I watched him

struggling with that stubbly beard. It seemed so very odd that a man should take the trouble to shave himself

with a piece of fat in such a place and under such circumstances. At last he succeeded in getting the worst of

the scrub off the right side of his face and chin, when suddenly I, who was watching, became aware of a flash

Good sprang up with a profane exclamation (if it had not been a safety razor he would certainly have cut his

throat), and so did I, without the exclamation, and this was what I saw. Standing there, not more than twenty

paces from where I was, and ten from Good, was a group of men. They were very tall and coppercolored,

and some of them wore great plumes of black feathers and short cloaks of leopard skins; thiswas all I

noticed at the moment. In front of them stood a youth of about seventeen, his hand still raised and his body

bent forward in the attitude of a Grecian statue of a spear thrower. Evidently the flash of light had been a

As I looked an old, soldierlike looking man stepped forward out of the group, and catching the youth by the

Sir Henry, Good, and Umbopa had by this time seized their rifles and lifted them threateningly. The party of

natives still came on. It struck me that they could not know what rifles were, or they would not have treated

"Put down your guns!" I hallooed to the others, seeing that our only chance of safety in conciliation. They

obeyed, and, walking to the front, I addressed the elderly man who had checked the youth.

"Greeting," I said, in Zulu, not knowing what language to use. To my surprise I was understood.

"Greeting," answered the man, not, indeed, in the same tongue, but in a dialect so closely allied to it that

neither Umbopa nor myself had any difficulty in understanding it. Indeed, as we afterwards found out, the

language spoken by this people was an old fashioned form of the Zulu tongue, bearing about the same

relationship to it that the English of Chaucer does to the English of the nineteenth century.

"Whence come ye?" he went on, "what are ye? and why are the faces of three of ye white, and the face of the

fourth as the face of our mother's sons?" and he pointed to Umbopa. I looked at Umbopa as he said it, and it

flashed across me that he was right. Umbopa was like the faces of the men before me; so was his great form.

"We are strangers, and come in peace," I answered, speaking very slow, so that he might understand me, "and

"Ye lie," he answered, "no strangers can cross the mountains where all things die. But what do your lies

matter; if ye are strangers then ye must die, for no strangers may live in the land of the Kukuanas. It is the

I was slightly staggered at this, more especially as I saw the hands of some of the party of men steal down to

"Oh, Lord," groaned Good; and, as was his way when perplexed, put his hand to his false teeth, dragging the

top set down and allowing them to fly back to his jaw with a snap. It was a most fortunate move, for next

second the dignified crowd of Kukuanas gave a simultaneous yell of horror, and bolted back some yards.

"It's his teeth," whispered Sir Henry, excitedly. "He moved them. Take them out, Good, take them out!"

In another second curiosity had overcome fear, and the men advanced slowly. Apparently they had now

"How is it, O strangers," asked the old man, solemnly, "that the teeth of the man" (pointing to Good, who had

nothing on but a flannel shirt, and had only half finished his shaving) "whose body is clothed, and whose legs

are bare, who grows hair on one side of his sickly face and not on the other, and who has one shining and

transparent eye, move of themselves, coming away from the jaws and returning of their own will?"

"Open your mouth," I said to Good, who promptly curled up his lips and grinned at the old gentleman like an

angry dog, revealing to their astonished gaze two thin red lines of gum as utterly innocent of ivories as a

Turning his head slowly and with a gesture of ineffable contempt, Good swept his hand across his mouth.

The young man who had flung the knife threw himself down on the grass and gave vent to a prolonged howl

"I see that ye are spirits," he said, falteringly; "did ever man born of woman have hair on one side of his face

and not on the other, or a round and transparent eye, or teeth which moved and melted away and grew again?

"It is granted," I said, with an imperial smile. "Nay, ye shall know the truth. We come from another world,

though we are men such as ye; we come," I went on, "from the biggest star that shines at night."

"Yes," I went on, "we do, indeed;" and I again smiled benignly as I uttered that amazing lie. "We come to

stay with you a little while, and bless you by our sojourn. Ye will see, O friends, that I have prepared myself

"It is so, it is so," said the chorus. "Only, my lord," put in the old gentleman, "thou hast learned it very badly."

"Now, friends," I continued, "ye might think that after so long a journey we should find it in our hearts to

avenge such a reception, mayhap to strike cold in death the impious hand thatthat, in shortthrew a knife

"Spare him, my lords," said the old man, in supplication; "he is the king's son, and I am his uncle. If anything

"You may perhaps doubt our power to avenge," I went on, heedless of this by play. "Stay, I will show you.

Here, you dog and slave" (addressing Umbopa in a savage tone), "give me the magic tube that speaks;" and I

Umbopa rose to the occasion, and with something as nearly resembling a grin as I have ever seen on his

Now, just before I asked for the rifle I had perceived a little klipspringer antelope standing on a mass of rock

"Ye see that buck," I said, pointing the animal out to the party before me. "Tell me, is it possible for man,

I raised the rifle, and covered the buck. It was a small animal, and one which one might well be excused for

I drew a deep breath, and slowly pressed on the trigger. The buck stood still as stone.

"Bang! thud!" The buck sprang into the air and fell on the rock dead as a door nail.

The old man made a sign and one of his followers departed, and presently returned bearing the klipspringer. I

noticed, with satisfaction, that I had hit it fairly behind the shoulder. They gathered round the poor creature's

"If ye yet doubt our power," I went on, "let one of ye go stand upon that rock, that I may make him as this

None of them seemed at all inclined to take the hint, till at last the king's son spoke.

"It is well said. Do thou, my uncle, go stand upon the rock. It is but a buck that the magic has killed. Surely it

The old gentleman did not take the suggestion in good part. Indeed, he seemed hurt.

"No! no!" he ejaculated, hastily; "my old eyes have seen enough. These are wizards, indeed. Let us bring

them to the king. Yet if any should wish a further proof, let _i_ him _i_ stand upon the rock, that the magic

"Let not good magic be wasted on our poor bodies," said one, "we are satisfied. All the witchcraft of our

"It is so," remarked the old gentleman, in a tone of intense relief; "without any doubt it is so. Listen, children

of the stars, children of the shining eye and the movable teeth, who roar out in thunder and slay from afar. I

am Infadoos, son of Kafa, once king of the Kukuana people. This youth is Scragga."

"Scragga, son of Twala, the great king Twala, husband of a thousand wives, chief and lord paramount of

the Kukuanas, keeper of the great road, terror of his enemies, student of the Black Arts, leader of an hundred

"So," said I, superciliously, "lead us then to Twala. We do not talk with low people and underlings."

"It is well, my lords, we will lead you, but the way is long. We are hunting three days' journey from the place

"It is well," I said, carelessly, "all time is before us, for we do not die. We are ready; lead on. But Infadoos,

and thou, Scragga, beware! Play us no tricks, make for us no snares, for before your brains of mud have

thought of them we shall know them and avenge them. The light from the transparent eye of him with the

bare legs and the halfhaired face (Good) shall destroy you, and go through your land; his vanishing teeth

shall fix themselves fast in you and eat you up, you and your wives and children; the magic tubes shall talk

This magnificent address did not fail of its effect; indeed, it was hardly needed, so deeply were our friends

The old man made a deep obeisance, and murmured the word "Koom, koom," which I afterwards discovered

was their royal salute, corresponding to the Bayete of the Zulus, and, turning, addressed his followers. These

at once proceeded to lay hold of all our goods and chattels, in order to bear them for us, excepting only the

guns, which they would on no account touch. They even seized Good's clothes, which were, as the reader

"Let not my lord of the transparent eye and the melting teeth touch them," said the old man. "Surely his

"Nay, my lord." put in Infadoos, "would my lord cover up his beautiful white legs (although he was so dark

Good had a singularly white skin) from the eyes of his servants? Have we offended my lord that he should do

Here I nearly exploded with laughing; and meanwhile, one of the men started on with the garments.

"Look here, Good," said Sir Henry, "you have appeared in this country in a certain character, and you must

live up to it. It will never do for you to put on trousers again. Henceforth you must live in a flannel shirt, a

"Yes," I said, "and with whiskers on one side of your face and not on the other. If you change any of these

things they will think that we are impostors. I am very sorry for you, but, seriously, you must do it. If once

"I do, indeed. Your 'beautiful white legs' and your eyeglass are now _i_ the _i_ feature of our party, and, as

Sir Henry says, you must live up to them. Be thankful that you have got your boots on, and that the air is

Good sighed, and said no more, but it took him a fortnight to get accustomed to his attire.

ALL that afternoon we travelled on along the magnificent roadway, which headed steadily in a northwesterly

direction. Infadoos and Scragga walked with us, but their followers marched about one hundred paces ahead.

"It was made, my lord, of old time, none knew how or when, not even the wise woman, Gagool, who has

lived for generations. We are not old enough to remember its making. None can make such roads now, but

"And whose are the writings on the walls of the caves through which we have passed on the road?" I asked,

"My lord, the hands that made the road wrote the wonderful writings. We know not who wrote. them."

"My lord, the race came down here like the breath of a storm ten thousand thousand moons ago, from the

great lands which lie there beyond," and he pointed to the north. "They could travel no farther, so say the old

voices of our fathers that have come down to us, the children, and so says Gagool, the wise woman, the

smellerout of witches; because of the great mountains which ring in the land," and he pointed to the

snowclad peaks. "The country, too, was good, so they settled here and grew strong and powerful, and now

our numbers are like the sea sand, and when Twala the king calls up his regiments their plumes cover the

"And if the land is walled in with mountains, who is there for the regiments to fight with?"

"Nay, my lord, the country is open there," and again he pointed towards the north, "and now and again

warriors sweep down upon us in clouds from a land we know not, and we slay them. It is the third part of the

life of a man since there was a war. Many thousands died in it, but we destroyed those who came to eat us up.

"My lord, there was one war, just after we destroyed the people that came down upon us, but it was a civil

"My lord, the king, my halfbrother, had a brother born at the same birth and of the same woman. It is not

our custom, my lord, to let twins live; the weakest must always die. But the mother of the king hid away the

weakest child, which was born the last, for her heart yearned over it, and the child is Twala the king. I am his

"My lord, Kafa, our father, died when we came to manhood, and my brother Imotu was made king in his

place, and for a space reigned and had a son by his favorite wife. When the babe was three years old, just

after the great war, during which no man could sow or reap, a famine came upon the land, and the people

murmured because of the famine, and looked round like a starved lion for something to rend. Then it was that

Gagool, the wise and terrible woman, who does not die, proclaimed to the people, saying, 'The king Imotu is

no king.' And at the time Imotu was sick with a wound, and lay in his hut not able to move.

"Then Gagool went into a hut and led out Twala, my halfbrother, and the twin brother of the king, whom

she had hidden since he was born among the caves and rocks, and, stripping the 'moocha' (waistcloth) off

his loins, showed the people of the Kukuanas the mark of the sacred snake coiled round his waist, wherewith

the eldest son of the king is marked at birth, and cried out loud, 'Behold, your king, whom I have saved for

you even to this day!' And the people, being mad with hunger and altogether. bereft of reason and the

knowledge of truth. cried out, '_i_ The king! The king! _i_' but I knew that it was not so, for Imotu, my

brother, was the elder of the twins, and was the lawful king. And just as the tumult was at its height Imotu the

king, though he was very sick, came crawling from his hut holding his wife by the hand, and followed by his

"Then Twala, his own brother, born of the same woman and in the same hour, ran to him, and, taking him by

the hair, stabbed him through the heart with his knife. And the people, being fickle, and ever ready to worship

the rising sun, clapped their hands and cried, '_i_ Twala is king! _i_ Now we know that Twala is king!'"

"Nay, my lord. When she saw that her lord was dead she seized the child with a cry, and ran away. Two days

afterwards she came to a kraal very hungry, and none would give her milk or food, now that her lord the king

was dead, for all men hate the unfortunate. But at nightfall a little child, a girl, crept out and brought her to

eat, and she blessed the child, and went on towards the mountains with her boy before the sun rose again,

where she must have perished, for none have seen her since, nor the child Ignosi."

"Then if this child Ignosi had lived, he would be the true king of the Kukuana people?"

"That is so, my lord; the sacred snake is round his middle. If he lives he is the king; but alas! he is long dead."

"See, my lord," and he pointed to a vast collection of huts surrounded with a fence, which was in its turn

surrounded by a great ditch, that lay on the plain beneath us. "That is the kraal where the wife of Imotu was

last seen with the child Ignosi. It is there that we shall sleep to night, if, indeed," he added, doubtfully, "my

"When we are among the Kukuanas, my good friend Infadoos, we do as the Kukuanas do," I said,

majestically, and I turned round suddenly to address Good, who was tramping along sullenly behind, his

mind fully occupied with unsatisfactory attempts to. keep his flannel shirt from flapping up in the evening

breeze, and to my astonishment butted into Umbopa, who was walking along immediately behind me, and

had very evidently been listening with the greatest interest to my conversation with Infadoos. The expression

on his face was most curious, and gave the idea of a man who was struggling with partial success to bring

All this while we had been pressing on at a good rate down towards the undulating plain beneath. The

mountains we had crossed now loomed high above us, and Sheba's breasts were modestly veiled in

As we went on the country grew more and more lovely. The vegetation was luxuriant without being tropical;

the sun was bright and warm, but not burning, and a gracious breeze blew softly along the odorous slopes of

the mountains. And, indeed, this new land was little less. than an earthly paradise; in beauty, in natural

wealth, and in climate I have never seen its like. The Transvaal is a fine country, but it is nothing to

So soon as we started, Infadoos had despatched a runner on to warn the people of the kraal, which, by the

way, was in his military command, of our arrival. This man had departed at an extraordinary speed, which

Infadoos had informed me he would keep up all the way, as running was an exercise much practised among

The result of this message now became apparent. When we got within two miles of the kraal, we could see

that company after company of men was issuing from its gates and marching towards us.

Sir Henry laid his hand upon my arm, and remarked that it looked as though we were going to meet with a

"Let not my lords be afraid," he said, hastily, "for in my breast there dwells no guile. This regiment is one

About half a mile from the gates of the kraal was a long stretch of rising ground sloping gently upward from

the road, and on this the companies formed. It was a splendid sight to see them, each company about three

hundred strong, charging swiftly up the slope, with flashing spears and waving plumes, and taking their

appointed place. By the time we came to the slope twelve such companies, or in all three thousand six

Presently we came to the first company, and were able to gaze in astonishment on the most magnificent set of

men I have ever seen. They were all men of mature age, mostly veterans of about forty, and not one of them

was under six feet in height, while many were six feet three or four. They wore upon their heads heavy black

plumes of Sacaboola feathers, like those which adorned our guides. Round their waists and also beneath the

right knee were bound circlets of white ox tails, and in their left hands were round shields about twenty

inches across. These shields were very curious. The framework consisted of an iron plate beaten out thin,

over which was stretched milkwhite oxhide. The weapons that each man bore were simple, but most

effective, consisting of a short and very heavy twoedged spear with a wooden shaft, the blade being about

six inches across at the widest part. These spears were not used for throwing, but, like the Zulu "bangwan," or

stabbing assegai, were for close quarters only, when the wound inflicted by them was terrible. In addition to

these bangwans each man also carried three large and heavy knives, each knife weighing about two pounds.

One knife was fixed in the oxtail girdle, and the other two at the back of the round shield. These knives,

which are called "tollas" by the Kukuanas, take the place of the throwing assegai of the Zulus. A Kukuana

warrior can throw them with great accuracy at a distance of fifty yards, and it is their custom on charging to

Each company stood like a collection of bronze statues till we were opposite to it, when, at a signal given by

its commanding officer, who, distinguished by a leopardskin cloak, stood some paces in front, every spear

was raised into the air, and from three hundred throats sprang forth with a sudden roar the royal salute of "_i_

Koom! _i_" Then, when we had passed, the company formed behind us and followed us towards the kraal,

till at last the whole regiment of the "Grays" (so called from their white shields), the crack corps of the

Kukuana people, was marching behind us with a tread that shook the ground. At length, branching off from

Solomon's Great. Road, we came to the wide fosse surrounding the kraal, which was at least a mile round and

fenced with a strong palisade of piles formed of the trunks of trees. At the gateway this fosse was spanned by

a primitive drawbridge which was let down by the guard to allow us to pass in. The kraal was exceedingly

well laid out. Through the centre ran a wide pathway intersected at right angles by other pathways so

arranged as to cut the huts into square blocks, each block being the quarters of a company. The huts were

dome shaped, and built, like those of the Zulus, of a framework of wattle beautifully thatched with grass; but,

unlike the Zulu huts, they had doorways through which one could walk. Also they were much larger, and

surrounded with a veranda about six feet wide, beautifully paved with powdered lime trodden hard. All along

each side of the wide pathway that pierced the kraal were ranged hundreds of women, brought out by

curiosity to look at us. These women are, for a native race, exceedingly handsome. They are tall and graceful,

and their figures are wonderfully fine. The hair, though short, is rather curly than woolly, the features are

frequently aquiline, and the lips are not unpleasantly thick, as is the case in most African races. But what

struck us most was their exceeding quiet, dignified air. They were as wellbred in their way as the _i_

habitue' _i_ of a fashionable drawingroom, and in this respect differ from Zulu women, and their cousins,

the Masai, who inhabit the district behind Zanzibar. Their curiosity had brought them out to see us, but they

allowed no rude expression of wonder or savage criticism to pass their lips as we trudged wearily in front of

them. Not even when old Infadoos with a surreptitious motion of the hand pointed out the crowning wonder

of poor Good's "beautiful white legs," did they allow the feeling of intense admiration which evidently

mastered their minds to find expression. They fixed their dark eyes upon their snowy loveliness (Good's skin

is exceedingly white) and that was all. But this was quite enough for Good, who is modest by nature.

When we got to the centre of the kraal Infadoos halted at the door of a large hut, which was surrounded at a

"Enter, sons of the stars," he. said, in a magniloquent voice, "and deign to rest awhile in our humble

habitations. A little food shall be brought to you, so that ye shall have no need to draw your belts tight from

hunger; some honey and some milk, and an ox or two, and a few sheep; not much, my lords, but still a little

"It is good," said I, "Infadoos, we are weary with travelling through realms of air; now let us rest."

Accordingly we entered into the hut, which we found amply prepared for our comfort. Couches of tanned

Presently we heard a shouting outside, and, stepping to the door, saw a line of damsels bearing milk and

roasted mealies and honey in a pot. Behind these were some youths driving a fat young ox. We received the

gifts, and then one of the young men took the knife from his girdle and dexterously cut the ox's throat. In ten

minutes it was dead, skinned, and cut up. The best of the meat was then cut off for us, and the rest I, in the

name of our party, presented to the warriors round us, who took it off and distributed the "white men's gift."

Umbopa set to work, with the assistance of an extremely prepossessing young woman, to boil our portion in a

huge earthenware pot over a fire which was built outside the hut, and when it was nearly ready we sent a

Presently they came, and, sitting down upon little stools, of which there were several about the hut (for the

Kukuanas do not in general squat upon their haunches like the Zulus), helped us to get through our dinner.

The old gentleman was most affable and polite, but it struck us that the young one regarded us with

suspicion. He had, together with the rest of the party, been overawed by our white appearance and by our

magic properties; but it seemed to me that on discovering that we ate, drank, and slept like other mortals, his

awe was beginning to wear off and be replaced by a sullen suspicion, which made us feel rather

In the course of our meal Sir Henry suggested to me that it might be well to try and discover if our hosts

knew anything of his brother's fate, or if they had ever seen or heard of him; but, on the whole, I thought that

After supper we filled our pipes and lit them; a proceeding which filled Infadoos and Scragga with

astonishment. The Kukuanas were evidently unacquainted with the divine uses of tobaccosmoke. The herb

was grown among them extensively; but, like the Zulus, they only used it for snuff, and quite failed to

Presently I asked Infadoos when we were to proceed on our journey, and was delighted to learn that

preparations had been made for us to leave on the following morning, messengers having already left to

inform Twala, the king, of our coming. It appeared that Twala was at his principal place, known as Loo,

making ready for the great annual feast which was held in the first week of June. At this gathering all the

regiments, with the exception of certain detachments left behind for garrison purposes, were brought up and

paraded before the king, and the great annual witchhunt, of which more by and by, was held.

We were to start at dawn; and Infadoos, who was to accompany us, expected that we should, unless we were

detained by accident or by swollen rivers, reach Loo on the night of the second day.

When they had given us this information our visitors bade us goodnight; and, having arranged to watch turn

and turn about, three of us flung ourselves down and slept the sweet sleep of the weary, while the fourth sat

IT will not be necessary for me to detail at length the incidents of our journey to Loo. It took two good days'

travelling. along Solomon's Great Road, which pursued its even course right into the heart of Kukuanaland.

Suffice it to say that as we went the country seemed to grow richer and richer, and the kraals, with their wide

surrounding belts of cultivation, more and more numerous. They were all built upon the same principles as

the first one we had reached, and were guarded by ample garrisons of troops. Indeed, in Kukuanaland, as

among the Germans, the Zulus, and the Masai, every able bodied man is a soldier, so that the whole force of

the nation is available for its wars, offensive or defensive. As we travelled along we were overtaken by

thousands of warriors hurrying up to Loo to be present at the great annual review and festival, and a grander

series of troops I never saw. At sunset on the second day we stopped to rest awhile upon the summit of some

heights over which the road ran, and there, on a beautiful and fertile plain before us, was Loo itself. For a

native town it was an enormous place, quite five miles round, I should say, with outlying kraals jutting out

from it, which served on grand occasions as cantonments for the regiments, and a curious horseshoe shaped

hill, with which we were destined to become better acquainted, about two miles to the north. It was

beautifully situated, and through the centre of the kraal, dividing it into two portions, ran a river, which

appeared to be bridged at several places, the same, perhaps, that we had seen from the slopes of Sheba's

breasts. Sixty or seventy miles away three great snowcapped mountains, placed like the points of a triangle,

started up out of the level plain. The conformation of these mountains was unlike that of Sheba's breasts,

"The road ends there," he said, pointing to the mountains, known among the Kukuanas as the "Three

"Who knows?" he answered, with a shrug; "the mountains are full of caves, and there is a great pit between

them. It is there that the wise men of old time used to go to get whatever it was they came to this country for,

"Nay, I know not. My lords who come from the stars should know," he answered, with a quick look.

"Yes," I went on, "you are right; in the stars we know many things. I have heard, for instance, that the wise

men of old came to those mountains to get bright stones, pretty playthings, and yellow iron."

"My lord is wise," he answered, coldly; "I am but a child and cannot talk with my lord on such things. My

lord must speak with Gagool the old, at the king's place, who is wise even as my lord," and he turned away.

As soon as he was gone I turned to the others and pointed out the mountains. "There are Solomon's diamond

Umbopa was standing with them, apparently plunged in one of the fits of abstraction which were common to

"Yes, Macumazahn," he put in, in Zulu, "the diamonds are surely there, and you shall have them, since you

"How dost thou know that, Umbopa?" I asked, sharply, for I did not like his mysterious ways.

He laughed; "I dreamed it in the night, white men," and then he, too, turned upon his heel and went.

"Now what," said Sir Henry, "is our black friend at? He knows more than he chooses to say, that is clear. By

"Nothing; he has asked every one he has got friendly with, but they all declare no white man has ever been

"Do you suppose he ever got. here at all?" suggested Good; "we have only reached the place by a miracle; is

"I don't know," said Sir Henry, gloomily, "but somehow I think that I shall find him."

Slowly the sun sank, and then suddenly darkness rushed down on the land like a tangible thing. There was no

breathing place between the day and the night, no soft transformation scene, for in these latitudes twilight

does not exist. The change from day to night is as quick and as absolute as the change from life to death. The

sun sank and the world was wreathed in shadows. But not for long, for see, in the east there is a glow, then a

bent edge of silver light, and at last the full bow of the crescent moon peeps above the plain and shoots its

gleaming arrows far and wide, filling the earth with a faint refulgence, as the glow of a good man's deeds

shines for a while upon his little world after his sun has set, lighting the fainthearted travellers who follow on

We stood and watched the lovely sight, while the stars grew pale before this chastened majesty, and felt our

hearts lifted up in the presence of a beauty we could not realize, much less describe. Mine has been a rough

life, my reader, but there are a few things I am thankful to have lived for, and one of them is to have seen that

moon rise over Kukuanaland. Presently our meditations were broken in upon by our polite friend Infadoos.

"If my lords are ready we will journey on to Loo, where a hut is made ready for my lords tonight. The moon

We assented, and in an hour's time were at the outskirts of the town, of which the extent, mapped out as it

was by thousands of campfires, appeared absolutely endless. Indeed, Good, who was always fond of a bad

joke, christened it "Unlimited Loo." Presently we came to a moat with a drawbridge, where we were met by

the rattling of arms and the hoarse challenge of a sentry. Infadoos gave some password that I could not catch,

which was met with a salute, and we passed on through the central street of the great grass city. After nearly

half an hour's tramp past endless lines of huts, Infadoos at last halted at the gate of a little group of huts which

surrounded a small courtyard of powdered limestone, and informed us that these were to be our "poor"

We entered, and found that a hut had been assigned to each of us. These huts were superior to any which we

had yet seen, and in each was a most comfortable bed made of tanned skins spread upon mattresses of

aromatic grass. Food, too, was ready for us, and as soon as we had washed ourselves with water, which stood

ready in earthenware jars, some young women of handsome appearance brought us roasted meat and mealie

cobs daintily served on wooden platters, and presented it to us with deep obeisances.

We ate and drank, and then, the beds having by our request been all moved into one hut, a precaution at

which the amiable young ladles smiled, we flung ourselves down to sleep, thoroughly wearied out with our

When we woke, it was to find that the sun was high in the heavens, and that the female attendants, who did

not seem to be troubled by any false shame, were already standing inside the hut, having been ordered to

"Make ready, indeed," growled Good; "when one has only a flannel shirt and a pair of boots, that does not

I asked accordingly, but was informed that those sacred relics had already been taken to the king, who would

Having, somewhat to their astonishment and disappointment, requested the young ladies to step outside, we

proceeded to make the best toilet that the circumstances admitted of. Good even went the length of again

shaving the right side of his face; the left, on which now appeared a very fair crop of whiskers, we impressed

upon him he must on no account touch. As for ourselves, we were contented with a good wash and combing

our hair. Sir Henry's yellow locks were now almost down to his shoulders, and he looked more like an

ancient Dane than ever, while my grizzled scrub was fully an inch long, instead of half an inch, which in a

By the time that we had eaten our breakfast and smoked a pipe, a message was brought to us by no less a

personage than Infadoos himself that Twala, the king, was ready to see us, if we would be pleased to come.

We remarked in reply that we should prefer to wait until the sun was a little higher, we were yet weary with

our journey, etc. It is always well, when dealing with uncivilized people, not to be in too great a hurry. They

are apt to mistake politeness for awe or servility. So, although we were quite as anxious to see Twala as

Twala could be to see us, we sat down and waited for an hour, employing the interval in preparing such

presents as our slender stock of goods permittednamely, the Winchester rifle which had been used by poor

Ventvo"gel, and some beads. The rifle and ammunition we determined to present to his royal highness, and

the beads were for his wives and courtiers. We had already given a few to Infadoos and Scragga, and found

that they were delighted with them, never having seen anything like them before. At length we declared that

we were ready, and, guided by Infadoos, started off to the leve'e, Umbopa carrying the rifle and beads.

After walking a few hundred yards we came to an enclosure, something like that which surrounded the huts

that had been allotted to us, only fifty times as big. It could not have been less than six or seven acres in

extent. All round the outside fence was a row of huts, which were the habitations of the king's wives. Exactly

opposite the gateway, on the farther side of the open space, was a very large hut, which stood by itself, in

which his majesty resided. All the rest was open ground; that is to say, it would have been open had it not

been filled by company after company of warriors, who were mustered there to the number of seven or eight

thousand. These men stood still as statues as we advanced through them, and it would be impossible to give

an idea of the grandeur of the spectacle which they presented, in their waving plumes, their glancing spears,

The space in front of the large hut was empty, but before it were placed several stools. On three of these, at a

sign from Infadoos, we seated ourselves, Umbopa standing behind us. As for Infadoos, he took up a position

by the door of the hut. So we waited for ten minutes or more in the midst of a dead silence, but conscious that

we were the object of the concentrated gaze of some eight thousand pairs of eyes. It was a somewhat trying

ordeal, but we carried it off as best we could. At length the door of the hut opened, and a gigantic figure, with

a splendid tigerskin karross flung over its shoulders, stepped out, followed by the boy Scragga, and what

appeared to us to be a witheredup monkey wrapped in a fur cloak. The figure seated itself upon a stool,

Scragga took his stand behind it, and the witheredup monkey crept on all fours into the shade of the hut and

Then the gigantic figure slipped off the karross and stood up before us, a truly alarming spectacle. It was that

of an enormous man with the most entirely repulsive countenance we had ever beheld. The lips were as thick

as a negro's, the nose was flat, it had but one gleaming black eye (for the other was represented by a hollow in

the face), and its whole expression was cruel and sensual to a degree. From the large head rose a magnificent

plume of white ostrich feathers, the body was clad in a shirt of shining chain armor, while round the waist

and right knee was the usual garnish of white oxtails. In the right hand was a huge spear. Round the neck

was a thick torque of gold, and bound on to the forehead was a single and enormous uncut diamond.

Still there was silence; but not for long. Presently the figure, whom we rightly guessed to be the king, raised

the great spear in his hand. Instantly eight thousand spears were raised in answer, and from eight thousand

throats rang out the royal salute of "_i_ Koom _i_!" Three times this was repeated, and each time the earth

shook with the noise, that can only be compared to the deepest notes of thunder.

"Be humble, O people," piped out a thin voice which seemed to come from the monkey in the shade; "it is the

"_i_ It is the king _i_," boomed out eight thousand throats, in answer. "_i_ Be humble, O people; it is the

Then there was silence againdead silence. Presently, however, it was broken. A soldier on our left dropped

"It was thy shield that fell, thou awkward dog. Wilt thou make me a reproach in the eyes of strangers from

"Then it is a chance for which thou must pay. Thou hast made me foolish; prepare for death."

"Scragga," roared the king, "let me see how thou canst use thy spear. Kill me this awkward dog."

Scragga stepped forward with an ill favored grin, and lifted his spear. The poor victim covered his eyes with

"Once, twice," he waved the spear and then struck, ah, God! right homethe spear stood out a foot behind

the soldier's back. He flung up his hands and dropped dead. From the multitude around rose something like a

murmur, it rolled round and round, and died away. The tragedy was finished; there lay the corpse, and we had

not yet realized that it had been enacted. Sir Henry sprang up and swore a great oath, then, overpowered by

Four men stepped out of the ranks, and, lifting the body of the murdered man, carried it away.

"Cover up the bloodstains, cover them up," piped out the thin voice from the monkeylike figure; "the

Thereupon a girl came. forward from behind the hut, bearing a jar filled with powdered lime, which she

Sir Henry meanwhile was boiling with rage at what had happened; indeed, it was with difficulty that we

He yielded and remained quiet. Twala sat still until the traces of the tragedy had been removed, then he

"White people," he said, "who come hither, whence I know not, and why I know not, greeting."

"Ye come from far to see a little thing. And that man with ye," pointing to Umbopa, "does he too come from

"Even so; there are people of thy color in the heavens above; but ask not of matters too high for thee, Twala,

"Ye speak with a loud voice, people of the stars," Twala answered, in a tone which I scarcely liked.

"Remember that the stars are far off, and ye are here. How if I make ye as him whom they bare away?"

"O king," I said, "be careful; walk warily over hot stones, lest thou shouldst burn thy feet; hold the spear by

the handle, lest thou shouldst cut thy hands. Touch but one hair of our heads, and destruction shall come upon

thee. What, have not these," pointing to Infadoos and Scragga (who, young villain that he was, was employed

in cleaning the blood of the soldier off his spear), "told thee what manner of men we are? Hast thou ever seen

the like of us?" and I pointed to Good, feeling quite sure that he had never seen anybody before who looked

"They have told me, but I believe them not. Let me see you kill. Kill me a man among those who stand

"Nay," I answered; "we shed no blood of man except in just punishment; but if thou wilt see, bid thy servants

drive in an ox through the kraal gates, and before he has run twenty paces I will strike him dead."

"Good, O king, so be it," I answered, coolly; "do thou walk across the open space, and before thy feet reach

the gate thou shalt be dead; or, if thou wilt not, send thy son Scragga" (whom at that moment it would have

On hearing this suggestion Scragga gave a sort of howl, and bolted into the hut.

"Now, Sir Henry," said I, "do you shoot. I want to show this ruffian that I am not the only magician of the

"You must," I answered. "If you miss with the first barrel, let him have the second. Sight for one hundred and

Then came a pause, till presently we caught sight of an ox running straight for the kraal gate. It came on

through the gate, and then, catching sight of the vast concourse of people, stopped stupidly, turned round, and

Bang! thud! and the ox was kicking on his back, shot in the ribs: The semihollow bullet had done its work

"Listen, Twala," I went on. "Thou hast seen. Now know we come in peace, not in war. See here" (and I held

up the Winchester repeater); "here is a hollow staff that shall enable you to kill even as we kill, only this

charm I lay upon it, thou shalt kill no man with it. If thou liftest it against a man, it shall kill thee. Stay, I will

show thee. Bid a man step forty paces and place the shaft of a spear. in the ground so that the flat blade looks

Taking a careful sight, I fired. The bullet struck the flat of the spear and broke the blade into fragments.

"Now, Twala" (handing him the rifle), "this magic tube we give to thee, and by and by I will show thee how

to use it; but beware how thou usest the magic of the stars against a man of earth," and I handed him the rifle.

He took it very gingerly, and hid it down at his feet. As he did so I observed the wizened, monkeylike figure

creeping up from the shadow of the hut. It crept on all fours, but when it reached the place where the king sat

it rose upon its feet, and, throwing the furry covering off its face, revealed a most extraordinary and weird

countenance. It was (apparently) that of a woman of great age, so shrunken that in size it was no larger than

that of a yearold child, and was made up of a collection of deep, yellow wrinkles. Set in the wrinkles was a

sunken slit that represented the mouth, beneath which the chin curved outward to a point. There was no nose

to speak of; indeed, the whole countenance might have been taken for that of a sundried corpse had it not

been for a pair of large black eyes, still full of fire and intelligence, which gleamed and played under the

snow white eyebrows and the projecting parchmentcolored skull, like jewels in a charnelhouse. As for

the skull itself, it was perfectly bare, and yellow in hue, while its wrinkled scalp moved and contracted like

The figure to whom this fearful countenance, which caused a shiver of fear to pass through us as we gazed on

it, belonged stood still for a moment, and then suddenly projected a skinny claw armed with nails nearly an

inch long, and laid it on the shoulder of Twala, the king, and began to speak in a thin, piercing voice:

"Listen, O king! Listen, O people! Listen, O mountains and plains and rivers, home of the Kukuana race!

Listen, O skies and sun, O rain and storm and mist! Listen, all things that live and must die! Listen, all dead

things that must live again again to die! Listen, the spirit of life is in me, and I prophesy. I prophesy! I

The words died away in a faint wall, and terror seemed to seize upon the hearts of all who heard them,

"_i_ Blood! blood! blood! _i_ rivers of blood; blood everywhere. I see it, I smell it, I taste itit is salt; it

"_i_ Footsteps! footsteps! footsteps! _i_ the tread of the white man coming from afar. It shakes the earth; the

"Blood is good, the red blood is bright; there is no smell like the smell of new shed blood. The lions shall

"I am old! I am old! I have seen much blood; but I shall see more ere I die, and be merry. How old am I, think

ye? Your fathers knew me, and their fathers hew me, and their fathers' fathers. I have seen the white man, and

how his desires. I am old, but the mountains are older than I. Who made the great road, tell me? Who wrote

in pictures on the rocks, tell me? Who reared up the three silent ones yonder, who gaze across the pit, tell

me?" (And she pointed towards the three precipitous mountains we had noticed on the previous night.)

"Ye know not, but I know. It was a white people who were before ye were, who shall be when ye. are not,

"And what came they for, the white ones, the terrible ones, the skilled in magic and all learning, the strong,

the unswerving? What is that bright stone upon thy forehead, O king? Whose hands made the iron garments

upon thy breast, O king? Ye know not, but I know. I the old one, I the wise one, I the Isanusi!" (witch

"What seek ye, white men of the stars? Ah, yes, of the stars! Do ye seek a lost one? Ye shall not find him

here. He is not here. Never for ages upon ages has a white foot pressed this land; never but once, and he left it

but to die. Ye come for bright stones; I know itI know it; ye shall find them when the blood is dry; but

"And thouthou with the dark skin and the proud beating" (pointing her skinny finger at Umbopa), "who art

_i_ thou _i_, and what seekest _i_ thou _i_ ? Not stones that shine; not yellow metal that gleams; that thou

leavest to 'white men from the stars.' Methinks I know thee; methinks I can smell the smell of the blood in thy

Here the features of this extraordinary creature became convulsed, and she fell to the ground foaming in an

The king rose up trembling, and waved his hand. Instantly the regiments began to file off, and in ten minutes,

save for ourselves, the king, and a few attendants, the great space was left clear.

"White people," he said, "it passes in my mind to kill ye. Gagool has spoken strange words. What say ye?"

I laughed. ',Be careful, O king, we are not easy to slay. Thou hast seen the fate of the ox; wouldst thou be as

"Go in peace," he said, at length. "To night is the great dance. Ye shall see it. Fear not that I shall set a snare

"It is well, O king," I answered, unconcernedly, and then, accompanied by Infadoos, we rose and went back

"It is so, my lords. Alas! the land cries out with his cruelties. Tonight ye will see. It is the great witchhunt,

and many will be smelt out as wizards and slain. No man's life is safe. If the king covets a man's cattle or a

man's life, or if he fears a man that he should excite a rebellion against him, then Gagool, whom ye saw, or

some of the witchfinding women whom she has taught, will smell that man out as a wizard, and he will be

killed. Many will die before the moon grows pale tonight. It is ever so. Perhaps I too shall be killed. As yet I

have been spared, because I am skilled in war and beloved by the soldiers; but I know not how long I shall

live. The land groans at the cruelties of Twala, the king; it is wearied of him and his red ways."

"Nay, my lords, he is the king, and if he were killed Scragga would reign in his place, and the heart of

Scragga is blacker than the heart of Twala, his father. If Scragga were king the yoke upon our neck would be

heavier than the yoke of Twala. If Imotu had never been slain, or if Ignosi, his son, had lived, it had been

"How know you that Ignosi is dead?" said a voice behind us. We looked round with astonishment to see who

"Listen, Infadoos," was the answer, "and I will tell thee a story. Years ago the king Imotu was killed in this

"Well, it came to pass that the mother and the boy Ignosi did not die. They crossed the mountains, and were

led by a tribe of wandering desert men across the sands beyond, till at last they came to water and grass and

"Listen. They travelled on and on, many months' journey, till they reached a land where a people called the

Amazulu, who too are of the Kukuana stock, live by war, and with them they tarried many years, till at length

the mother died. Then the son, Ignosi, again became a wanderer, and went on into a land of wonders, where

white people live, and for many more years learned the wisdom of the white people,"

"For many years he lived there working as a servant and a soldier, but holding in his heart all that his mother

had told him of his own place, and casting about in his mind to find how he might get back there to see his

own people and his father's house before he died. For many years he lived and waited, and at last the time

came, as it ever comes to him who can wait for it, and he met some white men who would seek this unknown

land, and joined himself to them. The white men started and journeyed on and on, seeking for one who is lost.

They crossed the burning desert, they crossed the snowclad mountains, and reached the land of the

"Thou thinkest so; see, I will show thee, O my uncle. _i_ I am Ignosi, rightful king of the Kukuanas _i_!"

Then, with a single movement, he slipped off the "moocha," or girdle round his middle, and stood naked

"Look," he said; "what is this?" and he pointed to the mark of a great snake tattooed in blue round his middle,

its tail disappearing in its open mouth just above where the thighs are set into the body.

Infadoos looked, his eyes starting nearly out of his head, and then fell upon his knees.

"Did I not tell thee so, my uncle? Rise; I am not yet the king, but with thy help, and with the help of these

brave white men, who are my friends, I shall be. But the old woman Gagool was right; the land shall run with

blood first, and hers shall run with it, for she killed my father with her words, and drove my mother forth.

And now, Infadoos, choose thou. Wilt thou put thy hands between my hands and be my man? Wilt thou share

the dangers that lie before me, and help me to overthrow this tyrant and murderer, or wilt thou not? Choose

The old man put his hand to his head and thought. Then he rose, and, advancing to where Umbopa, or rather

"Ignosi, rightful king of the Kukuanas, I put my hand between thy hands, and am thy man till death. When

thou wast a babe I dandled thee upon my knee; now shall my old arm strike for thee and freedom."

"It is well, Infadoos, if I conquer, thou shalt be the greatest man in the kingdom after the king. If I fail, thou

"And ye, white men, will ye help me? What have I to offer ye! The white stones, if I conquer and you can

find them, ye shall have as many as ye can carry hence. Will that suffice ye?" I translated this remark.

"Tell him," answered Sir Henry, "that he mistakes an Englishman. Wealth is good, and if it comes in our way

we will take it; but a gentleman does not sell himself for wealth. But, speaking for myself, I say this: I have

always liked Umbopa, and so far as in me we will stand by him in this business. It will be very pleasant to me

to try and square matters with that cruel devil, Twala. What do you say, Good, and you, Quatermain?"

"Well," said Good, "to adopt the language of hyperbole, in which all these people seem to indulge, you can

tell him that a row is surely good, and warms the cockles of the heart, and that, so far as I am concerned, I'm

"It is well, my friends," said Ignosi, late Umbopa; "and what say you, Macumazahn; art thou too with me, old

"Umbopa, or Ignosi," I said, "I don't like revolutions. I am a man of peace, and a bit of a coward" (here

Umbopa smiled), "but, on the other hand, I stick to my friends, Ignosi. You have stuck to us and played the

part of a man, and I will stick to you. But, mind you, I am a trader, and have to make my living; so I accept

your offer about those diamonds, in case we should ever be in a position to avail ourselves of it. Another

thing: we came, as you know, to look for Incubi's (Sir Henry's) lost brother. You must help us to find him."

"That will I do," answered Ignosi. "Stay, Infadoos; by the sign of the snake round my middle, tell me the

"Well, well," said Sir Henry, with a sigh; "there it is; I suppose he never got here. Poor fellow, poor fellow!

"Now for business," I put in, anxious to escape from a painful subject. "It is very well to be a king by right

"Ignosi, son of the lightning," answered his uncle, "tonight is the great dance and witchhunt. Many will be

smelt out and perish, and in the hears of many others there will be grief and anguish and anger against the

king Twala. When the dance is over, then will I speak to some of the great chiefs, who in turn, if I can win

them over, shall speak to their regiments. I shall speak to the chiefs softly at first, and bring them to see that

thou art indeed the king, and I think that by tomorrow's light thou shalt have twenty thousand spears at thy

command. And now must I go and think and hear and make ready. After the dance is done I will, if I am yet

alive, and we are all alive, meet thee here, and we will talk. At the best there will be war."

At this moment our conference was interrupted by the cry that messengers had come from the king.

Advancing to the door of the hut, we ordered that they should be admitted, and presently three men entered,

"The gifts of my lord, the king, to the white men from the stars!" exclaimed a herald who had come with

The men went, and we examined the armor with great interest. It was the most beautiful chainwork we had

ever seen. A whole coat fell together so closely that it formed a mass of links scarcely too big to be covered

"Do you make these things in this country; Infadoos?" I asked; "they are very beautiful."

"Nay, my. lord; they come down to us from our forefathers. We know not who made them, and there are but

few left. None but those of royal blood may wear them. They are magic coats through which no spear can

pass. He who wears them is wellnigh safe in the battle. The king is well pleased or much afraid, or he would

The rest of the day we spent quietly resting and talking over the situation, which was sufficiently exciting. At

last the sun went down, the thousand watch fires glowed out, and through the darkness we heard the tramp

of many feet and the clashing of hundreds of spears as the regiments passed to their appointed places to be

ready for the great dance. About ten the full moon came up in splendor, and as we stood watching her ascent

Infadoos arrived, clad in full war toggery, and accompanied by a guard of twenty men to escort us to the

dance. We had already, as he recommended, donned the shirts of chain armor which the king had sent us,

putting them on under our ordinary clothing, and finding to our surprise that they were neither very heavy nor

uncomfortable. These steel shirts, which had evidently been made for men of a very large stature, hung

somewhat loosely upon Good and myself, but Sir Henry's fitted his magnificent frame like a glove. Then,

strapping our revolvers round our waists, and taking the battleaxes which the king had sent with the armor

On arriving at the great kraal where we had that morning been interviewed by the king, we found that it was

closely packed with some twenty thousand men arranged in regiments round it. The regiments were in turn

divided into companies, and between each company was a little path to allow free passage to the

witchfinders to pass up and down. Anything more imposing than the sight that was presented by this vast

and orderly concourse of armed men it is impossible for one to conceive. There they stood perfectly silent,

and the moonlight poured its light upon the forest of their raised spears, upon their majestic forms, waving

plumes, and the harmonious shading of their various colored shields. Wherever we looked was line upon

"Nay, Macumazahn," he answered, "but a third part of it. One third part is present at this dance each year,

another third part is mustered outside in case there should be trouble when the killing begins, ten thousand

more garrison the outposts round Loo, and the rest watch at the kraals in the country. Thou seest it is a very

"They are very silent," said Good; and, indeed, the intense stillness among such a vast concourse of living

"Those over whom the shadow of death is hovering are silent," he answered, grimly.

"It seems," I said to the others, "that we are going to assist at a gladiatorial show arranged regardless of

"I know not, my lordsI trust not; but do not seem afraid. If ye live through the night all may go well. The

All this while we had been advancing steadily towards. the centre of the open space, in the midst of which

were placed some stools. As we proceeded we perceived another small party coming from the direction of the

"'It is the king, Twala, and Scragga his son, and Gagool the old, and see, with them are those who slay," and

he pointed to a little group of about a dozen gigantic and savagelooking men, armed with spears in one hand

The king seated himself upon the centre stool, Gagool crouched at his feet, and the others stood behind.

"Greeting, white lords," he cried, as we came up; "be seated, waste not the precious timethe night is all

too short for the deeds that must be done. Ye come in a good hour, and shall see a glorious show. Look round

white lords; look round," and he rolled his one wicked eye from regiment to regiment. "Can the stars show ye

such a sight as this? See how they shake in their wickedness, all those who have evil in their hearts and fear

"_i_ Begin! begin! _i_" cried out Gagool, in her thin, piercing voice; "the hyenas are hungry, they howl for

food. _i_ Begin! begin! _i_" Then for a moment there was intense stillness, made horrible by a presage of

The king lifted his spear, and suddenly twenty thousand feet were raised, as though they belonged to one

man, and brought down with a stamp upon the earth. This was repeated three times, causing the solid ground

to shake and tremble. Then from a far point of the circle a solitary voice began a wailing song, of which the

Gradually, however, the song was taken up by company after company, till the whole armed multitude were

singing it, and I could no longer follow the words, except in so far as they appeared to represent various

phases of human passions, fears, and joys. Now it seemed to be a lovesong, now a majestic swelling

warchant, and. last of all a deathdirge, ending suddenly in one heartbreaking wail that went echoing and

rolling away in a volume of bloodcurdling sound. Again the silence fell upon the place, and again it was

broken by the king lifting up his hand. Instantly there was a pattering of feet, and from out of the masses of

the warriors strange and awful figures came running towards us. As they drew near we saw that they were

those of women, most of them aged, for their white hair, ornamented with small bladders taken from fish,

streamed out behind them. Their faces were painted in stripes of white and yellow; down their backs hung

snakeskins, and round their waists rattled circlets of human bones, while each held in her shrivelled hand a

small forked wand. In all there were ten of them. When they arrived in front of us they halted, and one of

_i_ "Good! good! good _i_!" piped out that aged iniquity. "Are your eyes keen, Isanusis"(witch doctresses),

" _i_ Good! good! good! _i_ Are your ears open, Isanusis, ye who hear words that come not from the

"_i_ Good! good! good! _i_ Are your senses awake, Isanusiscan ye smell blood, can ye purge the land of

the wicked ones who compass evil against the king and against their neighbors? Are ye ready to do the justice

of 'Heaven above,' ye whom I have taught, who have eaten of the bread of, my wisdom and drunk of the

"Then go! Tarry not, ye vultures; see the slayers"pointing to the ominous group of executioners

With a wild yell the weird party broke away in every direction, like fragments from the shell, and, the dry

bones round their waists rattling as they ran, made direct for various points of the dense human circle. We

could not watch them all, so fixed our eyes upon the Isanusi nearest us. When she came with a few paces of

the warriors, she halted and began to dance wildly, turning round and round with an almost incredible

rapidity, and shrieking out sentences such as "I smell him, the evildoer!" "He is near, he who poisoned his

Quicker and quicker she danced, till she lashed herself into such a frenzy of excitement that the foam flew in

flecks from her gnashing jaws, her eyes seemed to start from her head, and her flesh to quiver visibly.

Suddenly she stopped dead, and stiffened all over, like a pointer dog when he scents game, and then

withoutstretched wand began to creep stealthily towards the soldiers before her. It seemed to us that as she

came their stoicism gave way, and that they shrank from her. As for ourselves, we followed her movements

with a horrible fascination. Presently, still creeping and crouching like a dog, she was before them. Then she

Suddenly the end came. With a shriek she sprang in and touched a tall warrior with the forked wand. Instantly

two of his comrades, those standing immediately next to him, seized the doomed man, each by one arm, and

He did not resist, but we saw that he dragged his limbs as though they were paralyzed, and his fingers, from

As he came, two of the villainous executioners stepped forward to meet him. Presently they met, and the

Almost before the words were uttered, the horrible deed was done. One man had driven his spear into the

victim's heart, and, to make assurance doubly sure, the other had dashed out his brains with his great club.

" _i_ One, _i_" counted Twala, the king, just like a black Madame Defarge, as Good said, and the body was

Hardly was this done before another poor wretch was brought up, like an ox to the slaughter. This time we

could see, from the leopardskin cloak, that the man was a person of rank. Again the awful syllables were

And so the deadly game went on, till some hundred bodies were stretched in rows behind us. I have heard of

the gladiatorial shows of the Caesars, and of the Spanish bullfights, but I take the liberty of doubting if they

were either of them half as horrible as this Kukuana witchhunt. Gladiatorial shows and Spanish bullfights,

at any rate, contributed to the public amusement, which certainly was not the case here. The most confirmed

sensationmonger would fight shy of sensation if he knew that it was well on the cards that he would, in his

"Let the law take its course, white men. These dogs are magicians and evildoers; it is well that they should

About midnight there was a pause. The witchfinders gathered themselves together, apparently exhausted

with their bloody work, and we thought that the whole performance was done with. But it was not so, for

presently, to our surprise, the old woman, Gagool, rose from her crouching position, and, supporting herself

with a stick, staggered off into the open space. It was an extraordinary sight to see this frightful,

vultureheaded old creature, bent nearly double with extreme age, gather strength by degrees till at last she

rushed about almost as actively as her illomened pupils. To and fro she ran, chanting to herself, till suddenly

she made a dash at a tall man standing in front of one of the regiments, and touched him. As she did so a sort

of groan went up from the regiment, which he evidently commanded. But all the same two of its members

seized him and brought him up for execution. We afterwards learned that he was a man of great wealth and

He was slain, and the king counted one hundred and three. Then Gagool again sprang to and fro, gradually

"Hang me if I don't believe she is going to try her games on us," ejaculated Good, in horror.

As for myself, as I saw that old fiend dancing nearer and nearer, my heart positively sank into my boots. I

Nearer and nearer waltzed Gagool, looking for all the world like an animated crooked stick, her horrid eyes

Nearer she came, and nearer yet, every pair of eyes in that vast assemblage watching her movements with

In a moment all doubts were set at rest, for the old woman had rushed in and touched Umbopa, alias Ignosi,

"I smell him out," she shrieked. "Kill him, kill him, He is fullof evil; kill him, the stranger, before blood

"O king," I called out, rising from my seat, "this man is the servant of thy guests, he is their dog; whosoever

sheds the blood of our dog sheds our blood. By the sacred law of hospitality I claim protection for him."

"Gagool, mother of the witch doctors, has smelled him out; he must die, white men," was the sullen answer.

"Nay, he shall not die," I replied; "he who tries to touch him shall die indeed."

"Seize him!" roared Twala, to the executioners, who stood around red to the eyes with the blood of their

They advanced towards us, and then hesitated. As for Ignosi, he raised his spear, and raised it as though

"Stand back, ye dogs," I shouted, "if ye would see tomorrow's light. Touch one hair of his head and your

king dies," and I covered Twala with my revolver. Sir Henry and Good also drew their pistols, Sir Henry

pointing his at the leading executioner, who was advancing to carry out the sentence, and Good taking a

"Put away your magic tubes," he said; "ye have adjured me in the name of hospitality, and for that reason, but

"It is well," I answered, unconcernedly; "we are weary of slaughter, and would sleep. Is the dance ended?"

"It is ended," Twala answered, sulkily. "Let these dogs," pointing to the long rows of corpses, "be flung out to

Instantly the regiments began in perfect silence to defile off through the kraal gateway, a fatigue party only

Then we too rose, and, making our salaam to his majesty, which he hardly deigned to acknowledge, departed

"Well," said Six Henry, as we sat down, having first lit a lamp of the sort used by the Kukuanas, of which the

wick is made of the fibre of a species of palm leaf and the oil of clarified hippopotamus fat, "well, I feel

"If I had any doubts about helping Umbopa to rebel against that infernal blackguard," put in Good, "they are

gone now. It was as much as I could do to sit still while that slaughter was going on. I tried to keep my eyes

shut, but they would open just at the wrong time. I wonder where Infadoos is. Umbopa, my friend, you ought

"I am grateful, Bougwan," was Umbopa's answer, when I had translated, "and I shall not forget. As for

FOR a long whiletwo hours, I should thinkwe sat there in silence, for we were too overwhelmed by the

recollection of the horrors we had seen to talk. At last, just as we were thinking of turning in for already

there were faint streaks of light in the eastern skywe heard the sound of steps. Then came the challenge of

the sentry who was posted at the kraal gate, which was apparently answered, though not in an audible tone,

for the steps came on; and in another second Infadoos had entered the hut, followed by some half a dozen

"My lords," he said, "I have come, according to my word. My lords and Ignosi, rightful king of the

Kukuanas, I have brought with me these men," pointing to the row of chiefs, "who are great men among us,

having each one of them the command of three thousand soldiers, who live but to do their bidding, under the

king's. I have told them of what I have seen, and what my ears have heard. Now let them also see the sacred

snake around thee, and hear thy story, Ignosi, that they may say whether or no they will make cause with thee

For answer, Ignosi again stripped off his girdle and exhibited the snake tattooed around him. Each chief in

turn drew near and examined it by the dim light of the lamp, and without saying a word passed on to the other

Then Ignosi resumed his moocha and, addressing them, repeated the history he had detailed in the morning.

"Now ye have heard, chiefs," said Infadoos, when he had done, "what say ye; will ye stand by this man and

help him to his father's throne, or will ye not? The land cries out against Twala, and the blood of the people

flows like the waters in spring. Ye have seen tonight. Two other chiefs there were with whom I had it in my

mind to speak, and where are they now? The hyenas howl over their corpses. Soon will ye be as they are if ye

The eldest of the six men, a short, thick set warrior, with white hair, stepped forward a pace and answered,

"Thy words are true, Infadoos; the land cries out. "My own brother is among those who died tonight; but

this is a great matter, and the thing is hard to believe. How know we that if we lift our spears it may not be for

an impostor? It is a great matter, I say, and none may see the end of it. For of this be sure, blood will flow in

rivers before the deed is done; many will still cleave to the king, for men worship the sun that still shines

bright in the heavens, and not that which has not risen. These white men from the stars, their magic is great,

and Ignosi is under the cover of their wing. If he be indeed the rightful king, let them give us a sign, and let

the people have a sign, that all may see. So shall men cleave to us, knowing that the white man's magic is

"My lord, it is not enough. The snake may have been placed there since the man's birth. Show us a sign. We

will not move without a sign." The others gave a decided assent, and I turned in perplexity to Sir Henry and

"I think I have it," said Good, exultingly; "ask them to give us a moment to think." I did so, and the chiefs

withdrew. As soon as they were gone, Good went to the little box in which his medicines were, unlocked it,

and took out a note book, in the front of which was an almanac. "Now, look here, you fellows, isn't

tomorrow the fourth of June?" We had kept a careful note of the days, so were able to answer that it was.

"Very good; then here we have it '4 June, total eclipse of the sun commences at 11.15 Greenwich time,

visible in these islands, Africa, etc.' There's a sign for you. Tell them that you will darken the sun to

The idea was a splendid one; indeed, the only fear about it was a fear lest Good's almanac might be incorrect.

If we made a false prophecy on such a subject, our prestige would be gone forever, and so would Ignosi's

"Suppose the almanac is wrong?" suggested Sir Henry to Good, who was busily employed in working out

"I don't see any reason to suppose anything of the sort," was his answer. "Eclipses always come up to time; at

least, that is my experience of them, and it especially states that it will be visible in Africa. I have worked out

the reckonings as well as I can without knowing our exact position; and I make out that the eclipse should

begin here about one o'clock tomorrow, and last till halfpast two. For half an hour or more there should be

I acquiesced, though doubtfully, for eclipses are queer cattle to deal with, and sent Umbopa to summon the

"Great men of the Kukuanas, and thou, Infadoos, listen. We are not fond of showing our powers, since to do

so is to interfere with the course of nature, and plunge the world into fear and confusion; but as this matter is

a great one, and as we are angered against the king because of the slaughter we have seen, and because of the

act of the Isanusi Gagool, who would have put our friend Ignosi to death, we have determined to do so, and to

give such a sign as all men may see. Come thither," and I led them to the door of the hut and pointed to the

"It is so. Now tell me, can any mortal man put out that sun, so that night comes down on the land at midday?"

The chief laughed a little. "No, my lord, that no man can do. The sun is stronger than man who looks on

"Ye say so. Yet I tell you that this day, one hour after midday, will we put out that sun for a space of an hour,

and darkness shall cover the earth, and it shall be for a sign that we are indeed men of honor, and that Ignosi

"Yea, my lords," answered the old chief with a smile, which was reflected on the faces of his companions;

"It shall be done: we three, Incubu the Elephant, Bougwan the cleareyed, and Macumazahn, who watches in

"I hear, my lord, but it is a wonderful thing that ye promise, to put out the sun, the father of all things, who

"It is well, my lords. Today, a little after midday, will Twala send for my lords to witness the girls dance,

and one hour after the dance begins shall the girl whom Twala thinks the fairest be killed by Scragga, the

king's son, as a sacrifice to the silent stone ones, who sit and keep watch by the mountains yonder," and he

pointed to the three strange looking peaks where Solomon's Road was supposed to end. "Then let my lords

"Ay," said the old chief, still smiling a little, "the. people will believe, indeed."

"Two miles from Loo," went on Infadoos, "there is a hill curved like the new moon, a stronghold, where my

regiment, and three other regiments which these men command, are stationed. This morning we will make a

plan whereby other regiments, two or three, may be moved there also. Then, if my lords can indeed. darken

the sun, in the darkness I will take my lords by the hand and lead them out of Loo to this place, where they

"My friends," said Ignosi, as soon as they were gone, "can ye indeed do this wonderful thing, or were ye

"It is strange;" he answered, "and had ye not been Englishmen I would not have believed it; but English

'gentlemen' tell no lies. If we live through the matter, be sure I will repay ye!"

"I will promise, Incubu, my friend, even before I hear it," answered the big man with a smile. "What is it?"

"This: that if you ever come to be king of this people you will do away with the smelling out of witches such

as we have seen last night; and that the killing of men without trial shall not take place in the land."

"The ways of black people are not as the ways of white men, Incubu, nor do we hold life so high as ye. Yet

will I promise it. If it be in my power to hold them back, the witchfinders shall hunt no more, nor shall any

Thoroughly wearied out; we were soon sound asleep, and slept till Ignosi woke us about eleven o'clock. Then

we got up, washed, and ate a hearty breakfast, not knowing when we should get any more food. After that we

went outside the hut and stared at the sun, which we were distressed to observe presented a remarkably

"I hope it will come off," said Sir Henry, doubtfully. "False prophets often find themselves in painful

"If it does not, it will soon be up with us," I answered, mournfully; "for so sure as we are living men, some of

those chiefs will tell the whole story to the king, and then there will be another sort of eclipse, and one that

Returning to the hut, we dressed ourselves, putting on the mail shirts which the king had sent us as before.

Scarcely had we done so when a messenger came from Twala to bid us to the great annual "dance of girls"

Taking our rifles and ammunition with us so as to have them handy in case we had to fly, as suggested by

Infadoos, we started boldly enough, though with inward fear and trembling. The great space in front of the

king's kraal presented a very different appearance from what it had done on the previous evening. In the place

of the grim ranks of serried warriors were company after company of Kukuana girls, not overdressed, so far

as clothing went, but each crowned with a wreath of flowers, and holding a palm leaf in one hand and a tall

white lily (the arum) in the other. In the centre of the open space sat Twala, the king, with old Gagool at his

feet, attended by Infadoos, the boy Scragga, and about a dozen guards. There were also present about a score

Twala greeted us with much apparent cordiality, though I saw him fix his one eye viciously on Umbopa.

"Welcome, white men from the stars," he said; "this is a different sight from what your eyes gazed on by the

light of last night's moon, but it is not so good a sight. Girls are pleasant, and were it not for such as these"

(and he pointed round him) "we should none of us be here to day; but men are better. Kisses and the tender

words of women are sweet, but the sound of the clashing of men's spears, and the smell of men's blood, are

sweeter far! Would ye have wives from among our people, white men? If so, choose the fairest here, and ye

As the prospect did not seem to be without attractions to Good, who was, like most sailors, of a susceptible

nature, I, being elderly and wise, and foreseeing the endless complications that anything of the sort would

involve (for women bring trouble as surely as the night follows the day), put in a hasty answer:

"Thanks, O king, but we white men wed only with white women like ourselves. Your maidens are fair, but

The king laughed. "It is well. In our land there is a proverb which says, 'Woman's eyes are always bright,

whatever the color,' and another which says, 'Love her who is present, for be sure she who is absent is false to

thee;' but perhaps these things are not so in the stars. In a land where men are white all things are possible. So

be it, white men; the girls will not go begging! Welcome again; and welcome, too, thou black one; if Gagool

here had had her way thou wouldst have been stiff and cold now. It is lucky that thou, too, camest from the

"I can kill thee before thou killest me, O king," was Ignosi's calm answer, "and thou shalt be stiff before my

Twala started. "Thou speakest boldly, boy," he replied, angrily; "presume not too far."

"He may well be bold in whose lips are truth. The truth is a sharp spear which flies home and fails not. It is a

"Let the dance begin," he cried, and next second the flowercrowned girls sprang forward in companies,

singing a sweet song and waving the delicate palms and white flowers. On they danced, now whirling round

and round, now meeting in mimic warfare, swaying, eddying here and there, coming forward, falling back in

an ordered confusion delightful to witness. At last they paused, and a beautiful young woman sprang out of

the ranks and began to pirouette in front of us with a grace and vigor which would have put most balletgirls

to shame. At length she fell back exhausted, and another took her place, then another and another, but none of

"The first," said I, unthinkingly. Next second I regretted it, for I remembered that Infadoos had said that the

"Then is my mind as your minds, and my eyes as your eyes. She is the fairest; and a sorry thing it is for her,

"_i_ Ay, must die! _i_" piped out Gagool, casting a glance from her quick eyes in the direction of the poor

girl, who, as yet ignorant of the awful fate in store for her, was standing some twenty yards off in front of a

company of girls, engaged in nervously picking a flower from her wreath to pieces, petal by petal.

"Why, O king?" said I, restraining my indignation with difficulty; "the girl has danced well and pleased us;

"It is our custom, and the figures who sit in stone yonder" (and he pointed towards the three distant peaks)

"must have their due. Did I fail to put the fairest girl to death today misfortune would fall upon me and my

house. Thus runs the prophecy of my people: 'If the king offer not a sacrifice of a fair girl on the day of the

dance of maidens to the old ones who sit and watch on the mountains, then shall he fall and his house.' Look

ye, white men, my brother who reigned before me offered not the sacrifice, because of the tears of the

woman, and he fell, and his house, and I reign in his stead. It is finished; she must die!" Then, turning to the

Two of the men stepped forward, and as they did so the girl, for the first time realizing her impending fate,

screamed aloud and turned to fly. But the strong hands caught her fist, and brought her, struggling and

"What is thy name, girl?" piped Gagool. "What! wilt thou not answer; shall the king's son do his work at

At this hint, Scragga, looking more evil than ever, advanced a step and lifted his great spear, and as he did so

I saw Good's hand creep to his revolver. The poor girl caught the glint of the cold steel through her tears, and

it sobered her anguish. She ceased struggling, but merely clasped her hands convulsively, and stood

"See," cried Scragga, in high glee, "she shrinks from the sight of my little plaything even before she has

"If I ever get the chance, you shall pay for that, you young hound!" I heard Good mutter beneath his breath.

"Now that thou art quiet, give us thy name, my dear. Come, speak up, and fear not," said Gagool in mockery.

"Oh, mother," answered the girl in trembling accents, "my name is Foulata, of the house of Suko. Oh, mother,

"Be comforted," went on the old woman, in her hateful tone of mockery. "Thou must die, indeed, as a

sacrifice to the old ones who sit yonder" (and she pointed to the peaks); "but it is better to sleep in the night

than to toil in the daytime; it is better to die than to live, and thou shalt die by the royal hand of the king's

The girl Foulata wrung her hands in anguish, and cried out aloud: "Oh, cruel; and I so young! What have I

done that I should never again see the sun rise out of the night, or the stars come following on his track in the

evening: that I should no more gather the flowers when the dew is heavy, or listen to the laughing of the

waters! Woe is me, that I shall never see my father's hut again, nor feel my mother's kiss, nor tend the kid that

is sick! Woe is me, that no lover shall put his arm around me and look into my eyes, nor shall menchildren

be born of me! Oh, cruel, cruel!" and again she wrung her hands and turned her tear stained, flower crowned

face to heaven, looking so lovely in her despairfor she was indeed a beautiful womanthat it would

assuredly have melted the hears of any one less cruel than the three fiends before us. Prince Arthur's appeal to

the ruffians who came to blind him was not more touching than this savage girl's.

But it did not move Gagool or Gagool's master, though I saw signs of pity among the guard behind and on the

faces of the chiefs; and as for Good, he gave a sort of snort of indignation, anal made a motion as though to

go to her. With all a woman's quickness, the doomed girl interpreted what was passing in his mind, and with

a sudden movement flung herself before him, and clasped his "beautiful white legs" with her hands.

"Oh, white father from the stars!" she cried, "throw over me the mantle of thy protection; let me creep into

the shadow of thy strength, that I may be saved. Oh, keep me from these cruel men and from the mercies of

"All right, my hearty, I'll look after you," sang out Good, in nervous Saxon. "Come, get up, there's a good

"I am waiting for the eclipse," I answered; "I have had my eye on the sun for the last halfhour, and I never

"Well, you must risk it now or the girl will be killed. Twala is losing patience."

Recognizing the force of the argument, having cast one more despairing look at the bright face of the sun, for

never did the most ardent astronomer with a theory to prove await a celestial event with such anxiety, I

stepped, with all the dignity I could command, between the prostrate girl and the advancing spear of Scragga.

"King," I said; "this shall not be; we will not tolerate such a thing; let the girl go in safety."

Twala rose from his seat in his wrath and astonishment, and from the chiefs and serried ranks of girls, who

had slowly closed in upon us in anticipation of the tragedy, came a murmur of amazement.

"_i_ Shall not be, _i_ thou white dog, who yaps at the lion in his cave; _i_ shall not be! _i_ Art thou mad? Be

careful lest this chicken's fate overtake thee and those with thee. How canst thou prevent it? Who art thou,

that thou standest between me and my will? Withdraw, I say. Scragga, kill her. Ho, guards! seize these men."

At his cry armed men came running swiftly from behind the hut, where they had evidently been placed

Sir Henry, Good, and Umbopa ranged themselves alongside of me and lifted their rifles.

"Stop!" I shouted, boldly, though at the moment my heart was in my boots. "Stop! we, the white men from

the stars, say that it shall not be. Come but one pace nearer and we will put out the sun and plunge the land in

My threat produced an effect; the men halted, and Scragga stood still before us, his spear lifted.

"Hear him! hear him!" piped Gagool; "hear the liar who says he will put out the sun like a lamp. Let him do it

and the girl shall be spared. Yes, let him do it, or die with the girl, he and those with him."

I glanced up at the sun, and, to my intense joy and relief, saw that we had made no mistake. On the edge of its

I lifted my hand solemnly towards the sky, an example which Sir Henry and Good followed, and quoted a

line or two of the "Ingoldsby Legends" at it in the most impressive tones I could command: Sir Henry

followed suit with a verse out of the Old Testament, while Good addressed the king of day in a volume of the

Slowly the dark rim crept on over the blazing surface, and as it did so I heard a deep gasp of fear rise from the

"Look, O king! Look, Gagool! Look, chiefs and people and women, and see if the white men from the stars

"The sun grows dark before your eyes; soon there will be nightay, night in the noontime. Ye have asked

for a sign; it is given to ye. Grow dark, O sun! withdraw thy light, thou bright one; bring the proud heart to

A groan of terror rose from the on lookers. Some stood petrified with fear, others threw themselves upon their

knees and cried out. As for the king, he sat still and turned pale beneath his dusky skin. Only Gagool kept her

courage. "It will pass," she cried; "I have seen the like before; no man can put out the sun; lose not heart; sit

"Keep it up, Good; I can't remember any more poetry. Curse away! there's a good fellow."

Good responded nobly to the tax upon his inventive faculties. Never before had I the faintest conception of

the breadth and depth and height of a naval officer's objurgatory powers. For ten minutes he went on without

Meanwhile the dark ring crept on. Strange and unholy shadows encroached upon the sunlight, an ominous

quiet filled the place, the birds chirped out frightened notes and then were still; only the cocks began to crow.

On, yet on, crept the ring of darkness; it was now more than half over the reddening orb. The air grew thick

and dusky. On, yet on, till we could scarcely see the fierce faces of the group before us. No sound now rose

"The sun is dyingthe wizards have killed the sun," yelled out the boy Scragga at last. "We shall all die in

the dark," and, animated by fear or fury, or both, he lifted his spear and drove it with all his force at Sir

Henry's broad chest. But he had forgotten the mail shirts that the king had given us, and which we wore

beneath our clothing. The steel rebounded harmless, and before he could repeat the blow Sir Henry had

snatched the spear from his hand and sent it straight through him. He dropped dead.

At the sight, and driven mad with fear at the gathering gloom, the companies of girls broke up in wild

confusion and ran screeching for the gateways. Nor did the panic stop there. The king himself, followed by

the guard, some of the chiefs, and Gagool, who hobbled away after them with marvellous alacrity, fled for the

huts, so that in another minute or so ourselves, the wouldbe victim, Foulata, Infadoos, and some of the

chiefs who had interviewed us on the previous night, were left alone upon the scene with the dead body of

"Now, chiefs," I said, "we have given you the sign. If ye are satisfied, let us fly swiftly to the place ye spoke

of. The charm cannot now be stopped. It will work for an hour. Let us take advantage of the darkness."

"Come," said Infadoos, turning to go, an example which was followed by the awed chiefs, ourselves, and the

LUCKILY for us, Infadoos and the chiefs knew all the pathways of the great town perfectly, so that,

For an hour or more we journeyed on, till at length the eclipse began to pass, and that edge of the sun which

had disappeared the first became again visible. In another five minutes there was sufficient light to see our

whereabouts, and we then discovered that we were clear of the town of Loo, and approaching a large,

flattopped hill, measuring some two miles in circumference. This hill, which was of a formation very

common in Southern Africa, was not very high; indeed, its greatest elevation was not more than two hundred

feet, but it was shaped like a horseshoe, and its sides were rather precipitous and strewn with boulders. On the

grass tableland at the top was ample campingground, which had been utilized as a military cantonment of

no mean strength. Its ordinary garrison was one regiment of three thousand. men, but as we toiled up the

steep side of the hill in the returning daylight we perceived that there were many more warriors than that

Reaching the tableland at last, we found crowds of men huddled together in the utmost consternation at the

natural phenomenon which they were witnessing. Passing through these without a word, we gained a hut in

the centre of the ground, where we were astonished to find two men waiting, laden with our few goods and

chattels, which, of course, we had been obliged to leave behind in our hasty flight.

"I sent for them," explained Infadoos; "also for these," and he lifted up Good's longlost trousers.

With an exclamation of rapturous delight Good sprang at them, and instantly proceeded to put them on.

"Surely my lord will not hide his beautiful white legs!" exclaimed lnfadoos, regretfully.

But Good persisted, and once only did the Kukuana people get the chance of seeing his beautiful legs again.

Good is a very modest man. Henceforward they had to satisfy their aesthetic longings with one whisker, his

Still gazing with fond remembrance at Good's trousers, Infadoos next informed us that he had summoned the

regiments to explain to them fully the rebellion which was decided on by the chiefs, and to introduce to them

In half an hour the troops, in all nearly twenty thousand men, constituting the flower of the Kukuana army,

were mustered on a large, open space, to which we proceeded. The men were drawn up in three sides of a

dense square, and presented a magnificent spectacle. We took our station on the open side of the square, and

These, after silence had been proclaimed, Infadoos proceeded to address. He narrated to them in vigorous and

graceful languagefor, like most Kukuanas of high rank, he was a born oratorthe history of Ignosi's

father, how he had been basely murdered by Twala, the king, and his wife and child driven out to starve.

Then he pointed out how the land suffered and groaned under Twala's cruel rule, instancing the proceedings

of the previous night, when, under pretence of their being evildoers, many of the noblest in the land had

been hauled forth and cruelly done to death. Next he went on to say that the white lords from the stars,

looking down on the land, had perceived its trouble, and determined, at great personal inconvenience, to

alleviate its lot; how they had accordingly taken the real king of the country, Ignosi, who was languishing in

exile, by the hand and led him over the mountains; how they had seen the wickedness of Twala's doings, and

for a sign to the wavering, and to save the life of the girl Foulata, had actually, by the exercise of their high

magic, put out the sun and slain the young fiend, Scragga; and how they were prepared to stand by them, and

assist them to overthrow Twala, and set up the rightful king Ignosi, in his place.

He finished his discourse amid a murmur of approbation, and then Ignosi stepped forward and began to

speak. Having reiterated all that Infadoos, his uncle, had said, he concluded a powerful speech in these words:

"O chiefs, captains, soldiers, and people, ye have heard my words. Now must ye make choice between me

and him who sits upon my throne, the uncle who killed his brother, and hunted his brother's child forth to die

in the cold and the night. That I am indeed the king these" pointing to the chiefs"can tell ye, for they

have seen the snake about my middle. If I were not the king, would these white men be on my side, with all

their magic? Tremble, chiefs, captains, soldiers, and people! Is not the darkness they have brought upon the

"I am the king; I say to ye, I am the king," went on Ignosi, drawing up his great stature to its full, and lifting

his broad bladed battleaxe above his head. "If there be any man among ye who says that it is not so, let

him stand forth, and I will fight him now, and his blood shall be a red token that I tell ye true. Let him stand

As nobody seemed inclined to respond to this heroic version of "Dilly, Dilly, come and be killed," our late

"I am indeed the king, and if ye do stand by my side in the battle, if I win the day ye shall go with me to

victory and honor. I will give ye oxen and wives, and ye shall take place of all the regiments; and if ye fall I

"And behold, this promise do I give ye, that when I sit upon the seat of my fathers, bloodshed shall cease in

the land. No longer shall ye cry for justice to find slaughter, no longer shall the witch finder hunt ye out so

that ye be slain without a cause. No man shall die save he who offendeth against the laws. The "eating up" of

your kraals shall cease; each shall sleep secure in his own hut and fear not, and justice shall walk blind

"It is well. Turn your heads and see how Twala's messengers go forth from the great town, east and west, and

north and south, to gather a mighty army to slay me and ye, and these my friends and my protectors.

Tomorrow, or perchance the next day, will he come with all who are faithful to him. Then shall I see the

man who is indeed my man, the man who fears not to die for his cause; and I tell ye he shall not be forgotten

in the time of spoil. I have spoken, O chiefs, captains, soldiers, and people. Now go to your huts and make

There was a pause, and then one of the chiefs lifted his hand, and out rolled the royal salute, "_i_ Koom! _i_"

It was a sign that the regiments accepted Ignosi as their king. Then they marched off in battalions.

Half an hour afterwards we held a council of war, at which all the commanders of regiments were present, It

was evident to us that before very long we should be attacked in overwhelming force. Indeed, from our point

of vantage on the hill we could see troops mustering, and messengers. going forth from Loo in every

direction, doubtless to summon regiments to the king's assistance. We had on our side about twenty thousand

men, composed of seven of the best regiments in the country. Twala had, so Infadoos and the chiefs

calculated, at least thirty to thirty five thousand on whom he could rely at present assembled in Loo, and

they thought that by midday on the morrow he would be able to gather another five thousand or more to his

It was, of course, possible that some of his troops would desert and come over to us, but it was not a

contingency that could be reckoned on. Meanwhile, it was clear that active preparations were being made to

subdue us. Already strong bodies of armed men were patrolling round and round the foot of the hill, and there

Infadoos and the chiefs, however, were of opinion that no attack would take place that night, which would be

devoted to preparation and to the removal by every possible means of the moral effect produced upon the

minds of the soldiery by the supposed magical darkening of the sun. The attack would be on the morrow, they

Meanwhile, we set to work to strengthen the position as much as possible. Nearly the entire force was turned

out, and in the two hours which yet remained to sundown wonders were done. The paths up the hillwhich

was rather a sanitarium than a fortress, being used generally as the camping place of regiments suffering from

recent service in unhealthy portions of the country were carefully blocked with masses of stones, and

every other possible approach was made as impregnable as time would allow. Piles of boulders were

collected at various spots to be rolled down upon advancing enemystations were appointed to the different

regiments, and every other preparation which our joint ingenuity could suggest was taken.

Just before sundown we perceived a small company of men advancing towards us from the direction of Loo,

As he came, Ignosi, Infadoos, one or two chiefs, and ourselves went down to the foot of the mountain to meet

"Greeting!" he cried as he came near; "the king's greeting to those who make unholy war against the king; the

"These are the king's words. Surrender to the king's mercy ere a worse thing befall ye. Already the shoulder

has been torn from the black bull, and the king drives him bleeding about the Camp."

"His terms are merciful, worthy of a great king. These are the words of Twala, the oneeyed, the mighty, the

husband of a thousand wives, lord of the Kukuanas, keeper of the great road (Solomon's Road), beloved of

the strange ones who sit in silence at the mountains yonder (the Three Witches), calf of the black cow,

elephant whose tread shakes the earth, terror of the evildoer, ostrich whose feet devour the desert, huge one,

black one, wise one, king from generation to generation! these are the words of Twala: 'I will have mercy and

be satisfied with a little blood. One in every ten shall die, the rest shall go free; but the white man Incubu,

who slew Scragga, my son, and Infadoos, my brother, who brews rebellion against me, these shall die by

torture as an offering to the silent ones.' Such are the merciful words of Twala." After consulting with the

others a little I answered him in a loud voice, so that the soldiers might hear, thus:

"Go back, thou dog, to Twala, who sent thee, and say that we, Ignosi, veritable king of the Kukuanas, Incubu,

Bougwan, and Macumazahn, the wise white ones from the stars who make dark the sun, Infadoos, of the

royal house, and the chiefs, captains, and people here gathered, make answer and say, 'That we will not

surrender; that before the sun has twice gone down Twala's corpse shall stiffen at Twala's gate, and Ignosi,

whose father Twala slew, shall reign in his stead.' Now go, ere we whip thee away, and beware how ye lift a

The herald laughed loud. "Ye frighten not men with such swelling words," he cried out. "Show yourselves as

bold tomorrow, O ye who darken the sun. Be bold, fight, and be merry, before the crows pick your bones till

they are whiter than your faces. Farewell; perhaps we may meet in the fight; wait for me, I pray, white men."

That night was a busy one for us, for, as far as was possible by the moonlight, all preparations for the

morrow's. fight were continued. Messengers were constantly coming and going from the place where we sat

in council. At last, about an hour after midnight, everything that could be done was done, and the camp, save

for the occasional challenge of a sentry, sank into sleep. Sir Henry and I, accompanied by Ignosi and one of

the chiefs, descended the hill and made the round of the vedettes. As we went, suddenly, from all sorts of

unexpected places, spears gleamed out in the moonlight, only to vanish again as we uttered the password. It

was clear to us that none were sleeping at their posts. Then we returned, picking our way through thousands

The moonlight flickered along their spears, and played upon their features and made them ghastly; the chilly

night wind tossed their tall and hearse like plumes. There they lay in wild confusion, with arms outstretched

and twisted limbs; their stern, stalwart forms looking weird and unhuman in the moonlight.

"How many of these do you suppose will be alive at this time tomorrow?" asked Sir Henry.

I shook my head and looked again at the sleeping men, and to my tired and yet excited imagination it seemed

as though death had already touched them. My mind's eye singled out those who were sealed to slaughter,

and there rushed in upon my heart a great sense of the mystery of human life, and an overwhelming sorrow at

its futility and sadness. Tonight these thousands slept their healthy sleep; tomorrow they, and many others

with them, ourselves perhaps among them, would be stiffening in the cold; their wives would be widows,

their children fatherless, and their place know them no more forever. Only the old moon would shine serenely

on, the night wind would stir the grasses, and the wide earth would take its happy rest, even as it did aeons

Yet man dies not while the world, at once his mother and his monument, remains. His name is forgotten,

indeed, but the breath he breathed yet stirs the pinetops on the mountains, the sound of the words he spoke

yet echoes on through space; the thoughts his brain gave birth to we have inherited today; his passions are

our cause of life; the joys and sorrows that he felt are our familiar friendsthe end from which he fled aghast

Truly the universe is full of ghosts; not sheeted, churchyard spectres, but the inextinguishable and immortal

elements of life, which, having once been, can never _i_ die _i_, though they blend and change and change

All sorts of reflections of this sort passed through my mindfor as I get older I regret to say that a detestable

habit of thinking seems to be getting a hold of mewhile I stood and stared at those grim yet fantastic lines

"Well, I mean it now. Do you know, I very much doubt if one of us will be alive to morrow night. We shall

be attacked in overwhelming force, and it is exceedingly doubtful if we can hold this place."

"We'll give a good account of some of them, at any rate. Look here, Quatermain, the business is a nasty one,

and one with which, properly speaking, we ought not to be mixed up; but we are in for it, so we must make

the best of it. Speaking personally, I had rather be killed fighting than any other way, and now that there

seems little chance of finding my poor brother, it makes the idea easier to me. But fortune favors the brave,

and we may succeed. Anyway, the slaughter will be awful, and as we. have a reputation to keep up, we shall

Sir Henry made this last remark in a mournful voice, but there was a gleam in his eye which belied it. I have a

Just about dawn we were awakened by Infadoos, who came to say that great activity was to be observed in

We got up and dressed ourselves for the fray, each putting on his chain armor shirt, for which at the present

juncture we felt exceedingly thankful. Sir Henry went the whole length about the matter, and dressed himself

like a native warrior. "When you are in Kukuanaland, do as the Kukuanas do," he remarked, as he drew the

shining steel over his broad shoulders, which it fitted like a glove. Nor did he stop there. At his request,

Infadoos had provided him with a complete set of war uniform. Round his throat he fastened the leopardskin

cloak of a commanding officer, on his brows he bound the plume of black ostrich feathers worn only by

generals of high rank, and round his centre a magnificent moocha of white oxtail. A pair of sandals, a leglet

of goat's hair, a heavy battleaxe with a rhinoceroshorn handle, a round iron shield covered with white

oxhide, and the regulation number of tollas, or throwingknives, made up his equipment, to which,

however, he added his revolver. The dress was, no doubt, a savage one; but I am bound to say I never saw a

finer sight than Sir Henry Curtis presented in this guise. It showed off his magnificent physique to the

greatest advantage, and when Ignosi arrived, presently, arrayed in similar costume, I thought to myself that I

never before saw two such splendid men. As for Good and myself, the chain armor did not suit us nearly so

well. To begin with, Good insisted upon keeping on his trousers, and a stout, short gentleman with an

eyeglass, and one half of his face shaved, arrayed in a mail shirt carefully tucked into a very seedy pair of

corduroys, looks more striking than imposing. As for myself, my chain shirt being too big for me, I put it on

over all my clothes, which caused it to bulge out in a somewhat ungainly fashion. I discarded my trousers,

however, determined to go into battle with bare legs, in order to be the lighter in case it. became necessary to

retire quickly, retaining only my veldtschoons. This, a spear, a shield, which I did not know how to use, a

couple of tollas, a revolver, and a huge plume, which I pinned into the top of my shootinghat in order to

give a bloodthirsty finish to my appearance, completed my modest equipment. In addition to all these articles,

of course we had our rifles, but as ammunition was scarce, and they would be useless in case of a charge, we

As soon as we had equipped ourselves we hastily swallowed some food, and then started out to see how

things were progressing. At one point in the tableland of the mountain there was a little koppie of brown

stone, which served for the double purpose of headquarters and a conning tower. Here we found Infadoos

surrounded, by his own regiment, the Grays, which was undoubtedly the finest in the Kukuana army, and the

same which we had first seen at the outlying kraal. This regiment, now three thousand five hundred strong,

was being held in reserve, and the men were lying down on the grass in companies, and watching the king's

forces creep out of Lo o in long, antlike columns. There seemed to be no end to those columnsthree in all,

As soon as they were clear of the town, they formed up. Then one body marched off to the right, one to the

This was rather serious news, for as our position on the top of the mountain, which was at least a mile and a

half in circumference, was an extended one, it was important to us to concentrate our comparatively small

defending force as much as possible. But, as it was impossible for us to dictate in what way we should be

attacked, we had to make the best of it, and accordingly sent orders to the various regiments to prepare to

Slowly, and without the slightest appearance of haste or excitement, the three columns crept on. When within

about five hundred yards of us, the main or centre column halted at the root of a tongue of open plain which

ran up into the hill, to enable the other two to circumvent our position, which was shaped more or less in the

form of a horseshoe, the two points being towards the town of too, their object being, no doubt, that the

"Oh, for a gatling!" groaned Good, as he contemplated the serried phalanxes beneath us. "I would clear the

"We have not got one, so it is no use yearning for it; but suppose you try a shot, Quatermain; see how near

you can go to that tall fellow who appears to be in command. Two to one you miss him, and an even

sovereign, to be honestly paid if ever we get out of this, that you don't drop the ball within ten yards."

This piqued me, so, loading the express with solid ball, I waited till my friend walked some ten yards out

from his force, in order to get a better view of our position, accompanied only by an orderly, and then lying

down and resting the express upon a rock, I covered him. The rifle, like all expresses, was only sighted to

three hundred and fifty yards, so, to allow for the drop in trajectory, took him halfway down the neck, which

ought, I calculated, to find him in the chest. He stood quite still and gave me every opportunity, but whether it

was the excitement or the wind, or the fact of the man being a long shot, I don't know, but this was what

happened. Getting dead on, as I thought, a fine sight, I pressed, and when the puff of smoke had cleared away

I, to my disgust, saw my man standing unharmed, while his orderly, who was at least three paces to the left,

was stretched upon the ground, apparently dead. Turning swiftly, the officer I had aimed at began to run

This made me very angry, for if possible to avoid it, I hate to miss in public. When one can only do one thing

well, one likes to keep up one's reputation in that thing. Moved quite out of myself at my failure, I did a rash

thing. Rapidly covering the general as he ran, I let drive with the second barrel. The poor man threw up his

arms and fell forward on his face. This time I had made no mistake; andI say it as a proof of how little we

think of others when our own pride or reputation are in questionI was brute enough to feel delighted at the

The regiments who had seen the feat cheered wildly at this exhibition of the white man's magic, which they

took as an omen of success, while the force to which the general had belongedwhich, indeed, as we

afterwards ascertained, he had commandedbegan to fall back in confusion. Sir Henry and Good now took

up their rifles and began to fire, the latter industriously "browning" the dense mass before him with a

Winchester repeater, and I also had another shot or two, with the result that, so far as we could judge, we put

Just as we stopped firing there came an ominous roar from our far right, then a similar roar from our left. The

At the sound the mass of men before us opened out a little, and came on towards the hill up the spit of bare

grassland at a slow trot, singing a deep throated song as they advanced. We kept up a steady fire from our

rifles as they came, Ignosi joining in occasionally, and accounted for several men, but of course produced no

more effect upon that mighty rush of armed humanity than he who throws pebbles does on the advancing

On they came, with a shout and the clashing of spears; now they were driving in the outposts we had placed

among the rocks at the foot of the hill. After that the advance was a little slower, for though as yet we had

offered no serious opposition, the attacking force had to come up hill, and came slowly to save their breath.

Our first line of defence was about halfway up the side, our second fifty yards farther back, while our third

_i_ Twala! Twala! Chiele'! Chiele'! _i_ (Twala! Twala! Smite! smite!). _i_ "Ignosi! Ignosi! Chiele'! Chiele'!

_i_" answered our people. They were quite close now, and the tollas, or throwing knives, began to flash

To and fro swayed the mass of struggling warriors, men falling thick as leaves in an autumn wind; but before

long the superior weight of the attacking force began to tell, and our first line of defence was slowly pressed

back, till it merged into the second. Here the struggle was very fierce, but again our people were driven back

and up, till at length, within twenty minutes of the commencement of the fight, our third line came into

But by this time the assailants were much exhausted, and had, besides, lost many men killed and wounded,

and to break through that third impenetrable hedge of spears proved beyond their powers. For a while the

dense mass of struggling warriors swung backward and forward in the fierce ebb and flow of battle, and the

issue was doubtful. Sir Henry watched the desperate struggle with a kindling eye, and then without a word he

rushed off, followed by Good, and flung himself into the hottest of the fray. As for myself, I stopped where I

The soldiers caught sight of his tall form as he plunged into the battle, and there rose a cry of

From that moment the issue was no longer in doubt. Inch by inch, fighting with desperate gallantry, the

attacking force was pressed hack down the hillside, till at last it retreated upon its reserves in something like

confusion. At that moment, too, a messenger arrived to say that the left attack had been repulsed, and I was

just beginning to congratulate myself that the affair was over for the present, when, to our horror, we

perceived our men who had been engaged in the right defence being driven towards us across the plain,

Ignosi, who was standing by me, took in the situation at a glance, and issued a rapid order. Instantly the

Again Ignosi gave a word of command, which was taken up and repeated by the captains, and in another

second, to my intense disgust, I found myself involved in a furious onslaught upon the advancing foe. Getting

as much as I could behind Ignosi's huge frame, I made the best of a bad job, and toddled along to be killed, as

though I liked it. In a minute or twothe time seemed all too short to me we were plunging through the

flying groups of our men, who at once began to reform behind us, and then I am sure I do not know what

happened. All I can remember is a dreadful rolling noise of the meeting of shields, and the sudden apparition

of a huge ruffian, whose eyes seemed literally to be starting out of his head, making straight at me with a

bloody spear. But I say it with prideI rose to the occasion. It was an occasion before which most

people would have collapsed once and for all. Seeing that if I stood where I was I must be done for, I as

the horrid apparition came, flung myself down in front of himso cleverly that, being unable to stop

himself, he took a header right over my prostrate form. Before he could rise again I had risen and settled the

Shortly after this somebody knocked me down, and I remember no more of the charge.

When I came to I found myself back at the koppie, with Good bending over me with some water in a gourd.

"Thank Heaven! when I saw them carry you in I felt quite sick; I thought you were done for."

"Not this time, my boy. I fancy I only got a rap on the head, which knocked me out of time. How has it

"They are repulsed at every point for the time. The loss is dreadfully heavy; we have lost quite two thousand

killed and wounded, and they must have lost three. Look, there's a sight!" and he pointed to long lines of men

advancing by fours. In the centre of, and being borne by, each group of four was a kind of hide tray, of which

a Kukuana force always carried a quantity, with a loop for a handle at each corner. On these traysand their

number seemed endlesslay wounded men, who as they arrived were hastily examined by the

medicinemen, of whom ten were attached to each regiment. If the wound was not of a fatal character, the

sufferer was taken away and attended to as carefully as circumstances would allow. But if, on the other hand,

the wounded man's condition was hopeless, what followed was very dreadful, though doubtless it was the

truest mercy. One of the doctors, under pretence of carrying out an examination, swiftly opened an artery

with a sharp knife, and in a minute or two the sufferer expired painlessly. There were many cases that day in

which this was done. In fact, it was done in most cases when the wound was in the body, for the gash made

by the entry of the enormously broad spears used by the Kukuanas generally rendered recovery hopeless. In

most cases the sufferers were already tin, conscious, and in others the fatal "nick" of the artery was done so

swiftly and painlessly that they did not seem to notice it. Still it was a ghastly sight, and one from which we

were glad to escape; indeed, I never remember one which affected me more than seeing those gallant soldiers

thus put out of pain by the redhanded medicinemen, except, indeed, on an occasion when, after an attack, I

Hurrying from this dreadful scene to the farther side of the koppie, we found Sir Henry (who still held a

bloody battleaxe in his hand), Ignosi, Infadoos, and one or two of the chiefs in deep consultation.

"Thank heavens, here you are, Quatermain! I can't make out what Ignosi wants to do. It seems that, though

we have beaten off the attack, Twala is now receiving large reinforcements, and is showing a disposition to

"My lord, that is so," said Infadoos; "the spring cannot supply the wants of so great a multitude, and is failing

rapidly. Before night we shall all be thirsty. Listen, MacumazahnThou art wise, and hast doubtless seen

many wars in the lands from whence thou camest that is if, indeed,they make wars in the stars. Now tell

us, what shall we do? Twala has brought up many fresh men to take the place of those who have fallen. But

Twala has learned a lesson; the hawk did not think to find the heron ready; but our beak has pierced his

breast; he will not strike at us again. We, too, are wounded, and he will wait for us to die; he will wind

"So, Macumazahn, thou seest we have no water here, and but a little food, and we must choose between these

three things to languish like a starving lion in his den, or to strive to break away towards the north,

or"and here he rose and pointed towards the dense mass of our foes"to launch ourselves straight at

Twala's throat. Incubu, the great warrior for today he fought like a buffalo in a net, and Twala's soldiers

went down before his axe like corn before the hail; with these eyes I saw it Incubu says 'charge'; but the

Elephant is ever prone to charge. Now what says Macumazahn, the wily old fox, who has seen much and

loves to bite his enemy from behind? The last word is in Ignosi, the king, for it is a king's right to speak of

war; but let us hear thy voice, O Macumazahn, who watchest by night, and the voice too of him of the

"Nay, my father," answered our quondam servant, who now, clad as he was in the full panoply of savage war,

looked every inch a warrior king, "do thou speak, and let me, who am but a child in wisdom beside thee,

Thus abjured, I, after taking hasty counsel with Good and Sir Henry, delivered my opinion briefly to the

effect that, being trapped, our best chance, especially in view of the failure of our water supply, was to initiate

an attack upon Twala's forces, and then I recommended that the attack should be delivered at once, "before

our wounds grew stiff," and also before the sight of Twala's overpowering force caused the hearts of our

soldiers "to wax small like fat before a fire." Otherwise, I pointed out, some of the captains might change

their minds, and, making peace with Twala, desert to him, or even betray us into his hands.

This expression of opinion seemed, on the whole, to be favorably received; indeed, among the Kukuanas my

utterances met with a respect which has never been accorded to them before or since. But the real decision as

to our course lay with Ignosi, who, since he had been recognized as rightful king, could exercise the almost

unbounded rights of sovereignty, including, of course, the final decision on matters of generalship, and it was

At length, after a pause, during which he appeared to be thinking deeply, he spoke:

"Incubu, Macumazahn, and Bougwan, brave white men, and my friends; Infadoos, my uncle, and chiefs; my

heart is fixed. I will strike at Twala this day, and set my fortunes on the blow, ay, and my life; my life and

your lives also. Listen: thus will I strike. Ye see how the hill curves round like the halfmoon, and how the

"Good; it is now midday, and the men eat and rest after the toil of battle. When the sun has turned and

travelled a little way towards the dark, let thy regiment, my uncle, advance with one other down to the green

tongue. And it shall be that when Twala sees it he shall hurl his force at it to crush it. But the spot is narrow,

and the regiments can come against thee one at a time only; so shall they be destroyed one by one, and the

eyes of all Twala's army shall be fixed upon a struggle the like of which has not been seen by living man.

And with thee, my uncle, shall go Incubu, my friend, that when Twala sees his battleaxe flashing in the first

rank of the 'Grays' his heart may grow faint. And I will come with the second regiment, that which follows

thee, so that if ye are destroyed, as it may happen, there may yet be a king left to fight for; and with me shall

"It is well, O King," said Infadoos, apparently contemplating the certainty of the complete annihilation of his

regiment with perfect calmness. Truly these Kukuanas are a wonderful people. Death has no terrors for them

"And while the eyes of the multitude of Twala's regiments are thus fixed upon the fight," went on Ignosi,

"behold, one third of the men who are left alive to us" (i.e., about six thousand) "shall creep along the right

horn of the hill and fall upon the left flank of Twala's force, and one third shall creep along the left horn and

fall upon Twala's right flank. And when I see that the horns are ready to toss Twala, then will I, with the men

who are left to me, charge home in Twala's face, and if fortune goes with us the day will be ours, and before

Night drives her horses from the mountains to the mountains we shall sit in peace at Loo. And now let us. eat

and make ready; and, Infadoos, do thou prepare, that the plan be carried out; and stay, let my white father,

Bougwan go with the right horn, that his shining eye may give courage to the men."

The arrangements for the attack thus briefly indicated were set in motion with a rapidity that spoke well for

the perfection of the Kukuana military system. Within little more than an hour rations had been served out to

the men and devoured, the three divisions were formed, the plan of attack explained to the leaders, and the

whole force, with the exception of a guard left with the wounded, now numbering about eighteen thousand

"Goodbye, you fellows," he said, "I am off with the right wing, according to orders; and so I have come to

shake hands in case we should not meet again, you know," he added, significantly/

We shook hands in silence, and not without the exhibition of as much emotion as Englishmen are wont to

"It is a queer business," said Sir Henry, his deep voice shaking a little, "and I confess I never expect to see

tomorrow's sun. As far as I can make out, the Grays, with whom I am to go, are to fight until they are wiped

out in order to enable the wings to slip round unawares and outflank Twala. Well, so be it; at any rate, it will

be a man's death! Goodbye, old fellow. God bless you! I hope you will pull through and live to collar the

diamonds; but if you do, take my advice and don't have anything more to do with pretenders!"

In another second Good had wrung us both by the hand and gone; and then Infadoos came up and led off Sir

Henry to his place in the forefront of the Grays, while, with many misgivings, I departed with Ignosi to my

In a few more minutes the regiments destined to carry out the flanking movements had tramped off in silence,

keeping carefully under the lee of the rising ground in order to conceal the movement from the keen eyes of

Half an hour or more was allowed to elapse between the settingout of the horns or wings of the army before

any movement was made by the Grays and the supporting regiments, known as the Buffaloes, which formed

Both of these regiments were almost perfectly fresh, and of full strength, the Grays having been in reserve in

the morning, and having lost but a small number of men in sweeping back that part of the attack which had

proved successful in breaking the line of defence on the occasion when I charged with them and got knocked

silly for my pains. As for the Buffaloes, they had formed the third line of defence on the left, and as the

attacking force at that point had not succeeded in breaking through the second, had scarcely come into action

Infadoos, who was a wary old general, and knew the absolute importance of keeping up the spirits of his men

on the eve of such a desperate encounter, employed the pause in addressing his own regiment, the Grays, in

poetical language; in explaining to them the honor that they were receiving in being put thus in the forefront

of the battle, and in having the great white warrior from the stars to fight with them in their ranks, and in

promising large rewards of cattle and promotion to all who survived in the event of Ignosi's arms being

I looked down the long lines of waving black plumes and stern faces beneath them, and sighed to think that

within one short. hour most, if not all, of those magnificent veteran warriors, not a man of whom was under

forty years of age, would be laid dead or dying in the dust. It could not be otherwise; they were being

condemned, with that wise recklessness of human life that marks the great general, and often saves his forces

and attains his ends, to certain slaughter, in order to give the cause and the remainder of the army a chance of

success. They were foredoomed to die, and they knew it. It was to be their task to engage regiment after

regiment of Twala's army on the narrow strip of green beneath us, till they were exterminated, or till the

wings found a favorable opportunity for their onslaught. And yet they. never hesitated, nor could I detect a

sign of fear upon the face of a single warrior. There they were going to certain death, about to quit the

blessed light of day forever, and yet able to contemplate their doom without a tremor. I could not, even at that

moment, help contrasting their state of mind with my own, which was far from comfortable, and breathing a

sigh of envy and admiration. Never before had I seen such an absolute devotion to the idea of duty, and such

"Behold your king!" ended old Infadoos, pointing to Ignosi; "go fight and fall for him, as is the duty of brave

men, and cursed and shameful forever be the name of him who shrinks from death for his king, or who turns

his back to his enemy. Behold your king! chiefs, captains, and soldiers; now do your homage to the sacred

snake, and then follow on, that Incubu and I may show ye the road to the heart of Twala's forces."

There was a moment's pause, then suddenly there rose from the serried phalanxes before us a murmur, like

the distant whisper of the sea, caused by the gentle tapping of the handles of six thousand spears against their

holders' shields. Slowly it swelled, till its growing volume deepened and widened into a roar of rolling noise,

that echoed like thunder against the mountains, and filled the air with heavy waves of sound. Then it

decreased and slowly died away into nothing, and suddenly out crashed the royal salute.

Ignosi, I thought to myself, might well be a proud man that day, for no Roman emperor ever had such a

Ignosi acknowledged this magnificent act of homage by lifting his battleaxe, and then the Grays filed off in

a triple line formation, each line containing about one thousand fighting men, exclusive of officers. When the

last line had gone some five hundred yards, Ignosi put himself at the head of the Buffaloes, which regiment

was drawn up in a similar threeline formation, and gave the word to march, and off we went, I, needless to

say, uttering the most heartfelt prayers that I might come out of that job with a whole skin. Many a queer

position have I found myself in, but never before in one quite so unpleasant as the present, or one in which

By the time that we reached the edge of the plateau the Grays were already half way down the slope ending

in the tongue of grassland that ran up into the bend of the mountain, something as the frog of a horse's foot

runs up into the shoe. The excitement in Twala's camp on the plain beyond was very great, and regiment after

regiment was starting forward at a long swinging trot in order to reach the root of the tongue of land before

This tongue of land, which was some three hundred yards in depth, was, even at its root or widest part, not

more than three hundred and fifty paces across, while at its tip it scarcely measured ninety. The Grays, who,

in passing down the side of the hill and on to the tip of the tongue, had formed in column, on reaching the

spot where it broadened out again reassumed their tripleline formation and halted dead.

Then wethat is, the Buffaloesmoved down the tip of the tongue and took our stand in reserve, about one

hundred yards behind the last line of the Grays, and on slightly higher ground. Meanwhile we had leisure to

observe Twala's entire force, which had evidently been reinforced since the morning attack, and could not

now, notwithstanding their losses, number less than forty thousand, moving swiftly up towards us. But as

they drew near the root of the tongue they hesitated, having discovered that only one regiment could advance

into the gorge at a time, and that there, some seventy yards from the mouth of it, unassailable except in front,

on account of the high walls of boulder strewn ground on either side, stood the famous regiment of Grays,

the pride and glory of the Kukuana army, ready to hold the way against their forces as the three Romans once

held the bridge against thousands. They hesitated, and finally stopped their advance; there was no eagerness

to cross spears with those three lines of grim warriors who stood so firm and ready. Presently, however, a tall

general, with the customary headdress of nodding ostrich plumes, came running up, attended by a group of

chiefs and orderlies, being, I thought, none other than Twala himself, and gave an order, and the first

regiment raised a shout, and charged up towards the Grays, who remained perfectly still and silent until the

attacking troops were within forty yards, and a volley of tollas, or throwing knives, came rattling among

Then suddenly, with a bound and a roar, they sprang forward with uplifted spears, and the two regiments met

in deadly strife. Next second the roll of the meeting shields came to our ears like the sound of thunder and the

whole plain seemed to be alive with flashes of light reflected from the stabbing spears. To and fro swung the

heaving mass of struggling, stabbing humanity, but not for long. Suddenly the attacking lines seemed to grow

thinner, and then with a slow, long heave the Grays passed over them, just as a great wave heaves up and

passes over a sunken ridge. It was done; that regiment was completely destroyed, but the Grays had but two

Closing up shoulder to shoulder once more, they halted in silence and awaited attack; and I was rejoiced to

catch sight of Sir Henry's yellow beard as he moved to and fro, arranging the ranks. So he was yet alive!

Meanwhile we moved up on to the ground of the encounter, which was cumbered by about four thousand

prostrate human beings, dead, dying, and wounded, and literally stained red with blood. Ignosi issued an

order, which was rapidly passed down the ranks, to the effect that none of the enemy's wounded were to be

killed, and, so far as we could see, this order was scrupulously carried out. It would have been a shocking

But now a second regiment, distinguished by white plumes, kilts, and shields, was moving up to the attack of

the two thousand remaining Grays, who stood waiting in the same ominous silence as before, till the foe was

within forty yards or so, when they hurled themselves with irresistible force upon them. Again there came the

awful roll of the meeting shields, and as we watched, the grim tragedy repeated itself. But this time the the

issue was left longer in doubt; indeed it seemed for a while almost impossible that the Grays should again

prevail. The attacking regiment, which was one formed of young men, fought with the utmost fury, and at

first seemed by sheer weight to be driving the veterans back. The slaughter was something awful, hundreds

falling every minute; and from among the shouts of the warriors and the groans of the dying, set to the

clashing music of meeting spears, came a continuous hissing undertone of "_i_ S'gee, s'gee, _i_" the note of

triumph of each victor as he passed his spear through and through the body of his fallen foe.

But perfect discipline and steady and unchanging valor can do wonders, and one veteran soldier is worth two

young ones, as soon became apparent in the present case. For just as we thought that it was all up with the

Grays, and were preparing to take their place so soon as they made room by being destroyed, I heard Sir

Henry's deep voice ringing out above the din, and caught a glimpse of his circling battleaxe as he waved it

high above his plumes. Then came a change; the Grays ceased to give; they stood still as a rock, against

which the furious waves of spearmen broke again and again, only to recoil. Presently they began to move

againforward this time; as they had no firearms there was no smoke, so we could see it all. Another minute

"Ah, they are _i_ men _i_ indeed; they will conquer again," called out Ignosi, who was grinding his teeth

Suddenly, like puffs of smoke from the mouth of a cannon, the attacking regiment broke away in flying

groups, their white headdresses streaming behind them in the wind, and left their opponents victors, indeed,

but, alas! no more a regiment. Of the gallant triple line, which, forty minutes before, had gone into action

three thousand strong, there remained at most some six hundred bloodbespattered men; the rest were under

foot. And yet they cheered and waved their spears in triumph, and then, instead of falling back upon us as we

expected, they ran forward, for a hundred yards or so, after the flying groups of foemen, took possession of a

gently rising knoll of ground, and, resuming the old triple formation, formed a threefold ring around it. And

then, thanks be to God, standing on the top of a mound for a minute, I saw Sir Henry, apparently unharmed,

and with him our old friend Infadoos. Then Twala's regiments rolled down upon the doomed band, and once

As those who read this history will probably long ago have gathered, I am, to be honest, a bit of a coward,

and certainly in no way given to fighting, though, somehow, it has often been my lot to get into unpleasant

positions, and to be obliged to shed man's blood. But I have always hated it, and kept my own blood as

undiminished in quantity as possible, sometimes by a judicious use of my heels. At this moment, however,

for the first time in my life, I felt my bosom burn with martial ardor. Warlike fragments from the "Ingoldsby

Legends," together with numbers of sanguinary verses from the Old Testament, sprang up in my brain like

mushrooms in the dark; my blood, which hitherto had been halffrozen with horror, went beating through my

veins, and there came upon me a savage desire to kill and spare not. I glanced round at the serried ranks of

warriors behind us, and somehow, all in an instant, began to wonder if my face looked like theirs. There they

stood, their heads craned forward over their shields, the hands twitching, the lips apart, the fierce features

instinct with the hungry lust of battle, and in the eyes a look like the glare of a bloodhound when he sights his

Only Ignosi's heart seemed, to judge from his comparative selfpossession, to all appearance, to beat as

calmly as ever beneath his leopardskin cloak, though even he still kept on grinding his teeth. I could stand it

"Are we to stand here till we put out roots, UmbopaIgnosi, I meanwhile Twala swallows our brothers

"Nay, Macumazahn," was the answer; "see, now is the ripe moment; let us pluck it."

As he spoke a fresh regiment rushed past the ring upon the little mound, and, wheeling round, attacked it

'Then, lifting his battleaxe, Ignosi gave the signal to advance, and, raising the Kukuana battlecry, the

What followed immediately on this it is out of my power to tell. All I can remember is a wild yet ordered

rushing, that seemed to shake the ground; a sudden change of front and forming up on the part of the

regiment against which the charge was directed; then the awful shock, a dull roar of voices, and a continuous

When my mind cleared I found. myself standing inside the remnant of the Grays near the top of the mound,

and just behind no less a person than Sir Henry himself. How I got there I had, at the moment, no idea, but

Sir Henry afterwards told me that I was borne up by the first furious charge of the Buffaloes almost to his

feet, and then left, as they in turn were pressed back. Thereon he dashed out of the circle and dragged me into

As for the fight that followed, who can describe it? Again and again the multitudes surged up against our

It was a splendid thing to see those brave battalions come on time. after time over the barriers of their dead,

sometimes holding corpses before them to receive our spearthrusts, only to leave their own corpses to swell

the rising piles. It was a gallant sight to see that sturdy old warrior, Infadoos, as cool as though he were on

parade, shouting out orders, taunts, and even jests, to keep up the spirit of his few remaining men, and then,

as each charge rolled up, stepping forward to wherever the fighting was thickest, to bear his share in repelling

it. And yet more gallant was the vision of Sir Henry, whose ostrich plumes had been torn off by a

spearstroke, so that his long yellow hair streamed out in the breeze behind him.

There he stood, the great Dane, for he was nothing else, his hands, his axe, and his armor all red with blood,

and none could live before his stroke. Time after time I saw it come sweeping down, as some great warrior

ventured to give him battle, and as he struck he shouted, "_i_ Ohhoy! Ohoy! _i_" like his Bersekir

forefathers, and the blow went crashing through shield and spear, through headdress, hair, and skull, till at

last none would of their own will come near the great white "tagati" (wizard), who killed and failed not.

But suddenly there rose a cry of "_i_ Twala, y' Twala _i_" and out of the press sprang forward none other

than the gigantic oneeyed king himself, also armed with battleaxe and shield, and clad in chain armor.

"Where art thou, Incubu, thou white man, who slew Scragga, my sonsee if thou canst kill me!" he shouted,

and at the same time hurled a tolla straight at Sir Henry, who, fortunately, saw it coming, and caught it on his

shield, which transfixed it, remaining wedged in the iron plate behind the hide.

Then with a cry, Twala sprang forward straight at him, and with his battleaxe struck him such a blow upon

the shield that the mere force and shock of it brought Sir Henry, strong man as he was, down upon his knees.

But at the time the matter went no further, for at that instant there rose from the regiments pressing round us

To the right and to the left the plain was alive with the plumes of charging warriors. The outflanking

squadrons had come to our relief. The time could not have been better chosen. All Twala's army had, as

Ignosi had predicted would be the case, fixed their attention on the bloody struggle which was raging round

the remnant of the Grays and the Buffaloes, who were now carrying on a battle of their own at a little

distance, which two regiments had formed the chest of our army. It was not until the horns were about to

close upon them that they had dreamed of their approach. And now, before they could even assume a proper

formation for defence, the outflanking Impis had leaped, like greyhounds, on their flanks.

In five minutes the fate of the battle was decided. Taken on both flanks, and dismayed by the awful slaughter

inflicted upon them by the Grays and Buffaloes, Twala's regiments broke into flight, and soon the whole

plain between us and Loo was scattered with groups of flying soldiers, making good their retreat. As for the

forces that had so recently surrounded us and the Buffaloes, they melted away as though by magic, and

presently we were left standing there like a rock from which the sea has retreated. But what a sight it was!

Around us the dead and dying lay in heapedup masses, and of the gallant Grays there remained alive but

ninetyfive men. More than two thousand nine hundred had fallen in this one regiment, most of them never

"Men," said Infadoos, calmly, as between the intervals of binding up a wound in his arm he surveyed what

remained to him of his corps, "ye have kept up the reputation of your regiment, and this day's fighting will be

spoken of by your children's children." Then he turned round and shook Sir Henry Curtis by the hand. "Thou

art a great man, Incubu," he said, simply; "I have lived a long life among warriors, and known. many a brave

At this moment the Buffaloes began to march past our position on the road to Loo, and as they did so a

message was brought to us from Ignosi requesting Infadoos, Sir Henry, and myself to join him. Accordingly,

orders having been issued to the remaining ninety men of the Grays to employ themselves in collecting the

wounded, we joined Ignosi, who informed us that he was pressing on to Loo to complete the victory by

capturing Twala, if that should be possible. Before we had gone far we suddenly discovered the figure of

Good sitting on an antheap about one hundred paces from us. Close beside him was the body of a Kukuana.

"He must be wounded," said Sir Henry, anxiously. As he made the remark, an untoward thing happened. The

dead body of the Kukuana soldier, or rather what had appeared to be his dead body, suddenly sprang up,

knocked Good head over heels off the antheap, and began to spear him. We rushed forward in terror, and as

we drew near we saw the brawny warrior making dig after dig at the prostrate Good, who at each prod jerked

all his limbs into the air. Seeing us coming, the Kukuana gave one final most vicious dig, and with a shout of

"Take that, wizard," bolted off. Good did not move, and we concluded that our poor comrade was done for.

Sadly we came towards him, and were indeed astonished to find him pale and faint indeed, but with a serene

"Capital armor this," he murmured, on catching sight of our faces bending over him. "How sold he must have

been," and then he fainted. On examination we discovered that he had been seriously wounded in the leg by a

tolla in the course of the pursuit, but that the chain armor had prevented his last assailant's spear from doing

anything more than bruise him badly. It was a merciful escape. As nothing could be done for him at the

moment, he was placed on one of the wicker shields used for the wounded, and carried along with us.

On arriving before the nearest gate of Loo we found one of our regiments watching it in obedience to orders

received from Ignosi. The remaining regiments were in the same way watching the other exits to the town.

The officer in command of this regiment coming up, saluted lgnosi as king, and informed him that Twala's

army had taken refuge in the town, whither Twala himself had also escaped, but that he thought they were

thoroughly demoralized, and. would surrender. Thereupon lgnosi, after taking counsel with us, sent forward

heralds to each gate ordering the defenders to open, and promising on his royal word life and forgiveness to

every soldier who laid down his arms. The message was not without its effect. Presently, amid the shouts and

cheers of the Buffaloes, the bridge was dropped across the fosse, and the gates upon the farther side flung

Taking due precautions against treachery, we marched on into the town. All along the roadways stood

dejected warriors, their heads drooping and their shields and spears at their feet, who, as Ignosi passed,

saluted him as king. On we marched, straight to Twala's kraal. When we reached the great space, where a day

or two previously we had seen the review and the witchhunt, we found it deserted. No, not quite deserted,

for there, on the farther side, in front of his hut, sat Twala himself, with but one attendantGagool.

It was a melancholy sight to see him seated there, his battleaxe and shield by his side, his chin upon his

mailed breast, with but one old crone for companion, and, notwithstanding his cruelties and misdeeds, a pang

of compassion shot through me as I saw him thus "fallen from his high estate." Not a soldier of all his armies,

not a courtier out of the hundreds who had cringed round him, not even a solitary wife, remained to share his

fate or halve the bitterness of his fall. Poor savage! he was learning the lesson that fate teaches to most who

live long enough, that the eyes of mankind are blind to the discredited, and that he who is defenceless and

fallen finds few friends and little mercy. Nor, indeed, in this case did he deserve any.

Filing through the kraal gate, we marched straight across the open space to where the exking sat. When

within about fifty yards the regiment was halted, and, accompanied only by a small guard, we advanced

towards him, Gagool reviling us bitterly as we came. As we drew near, Twala, for the first time, lifted up his

plumed head, and fixed his one eye, which seemed to flash with suppressed fury almost as brightly as the

"Hail, O king!" he said, with bitter mockery; "thou who hast eaten of my bread, and now by the aid of the

white man's magic hast seduced my regiments and defeated mine army, hail! what fate hast thou for me, O

"The fate thou gavest to my father, whose throne thou hast sat on these many years!" was the stern answer.

"It is well. I will show thee how to die, that thou mayest remember it against thine own time. See, the sun

sinks in blood," and he pointed with his red battleaxe towards the fiery orb now going down; "it is well that

my sun should sink with it. And now, O king! I am ready to die, but I crave the boon of the Kukuana royal

house to die fighting. Thou canst not refuse it, or even those cowards who fled today will hold thee

"It is granted. Choosewith whom wilt thou fight? Myself, I cannot fight with thee, for the king fights not

Twala's sombre eye ran up and down our ranks, and I felt, as for a moment it rested on myself, that the

position had developed a new horror. What if he chose to begin by fighting me? What chance should I have

against a desperate savage six feet five high, and broad in proportion? I might as well commit suicide at once.

Hastily I made up my mind to decline the combat, even if I were hooted out of Kukuanaland as a

consequence. It is, I think, better to be hooted than to be quartered with a battleaxe.

"Incubu, what sayest thou, shall we end what we began today, or shall I call thee coward, whiteeven to

Unfortunately Sir Henry understood this remark, and the blood flamed up into his cheeks.

"For God's sake," I entreated, "don't risk your life against that of a desperate man. Anybody who saw you

"I will fight him," was the sullen answer. "No living man shall call me a coward. I am ready now!" and he

I wrung my hands over this absurd piece of Quixotism; but if he was determined on fighting, of course I

"Fight not, my white brother," said Ignosi, laying his hand affectionately on Sir Henry's arm; "thou hast

fought enough, and if aught befell thee at his hands it would cut my heart in twain."

"It is well, Incubu; thou art a brave man. It will be a good fight. Behold. Twala, the Elephant is ready for

The exking laughed savagely, and stepped forward and faced Curtis. For a moment they stood thus, and the

setting sun caught their stalwart frames and clothed them both in fire. They were a wellmatched pair.

Suddenly Sir Henry sprang forward and struck a fearful blow at Twala, who stepped to one side. So heavy

was the stroke that the striker half overbalanced himself, a circumstance of which his antagonist took a

prompt advantage. Circling his heavy battle axe round his head he brought it down with tremendous force.

My heart jumped into my mouth; I thought the affair was already finished. But no; with a quick upward

movement of the left arm Sir Henry interposed his shield between himself and the axe, with the result that its

outer edge was shorn clean off, the axe falling on his left shoulder, but not heavily enough to do any serious

damage. In another second Sir Henry got in another blow, which was also received by Twala upon his shield.

Then followed blow upon blow, which were in turn, either received upon the shield or avoided. The

excitement grew intense; the regiment which was watching the encounter forgot its discipline, and, drawing

near, shouted and groaned at every stroke. Just at this time, too. Good, who had been lad upon the ground by

me, recovered from his faint, and. sitting up. perceived what was going on. In an instant he was up, and,

catching hold of my arm, hopped about from place to place on one leg, dragging me after him, yelling out

"Go it, old fellow!" he hallooed. "That was a good one! Give it him amidships," and so on.

Presently Sir Henry having caught a fresh stroke upon his shield, hit out with all his force. The stroke cut

through Twala's shield and through the tough chain armor behind it, gashing him in the shoulder. With a yell

of pain and fury Twala returned the stroke with interest, and, such was his strength, shore right through the

rhinoceroshorn handle of his antagonist's battleaxe, strengthened as it was with bands of steel wounding

A cry of dismay rose from the Buffaloes as our hero's broad axehead fell to the ground; and Twala, again

raising his weapon, flew at him with a shout. I shut my eyes. When I opened them again, it was to see Sir

Henry's shield lying on the ground, and Sir Henry himself with his great arms twined round Twala's middle.

To and fro they swung, hugging each other like bears, straining with all their mighty muscles for dear life and

dearer honor. With a supreme effort Twala swung the Englishman clean off his feet, and down they came

together, rolling over and over on the lime paving, Twala striking out at Curtis's head with the battleaxe, and

Sir Henry trying to drive the tolla he had drawn from his belt through Twala's armor.

At any rate, dropping the tolla, he made a grab at the axe, which was fastened to Twala's wrist by a strip of

buffalohide, and, still rolling over and over, they fought for it like wildcats, drawing their breath in heavy

gasps. Suddenly the hide string burst, and then, with a great effort, Sir Henry freed himself, the weapon

remaining in his grasp. Another second and he was up on his feet, the red blood streaming from the wound in

his face, and so was Twala. Drawing the heavy tolla from his belt, he staggered straight at Curtis and struck

him upon the breast. The blow came home true and strong, but whoever it was made that chain armor

understood his art, for it withstood the steel. Again Twala struck out with a savage yell, and again the heavy

knife rebounded and Sir Henry went staggering back. Once more Twala came on, and as he came our great

Englishman gathered himself together, and, swinging the heavy axe round his head, hit at him with all his

force. There was a shriek of excitement from a thousand throats, and behold! Twala's head seemed to spring

from his shoulders, and then fell and came rolling and bounding along the ground towards Ignosi, stopping

just at his feet. For a second the corpse stood upright, the blood spouting in fountains from the severed

arteries; then with a dull crash it fell to the earth, and the gold torque from the neck went rolling away across

the pavement. As it did so Sir Henry, overpowered by faintness and loss of blood, fell heavily across it.

In a second he was lifted up, and eager hands were pouring water on his face. Another minute, and the great

Then I, just as the sun sank, stepping to where Twala's head lay in the dust, unloosed the diamond from the

Ignosi bound the diadem upon his brows, and then advancing placed his foot upon the broad chest of his

headless foe and broke out into a chant, or rather a paean of victory, so beautiful, and yet so utterly savage,

that I despair of being able to give an adequate idea of it. I once heard a scholar with a fine voice read aloud

from the Greek poet Homer, and I remember that the sound of the rolling lines seemed to make my blood

stand still. Ignosi's chant, uttered as it was in a language as beautiful and sonorous as the old Greek, produced

exactly the same effect on me, although I was exhausted with toil and many emotions.

"Now," he began, "now is our rebellion swallowed up in victory, and our evil doing justified by strength.

"In the morning the oppressors rose up and shook themselves; they bound on their plumes and made them

"They rose up and grasped their spears; the soldiers called to the captains, 'Come, lead us and the captains

"Their plumes covered the earth as the plumes of a bird cover her nest; they shook their spears and shouted,

yea, they hurled their spears into the sunlight; they lusted for the battle and were glad. "They came up against

me; their strong ones came running swiftly to crush me; they cried, 'Ha! ha! he is as one already dead.'

"Then breathed I on them, and my breath was as the breath of a storm, and lo! they were not.

"My lightnings pierced them; I licked up their strength with the lightning of my spears; I shook them to the

"They are food for the crows and the foxes, and the place of battle is fat with their blood.

"Where are the proud ones who tossed their plumes and cried, 'He is as one already dead'?

"They bow their heads, but not in sleep; they are stretched out, but not in sleep.

"They are forgotten; they have gone into the blackness, and shall not return; yea, others shall lead away their

"Behold! far have I wandered in the nighttime, yet have I returned to my little ones at the daybreak.

"Creep ye under the shadow of my wings, O people, and I will comfort ye, and ye shall not be dismayed.

"Now shall Evil cover up her face, and prosperity shall bloom in the land like a lily.

"Rejoice, rejoice, my people! let all the land rejoice in that the tyranny is trodden down, in that I am the

Thus it was that my prophecy to the herald came true, and within the forty eight hours Twala's headless

AFTER the fight was ended Sir Henry and Good were carried into Twala's hut, where I joined them. They

were both utterly exhausted by exertion and loss of blood, and, indeed, my own condition was little better. I

am very wiry, and can stand more fatigue than most men, probably on account of my light weight and long

training; but that night I was fairly done up, and, as is always the case with me when exhausted, that old

wound the lion gave me began to pain me. Also my. head was aching violently from the blow I had received

in the morning, when I was knocked senseless. Altogether, a more miserable trio than we were that evening it

would have been difficult to discover; and our only comfort lay in the reflection that we were exceedingly

fortunate to be there to feel miserable, instead of being stretched dead upon the plain, as so many thousands

of brave men were that night, who had risen well and strong in the morning. Somehow, with the assistance of

the beautiful Foulata, who, since we had been the means of saving her life, had constituted herself our

handmaiden, and especially Good's, we managed to get off the chain shirts, which had certainly saved the

lives of two of us that day, when we found that the flesh underneath was terribly bruised, for though the steel

links had prevented the weapons from entering, they had not prevented them from bruising. Both Sir Henry

and Good were a mass of bruises, and I was by no means free. As a remedy Foulata brought us some pounded

green leaves with an aromatic odor, which, when applied as a plaster, gave us considerable relief. But though

the bruises were painful, they did not give us such anxiety as Sir Henry's and Good's wounds. Good had a

hole right through the fleshy part of his "beautiful white leg," from which he had lost a great deal of blood;

and Sir Henry had a deep cut over the jaw, inflicted by Twala's battleaxe. Luckily Good was a very decent

surgeon, and as soon as his small box of medicines was forthcoming, he, having thoroughly cleansed the

wounds, managed to stitch up first Sir Henry's and then his own pretty satisfactorily, considering the

imperfect light given by the primitive Kukuana lamp in the hut. Afterwards he plentifully smeared the

wounds with some antiseptic ointment, of which there was a pot in the little box, and we covered them with

Meanwhile Foulata had prepared us some strong broth, for we were too weary to eat. This we swallowed, and

then threw ourselves down on the piles of magnificent karosses, or fur rags, which were scattered about the

dead king's great hut. By a very strange instance of the irony of fate, it was on Twala's own couch, and

wrapped in Twala's own particular kaross, that Sir Henry, the man who had slain him, slept that night.

I say slept; but after that day's work sleep was indeed difficult. To begin with, in very truth the air was full

From every direction came the sound of the wailing of women whose husbands, sons, and brothers had

perished in the fight. No wonder that they wailed, for over twenty thousand men, or nearly a third of the

Kukuana army, had been destroyed in that awful struggle. It was heartrending to lie and listen to their cries

for those who would never return; and it made one realize the full horror of the work done that day to further

man's ambition. Towards midnight, however, the ceaseless crying of the women grew less frequent, till at

length the silence was only broken at intervals of a few minutes by a long, piercing howl that came from a hut

in our immediate rear, and which I afterwards discovered proceeded from Gagool wailing for the dead king,

After that I got a little fitful sleep, only to awake from time to time with a start, thinking that I was once more

an actor in the terrible events of the last twentyfour hours. Now I seemed to see that warrior, whom my hand

had sent to his last account, charging at me on the mountaintop; now I was once more in that glorious ring

of Grays, which made its immortal stand against all Twala's regiments, upon the little mound; and now again

I saw Twala's plumed and gory head roll past my feet with gnashing teeth and glaring eye. At last, somehow

or other, the night passed away; but when dawn broke I found that my companions had slept no better than

myself. Good, indeed, was in a high fever, and very soon afterwards began to grow light headed, and also,

to my alarm, to spit blood, the result, no doubt, of some internal injury inflicted by the desperate efforts made

by the Kukuana warrior on the previous day to get his big spear through the chain armor. Sir Henry, however,

seemed pretty fresh, notwithstanding the wound on his face, which made eating difficult and laughter an

About eight o'clock we had a visit from Infadoos, who seemed but little the worsetough old warrior that he

was for his exertions on the previous day, though he informed us he had been up all night. He was delighted

to see us, though much grieved at Good's condition, and shook hands cordially; but I noticed that he

addressed Sir Henry with a kind of reverence, as though he were something more than man; and indeed, as

we afterwards found out, the great Englishman was looked on throughout Kukuanaland as a supernatural

being. No man, the soldiers said, could have fought as he fought, or could, at the end of a day of such toil and

bloodshed, have slain Twala, who, in addition to being the king, was supposed to be the strongest warrior in

Kukuanaland, in single combat, sheering through his bullneck at a stroke. Indeed, that stroke became

proverbial in Kukuanaland, and any extraordinary blow or feat of strength was thenceforth known as

Infadoos told us also that all Twala's regiments had submitted to Ignosi, and that like submissions were

beginning to arrive from chiefs in the country. Twala's death at the hands of Sir Henry had put an end to all

further chance of disturbance; for Scragga had been his, only son, and there was no rival claimant left alive.

I remarked that Ignosi had swum to the throne through blood. The old chief shrugged his shoulders. "Yes," he

answered; "but the Kukuana people can only be kept cool by letting the blood flow sometimes. Many were

killed, indeed, but the women were left, and others would soon grow up to take the places of the fallen. After

Afterwards, in the course of the morning, we had a short visit from Ignosi, on whose brows the royal diadem

was now bound. As I contemplated him advancing with kingly dignity, an obsequious guard following his

steps, I could not help recalling to my mind the tall Zulu who had presented himself to us at Durban some

few months back, asking to be taken into our service, and reflecting on the strange revolutions of the wheel of

"YES, Macumazahn. King at last, by the grace of your three right hands," was the ready answer.

All was, he said, going on well; and he hoped to arrange a great feast in two weeks' time, in order to show

"She is the evil genius of the land," he answered, "and I shall kill her, and all the witchdoctors with her! She

has lived so long that none can remember when she was not old, and always she it is who has trained the

"Yet she knows much," I replied; "it is easier to destroy knowledge, Ignosi, than to gather it."

"It is so," he said, thoughtfully. "She, and she only, knows the secret of the 'Three Witches' yonder, whither

"Yes, and the diamonds are. Forget not thy promise, Ignosi; thou must lead us to the mines, even if thou hast

After Ignosi's visit I went to see Good, and found him quite delirious. The fever from his wound seemed to

have taken a firm hold of his system, and to be complicated by an internal injury. For four or five days his

condition was most critical; indeed, I firmly believe that had it not been for Foulata's indefatigable nursing he

Women are women, all the world over, whatever their color. Yet somehow it seemed curious to watch this

dusky beauty bending night and day over the fevered man's couch, and performing all the merciful errands of

the sick room as swiftly, gently, and with as fine an instinct as a trained hospital nurse. For the first night or

two I tried to help her, and so did Sir Henry so soon as his stiffness allowed him to move, but she bore our

interference with impatience, and finally insisted upon our leaving him to her, saying that our movements

made him restless, which I think was true. Day and night she watched and tended him, giving him his only

medicine, a native cooling drink made of milk, in which was infused the juice of the bulb of a species of

tulip, and keeping the flies from settling on him. I can see the whole picture now as it appeared night after

night by the light of our primitive lamp, Good tossing to and fro, his features emaciated, his eyes shining

large and luminous, and jabbering nonsense by the yard; and seated on the ground by his side, her back

resting against the wall of the hut, the softeyed, shapely Kukuana beauty, her whole face, weary as it was,

animated by a look of infinite compassion or was it something more than compassion?

For three hundred yards or more around Twala's chief hut, where the sufferer lay, there was silence; for by

the king's order all who lived in the habitations behind it had, except Sir Henry and myself, been removed,

lest any noise should come to the sick man's ear. One night, it was the fifth night of his illness, as was my

habit I went across to see how he was getting on before turning in for a few hours.

I entered the hut carefully. The lamp placed upon the floor showed the figure of Good, tossing no more, but

So it had come at last! and in the bitterness of my heart I gave something like a sob.

Then, creeping closer; I saw that he was not dead, but sleeping soundly, with Foulata's taper fingers clasped

tightly in his poor white hand, The crisis had passed, and he would live. He slept like that for eighteen hours;

and I scarcely like to say it, for fear I should not be believed, but during that entire period did that devoted

girl sit by him, fearing that if she moved and drew away her hand it would wake him. What she must have

suffered from cramp, stiffness, and weariness, to say nothing of want of food, nobody will ever know; but it

is a fact that, when at last he woke, she had to be carried awayher limbs were so stiff that she could not

After the turn had once been taken, Good's recovery was rapid and complete. It was not till he was nearly

well that Sir Henry told him of all he owed to Foulata; and when he came to the story of how she sat by his

side for eighteen hours fearing lest by moving she should wake him, the honest sailor's eyes filled with tears.

He turned and went straight to the hut where Foulata was preparing the midday meal (we were back in our

old quarters now), taking me with him to interpret in case he could not make his meaning clear to her, though

I am bound to say she understood him marvellously as a rule, considering how extremely limited was his

"Tell her," said Good, "that I owe her my life, and that I will never forget her kindness."

Turning to him with one of those swift and graceful motions that in her always reminded me of the flight of a

"Nay, my lord; my lord forgets! Did he not save my life, and am I not my lord's handmaiden?"

It will be observed that the young lady appeared to have entirely forgotten the share which Sir Henry and

myself had had in her preservation from Twala's clutches. But that is the way of women! I remember my dear

wife was just the same. I retired from that little interview sad at heart. I did not like Miss Foulata's soft

glances, for I knew the fatal amorous propensities of sailors in general, and Good in particular.

There are two things in the world, as I have found it, which cannot be prevented: you cannot keep a Zulu

It was a few days after this last occurrence that Ignosi held his great "indaba" (council), and was formally

recognized as king by the "indunas" (head men) of Kukuanaland. The spectacle was a most imposing one,

including, as it did, a great review of troops. On this day the remaining fragment of the Grays were formally

paraded, and in the face of the army thanked for their splendid conduct in the great battle. To each man the

king made a large present of cattle, promoting them one and all to the rank of officers in the new corps of

Grays which was in process of formation. An order was also promulgated throughout the length and breadth

of Kukuanaland that, while we honored the country with our presence, we three were to be greeted with the

royal salute, to be treated with the same ceremony and respect that was by custom accorded to the king, and

the power of life and death was publicly conferred upon us. Ignosi, too, in the presence of his people,

reaffirmed the promises that he had made, to the effect that no man's blood should be shed without trial, and

When the ceremony was over we waited upon Ignosi, and informed him that we were now anxious to

investigate the mystery of the mines to which Solomon's Road ran, asking him if he had discovered anything

"My friends," he answered, "this have I discovered. It is there that the three great figures sit, who here are

called the 'Silent Ones,' and to whom Twala would have offered the girl, Foulata, as a sacrifice. It is there,

too, in a great cave deep in the mountain, that the kings of the land are buried; there ye shall find Twala's

body, sitting with those who went before him. There, too, is a great pit which, at some time, long dead men

dug out, mayhap for the stones ye speak of, such as I have heard men in Natal speak of at Kimberley. There,

too, in the Place of Death is a secret chamber, known to none but the king and Gagool. But Twala, who knew

it, is dead, and I know it not, nor know I what is in it. But there is a legend in the land that once, many

generations gone, a white man crossed the mountains, and was led by a woman to the secret chamber and

shown the wealth, but before he could take it she betrayed him, and he was driven by the king of the day back

"The story is surely true, Ignosi, for on the mountain we found the white man," I said.

"Yes, we found him. And now I have promised ye that if ye can find that chamber, and the stones are

"The, stone upon thy forehead proves that they are there," I put in, pointing to the great diamond I had taken

"Mayhap; if they are there," he said, "ye shall have as many as ye can take henceif, indeed, ye would leave

"Then shall she die," said Ignosi, sternly. "I have saved her alive but for this. Stay, she shall choose," and,

In a few minutes she came, hurried along by two guards, whom she was cursing as she walked.

As soon as their support was withdrawn the withered old bundle, for she looked more like a bundle than

anything else, sank into a heap on the floor out of which her two bright, wicked eyes gleamed like a snake's.

"What will ye with me, Ignosi?" she piped. "Ye dare not touch me. If ye touch me I will blast ye as ye sit.

"Thy magic could not save Twala, old shewolf, and it cannot hurt me." was the answer. "Listen: I will this

"Ha! ha!" she piped, "none know but I, and I will never tell thee. The white devils shall go hence

"Die!" she shrieked, in terror and fury; "ye dare not touch me man, ye know not who I am. How old think ye

am I? I knew your fathers, and your fathers' fathers' fathers. When the country was young I was here, when

the country grows old I shall still be here. I cannot die unless I be killed by chance, for none dare slay me."

"Yet will I slay thee. See, Gagool, mother of evil, thou art so old thou canst no longer love thy life: What can

life be to such a hag as thee, who hast no shape, nor form, nor hair, nor teeth hast naught, save wickedness

"Thou fool," shrieked the old fiend, "thou accursed fool, thinkest thou that life is sweet only to the young? It

is not so, and naught thou knowest of the heart of man to think it. To the young, indeed, death is sometimes

welcome, for the young can feel. They love and suffer, and it wrings them to see their beloved pass to the

land of shadows. But the old feel not, they love not, and, ha! they laugh to see another go out into the dark;

ha! ha! they laugh to see the evil that is done under the sun. All they love is life, the warm, warm sun, and the

sweet, sweet air. They are afraid of the cold; afraid of the cold and the dark, ha! ha! ha!" and the old hag

"Cease thine evil talk and answer me," said Ignosi, angrily. "Wilt thou show the place where the stones are, or

wilt thou not? If thou wilt not, thou diest, even now," and he seized a spear and held it over her.

"I will not show it; thou darest not kill me, darest not. He who slays me. will be accursed forever."

Slowly Ignosi brought down the spear till it pricked the prostrate heap of rags.

With a wild yell she sprang to her feet, and then again fell and rolled upon the floor.

"Nay; I will show it. Only let me live, let me sit in the sun and have a bit of meat to suck, and I will show

"It is well. I thought I should find a way to reason with thee. Tomorrow shalt thou go with Infadoos and my

white brothers to the place, and beware how thou failest, for if thou showest it not, then shalt thou slowly die.

"1 will not fail, Ignosi. I always keep my word: _i_ ha! ha! ha! _i_ Once a woman showed the place to a

white man before, and behold evil befell him," and here her wicked eyes glinted. "Her name was Gagool, too.

"Mayhap, mayhap; when one lives long one forgets. Perhaps it was my mother's mother who told me; surely

her name was Gagool, also, But mark, ye will find in the place where the bright playthings are a bag of hide

full of stones. The man filled that bag, but he never took it away. Evil befell him, I say; evil befell him!

Perhaps it was my mother's mother who told me. It will be a merry journeywe can see the bodies of those

who died in the battle as we go. Their eyes will be gone by now, and their ribs will be hollow. Ha! ha! ha!"

IT was already dark on the third day after the scene described in the previous chapter, when we camped in

some huts at the foot of the "Three Witches," as the triangle of mountains was called to which Solomon's

Great Road ran. Our party consisted of our three selves and Foulata, who waited on usespecially on

GoodInfadoos, Gagool, who was borne along in a litter, inside which she could be heard muttering and

cursing all day long, and a party of guards and attendants. The mountains, or rather the three peaks of the

mountains, for the whole mass evidently consisted of a solitary upheaval, were, as I have said, in the form of

a triangle, of which the base was towards us, one peak being on our right, one on our left, and one straight in

front of us. Never shall I forget the sight afforded by those three towering peaks in the early sunlight of the

following morning. High, high above us, up into the blue air, soared their twisted snowwreaths. Beneath the

snow the peaks were purple with heath, and so were the wild moors that ran up the slopes towards them.

Straight before us the white ribbon of Solomon's Great Road stretched away uphill to the foot of the centre

I had better leave the feelings of intense excitement with which we set out on our march that morning to the

imagination of those who read this history. At last we were drawing near to the wonderful mines that had

been the cause of the miserable death of the old Portuguese don, three centuries ago, of my poor friend, his

illstarred descendant, and also, as we feared, of George Curtis, Sir Henry's brother. Were we destined, after

all that we had gone through, to fare any better? Evil befell them, as that old fiend, Gagool, said; would it also

befall us? Somehow, as we were marching up that last stretch of beautiful road, I could not help feeling a

For an hour and a half or more we tramped on up the heatherfringed road, going so fast in our excitement

that the bearers with Gagool's hammock could scarcely keep pace with us, and its occupant piped out to us to

"Go more slowly, white men," she said, projecting her hideous, shrivelled countenance between the curtains,

and fixing her gleaming eyes upon us; "why will ye run to meet the evil that shall befall ye, ye seekers after

treasure?" and she laughed that horrible laugh which always sent a cold shiver down my back, and which for

However, on we went, till we saw before us, and between ourselves and the peak, a vast circular hole with

sloping sides, three hundred feet or more in depth, and quite half a mile round.

"Can't you guess what this is?" I said to Sir Henry and Good, who were staring in astonishment down into the

"Then it is clear that you have never seen the diamond mines at Kimberley. You may depend on it that this is

Solomon's diamond mine; look there," I said, pointing to the stiff blue clay which was yet to be seen among

the grass and bushes which clothed the sides of the pit, "the formation is the same. I'll be bound that if we

went down there we should find 'pipes' of soapy, brecciated rock. Look, too," and I pointed to a series of

worn, flat slabs of rock which were placed on a gentle slope below the level of a watercourse which had in

some past age been cut out of the solid rock; "if those are not tables once used to wash the 'stuff,' I'm a

At the edge of this vast hole, which was the pit marked on the old don's map, the great road branched into two

and circumvented it. In many places this circumventing road was built entirely of vast blocks of stone,

apparently with the object of supporting the edges of the pit and preventing falls of reef. Along this road we

pressed, driven by curiosity to see what the three towering objects were which we could discern from the

hither side of the great hole. As we got nearer we perceived that they were colossi of some sort or another,

and rightly conjectured that these were the three "Silent Ones" that were held in such awe by the Kukuana

people. But it was not until we got quite close that we recognized the full majesty of these "Silent Ones."

There, upon huge pedestals of dark rock, sculptured in unknown characters, twenty paces between each; and

looking down the road which crossed some sixty miles of plain to Loo, were three colossal seated forms

two males and one femaleeach measuring about twenty feet from the crown of the head to the pedestal.

The female form which was nude, was of great though severe beauty, but unfortunately the features were

injured by centuries of exposure to the weather. Rising from each side of her head were the points of a

crescent. The two male colossi were, on the contrary, draped, and presented a terrifying cast of features,

especially the one to. our right, which had the face of a devil. That to our left was serene in countenance, but

the calm upon it was dreadful. It was the calm of inhuman cruelty, the cruelty, Sir Henry remarked, that the

ancients attributed to beings potent for good, who could yet watch the sufferings of humanity, if not with

rejoicing, at least without suffering themselves. The three formed a most aweinspiring trinity, as they sat

there in their solitude and gazed out across the plain forever. Contemplating these "Silent Ones," as the

Kukuanas called them, an intense curiosity again seized us to know whose were the hands that had shaped

them, who was it that had dug the pit and made the road. While I was gazing and wondering, it suddenly

occurred to me (being familiar with the Old Testament) that Solomon went astray after strange gods, the

names of three of whom I remembered"Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidovians, Chemosh the god of the

Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon"and I suggested to my companions that the

"Hum," said Sir Henry, who was a scholar, having taken a high degree in classics at college, "there may be

something in that; Ashtoreth of the Hebrews was the Astarte of the Phoenicians, who were the great traders of

Solomon's time. Astarte, who afterwards was the Aphrodite of the Greeks, was represented with horns like

the halfmoon, and there on the brow of the female figure are distinct horns. Perhaps these colossi were

Before we had finished examining these extraordinary relics of remote antiquity, Infadoos came up, and,

having saluted the "Silent Ones" by lifting his spear, asked us if we intended entering the "Place of Death" at

once, or if we would wait till after we had taken food at midday. If we were ready to go at once, Gagool had

announced her willingness to guide us. As it was not more than eleven o'clock, wedriven to it by a burning

curiosity announced our intention of proceeding at once, and I suggested that, in case we should be

detained in the cave, we should take some food with us. Accordingly Gagool's litter was brought up, and that

lady herself assisted out of it; and meanwhile Foulata, at my request, stored some biltong, or dried game

flesh, together with a couple of gourds of water in a reed basket. Straight in front of us, at a distance of some

fifty paces from the hacks of the colossi, rose a sheer wall of rock, eighty feet or more in height, that

gradually sloped up till it formed the base of the lofty snow wreathed peak which soared up into the air three

thousand feet above us. As soon as she was clear of her hammock Gagool cast one evil grin upon us, and

then, leaning on a stick, hobbled off towards the sheer face of the rock. We followed her till we came to a

narrow portal solidly arched, that looked like the opening of a gallery of a mine.

"Now, white men from the stars," she piped; "great warriors, Incubu, Bougwan, and Macumazahn the wise,

are ye ready? Behold, I am here to do the bidding of my lord the king, and to show ye the store of bright

"Good! good! Make strong your hearts to bear what ye shall see. Comes, thou too, Infadoos, who betrayed

Infadoos frowned as he answered: "Nay, I come not; it is not for me to enter there. But thou, Gagool, curb thy

tongue, and beware how thou dealest with my lords. At thy hands will I require them, and if a hair of them be

"I hear, Infadoos; I know thee, thou didst ever love big words; when thou wast a babe I remember thou didst

threaten thine own mother. That was but the other day. But fear not, fear not; I live but to do the bidding of

the king. I have done the bidding of many kings, Infadoos, till in the end they did mine. Ha! ha! I go to look

upon their faces once more, and Twala's, too! Come on, come on, here is the lamp," and she drew a great

"Art thou coming, Foulata?" asked Good in his villainous kitchen Kukuana in which he had been improving

"The deuce you will" thought I to myself; "that will be rather awkward if ever we get out of this."

Without further ado Gagool plunged into the passage, which was wide enough to admit of two walking

abreast, and quite dark, we following her voice as she piped to us to come on, in some fear and trembling,

When we had, as far as we could judge, gone some fifty paces we perceived that the passage was growing

faintly light. Another minute, and we stood in the most wonderful place that the eyes of living man ever lit

Let the reader picture to himself the hail of the vastest cathedral he ever stood in, windowless, indeed, but

dimly lighted from above (presumably by shafts connected with the outer air and driven in the roof, which

arched away a hundred feet above our heads), and he will get some idea of the size of the enormous cave in

which we stood, with the difference that this cathedral designed of nature was loftier and wider than any built

by man. But its stupendous size was the least of the wonders of the place, for, running in rows down its

length were gigantic pillars of what looked like ice, but were, in reality, huge stalactites. It is impossible for

me to convey any idea of the overpowering beauty and grandeur of these pillars of white spar, some of which

were not less than twenty feet in diameter at the base, and sprang up in lofty and yet delicate beauty sheer to

the distant roof. Others again were in process of formation. On the rock floor there was in these cases what

looked, Sir Henry said, exactly like a broken column in an old Grecian temple, while high above, depending

from the roof, the point of a huge icicle could be dimly seen. And even as we gazed we could hear the

process going on, for presently with a tiny splash a drop of water would fall from the far off icicle on to the

column below. On some columns the drops only fell once in two or three minutes, and in these cases it would

form an interesting calculation to discover how long, at that rate of dripping, it would take to form a pillar,

say eighty feet high by ten in diameter. That the process was, in at least one instance, incalculably slow, the

following instance will suffice to show. Cut on one of these pillars we discovered a rude likeness of a

mummy, by the head of which sat what appeared to be one of the Egyptian gods, doubtless the handiwork of

some oldworld laborer in the mine. This work of art was executed at about the natural height at which an

idle fellow, be he Phoenician workman or British cad, is in the habit of trying to immortalize himself at the

expense of nature's masterpieces, namely, about five feet from the ground; yet at the time that we saw it,

which _i_ must _i_ have been nearly three thousand years after the date of the execution of the drawing, the

column was only eight feet high, and was still in process of formation, which gives a rate of growth of a foot

to a thousand years, or an inch and a fraction to a century. This we knew because, as we were standing by it,

Sometimes the stalactites took strange forms, presumably where the dropping of the water had not always

been on the same spot. Thus, one huge mass, which must have weighed a hundred tons or so, was in the form

of a pulpit, beautifully fretted over outside with what looked like lace. Others resembled strange beasts, and

on the sides of the cave were fanlike ivory tracings, such as the frost leaves upon a pane.

Out of the vast main aisle there opened here and there smaller caves, exactly, Sir Henry said, as chapels open

out of great cathedrals. Some were large, but one or twoand this is a wonderful instance of how Nature

carries out her handiwork by the same unvarying laws, utterly irrespective of sizewere tiny. One little

nook, for instance, was no larger than an unusually big doll's house, and yet it might have been the model of

the whole place, for the water dropped, the tiny icicles hung, and the spar columns were forming in just the

We had not time, however, to examine this beautiful place as thoroughly as we should have liked to do, for

unfortunately Gagool seemed to be indifferent to stalactites, and only anxious to get her business over. This

annoyed me the more, as I was particularly anxious to discover, if possible, by what system the light was

admitted into the place, and whether it was by the hand of man or of nature that this was done; also if it had

been used in any way in ancient times, as seemed probable. However, we consoled ourselves with the idea

that we would examine it thoroughly on our return, and followed on after our uncanny guide.

On she led us, straight to the top of the vast and silent cave, where we found another doorway, not arched as

the first was, but square at the top, something like the doorways of Egyptian temples.

"Are ye prepared to enter the Place of Death?" asked Gagool, evidently with a view to making us feel

"Lead on, Macduff," said Good, solemnly, trying to look as though he was not at all alarmed, as indeed did

"This is getting rather ghastly," said Sir Henry, peeping into the dark doorway. "Come on, Quatermain_i_

seniores priores _i_. Don't keep the old lady waiting!" and he politely made way for me to lead the van, for

Tap, tap, went old Gagool's stick down the passage, as she trotted along, chuckling hideously; and, still

Thus adjured, I started down the passage, and after about twenty paces found myself in a gloomy apartment

some forty feet long by thirty broad and thirty high, which in some past age had evidently been hollowed, by

handlabor, out of the mountain. This apartment was not nearly so well lighted as the vast stalactite

antecave, and at the first glance all I could make out was a massive stone table running its length, with a

colossal white figure at its head, and lifesized white figures all round it. Next I made out a brown thing,

seated on the table in the centre, and in another moment my eyes grew accustomed to the light, and I saw

what all these things were, and I was tailing out of it as hard as my legs would carry me. I am not a nervous

man, in a general way, and very little troubled with superstitions, of which I have lived to see the folly; but I

am free to own that that sight quite upset me, and had it not been that Sir Henry caught me by the collar and

held me, I do honestly believe that in another five minutes I should have been outside that stalactite cave, and

that the promise of all the diamonds in Kimberley would not have induced me to enter it again. But he held

me tight, so I stopped because I could not help myself. But next second his eyes got accustomed to the light,

too, and he let go of me and began to mop the perspiration off his forehead. As for Good, he swore feebly,

It _i_ was _i_ a ghastly sight. There at the end of the long stone table, holding in his skeleton fingers a great

white spear, sat _i_ Death _i_ himself, shaped in the form of a colossal human skeleton, fifteen feet or more

in height. High above his head he held the spear, as though in the act of striking; one bony hand rested on the

stone table before him, in the position a man assumes on rising from his seat, while his frame was bent

forward so that the vertebrae of the neck and the grinning, gleaming skull projected towards us and fixed its

hollow eye places upon us, the jaws a little open, as though it were about to speak.

"And what are _i_ those things _i_?" said Good, pointing to the white company round the table.

"And what on earth is _i_ that thing _i_?" said Sir Henry, pointing to the brown creature seated on the table.

"Hee! hee! hee!" laughed Gagool. "To those who enter the Hall of the Dead, evil comes. Hee! hee! hee! ha!"

"Come, Incubu, brave in battle, come and see him thou slewest;" and the old creature caught his coat in her

Presently she stopped and pointed at the brown object seated on the table. Sir Henry looked, and started back

with an exclamation; and no wonder, for there, seated, quite naked, on the table, the head which Sir Henry's

battleaxe had shorn from the body resting on its knees, was the gaunt corpse of Twala, last king of the

Kukuanas. Yes, there, the head perched upon the knees, it sat in all its ugliness, the vertebrae projecting a full

inch above the level of the shrunken flesh of the neck, for all the world like a black double of Hamilton

Tighe. Over the whole surface of the corpse there was gathered a thin, glassy film, which made its appearance

yet more appalling and for which, we were, at the moment, quite unable to account, till we presently observed

that from the roof of the chamber the water fell steadily, _i_ drip! drip! drip! _i_ onto the neck of the corpse,

from whence it ran down over the entire surface, and finally escaped into the rock through a tiny hole in the

table. Then I guessed what it was_i_ Twala's body was being transformed into a stalactite _i_.

A look at the white forms seated on the stone bench that ran around that ghastly board confirmed this view.

They were human forms, indeed, or rather had been human forms; now they were _i_ stalactites _i_. This was

the way in which the Kukuana people had from time immemorial preserved their royal dead. They petrified

them. What the exact system was, if there was any beyond placing them for a. long period of years under the

drip, I never discovered, but there they sat iced over and preserved forever by the silicious fluid. Anything

more aweinspiring than the spectacle of this long line of departed royalties, wrapped in a shroud of icelike

spar, through which the features could be dimly made out (there were twentyseven of them, the last being

Ignosi's father), and seated round that inhospitable board, with Death himself for a host, it is impossible to

imagine. That the practice of thus preserving their kings must have been an ancient one is evident from the

number, which, allowing for an average reign of fifteen years, would, supposing that every king who reigned

was placed herean improbable thing, as some are sure to have perished in battle far from home fix the

date of its commencement at four and a quarter centuries back. But the colossal. Death Who sits at the head

of the board is far older than that, and, unless I am much mistaken, owes his origin to the same artist who

designed the three colossi. He was hewn out of a single stalactite, and, looked at as a work of art, was most

admirably conceived and executed. Good, who understood anatomy, declared that, so far as he could see, the

My own idea is that this terrific object was a freak of fancy on the part of some oldworld sculptor, and that

its presence had suggested to the Kukuanas the idea of placing their royal dead under its awful presidency. Or

perhaps it was placed there to frighten away any marauders who might have designs upon the treasure

chamber beyond. I cannot say. All I can do is to describe it as it is, and the reader must form his own

While we had been engaged in getting over our fright, and in examining the grisly wonders of the place,

Gagool had been differently occupied. Somehow or otherfor she was marvellously active when she

choseshe had scrambled on to the great table and made her way to where our departed friend Twala was

placed under the drip, to see, suggested Good, how he was "pickling," or for some dark purpose of her own.

Then she came hobbling back, stopping now and again. to address a remark (the tenor of which I could not

catch) to one or other of the shrouded forms, just as you or I might greet an old acquaintance. Having gone

through this mysterious and horrible ceremony, she squatted herself down on the table immediately under the

white Death, and began, so far as I could make. out, to offer up prayers to it. The spectacle of this wicked old

creature pouring out supplications (evil ones, no doubt) to the arch enemy of mankind was so uncanny that

"Now, Gagool," said I, in a low voice somehow one did not dare to speak above a whisper in that

"Here is the chamber; let my lords light she placed the gourd full of oil upon the floor, and leaned herself

against the side of the cave. I took out a match, of which we still had a few in a box, and lit the rush wick and

then looked for the doorway, but there was nothing before us but the solid rock.

As she did so, on holding up the lamp we perceived that a mass of stone was slowly rising from the floor and

vanishing into the rock above, where doubtless there was a cavity prepared to receive it. The mass was of the

width of a goodsized door, about ten feet' high and not less than five feet thick. It must have weighed at

least twenty or thirty tons, and was clearly moved upon some simple balance principle, probably the same as

that upon which the opening and shutting of an ordinary modern window is arranged. How the principle was

set in motion, of course none of us saw; Gagool was careful to avoid that; but I have little doubt that there

was some very simple lever, which was moved ever so. little by pressure on a secret spot, thereby throwing

additional weight on to the hidden counterbalances, and causing the whole huge mass to be lifted from the

ground. Very slowly and gently the great stone raised itself, till at last it had vanished altogether, and a dark

Our excitement was so intense, as we saw the way to Solomon's treasure chamber at last thrown open, that I

for one began to tremble and shake. Would it prove a hoax after all, I wondered, or was old Da Silvestra

right? and were there vast hoards of wealth stored in that dark place, hoards which would make us the richest

"Enter, white men from the stars," said Gagool, advancing into the doorway; "but first hear your servant,

Gagaoola the old. The bright stones that ye will see were dug out of the pit over which the Silent Ones are

set, and stored here, I know not by whom. But once has this place been entered since the time that those who

stored the stones departed in haste, leaving them behind. The report of the treasure went down among the

people who lived in the country from age to age, but none knew where the chamber was, nor the secret of the

door. But it happened that a white man reached this country from over the mountains, perchance he too came

'from the stars,' and was well received of the king of the day. He it is who sits yonder, and she pointed to the

fifth king at the table of the dead. And it came to pass that he and a woman of the country who was with him

came to this place, and that by chance the woman learned the secret of the doora thousand years might ye

search, but ye should never find it. Then the white man entered with the woman and found the stones, and

filled with stones the skin of a small goat, which the woman had with her to hold food. And as he was going

from the chamber he took up one more stone, a large one, and held it in his hand." Here she paused.

"Well," I asked, breathless with interest, as we all were, "what happened to Da Silvestra?"

"How knowest thou the dead man's name?" she asked, sharply; and then, without waiting for an answer, went

"None knew what happened; but it came about that the white man was frightened, for he flung down the

goatskin with the stones, and fled out with only the one stone in his hand, and that the king took, and it is the

"None, my lords. Only the secret of the door hath been kept, and every king hath opened it, though he hath

not entered. There is a saying, that those who enter there will die within a moon, even as the white man died

in the cave upon the mountain, where ye found him, Macumazahn. Ha! ha! mine are true words."

Our eyes met as she said it, and I turned sick and cold. How did the old hag know all these things?

"Enter, my lords. If I speak truth the goatskin with the stones will lie upon the floor; and if there is truth as

to whether it is death to enter here, that will ye learn afterwards. Ha! ha! ha!" And she hobbled through the

doorway, bearing the light with her; but I confess that once more I hesitated about following.

"Oh, confound it all!" said Good, "here goes. I am not going to be frightened by that old devil;" and, followed

by Foulata, who, however, evidently did not at all like the job, for she was shivering with fear, he plunged

A few yards down the passage, in the narrow way hewn out of the living rock, Gagool had paused, and was

"See, my lords," she said, holding the light before her, "those who stored the treasure here fled in haste, and

bethought them to guard against any who should find the secret of the door, but had not the time," and she

pointed to large square blocks of stone, which had, to the height of two courses (about two feet three), been

placed across the passage with a view to walling it up. Along the side of the passage were similar blocks

ready for use, and, most curious of all, a heap of mortar and a couple of trowels, which, so far as we had time

to examine them, appeared to be of a similar shape and make to those used by workmen of this day.

Here Foulata, who had throughout been in a state of great fear and agitation, said that she felt faint and could

go no farther, but would wait there. Accordingly we set her down on the unfinished wall, placing the basket

Following the passage for about fifteen paces farther, we suddenly came to an elaborately painted wooden

door. It was standing wide open. Whoever was last there had either not had the time, or had forgotten to shut

_i_ Across the threshold lay a skin bag, formed of a goatskin, that appeared to be lull o! pebbles. _i_ "Hee!

hee! white men," sniggered Gagool, as the light from the lamp fell upon it. "What did I tell ye, that the white

"By Jove! I believe it's full of diamonds," he said, in an awed whisper; and, indeed, the idea of a small

"Go on," said Sir Henry, impatiently. "Here, old lady, give me the lamp," and, taking it from Gagool's hand,

We pressed in after him, forgetful, for the moment, of the bag of diamonds, and found ourselves in Solomon's

At first, all that the somewhat faint light given by the lamp revealed was a room hewn out of the living rock,

and apparently not more than ten feet square. Next there came into sight, stored one on the other as high as

the roof, a splendid collection of elephant tusk. How many of them there were we did not know, for of course

we could not see how far they went back, but there could not have been less than the ends of four or five

hundred tusks of the first quality visible to our eyes. There, alone, was enough ivory before us to make a man

wealthy for life. Perhaps, I thought, it was from this very store that Solomon drew his material for his "great

On the opposite side of the chamber were about a score of wooden boxes, something like MartiniHenry

Sir Henry did so, holding it. close to the top box, of which the lid, rendered rotten by time even in that dry

place, appeared to have been smashed in, probably by Da Silvestra himself. Pushing my hand through the

hole in the lid I drew it out full, not of diamonds, but of gold pieces, of a shape that none of us had seen

"Ah!" I said, replacing the coin, "we sha'n't go back emptyhanded, anyhow. There must be a couple of

thousand pieces in each box, and there are eighteen boxes. I suppose it was the money to pay the workmen

"Well," put in Good, "I think that is the lot; I don't see any diamonds, unless the old Portuguese put them all

"Let my lords look yonder where it is darkest, if they would find the stones," said Gagool, interpreting our

looks. "There my lords will find a nook, and three stone chests in the nook two sealed and one open."

Before interpreting this to Sir Henry, who had the light, I could not resist asking how she knew these things,

"Ah, Macumazahn, who watchest by night," was the mocking answer, "ye who live in the stars, do ye not

"Look in that corner, Curtis," I said, indicating the spot. Gagool had pointed out.

We hurried up to where he was standing in a nook, something like a small bowwindow. Against the wall of

this recess were placed three stone chests, each about two feet square. Two were fitted with stone lids, the lid

"_i_ Look! _i_" he repeated, hoarsely, holding the lamp over the open chest. We looked, and for a moment

could make nothing out, on account of a silvery sheen that dazzled us. When our eyes got used to it we saw

that the chest was threeparts full of uncut diamonds, most of them of considerable size. Stooping, I picked

some up. Yes, there was no mistake about. it, there was the unmistakable soapy feel about them.

"We are the richest men in the whole world," I said. "Monte Cristo is a fool to us."

And we stood with pale faces and stared at each other, with the lantern in the middle, and the glimmering

gems below, as though we were conspirators about to commit a crime, instead of being, as we thought, the

"Hee! hee! hee!" went old Gagool behind us, as she flitted about like a vampire bat. "There are the bright

stones that ye love, white men, as many as ye will; take them, run them through your fingers, _i_ eat _i_ of

There was something so ridiculous at that moment to my mind in the idea of eating and drinking diamonds

that I began to laugh outrageously, an example which the others, followed, without knowing why. There we

stood and shrieked with laughter over the gems which were ours, which had been found for us thousands of

years ago by the patient delvers in the great hole yonder, and stored for us by Solomon's longdead overseer,

whose name, perchance, was written in the characters stamped on the faded wax that yet adhered to the lids

of the chest. Solomon never got them, nor David, nor Da Silvestra, nor anybody else. _i_ We _i_ had got

them; there before us were millions of pounds' worth of diamonds, and thousands of pounds' worth of gold

Suddenly the fit passed off, and we stopped laughing. "Open the other chests, white men," croaked Gagool,

Thus adjured, we set to work to pull up the stone lids on the other two, first not without a feeling of

Hoorah! they were full too, full to the brim; at least the second one was; no wretched Da Silvestra had been

filling goatskins out of that. As for the third chest, it was only about a fourth full, but the stones were all

picked ones; none less than twenty carats, and some of them as large as pigeoneggs. Some of these biggest

ones, however, we could see by holding them up to the light, were a little yellow, "off colored," as they call it

What we did not see, however, was the look of fearful malevolence that old Gagool favored us with as she

crept, crept like a snake, out of the treasure chamber and down the passage towards the massive door of solid

By now we are running down the passage, and this is what the light from the lamp falls on. The door of rock

is slowly closing down; it is not three feet from the floor. Near it struggle. Foulata and Gagool. The red blood

of the former runs to her knees but still the brave girl holds the old witch, who fights like a wildcat. Ah! she

is free! Foulata fails, and Gagool throws herself on the ground, to twist. herself like a snake through the crack

of the closing stone, She is underah, God! too late! too late! The stone nips her, and she yells in agony.

Down, down, it comes, all the thirty tons of it, slowly pressing her old body against the rock below. Shriek

upon shriek, such as we never heard, then a long, sickening _i_ crunch _i_, and the door was shut just as we,

rushing down the passage, hurled ourselves against it. It was all done in four seconds.

Then we turned to Foulata. The poor girl was stabbed in the body, and could not, I saw, live long.

"Ah! Bougwan, I die!" gasped the beautiful creature. "She crept out Gagool; I did not see her, I was faint

and the door began to fall; then she came back, and was looking up the path and I saw her come in through

the slowly falling door, and caught her and held her, and she stabbed me, and I die, Bougwan.

"Poor girl! poor girl!" Good cried; and then, as he could do nothing else, he fell to kissing her.

"Bougwan," she said, after a pause, "is Macumazahn there? it grows so dark, I cannot see."

"Macumazahn, be my tongue for a moment, I pray thee, for Bougwan cannot understand me, and before I go

"Say to my lord, Bougwan, thatI love him, and that I am glad to die because I know that he cannot cumber

his life with such as me, for the sun cannot mate with the darkness, nor the white with the black.

"Say that at times I have felt as though there were a bird in my bosom, which would one day fly hence and

sing elsewhere; even now, though I cannot lift my hand, and my brain grows cold, I do not feel as though my

heart were dying; it is so full of love that could live a thousand years, and yet be young. Say that if I live

again, mayhap I shall see him in the stars, and thatI will search them all, though perchance I should there

still be black and he would still be white. Saynay, Macumazahn, say no more, save that I loveOh, hold

"She is deadshe is dead!" said Good, rising in grief, the tears running down his honest face.

"I mean that you will soon be in a position to join her. _i_ Man, don't you see that we are buried alive? _i_"

Until Sir Henry uttered these words, I do not think the full horror of what had happened had come home to

us, preoccupied as we were with the sight of poor Foulata's end. But now we understood. The ponderous

mass of rock had closed, probably forever, for the only brain which knew its secret was crushed to powder

beneath it. This was a door that none could hope to force with anything short of dynamite in large quantities.

For a few minutes we stood horrified there over the corpse of Foulata. All the manhood seemed to have gone

out of us. The first shock of this idea of the slow and miserable end that awaited us was overpowering. We

saw it all now; that fiend, Gagool, had planned this snare for us from the first. It would have been just the jest

that her evil mind would have rejoiced in, the idea; of the three white men, whom, for some. reason of her

own, she had always hated, slowly perishing of thirst am hunger in the company of the treasure, they had

coveted. I saw the point of that sneer of hers about eating and drinking the diamonds now. Perhaps somebody

had tried to serve the poor old don in the same way, when he abandoned the skin full of jewels.

"This will never do," said Sir Henry hoarsely; "the lamp will soon go out Let us see if we can't find the spring

We sprang forward with desperate energy, and, standing in a bloody ooze began to feel up and down the door

"Depend on it," I said, "it does not work from the inside; if it did Gagool would not have risked trying to

crawl underneath the stone. It was the knowledge of this that made her try to escape at all hazard, curse her."

"At all events," said Sir Henry, with a hard little laugh, "retribution was swift; hers was almost as awful an

end as ours is likely to be. We can do nothing with the door; let us go back to the treasureroom." We turned

and went, and as we did so I perceived by the unfinished wall across the passage the basket of food which

poor Foulata had carried. I took it up and brought it with me back to that accursed treasure chamber that was

to be our grave. Then we went back and reverently bore in Foulata's corpse, laying it on the floor by the

Next we seated ourselves, leaning our backs against the three stone chests of priceless treasures.

"Let us divide the food," said Sir Henry, "so as to make it last as long as possible." Accordingly we did so. I

would, we reckoned, make four infinitesimally small meals for each of us enough, say, to support life for a

couple of days. Besides the biltong, or dried gameflesh, there were two gourds of water, each holding about

We each ate a small portion of the biltong, and drank a sip of water. We had, needless to say, but little

appetite: though we were sadly in need of food: and felt better after swallowing it. Then we got up and made

a systematic examination of the walls of our prison house, in the faint hope of finding some. means of exit,

There was none. It was not probable that there would be one to a treasure chamber.

I drew it out and looked at it. It was six o'clock; we had entered the cave at eleven.

"Infadoos will miss us," I suggested. "If we do not return tonight he will search for us in the morning,

"He may search in vain. He does not know the secret of the door, nor even where it is. No living person knew

it yesterday, except Gagool. Today no one knows it. Even if he found the door he could not break it down.

All the Kukuana army could not break through five feet of living rock. My friends, I see nothing for it but to

bow ourselves to the will of the Almighty. The search for treasure has brought many to a bad end; we shall go

Presently it flared up and showed the whole scene, in strong relief, the great mass of white tusk, the boxes

furl of gold, the corpse of poor Foulata stretched before them, the goatskin full of treasure, the dim glimmer

of the diamonds, and the wild, wan faces of us three white men seated there awaiting death by starvation.

I CAN give no adequate description of the horrors of the night which followed. Mercifully they were to some

extent mitigated by sleep, for even in such a position as ours wearied nature will sometimes assert itself. But

I, at any rate, found it impossible to sleep much. Putting aside the terrifying thought of our impending

doomfor the bravest man on earth might well quail from such a fate as awaited us, and I never had any

great pretensions to be bravethe _i_ silence _i_ itself was too great to allow of it. Reader, you may have

lain awake at night and thought the silence oppressive, but I say with confidence that you can have no idea

what a vivid, tangible thing perfect silence really is. On the surface of the earth there is always some sound or

motion, and though it may in itself be imperceptible, yet does it deaden the sharp edge of absolute silence.

But here there was none. We were buried in the bowels of a huge, snowclad peak. Thousands of feet above

us the fresh air rushed over the white snow, but no sound of it reached us. We were separated by a long

tunnel and five feet of rock even from the awful chamber of the. dead; and the dead make no noise. The

crashing of all the artillery of earth and heaven could not have come to our ears in our living tomb. We were

And then the irony of thesituation forced itself upon me. There around us lay treasures enough to pay off a

moderate national debt, or to build a fleet of ironclads, and yet we would gladly have bartered them all for

the faintest chance of escape. Soon, doubtless, we should be glad to exchange them for a bit of food or a cup

of water, and, after that, even for the speedy close to our sufferings. Truly wealth, which men spend all their

"Good," said Sir Henry's voice at last, and it sounded awful in the intense stillness, "how many matches have

"Strike one, and let us see the time." He did so, and in contrast to the dense darkness the flame nearly blinded

us. It was five o'clock by my watch. The beautiful dawn was now blushing on the snowwreaths far over our

"What is the good of eating?" answered Good; "the sooner we die and get it over the better."

Accordingly we ate and sipped some water, and another period of time passed, when somebody suggested

that it might be as well to get as near to the door as possible and hallo, on the faint chance of somebody

catching a sound outside. Accordingly Good, who, from long practice at sea, has a fine, piercing note, groped

his way down the passage and began, and I must say he made a most diabolical noise. I never heard such

yells; but it might have been a mosquito buzzing for all axe effect it produced.

After a while he gave it up, and came back very thirsty, and had to have some water. After that we gave up

So we all sat down once more against our chests of useless diamonds in that dreadful inaction which was one

of the hardest circumstances of our fate; and I am bound to say that, for my part, I gave way in despair.

Laying my head against Sir Henry's broad shoulder, I burst into tears; and I think I heard Good gulping away

Ah, how good and brave that great man was! Had we been two frightened children, and he our nurse, he

could not have treated us more tenderly. Forgetting his own share of miseries, he did all he could to soothe

our broken nerves, telling stories of men who had been in somewhat similar circumstances and miraculously

escaped; and when these failed to cheer us, pointing out how, after all, it was only anticipating an end that

must come to us all, that it would soon be over, and that death from exhaustion was a merciful one (which is

not true). Then, in a diffident sort of a way, as I had once before heard him do, he suggested that we should

throw ourselves on the mercy of a higher Power, which, for my part, I did with great vigor.

And so somehow the day went as the night had gone (if, indeed, one can use the terms where all was densest

"How is it," said I, "that the air in this place keeps fresh? It is thick and heavy, but it is perfectly fresh."

"Great heavens!" said Good, starting up, "I never thought of that. It can't come through the stone door, for it

is airtight, if ever a door was. It must come from somewhere. If there were no current of air in the place we

It was wonderful what a change this mere spark of hope wrought in us. In a moment we were. all three

groping about the place on our hands and knees, feeling for the slightest indication of a draught. Presently my

ardor received a check. I put my hand on something cold. It was poor Foulata's dead face.

For an hour or more we went on feeling about, till at last Sir Henry and I gave it up in despair, having got

considerably hurt by constantly knocking our heads against tusks, chests, and the sides of the chamber. But

Good still persevered, saying, with an approach to cheerfulness, that it was better than doing nothing.

"I say, you fellows," he said, presently, in a constrained sort of voice, "come here."

"Now listen." He rose and stamped upon the place, and a flame of hope shot up in our hearts. _i_ It rang

With trembling hands I lit a match. I had only three left, and we saw that we were in the angle of the far

corner of the chamber, a fact that accounted for our not having noticed the hollow ring of the place during our

former exhaustive examination. As the match burned we scrutinized the spot. There was a join in the solid

rock floor, and, great heavens! there, let in level with the rock, was a stone ring. We said no word; we were

too excited, and our hearts beat too wildly with hope to allow us to speak. Good had a knife, at the back of

which was one of those hooks that are made to extract stones from horses' hoofs. He opened it, and scratched

away at the ring with it. Finally he got it under, and levered away gently for fear of breaking the hook. The

ring began to move. Being of stone, it had not got set fast in all the centuries it had lain there, as would have

Presently it was upright. Then he got his hands into it and tugged with all his force, but nothing budged.

"Let me try," I said, impatiently, for the situation of the stone, right in the angle of the corner, was such that it

was impossible for two to pull at once. I got hold and strained away, but with no results.

Then Sir Henry tried and failed. Taking the hook again, Good scratched all round the crack where we felt the

"Now, Curtis," he said, "tackle on, and put your back into it; you are as strong as two. Stop," and he took off

a stout black silk handkerchief, which, true to his habits of neatness, he still wore, and ran it through the ring.

"Quatermain, get Curtis round the middle and pull for dear life when I give the word. _i_ Now! _i_

Sir Henry put out all his enormous strength, and Good and I did the same, with such power as nature had

"Heave! heave! it's giving," gasped Sir Henry; and I heard the muscles of his great back cracking. Suddenly

there came a parting sound, then a rush of air, and we were all on our backs on the floor with a great

flagstone on the top of us. Sir Henry's strength had done it, and never did muscular power stand a man in

"Light a match, Quatermain," he said, as soon as we had picked ourselves up and got one breath; "carefully

I did so, and there before us was, God be praised! the _i_ first step of a stone stair _i_.

"Stop!" said Sir Henry; "Quatermain, get the bit of biltong and the water that is left; we may want them."

I went creeping back to our place by the chests for that purpose, and as I was coming away an idea struck me.

We had not thought much of the diamonds for the last twentyfour hours or so; indeed, the idea of diamonds

was nauseous, seeing what they had entailed upon us; but, thought I, I may as well pocket a few in case we

ever should get out of this ghastly hole. So I just stuck my fist into the first chest and filled all the available

pockets of my shooting coat, tapping upthis was a happy thought with a couple of handfuls of big

"I say, you fellows," I sung out, "won't you take some diamonds with you? I've filled my pockets."

As for Good, he made no answer. He was, I think, taking a last farewell of all that was left of the poor girl

who loved him so well. And, curious as it may seem to you, my reader, sitting at home at ease and reflecting

on the vast, indeed, the immeasurable, wealth which we were thus abandoning, I can assure you that if you

had passed some twentyeight hours with next to nothing to eat and drink in that place, you would not have

cared to cumber yourself with diamonds while plunging down into the unknown bowels of the earth, in the

wild hope of escape from an agonizing death. If it had not, from the habits of a lifetime, become a sort of

second nature with me never to leave anything worth having behind if there was the slightest chance of my

being able to carry it away, I am sure I should not have bothered to fill my pockets.

"Come on, Quatermain," said Sir Henry, who was already standing on the first step of the stone stair.

"Mind where you put your feet; there may be some awful hole underneath," said I.

"Much more likely to be another room," said Sir Henry, as he slowly descended, counting the steps as he

When he got to "fifteen" he stopped. "Here's the bottom," he said. "Thank goodness! I think it's a passage.

Good descended next, and I followed last, and on reaching the bottom lit one of the two remaining matches.

By its light we could just see that we were standing in a narrow tunnel, which ran right and left at right angles

to the staircase we had descended. Before we could make out any more the match burned my fingers and

went out. Then arose the delicate question of which way to turn. Of course it was impossible to know what

the tunnel was or where it ran to, and yet to turn one way might lead us to safety, and the other to destruction.

We were utterly perplexed, till suddenly it struck Good that when I had lit the match the draught of the

We took this suggestion, and, feeling along the wall with the hand, while trying the ground before at every

step, we departed from that accursed treasure chamber on our terrible quest. If ever it should be entered again

by living man, which I do not think it will be, he will find a token of our presence in the open chests of

jewels, the empty lamp, and the white bones of poor Foulata. When we had groped our way for about a

quarter of an houralong the passage it suddenly took a sharp turn, or else was bisected by another, which we

followed, only in course of time to be led into a third. And so it went on for some hours. We seemed to be in

a stone labyrinth which led nowhere. What all these passages are, of course I cannot say, but we thought that

they must be the ancient workings of a mine, of which the various shafts travelled hither and thither as the ore

led them. This is the only way in which we could account for such a multitude of passages. At length we

halted, thoroughly worn out with fatigue, and with that hope deferred which maketh the heart sick, and ate up

our poor remaining piece of biltong, and drank our last sip of water, for our throats were like lime kilns. It

seemed to us that we had escaped Death in the darkness of the chamber only to meet him in the darkness of

the tunnels. As we stood, once more utterly depressed, I thought I caught a sound, to which I aired the

attention of the others. It was very faint and very far off, but it was a sound, a faint, murmuring sound, for the

others heard it then, and no words can describe the blessedness of it after all those hours of utter, awful

Off we started again in the direction from which the faint murmur seemed to come, groping our way as

before along the rocky walls. As we went it got more and more audible, till at last it seemed quite loud in the

quiet. On, yet on, now one could distinctly make out the unmistakable swirl of rushing water. And yet how

could there be running water in the bowels of the earth? Now we were quite near to it, and Good, who was

"Go gently, Good," said Sir Henry, "we must he close." _i_ Splash! _i_ and a cry from Good.

"Good! Good! where are you?" we shouted, in terrified distress. To our intense relief, an answer came back in

Hastily I lit the last remaining match. Its faint gleam discovered to us a dark mass of water running at our

feet. How wide it was we could not see, but there, some way out, was the dark form of our companion

Then we heard a splash and a great struggle. Another minute and he had grabbed at and caught Sir Henry's

"My word!" he said, between his gasps, "that was touch and go. If I hadn't caught that rock, and known how

to swim, I should have been done. It runs like a millrace, and I could feel no bottom."'

It was clear that this would not do; so after Good had rested a little, and we had drunk our fill from the water

of the subterranean river, which was sweet and fresh, and washed our faces, which really needed it, as well as

we could, we started from the banks of this African Styx, and began to retrace our steps along the tunnel,

Good dripping unpleasantly in front of us. At length we came to another tunnel leading to our right.

"We may as well take it," said Sir Henry, wearily; "all roads are alike here; we can only go on till we drop."

Slowly, for a long, long while, we stumbled, utterly weary, along this new tunnel, Sir Henry leading now.

We stared with all our eyes, and there, yes, there, far ahead of us, was a faint glimmering spot, no larger than

a cottage windowpane. It was so faint that I doubt if any eyes, except those which, like ours, had for days

With a sort of gasp of hope we pushed on. In five minutes there was no longer any doubt: it _i_ was _i_ a

patch of faint light. A minute more and a breath of real live air was fanning us. On we struggled. All at once

the tunnel narrowed. Sir Henry went on his knees. Smaller yet it grew, till it was only the size of a large fox's

A squeeze, a struggle, and Sir Henry was out, and so was Good, and so was I, and there above us were the

blessed stars, and in our nostrils was the sweet air; then suddenly something gave, and we were all rolling

I caught at something and stopped. Sitting up, I hallooed lustily. An answering shout came from just below,

where Sir Henry's wild career had been stopped by some level ground. I scrambled to him, and found him

unhurt, though breathless. Then we looked for Good. A little way off we found him, too, jammed in a forked

We sat down together there on the grass, and the revulsion of feeling was so great that I really think we cried

for joy. We had escaped from that awful dungeon, that was so near to becoming our grave. Surely some

merciful Power must have guided our footsteps to the jackalhole at the termination of the tunnel (for that is

what it must have been). And see, there on the mountains, the dawn we had never thought to look upon again

Presently the gray light stole down the slopes, and we saw that we were at the bottom, or, rather, nearly at the

bottom, of the vast pit in front of the entrance to the cave. Now we could make out the dim forms of the three

colossi who sat upon its verge. Doubtless those awful passages, along which we had wandered the livelong

night, had originally been, in some way, connected with the great diamond mine. As for the subterranean

river in the bowels of the mountain, Heaven only knows what it was, or whence it flows, or whither it goes. I,

Lighter it grew, and lighter yet. We could see each other now, and such a spectacle as we presented I have

never set eyes on before or since. Gaunt cheeked, holloweyed wretches, smeared all over with dust and

mud, bruised, bleeding, the long fear of imminent death yet written on our countenance, we were, indeed, a

sight to frighten the daylight. And yet it is a solemn fact that Good's eyeglass was still fixed in Good's eye. I

doubt whether he had ever taken it out at all. Neither the darkness, nor the plunge in the subterranean river,

Presently we rose, fearing that our limbs would stiffen if we stopped there longer, and commenced with slow

and painful steps to struggle up the sloping sides of the great pit. For an hour or more we toiled steadfastly up

the blue clay, dragging ourselves on by the help of the roots and grasses with which it was clothed.

At last it was done, and we stood on the great road, on the side of the pit opposite to the colossi.

By the side of the road, a hundred yards off, a fire was burning in front of some huts, and round the fire were

figures. We made towards them, supporting one another, and halting every few paces. Presently, one of the

"Oh, my lords, my lords, it is indeed you come back from the dead!come back from the dead!"

And the old warrior flung himself down before us, and clasped Sir Henry's knees, and wept aloud for joy.

TEN days from that eventful morning found us once more in our old quarters at Loo; and, strange to say, but

little the worse for our terrible experience, except that my stubbly hair came out of that cave about three

shades grayer than it went in, and that Good never was quite the same after Foulata's death, which seemed to

move him very greatly. I am bound to say that, looking at the thing from the point of view of an oldish man

of the world, I consider her removal was a fortunate occurrence, since, otherwise, complications would have

been sure to ensue. The poor creature was no ordinary native girl, but a person of great, I had almost said

stately, beauty, and of considerable refinement of mind. But no amount of beauty or refinement could have

made an entanglement between Good and herself a desirable occurrence; for, as she herself put it, "Can the

I need hardly state that. we never again penetrated into Solomon's treasurechamber. After we had recovered

from our fatigues, a process which took us fortyeight hours, we descended into the great pit in the hope of

finding the hole by which we had crept out of the mountain, but with no success. To begin with, rain had

fallen, and obliterated our spoor; and what is more, the sides of the vast pit were full of antbear and other

holes. It was impossible to say t which of these we owed our salvation. We also, on the day before we started.

back to Loo, made a further examination of the wonders of the stalactite cave, and, drawn by a kind of

restless feeling, even penetrated once more into the Chamber of the Dead; and, passing beneath the spear of

the white Death gazed, with sensations which it would be quite impossible for me to describe at the mass of

rock which had shut us! off from escape, thinking, the while, of the priceless treasures beyond, of the

mysterious old hag whose flattened fragments lay crushed beneath it, and of the fair girl of whose tomb it was

the portal. I say gazed at the "rock," for examine as we would we could find no traces of the join of the

sliding door; nor, indeed, could we hit upon the secret, now utterly lost, that worked it, though we tried for an

hour or more. It was certainly a marvellous bit of mechanism, characteristic, in its massive and yet

inscrutable simplicity, of the age which produced it; and I doubt if the world has such another to show.

At last we gave it up in disgust; though, if the mass had suddenly risen before our eyes, I doubt if we should

have screwed up courage to step over Gagool's mangled remains and once more enter the treasurechamber,

even in the sure and certain hope of unlimited diamonds. And yet I could have cried at the idea of leaving all

that treasure, the biggest treasure probably that has ever in the world's history been accumulated in one spot.

But there was no help for it. Only dynamite could force its way through five feet of solid rock. And so we left

it. Perhaps, in some remote unborn century, a more fortunate explorer may hit upon the "Open Sesame," and

flood the world with gems. But, myself, I doubt it. Somehow, I seem to feel that the millions of pounds'

worth of gems that lie in the three stone coffers will never shine round the neck of an earthly beauty. They

With a sigh of disappointment we made our way back, and next day started for Loo. And yet it was really

very ungrateful of us to be disappointed; for, as the reader will remember, I had, by a lucky thought, taken the

precaution to fill the pockets of my old shootingcoat with gems before we left our prisonhouse. A good

many of these fell out in the course of our roll down the side of the pit, including most of the big ones, which

I had crammed in on the top. But, comparatively speaking, an enormous quantity still remained, including

eighteen large stones ranging from about one hundred to thirty carats in weight. My old shootingcoat still

held enough treasure to make us all, if not millionaires, at least exceedingly wealthy men, and yet to keep

enough stones' each to make the three finest sets of gems in Europe. So we had not done so badly.

On arriving at Loo we were most cordially received by Ignosi, whom we found well, and busily engaged in

consolidating his power and reorganizing the regiments which had suffered most in the great struggle with

He listened with breathless interest to our wonderful story; but when we told him of old Gagool's frightful

"Come hither," he called, to a very old Induna (councillor), who was sitting with others in a circle round the

king, but out of earshot. The old man rose, approached, saluted, and seated himself.

"Not so, my lord the king! She was even as now; old and dried, very ugly, and full of wickedness."

"_i_ Koom! _i_ I go, black puppy, who tore out the old dog's throat. _i_ Koom! _i_"

"Ye see, my brothers," said Ignosi, "this was a strange woman, and I rejoice that she is dead. She would have

let ye die in the dark place, and mayhap afterwards she had found a way to slay me, as she found a way to

slay my father and set up Twala, whom her heart loved, in his place. Now go on with the tale; surely there

After I had narrated all the story of our escape, I, as we had agreed between ourselves that I should, took the

"And now, Ignosi, the time has come for us to bid thee farewell, and start to seek once more our own land.

Behold, Ignosi, with us thou camest a servant, and now we leave thee a mighty king. If thou art grateful to us,

remember to do even as thou didst promise; to rule justly, to respect the law, and to put none to death without

a cause. So shalt thou prosper. Tomorrow, at break of day, Ignosi, wilt thou give us an escort who shall lead

"My heart is sore," he said at last; "your words split my heart in twain. What have I done to ye, Incubu,

Macumazahn, and Bougwan, that ye should leave me desolate? Ye who stood by me in rebellion and battle,

will ye leave me in the day of peace and victory? What will ye: wives? Choose from out the land! A place to

live in? Behold, the land is yours as far as ye can see. The white man's houses? Ye shall teach my people how

to build them. Cattle for beef and milk? Every married man shall bring ye an ox or a cow. Wild game to

hunt? Does not the elephant walk through my forests, and the riverhorse sleep in the reeds? Would ye make

war? My Impis (regiments) wait your word. If there is anything more that I can give, that will I give ye."

"Nay, Ignosi, we want not these things," I answered; "we would seek our own place."

"Now do I perceive," said Ignosi, bitterly, and with flashing eyes, "that it is the bright stones that ye love

more than me, your friend. Ye have the stones; now would ye go to Natal and across the black water and sell

them, and be rich, as it is the desire of a white man's heart to be. Cursed for your sake be the stones, and

cursed he who seeks them. Death shall it be to him who sets foot in the Place of Death to seek them. I have

I laid my hand upon his arm. "Ignosi," I said, "tell us, when thou didst wander in Zululand, and among the

white men in Natal, did not thine heart turn to the land thy mother told thee of, thy native land, where thou

didst see the light, and play when thou wast little, the land where thy place was?"

"I do perceive that thy words are, now as ever, wise and full of reason, Macumazahn; that which flies in the

air loves not to run along the ground; the white man loves not to live on the level of the black. Well, ye must

go, and leave my heart sore, because ye will be as dead to me, since from where ye will be no tidings can

"But listen, and let all the white men know my words. No other white man shall cross the mountains, even if

any may live to come so far. I will see no traders with their guns and rum. My people shall fight with the

spear and drink water, like their forefathers before them. I will have no praying men to put fear of death into

men's hearts, to stir them up against the king, and make a path for the white men who follow to run on. If a

white man comes to my gates I will send him back; if a hundred come, I will push them back; if an army

comes, I will make war on them with all my strength, and they shall not prevail against me. None shall ever

come for the shining stones; no, not an army, for if they come I will send a regiment and fill up the pit, and

break down the white columns in the caves and fill them with rocks, so that none can come even to that door

of which ye speak, and whereof the way to move it is lost. But for ye three, Incubu, Macumazahn, and

Bougwan, the path is always open; for behold, ye are dearer to me than aught that breathes.

"And ye would go. Infadoos, my uncle, and my Induna, shall take thee by the hand and guide thee, with a

regiment. There is, as I have learned, another way across the mountains that he shall show ye. Farewell, my

brothers, brave white men. See me no more, for I have no heart to bear it. Behold, I make a decree, and it

shall be published from the mountains to the mountains, your names, Incubu, Macumazahn, and Bougwan,

shall be as the names of dead kings, and he who speaks them shall die. So shall your memory be preserved in

"Go, now, ere my eyes rain tears like a woman's. At times when ye look back down the path of life, or when

ye are old and gather yourselves together to crouch before the fire, because the sun has no more heat, ye will

think of how we stood shoulder to shoulder in that great battle that thy wise words planned, Macumazahn; of

how thou wast the point of that horn that galled Twala's flank, Bougwan; whilst thou stoodst in the ring of the

Grays, Incubu, and men went down before thine axe like corn before a sickle; ay, and of how thou didst break

the wild bull's (Twala's) strength, and bring his pride to dust. Fare ye well forever, Incubu, Macumazahn, and

He rose, looked earnestly at us for a few seconds, and then threw the corner of his kaross over his head, so as

Next day at dawn we left Loo, escorted by our old friend Infadoos who was heartbroken at our departure,

and the regiment of Buffaloes. Early as the hour was, all the main street of the town was lined with

multitudes of people, who gave us the royal salute as we passed at the head of the regiment, while the women

blessed us as having rid the land of Twala, throwing flowers before us as we went. It really was very

affecting, and not the sort of thing one is accustomed to meet with from natives.

One very ludicrous incident occurred, however, which I rather welcomed, as it gave us something to laugh at.

Just before we got to the confines of the town a pretty young girl, with some beautiful lilies in her hand, came

running forward and presented them to Good (somehow they all seemed to like Good; I think his eyeglass

and solitary whisker gave him a fictitious value), and then said she had a boon to ask.

"Let my lord show his servant his beautiful white legs, that his servant may look on them, and remember

them all her days, and tell of them to her children; his servant has travelled four days' journey to see them, for

"Come, come, my dear fellow," said Sir Henry, "you can't refuse to oblige a lady."

However, in the end he consented to draw up his trousers to the knee, amidst notes of rapturous admiration

from all the women present, especially the gratified young lady, and in this guise he had to walk till we got

Good's legs will, I fear, never be so greatly admired again. Of his melting teeth, and even of his "transparent

As we travelled, Infadoos told us that there was another pass over the mountains to the north of the one

followed by Solomon's Great Road, or rather that there was a place where it was possible to climb down the

wall of cliff that separated Kukuanaland from the desert, and was broken by the towering shapes of Sheba's

breasts. It appeared, too, that rather more than two years previously a party of Kukuana hunters had

descended this path into the desert in search of ostriches, whose plumes were much prized among them for

war headdresses, and that in the course of their hunt they had been led far from the mountains, and were

much troubled by thirst. Seeing, however, trees on the horizon, they made towards them, and discovered a

large and fertile oasis of some miles in extent, and plentifully watered. It was by way of this oasis that he

suggested that we should return, and the idea seemed to us a good one, as it appeared that we should escape

the rigors of the mountain pass, and as some of the hunters were in attendance to guide us to the oasis, from

which they stated, they could perceive more fertile spots far away in the desert.

Travelling easily, on the night of the fourth day's journey we found ourselves: once more on the crest of the

mountain! that separate Kukuanaland from the desert, which rolled away in sandy billows at our feet, and

At dawn on the following day we were led to the commencement of a precipitous descent, by which we were

Here we bade farewell to that true friend and sturdy old warrior, Infadoos, who solemnly wished all good

upon us, and nearly wept with grief. "Never, my lords," he said, "shall mine old eyes see the like of ye again.

Ah! the way that Incubu cut his men down in the battle! Ah! for the sight of that stroke with which he swept

off my brother Twala's head! It was beautiful beautiful! I may never hope to see such another, except

We were very sorry to part from him; indeed, Good was so moved that he gave him as a souvenirwhat do

you think?_i_ an eyeglass _i_. (Afterwards we discovered that it was a spare one.) Infadoos was

delighted, foreseeing that the possession of such an article would enormously increase his prestige, and after

several vain attempts actually succeeded in screwing it into his own eye. Anything more incongruous than the

old Warrior looked with an eyeglass I never saw. Eyeglasses don't go well with leopardskin cloaks and

Then, having seen that our guides were well laden with water and provisions, and having received a

thundering farewell salute from the Buffaloes, we wrung the old warrior's hand, and began our downward

climb. A very arduous business it proved to be, but somehow that evening we found ourselves at the bottom

"Do you know," said Sir Henry that night, as we sat by our fire and gazed up at the beetling cliffs above us, "I

think that there are worse places than Kukuanaland in the world, and that I have spent unhappier times than

the last month or two, though I have never spent such queer ones. Eh ! you fellows?"

As for myself, I reflected that all's well that ends well; but in the course of a long life of shaves I never had

such shaves as those I had recently experienced. The thought of that battle still makes me feel cold all over,

Next morning we started on a toilsome march across the desert, having with us a good supply of water carried

by our five guides, and camped that night in the open, starting again at dawn on the morrow.

By midday of the third day's journey we could see the trees of the oasis of which the guides spoke, and by an

hour before sundown we were once more walking upon grass and listening to the sound of running water.

AND now I come to perhaps the strangest thing that happened to us in all that strange business, and one

I was walking quietly along, some way in front of the other two, down the banks of the stream which ran

from the oasis till it was swallowed up in the hungry desert sands, when suddenly I stopped and rubbed my

eyes, as well I might. There, not twenty yards in front, placed in a charming situation, under the shade of a

species of figtree, and facing to the stream, was a cosey hut, built more or less on the Kaffir principle of

"What the dickens," said I to myself, "can a hut be doing here?" Even as I said it, the door of the hut opened,

and there limped out of it a _i_ white man _i_ clothed in skins, and with an enormous black beard. I thought

that I must have got a touch of the sun. It was impossible. No hunter ever came to such a place as this.

Certainly no hunter would ever settle in it. I stared and stared, and so did the other man, and just at that

Sir Henry looked, and Good looked, and then all of a sudden the lame white man with the black beard gave a

great cry, and came hobbling towards us. When he got close he fell down in a sort of faint.

At the sound of the disturbance another figure, also clad in skins, emerged from the hut with a gun in his

"Macumazahn," he hallooed, "don't you know me, Baas? I'm Jim, the hunter. I lost the note you gave me to

give to the Baas, and we have been here nearly two years." And the fellow fell at my feet and rolled over and

Meanwhile the man with the black beard had recovered and got up, and he and Sir Henry were

pumphandling away at each other, apparently without a word to say. But whatever they had quarrelled about

in the past (I suspect it was a lady, though I never asked), it was evidently forgotten now.

"My dear old fellow," burst out Sir Henry at last, "I thought that you were dead. I have been over Solomon's

Mountains to find you, and now I come across you perched in the desert, like an old Aasvo"gel (vulture)."

"I tried to go over Solomon's Mountains nearly two years ago," was the answer, spoken in the hesitating

voice of a man who has had little recent opportunity of using his tongue, "but when I got here, a boulder fell

"Why," he said, "isn't it Quatermain, eh, and Good, too? Hold on a minute, you fellows, I am getting dizzy

again. It is all so very strange, and, when a man has ceased to hope, so very happy."

That evening, over the campfire, George Curtis told us his story, which, in its way, was almost as eventful

as our own, and amounted, shortly, to this. A little short of two years before, he had started from Sitanda's

Kraal, to try and reach the mountains. As for the note I had sent him by Jim, that worthy had lost it, and he

had never heard of it till today. But, acting upon information he had received from the natives, he made, not

for Sheba's breasts, but for the ladderlike descent of the mountains down which we had just come, which

was clearly a better route than that marked out in old Don Silvestra's plan. In the desert he and Jim suffered

great hardships, but finally they reached this oasis, where a terrible accident befell George Curtis. On the day

of their arrival he was sitting by the stream, and Jim was extracting the honey from the nest of a stingless bee,

which is to be found in the desert, on the top of the bank immediately above him. In so doing he loosed a

great boulder of rock, which fell upon George Curtis's right leg, crushing it frightfully. From that day he had

been so dreadfully lame that he had found it impossible to go either forward or back, and had preferred to

take the chances of dying on the oasis to the certainty of perishing in the desert.

As for food, however, they had got on pretty well, for they had a good supply. of ammunition, and the oasis

was frequented, especially at night, by large quantities of game, which came thither for water. These they

shot, or trapped in pitfalls, using their flesh for food and, after their clothes wore out, their hides for covering.

"And so," he ended, "we have lived for nearly two years, like a second Robinson Crusoe and his man Friday,

hoping against hope that some natives might come here and help us away, but none have come. Only last

night we settled that Jim should leave me and try to reach Sitanda's Kraal and get assistance. He was to go

tomorrow, but I had little hope of ever seeing him back again. And now _i_ you, _i_ of all the people in the

world, _i_ you _i_ who I fancied had long ago forgotten all about me, and were living comfortably in old

England, turn up in a promiscuous way and find me where you least expected. It is the most wonderful thing I

Then Sir Henry set to work and told him the main facts of our adventures, sitting till late into the night to do

"By Jove!" he said, when I showed him some of the diamonds; "well, at least you have got something for

Sir Henry laughed. "They belong to Quatermain and Good. It was part of the bargain that they should share

This remark set me thinking, and, having spoken to Good, I told Sir Henry that it was our unanimous wish

that he should take a third share of the diamonds, or, if he would not, that his share should be handed to his

brother, who had suffered even more than ourselves on the chance of getting them. Finally, we prevailed

upon him to consent to this arrangement, but George Curtis did not know of it till some time afterwards.

And here, at this point, I think I shall end this history. Our journey across the desert back to Sitanda's Kraal

was most arduous, especially as we had to support George Curtis, whose right leg was very weak indeed, and

continually throwing out splinters of bone; but we did accomplish it, somehow, and to give its details would

Six months from the date of our rearrival at Sitanda's, where we found our guns and other goods quite safe,

though the old scoundrel in charge was much disgusted at our surviving to claim them, saw us all once more

safe and sound at my little place on the Berea, near Durban, where I am now writing, and whence I bid

farewell to all who have accompanied me throughout the strangest trip I ever made in the course of a long

Just as I had written the last word a Kaffir came up my avenue of orange trees, with a letter in a cleft stick,

which he had brought from the post. It turned out to be from Sir Henry, and, as it speaks for itself, I give it in

I sent you a line a few mails back to say that the three of us, George, Good, and myself, fetched up all right in

England. We got off the boat at Southampton, and went up to town. You should have seen what a swell Good

turned out the very next day, beautifully shaved, frock coat fitting like a glove, brandnew eyeglass, etc., etc.

I went and walked in the park with him, where I met some people I know, and at once told them the story of

"He is furious, especially as some ill natured person has printed it in a society paper.

"To come to business, Good and I took the diamonds to Streeter's to be valued, as we arranged, and I am

really afraid to tell you what they put them at, it seems so enormous. They say that of course it is more or less

guesswork, as such stones have never to their knowledge been put on the market in anything like such

quantities. It appears that they are (with the exception of one or two of the largest) of the finest water, and

equal in every way to the best Brazilian stones. I asked them if they would buy them, but they said that it was

beyond their power to do so, and recommended us to sell by degrees, for fear we should flood the market.

"You must come home, Quatermain, and see about these things, especially if you insist upon making the

magnificent present of the third share, which does _i_ not _i_ belong to me, to my brother George. As for

Good, he is _i_ no good _i_. His time is too much occupied in shaving, and other matters connected with the

vain adorning of his body. But I think he is still down on his luck about Foulata. He told me that since he had

been home he hadn't seen a woman to touch her, either as regards her figure or the sweetness of her

"I want you to come home, my dear old comrade, and buy a place near here. You have done your day's work,

and have lots of money now, and there is a place for sale quite close which would suit you admirably. Do

come; the sooner the better; you can finish writing the story of our adventures on board ship. We have

refused to tell the story till it is written by you, for fear that we shall not be believed. If you start on receipt of

this you will reach here by Christmas, and I book you to stay with me for that. Good is coming, and George,

and so, by the way, is your boy Harry (there's a bribe for you). I have had him down for a week's shooting

and like him. He is a cool young hand; he shot me in the leg, cut out the pellets, and then remarked upon the

"Goodbye, old boy; I can't say any more, but I know that you will come, if it is only to oblige your sincere

"P.S.The tusks of the great bull that killed poor Khiva have now been put up in the hall here, over the pair

of buffalohorns you gave me, and look magnificent; and the axe with which I chopped off Twala's head is

stuck up over my writingtable. I wish we could have managed. to bring away the coats of chain armor.

Today is Tuesday. There is a steamer going on Friday, and I really think I must take Curtis at his word, and

sail by her for England, if it is only to see my boy Harry and see about the printing of this history, which is a