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diff --git a/2166-h/2166-h.htm b/2166-h/2166-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..43a1654 --- /dev/null +++ b/2166-h/2166-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12200 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of King Solomon's Mines, by H. Rider Haggard</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +p.caption {font-weight: bold; + text-align: center; } + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of King Solomon’s Mines, by H. Rider Haggard</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: King Solomon’s Mines</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: H. Rider Haggard</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: May, 2000 [eBook #2166]<br /> +[Most recently updated: November 18, 2020]</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: John Bickers and Dagny. HTML version by Al Haines.</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING SOLOMON’S MINES ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<h1>King Solomon’s Mines</h1> + +<h2>by H. Rider Haggard</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#pref01">INTRODUCTION</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap01">I. I MEET SIR HENRY CURTIS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap02">II. THE LEGEND OF SOLOMON’S MINES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap03">III. UMBOPA ENTERS OUR SERVICE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap04">IV. AN ELEPHANT HUNT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap05">V. OUR MARCH INTO THE DESERT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap06">VI. WATER! WATER!</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap07">VII. SOLOMON’S ROAD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap08">VIII. WE ENTER KUKUANALAND</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap09">IX. TWALA THE KING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap10">X. THE WITCH-HUNT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap11">XI. WE GIVE A SIGN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap12">XII. BEFORE THE BATTLE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap13">XIII. THE ATTACK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap14">XIV. THE LAST STAND OF THE GREYS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap15">XV. GOOD FALLS SICK</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap16">XVI. THE PLACE OF DEATH</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap17">XVII. SOLOMON’S TREASURE CHAMBER</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap18">XVIII. WE ABANDON HOPE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap19">XIX. IGNOSI’S FAREWELL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#chap20">XX. FOUND</a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<p class="noindent"> +PREPARER’S NOTE <br /> +<br /> +This was typed from a 1907 edition published by Cassell and Company, Limited. +</p> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p class="center"> +DEDICATION<br /> +<br /> +This faithful but unpretending record<br /> +of a remarkable adventure<br /> +is hereby respectfully dedicated<br /> +by the narrator,<br /> +<br /> +ALLAN QUATERMAIN,<br /> +<br /> +to all the big and little boys<br /> +who read it.<br /> +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>AUTHOR’S NOTE</h2> + +<p> +The author ventures to take this opportunity to thank his readers for the kind +reception they have accorded to the successive editions of this tale during the +last twelve years. He hopes that in its present form it will fall into the +hands of an even wider public, and that in years to come it may continue to +afford amusement to those who are still young enough at heart to love a story +of treasure, war, and wild adventure.<br /> +<br /> +Ditchingham,<br /> +11 March, 1898. +</p> + +<h2>POST SCRIPTUM</h2> + +<p> +Now, in 1907, on the occasion of the issue of this edition, I can only add how +glad I am that my romance should continue to please so many readers. +Imagination has been verified by fact; the King Solomon’s Mines I dreamed +of have been discovered, and are putting out their gold once more, and, +according to the latest reports, their diamonds also; the Kukuanas or, rather, +the Matabele, have been tamed by the white man’s bullets, but still there +seem to be many who find pleasure in these simple pages. That they may continue +so to do, even to the third and fourth generation, or perhaps longer still, +would, I am sure, be the hope of our old and departed friend, Allan +Quatermain.<br /> +<br /> +H. Rider Haggard.<br /> +Ditchingham, 1907. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="pref01"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> + +<p> +Now that this book is printed, and about to be given to the world, a sense of +its shortcomings both in style and contents, weighs very heavily upon me. As +regards the latter, I can only say that it does not pretend to be a full +account of everything we did and saw. There are many things connected with our +journey into Kukuanaland that I should have liked to dwell upon at length, +which, as it is, have been scarcely alluded to. Amongst these are the curious +legends which I collected about the chain armour that saved us from destruction +in the great battle of Loo, and also about the “Silent Ones” or +Colossi at the mouth of the stalactite cave. Again, if I had given way to my +own impulses, I should have wished to go into the differences, some of which +are to my mind very suggestive, between the Zulu and Kukuana dialects. Also a +few pages might have been given up profitably to the consideration of the +indigenous flora and fauna of Kukuanaland.<a href="#fn-1" name="fnref-1" id="fnref-1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +Then there remains the most interesting subject—that, as it is, has only +been touched on incidentally—of the magnificent system of military +organisation in force in that country, which, in my opinion, is much superior +to that inaugurated by Chaka in Zululand, inasmuch as it permits of even more +rapid mobilisation, and does not necessitate the employment of the pernicious +system of enforced celibacy. Lastly, I have scarcely spoken of the domestic and +family customs of the Kukuanas, many of which are exceedingly quaint, or of +their proficiency in the art of smelting and welding metals. This science they +carry to considerable perfection, of which a good example is to be seen in +their “tollas,” or heavy throwing knives, the backs of these +weapons being made of hammered iron, and the edges of beautiful steel welded +with great skill on to the iron frames. The fact of the matter is, I thought, +with Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good, that the best plan would be to tell my +story in a plain, straightforward manner, and to leave these matters to be +dealt with subsequently in whatever way ultimately may appear to be desirable. +In the meanwhile I shall, of course, be delighted to give all information in my +power to anybody interested in such things. +</p> + +<p> +And now it only remains for me to offer apologies for my blunt way of writing. +I can but say in excuse of it that I am more accustomed to handle a rifle than +a pen, and cannot make any pretence to the grand literary flights and +flourishes which I see in novels—for sometimes I like to read a novel. I +suppose they—the flights and flourishes—are desirable, and I regret +not being able to supply them; but at the same time I cannot help thinking that +simple things are always the most impressive, and that books are easier to +understand when they are written in plain language, though perhaps I have no +right to set up an opinion on such a matter. “A sharp spear,” runs +the Kukuana saying, “needs no polish”; and on the same principle I +venture to hope that a true story, however strange it may be, does not require +to be decked out in fine words. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +A<small>LLAN</small> Q<small>UATERMAIN</small>. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-1" id="fn-1"></a> <a href="#fnref-1">[1]</a> +I discovered eight varieties of antelope, with which I was previously totally +unacquainted, and many new species of plants, for the most part of the bulbous +tribe.—A.Q. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>KING SOLOMON’S MINES</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap01"></a>CHAPTER I.<br /> +I MEET SIR HENRY CURTIS</h2> + +<p> +It is a curious thing that at my age—fifty-five last birthday—I +should find myself taking up a pen to try to write a history. I wonder what +sort of a history it will be when I have finished it, if ever I 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 work 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 that I have got +it—I don’t yet know how big—but I do not 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 +dislike violence; moreover, I am almost 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 to set down my reasons, just to see if I have any. +</p> + +<p> +First reason: Because Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good asked me. +</p> + +<p> +Second reason: Because I am laid up here at Durban with the pain in my left +leg. Ever since that confounded lion got hold of me I have been liable to this +trouble, and being rather bad just now, it 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 when one has shot +sixty-five lions or more, as I have in the course of my life, that the +sixty-sixth 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 grow +rather dull, for even of cutting up dead bodies there may come satiety, and as +this history will not be dull, whatever else it may be, it will put a little +life into things for a day or two while Harry is reading of our adventures. +</p> + +<p> +Fourth reason and last: Because I am going to tell the strangest story that I +remember. It may seem a queer thing to say, 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. +</p> + +<p> +Well, I had better come to the yoke. It is a stiff place, and I feel as though +I were bogged up to the axle. But, “<i>sutjes, sutjes</i>,” as the +Boers say—I am sure I don’t know how they spell it—softly +does it. A strong team will come through at last, that is, if they are not too +poor. You can never do anything with poor oxen. Now to make a start. +</p> + +<p> +I, Allan Quatermain, of Durban, Natal, Gentleman, make oath and +say—That’s how I headed my deposition before the magistrate about +poor Khiva’s and Ventvögel’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 will scratch out that word “niggers,” +for I do not like it. I’ve known natives who <i>are</i>, and so you will +say, Harry, my boy, before you have done with this tale, and I have known mean +whites with lots of money and fresh out from home, too, who <i>are not</i>. +</p> + +<p> +At any rate, I was born a gentleman, though I have 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 have killed many +men in my time, yet I have never slain wantonly or stained my hand in innocent +blood, but only in self-defence. 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 +will not 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 great +deal of fighting. I cannot tell the rights of it, but at any rate I have never +stolen, though once I cheated a Kafir out of a herd of cattle. But then he had +done me a dirty turn, and it has troubled me ever since into the bargain. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Well, it is eighteen months or so ago since first I met Sir Henry Curtis and +Captain Good. It was in this way. I had been up elephant hunting beyond +Bamangwato, and had met with 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, together with my wagon and +oxen, discharged my hunters, and took the post-cart 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 back +to Natal by the <i>Dunkeld</i>, then lying at 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 and put to sea. +</p> + +<p> +Among these passengers who came on board were two who excited my curiosity. +One, a gentleman of about thirty, was perhaps the biggest-chested and +longest-armed man I ever saw. He had yellow hair, a thick yellow beard, +clear-cut features, and large grey eyes set deep in his head. I never saw a +finer-looking man, and somehow he reminded me of an ancient Dane. Not that I +know much of ancient Danes, though I knew 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. As I looked at my friend standing there +by the companion-ladder, I thought that if he only let his grow a little, put +one of those chain shirts on to his great shoulders, and took hold of a +battle-axe 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 out, I +discovered afterwards that Sir Henry Curtis, for that was the big man’s +name, is of Danish blood.<a href="#fn-2" name="fnref-2" id="fnref-2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +He also reminded me strongly of somebody else, but at the time I could not +remember who it was. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-2" id="fn-2"></a> <a href="#fnref-2">[2]</a> +Mr. Quatermain’s ideas about ancient Danes seem to be rather confused; we +have always understood that they were dark-haired people. Probably he was +thinking of Saxons.—Editor. +</p> + +<p> +The other man, who stood talking to Sir Henry, was 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 proved +themselves the best and bravest and nicest fellows I ever met, though sadly +given, some of them, to the use of profane language. I asked a page or two +back, what is a gentleman? I’ll answer the question now: A Royal Naval +officer is, in a general sort of way, though of course there may be a black +sheep among them here and there. I fancy it is just the wide seas and the +breath of God’s winds that wash their hearts and blow the bitterness out +of their minds and make them what men ought to be. +</p> + +<p> +Well, to return, I proved right again; I ascertained that the dark man +<i>was</i> a naval officer, a lieutenant of thirty-one, who, after seventeen +years’ service, had been turned out of her Majesty’s employ with +the barren honour 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 really to understand their work, and to reach the prime of life. I +suppose they don’t mind it, but for my own part I had rather earn my +bread as a hunter. One’s halfpence are as scarce perhaps, but you do not +get so many kicks. +</p> + +<p> +The officer’s name I found out—by referring to the +passengers’ lists—was Good—Captain 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 +afterwards I 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, my own being none of the best, have often caused me to +break the tenth commandment. But I am anticipating. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after we had got under way evening closed in, and brought with it very +dirty weather. A keen breeze sprung up off land, and a kind of aggravated +Scotch mist soon drove everybody from the deck. As for the <i>Dunkeld</i>, she +is a flat-bottomed 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 backwards and forwards as the vessel rolled, and marking +the angle she touched at each lurch. +</p> + +<p> +“That pendulum’s wrong; it is not properly weighted,” +suddenly said a somewhat testy voice at my shoulder. Looking round I saw the +naval officer whom I had noticed when the passengers came aboard. +</p> + +<p> +“Indeed, now what makes you think so?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“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 merchant skippers, they are always +so confoundedly careless.” +</p> + +<p> +Just then the dinner-bell rang, and I was not sorry, for 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 skipper +express his candid opinion of officers of the Royal Navy. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Good and I went down to dinner together, and there we found Sir Henry +Curtis already seated. He and Captain Good were placed together, and I sat +opposite to them. The captain and I soon fell into talk about shooting and what +not; he asking me many questions, for he is very inquisitive about all sorts of +things, and I answering them as well as I could. Presently he got on to +elephants. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, sir,” called out somebody who was sitting near me, +“you’ve reached the right man for that; Hunter Quatermain should be +able to tell you about elephants if anybody can.” +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry, who had been sitting quite quiet listening to our talk, started +visibly. +</p> + +<p> +“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 +Quatermain?” +</p> + +<p> +I said that it was. +</p> + +<p> +The big man made no further remark, but I heard him mutter +“fortunate” into his beard. +</p> + +<p> +Presently dinner came to an end, and as we were leaving the saloon Sir Henry +strolled up and asked me if I would come into his cabin to smoke a pipe. I +accepted, and he led the way to the <i>Dunkeld</i> deck cabin, and a very good +cabin it is. It had been two cabins, but when Sir Garnet Wolseley or one of +those big swells went down the coast in the <i>Dunkeld</i>, they knocked away +the partition and have 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 +whisky, and the three of us sat down and lit our pipes. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Quatermain,” said Sir Henry Curtis, when the man had brought +the whisky 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 +Transvaal.” +</p> + +<p> +“I was,” I answered, rather surprised that this gentleman should be +so well acquainted with my movements, which were not, so far as I was aware, +considered of general interest. +</p> + +<p> +“You were trading there, were you not?” put in Captain Good, in his +quick way. +</p> + +<p> +“I was. I took up a wagon-load of goods, made a camp outside the +settlement, and stopped till I had sold them.” +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry was sitting opposite to me in a Madeira chair, his arms leaning on +the table. He now looked up, fixing his large grey eyes full upon my face. +There was a curious anxiety in them, I thought. +</p> + +<p> +“Did you happen to meet a man called Neville there?” +</p> + +<p> +“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 the best +of my ability at the time.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said Sir Henry, “your letter was forwarded to me. You +said in it that the gentleman called Neville left Bamangwato at the beginning +of May in a wagon with a driver, a voorlooper, and a Kafir 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 he believed the white man with the native servant had started off for the +interior on a shooting trip.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes.” +</p> + +<p> +Then came a pause. +</p> + +<p> +“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?” +</p> + +<p> +“I heard something,” I answered, and stopped. The subject was one +which I did not care to discuss. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry and Captain Good looked at each other, and Captain Good nodded. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Quatermain,” went on 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 rely on it implicitly, as you +were,” he said, “well known and universally respected in Natal, and +especially noted for your discretion.” +</p> + +<p> +I bowed and drank some whisky and water to hide my confusion, for I am a modest +man—and Sir Henry went on. +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Neville was my brother.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh,” I said, starting, for now I knew of whom Sir Henry had +reminded me when first I saw him. His brother was a much smaller man and had a +dark beard, but now that I thought of it, he possessed eyes of the same shade +of grey and with the same keen look in them: the features too were not unlike. +</p> + +<p> +“He was,” went on Sir Henry, “my only and younger brother, +and till five years ago I do not suppose that 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 quarrelled bitterly, and I behaved unjustly to my +brother in my anger.” +</p> + +<p> +Here Captain Good nodded his head vigorously to himself. The ship gave a big +roll just then, so that the looking-glass, 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 upwards, I could see him nodding like anything. +</p> + +<p> +“As I daresay you know,” went on Sir Henry, “if a man dies +intestate, and has no property but land, real property it is called in England, +it 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 justice, but I waited for him to make +advances, and he made none. I am sorry to trouble you with all this, Mr. +Quatermain, but I must to make things clear, eh, Good?” +</p> + +<p> +“Quite so, quite so,” said the captain. “Mr. Quatermain will, +I am sure, keep this history to himself.” +</p> + +<p> +“Of course,” said I, for I rather pride myself on my discretion, +for which, as Sir Henry had heard, I have some repute. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” went on Sir Henry, “my brother had a few hundred +pounds to his account at the time. 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 learned 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 +than water.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s true,” said I, thinking of my boy Harry. +</p> + +<p> +“I found out, Mr. Quatermain, that I would have given half my fortune to +know that my brother George, the only relation I possess, was safe and well, +and that I should see him again.” +</p> + +<p> +“But you never did, Curtis,” jerked out Captain Good, glancing at +the big man’s face. +</p> + +<p> +“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 enquiries 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 so kind as to come with +me.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said the captain; “nothing else to do, you see. Turned +out by my Lords of the Admiralty to starve on half pay. And now perhaps, sir, +you will tell us what you know or have heard of the gentleman called +Neville.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap02"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /> +THE LEGEND OF SOLOMON’S MINES</h2> + +<p> +“What was it that you heard about my brother’s journey at +Bamangwato?” asked Sir Henry, as I paused to fill my pipe before replying +to Captain Good. +</p> + +<p> +“I heard this,” I answered, “and I have never mentioned it to +a soul till to-day. I heard that he was starting for Solomon’s +Mines.” +</p> + +<p> +“Solomon’s Mines?” ejaculated both my hearers at once. +“Where are they?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” I said; “I know where they are said to +be. Once I saw the peaks of the mountains that border them, but there were 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 permission. Do you agree +to that? I have my reasons for asking.” +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry nodded, and Captain Good replied, “Certainly, certainly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” I began, “as you may guess, generally speaking, +elephant hunters are a rough set of men, who do not trouble themselves with +much beyond the facts of life and the ways of Kafirs. 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. That was when I was on my first elephant +hunt in the Matabele country. His name was Evans, and he was killed the +following 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 whilst 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 roasting, which shows that the workers, whoever they +were, must have left in a hurry. Also, about twenty paces in, the gallery is +built across, and a beautiful bit of masonry it is.” +</p> + +<p> +“‘Ay,’ said Evans, ‘but I will spin you a queerer yarn +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 Bible, and, by +the way, other more learned men have said the same long since poor +Evans’s time. I was, I remember, listening open-eared to all these +wonders, for I was young at the time, and this story of an ancient civilisation +and of the treasures 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 north-west of the +Mushakulumbwe country?’ I told him I never had. ‘Ah, well,’ +he said, ‘that is where Solomon really had his mines, his diamond mines, +I mean.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘How do you know that?’ I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Know it! why, what is “Suliman” but a corruption of +Solomon?<a href="#fn-3" name="fnref-3" id="fnref-3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> Besides, +an old Isanusi or witch doctoress 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 learnt +their art from white men when “all the world was dark,” and who had +the secret of a wonderful mine of “bright stones.”’ +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-3" id="fn-3"></a> <a href="#fnref-3">[3]</a> +Suliman is the Arabic form of Solomon.—<i>Editor</i>. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, I laughed at this story at the time, though it interested me, for +the Diamond Fields were not discovered then, but poor Evans went off and was +killed, and for twenty years I never thought any more of the matter. However, +just twenty years afterwards—and that is a long time, gentlemen; an +elephant hunter does not often live for twenty years at his business—I +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 a man could get +nothing to eat, 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 +companion—a half-breed. Now I know your low-class 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 mean fellows whom I had been accustomed to meet; indeed, in +appearance he reminded me more of the polite doms I have read about, for he was +tall and thin, with large dark eyes and curling grey mustachios. We talked +together for a while, for he could speak broken English, and I understood a +little Portugee, and he told me that his name was José Silvestre, and that he +had a place near Delagoa Bay. When he went on next day with his half-breed +companion, he said ‘Good-bye,’ taking off his hat quite in the old +style. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Good-bye, señor,’ he said; ‘if ever we meet again I +shall be the richest man in the world, and I will remember you.’ I +laughed a little—I was too weak to laugh much—and watched him +strike out for the great desert to the west, wondering if he was mad, or what +he thought he was going to find there. +</p> + +<p> +“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 over 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 forward a few yards on its legs, only to fall and crawl 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?” +</p> + +<p> +“José Silvestre, of course,” said Captain Good. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, José Silvestre, or rather his skeleton and a little skin. His face +was a bright yellow with bilious fever, and his large dark eyes stood nearly +out of his head, for all the flesh had gone. There was nothing but yellow +parchment-like skin, white hair, and the gaunt bones sticking up beneath. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Water! for the sake of Christ, water!’ he moaned and I saw +that his lips were cracked, and his tongue, which protruded between them, was +swollen and blackish. +</p> + +<p> +“I gave him water with a little milk in it, and he drank it in great +gulps, two quarts or so, 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 carried 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 grew quieter, and I lay down for a +little rest and went to sleep. At dawn I woke again, and in the half light saw +Silvestre 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 miles away. +</p> + +<p> +“‘There it is!’ cried the dying man in Portuguese, and +pointing with his long, thin arm, ‘but I shall never reach it, never. No +one will ever reach it!’ +</p> + +<p> +“Suddenly, he paused, and seemed to take a resolution. +‘Friend,’ he said, turning towards me, ‘are you there? My +eyes grow dark.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes,’ I said; ‘yes, lie down now, and rest.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Ay,’ he answered, ‘I shall rest soon, I have time to +rest—all eternity. Listen, I am dying! You have been good to me. I will +give you the writing. Perhaps you will get there if you can live to pass the +desert, which has killed my poor servant and me.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Then he groped in his shirt and brought out what I thought was a Boer +tobacco pouch made of the skin of the Swart-vet-pens or sable antelope. It was +fastened with a little strip of hide, what we call a rimpi, and this he tried +to loose, but could not. He handed it to me. ‘Untie it,’ he said. I +did so, and extracted a bit of torn yellow linen on which something was written +in rusty letters. Inside this rag was a paper. +</p> + +<p> +“Then he went on feebly, for he was growing weak: ‘The paper has +all that is on the linen. 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 José da Silvestra, and he lived +three hundred years ago. His slave, who waited for him on this side of 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 world—the richest man in the world. Only give it to no +one, señor; go yourself!’ +</p> + +<p> +“Then he began to wander again, and in an hour it was all over. +</p> + +<p> +“God rest him! he died very quietly, and I buried him deep, with big +boulders on his breast; so I do not think that the jackals can have dug him up. +And then I came away.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, but the document?” said Sir Henry, in a tone of deep interest. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, the document; what was in it?” added the captain. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, gentlemen, if you like I will tell you. I have never showed it to +anybody yet except to a drunken old Portuguese trader who translated it for me, +and had forgotten all about it by the next morning. The original rag is at my +home in Durban, together with poor Dom José’s translation, but I have the +English rendering in my pocket-book, and a facsimile of the map, if it can be +called a map. Here it is.” +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +“I, José 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 I have seen the countless diamonds stored in Solomon’s treasure +chamber behind the white Death; but through the treachery of Gagool the +witch-finder 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 reaches +the nipple, on the north side of which is the great road Solomon made, from +whence three days’ journey to the King’s Palace. Let him kill +Gagool. Pray for my soul. Farewell. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +J<small>OSÉ DA</small> S<small>ILVESTRA</small>.”<a href="#fn-4" name="fnref-4" id="fnref-4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-4" id="fn-4"></a> <a href="#fnref-4">[4]</a> +Eu José da Silvestra que estou morrendo de fome ná pequena cova onde não ha +neve ao lado norte do bico mais ao sul das duas montanhas que chamei seio de +Sheba; escrevo isto no anno 1590; escrevo isto com um pedaço d’ôsso +n’ um farrapo de minha roupa e com sangue meu por tinta; se o meu escravo +dér com isto quando venha ao levar para Lourenzo Marquez, que o meu amigo +———— leve a cousa ao conhecimento d’ El Rei, para +que possa mandar um exercito que, se desfiler pelo deserto e pelas montonhas e +mesmo sobrepujar os bravos Kukuanes e suas artes diabolicas, pelo que se deviam +trazer muitos padres Far o Rei mais rico depois de Salomão. Com meus proprios +olhos vé os di amantes sem conto guardados nas camaras do thesouro de Salomão a +traz da morte branca, mas pela traição de Gagoal a feiticeira achadora, nada +poderia levar, e apenas a minha vida. Quem vier siga o mappa e trepe pela neve +de Sheba peito à esquerda até chegar ao bica, do lado norte do qual està a +grande estrada do Solomão por elle feita, donde ha tres dias de jornada até ao +Palacio do Rei. Mate Gagoal. Reze por minha alma. Adeos. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +J<small>OSÉ DA</small> S<small>ILVESTRA</small>. +</p> + +<div class="fig" style="width:100%;"> +<a href="images/map.jpg"> +<img src="images/map.jpg" width="420" height="600" alt="Illustration: +Messen" /></a> +<p class="caption">SKETCH MAP OF THE ROUTE TO KING SOLOMON’S MINES</p> +</div> + +<p class="p2"> +When I had finished reading the above, and shown the copy of the map, drawn by +the dying hand of the old Dom with his blood for ink, there followed a silence +of astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Captain Good, “I have been round the world +twice, and put in at most ports, but may I be hung for a mutineer if ever I +heard a yarn like this out of a story book, or in it either, for the matter of +that.” +</p> + +<p> +“It’s a queer tale, Mr. Quatermain,” said Sir Henry. “I +suppose you are not hoaxing us? It is, I know, sometimes thought allowable to +take in a greenhorn.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 for ever boasting to newcomers of +extraordinary hunting adventures which never happened—“if you think +that, why, there is an end to the matter,” and I rose to go. +</p> + +<p> +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 strange that I could hardly +believe it.” +</p> + +<p> +“You shall see the original map and writing when we reach Durban,” +I answered, somewhat mollified, for really when I came to consider the question +it was scarcely wonderful that he should doubt my good faith. +</p> + +<p> +“But,” I went on, “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. That morning on which Mr. Neville was +starting I saw Jim standing by my wagon and cutting up tobacco on the +disselboom. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Jim,’ said I, ‘where are you off to this trip? It is +elephants?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘No, Baas,’ he answered, ‘we are after something worth +much more than ivory.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘And what might that be?’ I said, for I was curious. +‘Is it gold?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘No, Baas, something worth more than gold,’ and he grinned. +</p> + +<p> +“I asked no more questions, for I did not like to lower my dignity by +seeming inquisitive, but I was puzzled. Presently Jim finished cutting his +tobacco. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Baas,’ said he. +</p> + +<p> +“I took no notice. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Baas,’ said he again. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Eh, boy, what is it?’ I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Baas, we are going after diamonds.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Diamonds! why, then, you are steering in the wrong direction; you +should head for the Fields.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Baas, have you ever heard of Suliman’s +Berg?’—that is, Solomon’s Mountains, Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Ay!’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Have you ever heard of the diamonds there?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘I have heard a foolish story, Jim.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘It is no story, Baas. Once I knew a woman who came from there, +and reached Natal with her child, she told me:—she is dead now.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Your master will feed the aasvögels’—that is, +vultures—‘Jim, if he tries to reach Suliman’s country, and so +will you if they can get any pickings off your worthless old carcass,’ +said I. +</p> + +<p> +“He grinned. ‘Mayhap, Baas. Man must die; I’d rather like to +try a new country myself; the elephants are getting worked out about +here.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Ah! my boy,’ I said, ‘you wait till the “pale +old man” gets a grip of your yellow throat, and then we shall hear what +sort of a tune you sing.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Half an hour after that I saw Neville’s wagon move off. Presently +Jim came back running. ‘Good-bye, Baas,’ he said. ‘I +didn’t like to start without bidding you good-bye, for I daresay you are +right, and that we shall never trek south again.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Is your master really going to Suliman’s Berg, Jim, or are +you lying?’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘No,’ he answered, ‘he is going. He told me he was +bound to make his fortune somehow, or try to; so he might as well have a fling +for the diamonds.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Oh!’ I said; ‘wait a bit, Jim; will you take a note +to your master, Jim, and promise not to give it to him till you reach +Inyati?’ which was some hundred miles off. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Yes, Baas.’ +</p> + +<p> +“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 reaches the nipple, on +the north side of which is Solomon’s great road.’ +</p> + +<p> +“‘Now, Jim,’ I said, ‘when you give this to your +master, tell him he had better follow the advice on it 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. Now be off, you idle fellow, the wagon is nearly +out of sight.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Jim took the note and went, and that is all I know about your brother, +Sir Henry; but I am much afraid—” +</p> + +<p> +“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, till I find him, or until I know that he is dead. Will you come with +me?” +</p> + +<p> +I am, as I think I have said, a cautious man, indeed a timid one, and this +suggestion frightened me. It seemed to me that to undertake such a journey +would be to go to certain death, and putting other considerations aside, as I +had a son to support, I could not afford to die just then. +</p> + +<p> +“No, thank you, Sir Henry, I think I had rather not,” I answered. +“I am too old for wild-goose chases of that sort, and we should only end +up like my poor friend Silvestre. I have a son dependent on me, so I cannot +afford to risk my life foolishly.” +</p> + +<p> +Both Sir Henry and Captain Good looked very disappointed. +</p> + +<p> +“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 arrange in the event of anything untoward happening to +us or to you, that your son shall be suitably provided for. You will see from +this offer how necessary I think your presence. Also if by 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 that promise is worth nothing at all, though +the same thing would apply to any ivory we might get. You may pretty well make +your own terms with me, Mr. Quatermain; and of course I shall pay all +expenses.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sir Henry,” said I, “this is the most liberal proposal I +ever had, and one not to be sneezed at by a poor hunter and trader. But the job +is the biggest I have come across, and I must take time to think it over. I +will give you my answer before we get to Durban.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very good,” answered Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +Then I said good-night and turned in, and dreamt about poor long-dead Silvestre +and the diamonds. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap03"></a>CHAPTER III.<br /> +UMBOPA ENTERS OUR SERVICE</h2> + +<p> +It takes from four to five days, according to the speed of 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 made that wonderful +harbour they talk so much of, and sink such a mint of money in, a ship is +delayed for twenty-four hours before the cargo boats can get out to take off +the goods. 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 the long +strings of ugly flat-bottomed boats behind them, into which the packages were +bundled with a crash. It did not matter what they might be, over they went +slap-bang; whether they contained china or woollen goods they met with the same +treatment. I saw one case holding four dozen of champagne smashed all to bits, +and there was the champagne fizzing and boiling about in the bottom of the +dirty cargo boat. It was a wicked waste, and evidently so the Kafirs in the +boat thought, for they found a couple of unbroken bottles, and knocking off the +necks 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”—that is, bewitched. I spoke to them from the vessel, +and told them it was the white man’s strongest medicine, and that they +were as good as dead men. Those Kafirs went to the shore in a very great +fright, and I do not think that they will touch champagne again. +</p> + +<p> +Well, all the time that we were steaming 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 business it is to hunt; but this is by the way. +</p> + +<p> +At last, one beautiful evening in January, which is our hottest month, we +steamed past 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 Kafir 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 come to Durban there is a peculiar richness about +the landscape. There are the sheer 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 mealie gardens and +the sugar patches, while now and again 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 civilisation, though to be sure it drives away +the game. The Garden of Eden, no doubt, looked fair before man was, but I +always think that it must have been fairer when Eve adorned it. +</p> + +<p> +To return, 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 folks of +Durban that the English Mail was in. It was too late to think of getting over +the Bar that night, so we went comfortably to dinner, after seeing the Mails +carried off in the life-boat. +</p> + +<p> +When we came up again the moon was out, 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 odours that always remind me of hymns and +missionaries, and in the windows of the houses on the Berea sparkled a hundred +lights. From a large brig lying near also came the music of the sailors as they +worked at getting the anchor up in order to be ready for the wind. Altogether +it was a perfect night, such a night as you sometimes 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 its gentle influences, and forgetting his +yearning to come to close quarters with the baboon in a cage on the +foc’sle, snored happily at the door of the cabin, dreaming no doubt that +he had finished him, and happy in his dream. +</p> + +<p> +We three—that is, Sir Henry Curtis, Captain Good, and myself—went +and sat by the wheel, and were quiet for a while. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, Mr. Quatermain,” said Sir Henry presently, “have you +been thinking about my proposals?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay,” echoed Captain Good, “what do you think of them, Mr. +Quatermain? I hope that you are going to give us the pleasure of your company +so far as Solomon’s Mines, or wherever the gentleman you knew as Neville +may have got to.” +</p> + +<p> +I rose and knocked out my pipe before I answered. I had not made up my mind, +and wanted an additional moment to decide. Before the burning tobacco had +fallen into the sea I had decided; just that little extra second did the trick. +It is often the way when you have been bothering a long time over a thing. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, gentlemen,” I said, sitting down again, “I will go, and +by your leave I will tell you why, and on what conditions. First for the terms +which I ask. +</p> + +<p> +“1. You are to pay all expenses, and any ivory or other valuables we may +get is to be divided between Captain Good and myself. +</p> + +<p> +“2. That you give me £500 for my services on the trip before we start, I +undertaking to serve you faithfully till you choose to abandon the enterprise, +or till we succeed, or disaster overtakes us. +</p> + +<p> +“3. That before we trek 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 if he is worth his +salt. That is all, I think, and I daresay you will say quite enough too.” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” answered Sir Henry, “I accept them gladly. I am bent +upon this project, and would pay more than that for your help, considering the +peculiar and exclusive knowledge which you possess.” +</p> + +<p> +“Pity I did not ask it, then, but I won’t go back on my word. And +now that I have got 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 may say that I like you, and +believe that we shall come up well to the yoke together. That is something, let +me tell you, when one has a long journey like this before one. +</p> + +<p> +“And now as to the journey itself, I tell you flatly, Sir Henry and +Captain Good, that I do not think it probable we can come out of it alive, that +is, if we attempt to cross the Suliman Mountains. What was the fate of the old +Dom 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 fates were so I believe ours will be.” +</p> + +<p> +I paused to watch the effect of my words. Captain Good looked a little +uncomfortable, but Sir Henry’s face did not change. “We must take +our chance,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“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 without reference to my own movements and will, and that if I am +to go to Suliman’s Mountains to be killed, I shall go there and shall be +killed. God Almighty, no doubt, knows His mind about me, so I need not trouble +on that point. Secondly, I am a poor man. For nearly forty years I have hunted +and traded, 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 between four and 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, anyway. Now, if anything were to happen to me +in the ordinary course of business, by the time my debts are paid there would +be nothing left to support my son Harry whilst he was getting in the way of +earning a living, whereas now he will be set up for five years. There is the +whole affair in a nutshell.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mr. Quatermain,” said Sir Henry, who had been giving me his 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, of course time and the event 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 to be knocked on the head, all I +have to say is, that I hope we get a little shooting first, eh, Good?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, yes,” put in the captain. “We have all three of us been +accustomed to face danger, and to hold our lives in our hands in various ways, +so it is no good turning back now. And now I vote we go down to the saloon and +take an observation just for luck, you know.” And we did—through +the bottom of a tumbler. +</p> + +<p> +Next day we went ashore, and I put up Sir Henry and Captain Good at the little +shanty I have built on the Berea, and which I call my home. There are only +three rooms and a kitchen in it, and it is constructed of green brick with a +galvanised iron roof, but there is a good garden with the best loquot trees 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 +Sikukunis country that he will never hunt again. But he can potter about and +garden, being a Griqua by birth. You will never persuade a Zulu to take much +interest in gardening. It is a peaceful art, and peaceful arts are not in his +line. +</p> + +<p> +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 +fruit—in Durban you will see all three on the tree together—I +daresay it is a pleasant place enough, for we have few mosquitos here on the +Berea, unless there happens to come an unusually heavy rain. +</p> + +<p> +Well, to get on—for if I do not, Harry, you will be tired of my story +before ever we fetch up at Suliman’s Mountains—having once made up +my mind to go I set about making the necessary preparations. First I secured +the deed from Sir Henry, providing for you, my boy, in case of accidents. There +was some difficulty about its legal execution, as Sir Henry was a stranger +here, and the property to be charged is over the water; but it was ultimately +got over with the help of a lawyer, who charged £20 for the job—a price +that I thought outrageous. Then I pocketed my cheque for £500. +</p> + +<p> +Having paid this tribute to my bump of caution, I purchased a wagon and a span +of oxen on Sir Henry’s behalf, and beauties they were. It was a +twenty-two-foot wagon with iron axles, very strong, very light, and built +throughout of stink wood; not quite a new one, having been to the Diamond +Fields and back, but, in my opinion, all the better for that, for I 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. This particular +vehicle was what we call a “half-tented” wagon, that is to say, +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 were a hide +“cartle,” or bed, on which two people could sleep, also racks for +rifles, and many other little conveniences. I gave £125 for it, and think that +it was cheap at the price. +</p> + +<p> +Then I bought a beautiful team of twenty Zulu oxen, which I had kept my eye on +for a year or two. Sixteen oxen is the usual number for a team, but I took four +extra to allow for casualties. These Zulu cattle are small and light, not more +than half the size of the Africander oxen, which are generally used for +transport purposes; but they will live where the Africanders would starve, and +with a moderate load can make five miles a day better going, being quicker and +not so liable to become 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” or 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 made a trifling mistake, and stuck the stern ornaments of a lot +of prize bull-dogs on to the rumps of the oxen. +</p> + +<p> +Next came the question of provisioning and medicines, one which required the +most careful consideration, for what we had to do was to avoid lumbering the +wagon, and yet to take everything absolutely necessary. Fortunately, it turned +out that Good is a bit of a doctor, having at some point in his previous career +managed to pass through a course of medical and surgical instruction, which he +has more or less kept up. He is not, of course, qualified, but he knows more +about it than many a man who can write M.D. after his name, as we found out +afterwards, and he had a splendid travelling medicine chest and a set of +instruments. Whilst we were at Durban he cut off a Kafir’s big toe in a +way which it was a pleasure to see. But he was quite nonplussed when the Kafir, +who had sat stolidly watching the operation, asked him to put on another, +saying that a “white one” would do at a pinch. +</p> + +<p> +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 which we +finally decided on from among the ample store that Sir Henry had brought with +him from England, and those which I owned. I copy it from my pocket-book, where +I made the entry at the time. +</p> + +<p> +“Three heavy breech-loading double-eight elephant guns, weighing about +fifteen pounds each, to carry a charge of eleven drachms of black +powder.” Two of these were by a well-known London firm, most excellent +makers, but I do not know by whom mine, which is not so highly finished, was +made. I have used it on several trips, and shot a good many elephants with it, +and it has always proved a most superior weapon, thoroughly to be relied on. +</p> + +<p> +“Three double-500 Expresses, constructed to stand a charge of six +drachms,” sweet weapons, and admirable for medium-sized game, such as +eland or sable antelope, or for men, especially in an open country and with the +semi-hollow bullet. +</p> + +<p> +“One double No. 12 central-fire Keeper’s shot-gun, full choke both +barrels.” This gun proved of the greatest service to us afterwards in +shooting game for the pot. +</p> + +<p> +“Three Winchester repeating rifles (not carbines), spare guns. +</p> + +<p> +“Three single-action Colt’s revolvers, with the heavier, or +American pattern of cartridge.” +</p> + +<p> +This was our total armament, and doubtless the reader will 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, as every experienced hunter will know how vital a proper supply +of guns and ammunition is to the success of an expedition. +</p> + +<p> +Now as to the men who were to go with us. After much consultation we decided +that their number should be limited to five, namely, a driver, a leader, and +three servants. +</p> + +<p> +The driver and leader I found without much difficulty, two Zulus, named +respectively Goza and Tom; but to get the servants proved 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 named Ventvögel, or +“windbird,” and one a little Zulu named Khiva, who had the merit of +speaking English perfectly. Ventvögel I had known before; he was one of the +most perfect “spoorers,” that is, 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 gin and you +could not trust him. However, as we were going beyond the region of grog-shops +this little weakness of his did not so much matter. +</p> + +<p> +Having secured 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, as it happened, on the evening before the day we +had fixed for our departure the Zulu Khiva informed me that a Kafir was waiting +to see me. Accordingly, when we had done dinner, for we were at table at the +time, I told Khiva to bring him in. Presently a tall, handsome-looking man, +somewhere about thirty years of age, and very light-coloured for a Zulu, +entered, and lifting his knob-stick 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, for 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 consequence. +I observed, however, that he was a “Keshla” or ringed man; that is, +he wore on his head the black ring, made of a species of gum polished with fat +and worked up in the hair, which is usually assumed by Zulus on attaining a +certain age or dignity. Also it struck me that his face was familiar to me. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” I said at last, “What is your name?” +</p> + +<p> +“Umbopa,” answered the man in a slow, deep voice. +</p> + +<p> +“I have seen your face before.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; the Inkoosi, the chief, my father, saw my face at the place of the +Little Hand”—that is, Isandhlwana—“on the day before +the battle.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I remembered. I was one of Lord Chelmsford’s guides in that unlucky +Zulu War, and had the good fortune to leave the camp in charge of some wagons +on the day before the battle. While I was waiting for the cattle to be +inspanned I fell into conversation with this man, who held some small command +among the native auxiliaries, and he had expressed to me his doubts as to the +safety of the camp. At the time I told him to hold his tongue, and leave such +matters to wiser heads; but afterwards I thought of his words. +</p> + +<p> +“I remember,” I said; “what is it you want?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is this, ‘Macumazahn.’” That is my Kafir 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 with the white chiefs from over the water. Is it a true +word?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is.” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear that you go even to the Lukanga River, a moon’s journey +beyond the Manica country. Is this so also, ‘Macumazahn?’” +</p> + +<p> +“Why do you ask whither we go? What is it to you?” I answered +suspiciously, for the objects of our journey had been kept a dead secret. +</p> + +<p> +“It is this, O white men, that if indeed you travel so far I would travel +with you.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a certain assumption of dignity in the man’s mode of speech, +and especially in his use of the words “O white men,” instead of +“O Inkosis,” or chiefs, which struck me. +</p> + +<p> +“You forget yourself a little,” I said. “Your words run 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.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 Cetewayo’s man in the Nkomabakosi Regiment, +serving there under the great Captain, Umslopogaasi of the Axe,<a href="#fn-5" name="fnref-5" id="fnref-5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> +who taught my hands to fight. Afterwards I ran away from Zululand and came to +Natal because I wanted to see the white man’s ways. Next I fought against +Cetewayo 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 a +brave man, and am worth my place and meat. I have spoken.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-5" id="fn-5"></a> <a href="#fnref-5">[5]</a> +For the history of Umslopogaasi and his Axe, the reader is referred to the +books called “Allan Quatermain” and “Nada the +Lily.”—<i>Editor</i>. +</p> + +<p> +I was rather puzzled by this man and his way of speech. It was evident to me +from his manner that in the main he was telling the truth, but somehow he +seemed 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. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry told me to ask him to stand up. Umbopa did so, at the same time +slipping off the long military great coat which he wore, and revealing himself +naked except for the moocha round his centre and a necklace of lions’ +claws. Certainly he was a magnificent-looking 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 wounds. Sir Henry +walked up to him and looked into his proud, handsome face. +</p> + +<p> +“They make a good pair, don’t they?” said Good; “one as +big as the other.” +</p> + +<p> +“I like your looks, Mr. Umbopa, and I will take you as my servant,” +said Sir Henry in English. +</p> + +<p> +Umbopa evidently understood him, for he answered in Zulu, “It is +well”; and then added, with a glance at the white man’s great +stature and breadth, “We are men, thou and I.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap04"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +AN ELEPHANT HUNT</h2> + +<p> +Now I do not propose to narrate at full length all the incidents of our long +travel up to Sitanda’s Kraal, near the junction of the Lukanga and +Kalukwe Rivers. It was a journey of more than a thousand miles from Durban, the +last three hundred or so of which we had to make on foot, owing to the frequent +presence of the dreadful “tsetse” fly, whose bite is fatal to all +animals except donkeys and men. +</p> + +<p> +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 are of the sort which befall every African +hunter—with one exception to be presently detailed—I shall not set +them down here, lest I should render this history too wearisome. +</p> + +<p> +At Inyati, the outlying trading station in the Matabele country, of which +Lobengula (a great and cruel scoundrel) is king, with many regrets we 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 lost from the +bite of a cobra, three had perished from “poverty” and the want of +water, one strayed, and the other three 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. +</p> + +<p> +The wagon and the oxen we left in the immediate charge of Goza and Tom, our +driver and leader, both trustworthy boys, requesting a worthy Scotch missionary +who lived in this distant place to keep an eye on them. Then, accompanied by +Umbopa, Khiva, Ventvögel, 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 this departure, and I think that each of us was +wondering if we should ever see our wagon again; for my part I never expected +to do so. 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 vast wilderness to find new things +or die, and how, lo and behold! when they had travelled far into the wilderness +they found that it was not a wilderness at all, but a beautiful place full of +young wives and fat cattle, of game to hunt and enemies to kill. +</p> + +<p> +Then we all laughed and took it for a good omen. Umbopa was a cheerful savage, +in a dignified sort of way, when he was not suffering from one of his fits of +brooding, and he had a wonderful knack of keeping up our spirits. We all grew +very fond of him. +</p> + +<p> +And now for the one adventure to which I am going to treat myself, for I do +dearly love a hunting yarn. +</p> + +<p> +About a fortnight’s march from Inyati we came across a peculiarly +beautiful bit of well-watered woodland country. The kloofs in the hills were +covered with dense bush, “idoro” bush as the natives call it, and +in some places, with the “wacht-een-beche,” or “wait-a-little +thorn,” and there were great quantities of the lovely +“machabell” tree, laden with refreshing yellow fruit having +enormous stones. This tree is the elephant’s favourite food, and there +were not wanting signs that the great brutes had been 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. +</p> + +<p> +One evening, after a long day’s march, we came to a spot of great +loveliness. At the foot of a bush-clad hill lay a dry river-bed, in which, +however, were to be found pools of crystal water all trodden round with the +hoof-prints of game. Facing this hill was a park-like plain, where grew clumps +of flat-topped mimosa, varied with occasional glossy-leaved machabells, and all +round stretched the sea of pathless, silent bush. +</p> + +<p> +As we emerged into this river-bed path suddenly we started a troop of tall +giraffes, who galloped, or rather sailed off, in 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 who had an express loaded with solid +ball in his hand, could not resist temptation. Lifting his gun, he 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 more curious thing. +</p> + +<p> +“Curse it!” said Good—for I am sorry to say he had a habit of +using strong language when excited—contracted, no doubt, in the course of +his nautical career; “curse it! I’ve killed him.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Ou</i>, Bougwan,” ejaculated the Kafirs; “<i>ou! +ou!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +They called Good “Bougwan,” or Glass Eye, because of his eye-glass. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, ‘Bougwan!’” re-echoed Sir Henry and I, and from +that day Good’s reputation as a marvellous shot was established, at any +rate among the Kafirs. Really he was a bad one, but whenever he missed we +overlooked it for the sake of that giraffe. +</p> + +<p> +Having set some of the “boys” to cut off the best of the +giraffe’s meat, we went to work to build a “scherm” near one +of the pools and about a hundred yards to its right. This is done by cutting a +quantity of thorn bushes and piling 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. +</p> + +<p> +By the time the “scherm” was finished the moon peeped up, and our +dinners of giraffe steaks and roasted marrow-bones were ready. How we enjoyed +those marrow-bones, though it was rather a job to crack them! I know of no +greater luxury than giraffe marrow, unless it is elephant’s heart, and we +had that on the morrow. We ate our simple meal by the light of the moon, +pausing at times to thank Good for his wonderful shot; then we began to smoke +and yarn, and a curious picture we must have made squatting 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 curious-looking 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 civilised country, absolutely clean, tidy, and well +dressed. He wore a shooting suit of brown tweed, with a hat to match, and neat +gaiters. As usual, he was beautifully shaved, his eye-glass and his false teeth +appeared to be in perfect order, and altogether he looked the neatest man I +ever had to do with in the wilderness. He even sported a collar, of which he +had a supply, made of white gutta-percha. +</p> + +<p> +“You see, they weigh so little,” he said to me innocently, when I +expressed my astonishment at the fact; “and I always like to turn out +like a gentleman.” Ah! if he could have foreseen the future and the +raiment prepared for him. +</p> + +<p> +Well, there we three sat yarning away in the beautiful moonlight, and watching +the Kafirs a few yards off sucking their intoxicating “daccha” from +a pipe of which the mouthpiece was made of the horn of an eland, till one by +one they rolled themselves up in their blankets and went to sleep by the fire, +that is, all except Umbopa, who was a little apart, his chin resting on his +hand, and thinking deeply. I noticed that he never mixed much with the other +Kafirs. +</p> + +<p> +Presently, from the depths of the bush behind us, came a loud +“<i>woof</i>, <i>woof</i>!” “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, we heard the strident trumpeting of an elephant. +“<i>Unkungunklovo</i>! <i>Indlovu</i>!” “Elephant! +Elephant!” whispered the Kafirs, and a few minutes afterwards we saw a +succession of vast shadowy forms moving slowly from the direction of the water +towards the bush. +</p> + +<p> +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 I caught him by +the arm and pulled him down. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s no good,” I whispered, “let them go.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 Henry, presently. +</p> + +<p> +I was rather surprised, for hitherto Sir Henry had always been for pushing +forward as fast as possible, more especially since we ascertained at Inyati +that about two years ago an Englishman of the name of Neville <i>had</i> sold +his wagon there, and gone on up country. But I suppose his hunter instincts got +the better of him for a while. +</p> + +<p> +Good jumped at the idea, for he was longing to have a shot 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 a pull at them. +</p> + +<p> +“All right, my hearties,” said I. “I think we want a little +recreation. And now let’s turn in, for we ought to be off by dawn, and +then perhaps we may catch them feeding before they move on.” +</p> + +<p> +The others agreed, and we proceeded to make our preparations. Good took off his +clothes, shook them, put his eye-glass and his false teeth into his trousers +pocket, and folding each article neatly, placed it out of the dew under a +corner of his mackintosh sheet. Sir Henry and I contented ourselves with +rougher arrangements, and soon were curled up in our blankets, and dropping off +into the dreamless sleep that rewards the traveller. +</p> + +<p> +Going, going, go—What was that? +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly, from the direction of the water came sounds of violent scuffling, and +next instant there broke upon our ears a succession of the most awful roars. +There was no mistaking their origin; 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 colour, staggering and struggling +towards us. We seized our rifles, and slipping on our veldtschoons, that is +shoes made of untanned hide, ran out of the scherm. By this time the mass had +fallen, and was rolling over and over on the ground, and when we reached the +spot it struggled no longer, but lay quite still. +</p> + +<p> +Now we saw what it was. On the grass there lay a sable antelope bull—the +most beautiful of all the African antelopes—quite dead, and transfixed by +its great curved horns was a magnificent black-maned lion, also dead. Evidently +what had happened was this: The sable antelope had come down to drink at the +pool where the lion—no doubt the same which we had heard—was lying +in wait. While the antelope drank, the lion had sprung upon him, only to be +received upon the sharp curved horns and transfixed. Once before I saw a +similar thing happen. Then the lion, unable to free himself, had torn and +bitten at the back and neck of the bull, which, maddened with fear and pain, +had rushed on until it dropped dead. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as we had examined the beasts sufficiently we called the Kafirs, and +between us managed to drag their carcases up to the scherm. After that we went +in and lay down, to wake no more till dawn. +</p> + +<p> +With the first light we were up and making ready for the fray. We took with us +the three eight-bore rifles, a good supply of ammunition, and our large +water-bottles, filled with weak cold tea, which I have always found the best +stuff to shoot on. After swallowing a little breakfast we started, Umbopa, +Khiva, and Ventvögel accompanying us. The other Kafirs we left with +instructions to skin the lion and the sable antelope, and to cut up the latter. +</p> + +<p> +We had no difficulty in finding the broad elephant trail, which Ventvögel, +after examination, pronounced to have been made by between twenty and thirty +elephants, most of them full-grown bulls. But the herd had moved on some way +during the night, and it was nine o’clock, and already very hot, before, +by the broken trees, bruised leaves and bark, and smoking droppings, we knew +that we could not be far from them. +</p> + +<p> +Presently we caught sight of the herd, which numbered, as Ventvögel had said, +between twenty and thirty, standing in a hollow, having finished their morning +meal, and flapping their great ears. It was a splendid sight, for they were +only 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 on stealthily, 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 +covering the elephant to the left, and Good the bull with the big tusks. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” I whispered. +</p> + +<p> +Boom! boom! boom! went the three heavy rifles, and down came Sir Henry’s +elephant dead as a hammer, shot right through the heart. Mine fell on to its +knees and I thought that 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 the ribs, and this brought him down in good earnest. Hastily slipping +in two fresh cartridges I ran close up 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 on blindly past him, in the direction of our encampment. Meanwhile +the herd had crashed off in wild alarm in the other direction. +</p> + +<p> +For awhile we debated whether to go after the wounded bull or to follow the +herd, and finally deciding for the latter alternative, 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. +</p> + +<p> +But to come up with them was another matter, and we had struggled on under the +broiling sun for over two hours before we found them. With the exception of one +bull, they were 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 look-out for mischief. The solitary bull stood fifty yards or so to +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 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, we +fired. The three shots took effect, and down he went dead. Again the herd +started, but unfortunately for them about a hundred yards further on was a +nullah, or dried-out water track, with steep banks, a place very much +resembling the one where the Prince Imperial was killed 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, 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 quickly +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. +</p> + +<p> +So after we were rested a little, and the Kafirs had cut out the hearts of two +of the dead elephants for supper, we started homewards, very well pleased with +our day’s work, having made up our minds to send the bearers on the +morrow to chop away the tusks. +</p> + +<p> +Shortly after we re-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 plenty of +meat. They trotted past us, and then stopped behind a little patch of bush +about a hundred yards away, wheeling 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 for a little rest. +</p> + +<p> +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 rushing form with uplifted trunk and tail silhouetted against the +great fiery 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 fire—though +at that distance it would have been of little use if we had done so—for +fear of hitting one of them, and the next a dreadful thing happened—Good +fell a victim to his passion for civilised dress. Had he consented to discard +his trousers and gaiters like the rest of us, and to hunt in a flannel shirt +and a pair of veldt-schoons, 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 face right in front of the elephant. +</p> + +<p> +We gave a gasp, for we knew that 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, saw his master fall, and brave lad as he was, turned and flung his +assegai straight into the elephant’s face. It stuck in his trunk. +</p> + +<p> +With a scream of pain, the brute seized the poor Zulu, hurled him to the earth, +and placing one huge foot on to his body about the middle, twined its trunk +round his upper part and <i>tore him in two</i>. +</p> + +<p> +We rushed up mad with horror, and fired again and again, till presently the +elephant fell upon the fragments of the Zulu. +</p> + +<p> +As for Good, he rose and wrung his hands over the brave man who had given his +life to save him, and, though I am an old hand, I felt a lump grow in my +throat. Umbopa stood contemplating the huge dead elephant and the mangled +remains of poor Khiva. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, well,” he said presently, “he is dead, but he died like +a man!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap05"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /> +OUR MARCH INTO THE DESERT</h2> + +<p> +We had killed nine elephants, and it took us two days to cut out the tusks, and +having brought them into camp, to 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 seventy pounds the pair, so nearly as we could judge. +</p> + +<p> +As for Khiva himself, we buried what remained of him in an ant-bear hole, +together with an assegai to protect himself with on his journey to a better +world. On the third day we marched again, hoping that we might live to 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, we reached +Sitanda’s Kraal, near the Lukanga River, the real starting-point of our +expedition. Very well do I recollect 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 stretched great tracts of waving +“veld” covered with tall grass, over which herds of the smaller +game were wandering. To the left lay the vast desert. This spot appears 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 is due. But +so it is. +</p> + +<p> +Just below our encampment flowed a little stream, on the farther side of which +is a stony slope, the same down which, twenty years before, I had seen poor +Silvestre creeping back after his attempt to reach Solomon’s Mines, and +beyond that slope begins the waterless desert, covered with a species of karoo +shrub. +</p> + +<p> +It was evening when we pitched our camp, and the great ball of the sun was +sinking into the desert, sending glorious rays of many-coloured light flying +all over its vast expanse. Leaving Good to superintend the arrangement of our +little camp, I took Sir Henry with me, and walking to the top of the slope +opposite, we gazed 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 Suliman Berg. +</p> + +<p> +“There,” I said, “there is the wall round Solomon’s +Mines, but God knows if we shall ever climb it.” +</p> + +<p> +“My brother should be there, and if he is, I shall reach him +somehow,” said Sir Henry, in that tone of quiet confidence which marked +the man. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope so,” I answered, and turned to go back to the camp, when I +saw that we were not alone. Behind us, also gazing earnestly towards the +far-off mountains, stood the great Kafir Umbopa. +</p> + +<p> +The Zulu spoke when he saw that I had observed him, addressing Sir Henry, to +whom he had attached himself. +</p> + +<p> +“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 +Kafirs), he said, pointing towards the mountain with his broad assegai. +</p> + +<p> +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 a white man by their heathenish +appellations to his face. The Zulu laughed a quiet little laugh which angered +me. +</p> + +<p> +“How dost thou know that I am not the equal of the Inkosi whom I +serve?” he said. “He is of a royal house, no doubt; one can see it +in his size and by his mien; so, mayhap, am I. At least, I am as great a man. +Be my mouth, O Macumazahn, and say my words to the Inkoos Incubu, my master, +for I would speak to him and to thee.” +</p> + +<p> +I was angry with the man, for I am not accustomed to be talked to in that way +by Kafirs, 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. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Umbopa,” answered Sir Henry, “I would journey +there.” +</p> + +<p> +“The desert is wide and there is no water in it, the mountains are high +and covered with snow, and man cannot say what lies beyond them behind the +place where the sun sets; how shalt thou come thither, Incubu, and wherefore +dost thou go?” +</p> + +<p> +I translated again. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell him,” answered Sir Henry, “that I go because I believe +that a man of my blood, my brother, has gone there before me, and I journey to +seek him.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is so, Incubu; a Hottentot I met on the road told me that a white +man went out into the desert two years ago towards those mountains with one +servant, a hunter. They never came back.” +</p> + +<p> +“How do you know it was my brother?” asked Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, I know not. But the Hottentot, when I asked what the white man was +like, said that he had thine 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 wore +clothes.” +</p> + +<p> +“There is no doubt about it,” said I; “I knew Jim +well.” +</p> + +<p> +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 +overtook him, and we must look for him on the other side.” +</p> + +<p> +Umbopa understood English, though he rarely spoke it. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a far journey, Incubu,” he put in, and I translated his +remark. +</p> + +<p> +“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 hands counting it as nothing, ready to keep it or lose it as Heaven above +may order.” +</p> + +<p> +I translated. +</p> + +<p> +“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 that seed be good and heavy it may perchance travel a +little way on the road it wills. 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 +perchance I fall to the ground on the way, my father.” +</p> + +<p> +He paused awhile, and then went on with one of those strange bursts of +rhetorical eloquence that Zulus sometimes indulge in, which to my mind, full +though they are of vain repetitions, show that the race is by no means devoid +of poetic instinct and of intellectual power. +</p> + +<p> +“What is life? Tell me, O white men, who are wise, who know the secrets +of the world, and of the world of stars, and the world that lies above and +around the stars; who flash your words from afar without a voice; tell me, +white men, the secret of our life—whither it goes and whence it comes! +</p> + +<p> +“You cannot answer me; you know not. Listen, I will answer. Out of the +dark we came, into the dark we go. Like a storm-driven 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 glow-worm that shines in the +night-time 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.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are a strange man,” said Sir Henry, when he had ceased. +</p> + +<p> +Umbopa laughed. “It seems to me that we are much alike, Incubu. Perhaps +<i>I</i> seek a brother over the mountains.” +</p> + +<p> +I looked at him suspiciously. “What dost thou mean?” I asked; +“what dost thou know of those mountains?” +</p> + +<p> +“A little; a very little. There is a strange land yonder, a land of +witchcraft and beautiful things; a land of brave people, and of trees, and +streams, and snowy peaks, and of a great white road. I have heard of it. But +what is the good of talking? It grows dark. Those who live to see will +see.” +</p> + +<p> +Again I looked at him doubtfully. The man knew too much. +</p> + +<p> +“You need not fear me, Macumazahn,” he said, interpreting my look. +“I dig no holes for you 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 wise and turn back. Go and hunt elephants, my masters. I have +spoken.” +</p> + +<p> +And without another word he lifted his spear in salutation, and returned +towards the camp, where shortly afterwards we found him cleaning a gun like any +other Kafir. +</p> + +<p> +“That is an odd man,” said Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” answered I, “too odd by half. I don’t like his +little ways. He knows something, and will not 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 make much difference one way or another.” +</p> + +<p> +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 over them. But I took some +precautions. +</p> + +<p> +First of all I loaded all the rifles, placing them at full cock, and informed +him that if he touched them they would go off. He tried the experiment +instantly with my eight-bore, 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 the guns +again. +</p> + +<p> +“Put the live devils out of the way up there in the thatch,” he +said, “or they will murder us all.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I told him that, when we came back, if one of those things was missing I +would kill him and his people by witchcraft; and if we died and he tried to +steal the rifles I would come and haunt him and turn his cattle mad and his +milk sour till life was a weariness, and would make the devils in the guns come +out and talk to him in a way he did not like, and generally gave him a good +idea of judgment to come. After that he promised to look after them as though +they were his father’s spirit. He was a very superstitious old Kafir and +a great villain. +</p> + +<p> +Having thus disposed of our superfluous gear we arranged the kit we +five—Sir Henry, Good, myself, Umbopa, and the Hottentot +Ventvögel—were to take with us on our journey. It was small enough, but +do what we would we could not get its weight down under about forty pounds a +man. This is what it consisted of:— +</p> + +<p> +The three express rifles and two hundred rounds of ammunition. +</p> + +<p> +The two Winchester repeating rifles (for Umbopa and Ventvögel), with two +hundred rounds of cartridge. +</p> + +<p> +Five Cochrane’s water-bottles, each holding four pints. +</p> + +<p> +Five blankets. +</p> + +<p> +Twenty-five pounds’ weight of biltong—i.e. sun-dried game flesh. +</p> + +<p> +Ten pounds’ weight of best mixed beads for gifts. +</p> + +<p> +A selection of medicine, including an ounce of quinine, and one or two small +surgical instruments. +</p> + +<p> +Our knives, a few sundries, such as a compass, matches, a pocket filter, +tobacco, a trowel, a bottle of brandy, and the clothes we stood in. +</p> + +<p> +This was our total equipment, a small one indeed for such a venture, but we +dared not attempt to carry more. Indeed, that load was a heavy one per man with +which to travel across the burning desert, for in such places every additional +ounce tells. But we could not see our way to reducing the weight. There was +nothing taken but what was absolutely necessary. +</p> + +<p> +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 a large gourd holding a +gallon of water apiece. My object was to enable us to refill our water-bottles +after the first night’s march, for we determined to start in the cool of +the evening. I gave out to these natives that we were going to shoot ostriches, +with which the desert abounded. They jabbered and shrugged their shoulders, +saying that we were mad and should perish of thirst, which I must say seemed +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 remarked sadly, 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 glory, flooding the wild country with light, and throwing a silver +sheen on the expanse of rolling desert before us, which looked as solemn and +quiet and as alien to man as the star-studded 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 by ourselves. Umbopa, assegai in hand and a rifle across his shoulders, +looked out fixedly across the desert a few paces ahead of us; while the hired +natives, with the gourds of water, and Ventvögel, were gathered in a little +knot behind. +</p> + +<p> +“Gentlemen,” said Sir Henry presently, in his 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. 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 direct our steps in +accordance with His will.” +</p> + +<p> +Taking off his hat, for the space of a minute or so, he covered his face with +his hands, and Good and I did likewise. +</p> + +<p> +I do not say that I am a first-rate 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 that he is very religious. Good too is +pious, though apt to swear. Anyhow I do not remember, excepting on one single +occasion, ever putting up 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 that the unknown and the awful always bring a man nearer +to his Maker. +</p> + +<p> +“And now,” said Sir Henry, “<i>trek</i>!” +</p> + +<p> +So we started. +</p> + +<p> +We had nothing to guide ourselves by except the distant mountains and old José +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 with. Still, our sole hope of success +depended upon it, such as it was. If we failed in finding that pool of bad +water which the old Dom marked as being situated in the middle of the desert, +about sixty miles from our starting-point, and as far from the mountains, in +all probability we must perish miserably of thirst. But to my mind the chances +of our finding it in that great sea of sand and karoo scrub seemed almost +infinitesimal. Even supposing that da Silvestra had marked the pool correctly, +what was there to prevent its having been dried up by the sun generations ago, +or trampled in by game, or filled with the drifting sand? +</p> + +<p> +On we tramped silently as shades through the night and in the heavy sand. The +karoo bushes caught our feet and retarded us, and the sand worked into our +veldtschoons and Good’s shooting-boots, so that every few miles we had to +stop and empty them; but still the night kept 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 silent 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. +</p> + +<p> +Shortly afterwards a little incident occurred which, though it startled us at +the time, gave rise to a laugh. Good was leading, as the holder of the compass, +which, being a sailor, of course he understood thoroughly, 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 around us a most +extraordinary hubbub, snorts, groans, and 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 run to, they cast themselves upon the ground and +howled out that it was ghosts. 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 halloaing wildly. In another second he threw up his arms, and we heard him +come to the earth with a thud. +</p> + +<p> +Then I saw what had happened; we had stumbled upon a herd of sleeping quagga, +on to the back of one of which Good actually had fallen, and the brute +naturally enough got up and made off with him. Calling 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 I found him sitting in the sand, his eye-glass still fixed +firmly in his eye, rather shaken and very much frightened, but not in any way +injured. +</p> + +<p> +After this we travelled on without any further misadventure till about 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, we started again. +</p> + +<p> +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 against her sickly face like the bones on the cheek +of a dying man. Then came spear upon spear of light flashing far away across +the boundless wilderness, piercing and firing the veils of mist, till the +desert was draped in a tremulous golden glow, and it was day. +</p> + +<p> +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. At length, about an hour later, we spied a little +pile of boulders 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 each of us having drunk some water and eaten a +bit of biltong, we lay down and soon were sound asleep. +</p> + +<p> +It was three o’clock in the afternoon before we woke, to find our bearers +preparing to return. They had seen enough of the desert already, and no number +of knives would have tempted them to come a step farther. So we took a hearty +drink, and having emptied our water-bottles, filled them up again from the +gourds that they had brought with them, and then watched them depart on their +twenty miles’ tramp home. +</p> + +<p> +At half-past four we also started. 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. Evidently it was too dry for game, +and with the exception of a deadly-looking cobra or two we saw no reptiles. One +insect, however, we found 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<a href="#fn-6" name="fnref-6" id="fnref-6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> +says somewhere. He is an extraordinary insect is the house fly. Go where you +will you find him, and so it must have been always. I have seen him enclosed in +amber, which is, I was told, quite half a million years old, looking exactly +like his descendant of to-day, and I have little doubt but that when the last +man lies dying on the earth he will be buzzing round—if this event +happens to occur in summer—watching for an opportunity to settle on his +nose. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-6" id="fn-6"></a> <a href="#fnref-6">[6]</a> +Readers must beware of accepting Mr. Quatermain’s references as accurate, +as, it has been found, some are prone to do. Although his reading evidently was +limited, the impression produced by it upon his mind was mixed. Thus to him the +Old Testament and Shakespeare were interchangeable +authorities.—<i>Editor</i>. +</p> + +<p> +At sunset we halted, waiting for the moon to rise. At last she came up, +beautiful and serene as ever, and, with one halt about two o’clock in the +morning, we trudged on wearily through the night, till at last the welcome sun +put a period to our labours. We drank a little and flung ourselves down on the +sand, thoroughly tired out, and soon were 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 gasped. +</p> + +<p> +“Phew,” said I, grabbing at the halo of flies which buzzed +cheerfully round my head. The heat did not affect <i>them</i>. +</p> + +<p> +“My word!” said Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +“It is hot!” echoed Good. +</p> + +<p> +It was hot, indeed, and there was not a bit of shelter to be found. Look where +we would there was no rock or tree, nothing but an unending glare, rendered +dazzling by the heated air that danced over the surface of the desert as it +dances over a red-hot stove. +</p> + +<p> +“What is to be done?” asked Sir Henry; “we can’t stand +this for long.” +</p> + +<p> +We looked at each other blankly. +</p> + +<p> +“I have it,” said Good, “we must dig a hole, get in it, and +cover ourselves with the karoo bushes.” +</p> + +<p> +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 the +help of our hands, in about an hour we succeeded in delving out a patch of +ground some 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 Ventvögel, on whom, being a +Hottentot, the heat had no particular effect. This gave us some slight shelter +from the burning rays of the sun, but the atmosphere 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 all we possessed in the first two hours, but we were forced to +exercise the most rigid care, for if our water failed us we knew that very soon +we must perish miserably. +</p> + +<p> +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 bear it no longer. It would be better to +die walking than to be killed slowly by heat and thirst in this dreadful hole. +So taking each of us a little drink from our fast diminishing supply of water, +now warmed to about the same temperature as a man’s blood, we staggered +forward. +</p> + +<p> +We had then covered some fifty miles of wilderness. If the reader will refer to +the rough copy and translation of old da Silvestra’s map, he will see +that the desert is marked as measuring 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 exist. +</p> + +<p> +Through the afternoon we crept slowly and painfully along, scarcely doing more +than a mile and a half in an hour. At sunset we rested again, waiting for the +moon, and after drinking a little managed to get some sleep. +</p> + +<p> +Before we lay down, Umbopa pointed out to us a slight and indistinct hillock on +the flat surface of the plain about eight miles away. At the distance it looked +like an ant-hill, and as I was dropping off to sleep I fell to wondering what +it could be. +</p> + +<p> +With the moon we marched 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 walked no longer, 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 this Good had chatted and joked, for he is a +merry fellow; but now he had not a joke in him. +</p> + +<p> +At last, about two o’clock, utterly worn out in body and mind, we came to +the foot of the queer hill, or sand koppie, which at first sight resembled a +gigantic ant-heap about a hundred feet high, and covering at the base nearly +two acres of ground. +</p> + +<p> +Here we halted, and driven to it by our desperate thirst, sucked down our last +drops of water. We had but half a pint a head, and each of us could have drunk +a gallon. +</p> + +<p> +Then we lay down. Just as I was dropping off to sleep I heard Umbopa remark to +himself in Zulu— +</p> + +<p> +“If we cannot find water we shall all be dead before the moon rises +to-morrow.” +</p> + +<p> +I shuddered, hot as it was. The near prospect of such an awful death is not +pleasant, but even the thought of it could not keep me from sleeping. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap06"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +WATER! WATER!</h2> + +<p> +Two hours later, that is, about four o’clock, I woke up, for so 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 this arid wilderness, and to +remember, as Umbopa had said, that if we did not find water this day we must +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, as my lips and +eyelids were stuck together, and it was only after some friction and with an +effort that I was able to open them. It was not far from dawn, but there was +none of the bright feel of dawn in the air, which was thick with a hot +murkiness that I cannot describe. The others were still sleeping. +</p> + +<p> +Presently it began to grow light enough to read, so I drew out a little pocket +copy of the “Ingoldsby Legends” which I had brought with me, and +read “The Jackdaw of Rheims.” When I got to where +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + “A nice little boy held a golden ewer,<br /> + Embossed, and filled with water as pure<br /> + As any that flows between Rheims and Namur,” +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +literally I smacked my cracking 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 drunk his water up; yes, +even if he had filled it already with the suds of soap “worthy of washing +the hands of the Pope,” and I knew that the whole consecrated curse of +the Catholic Church should fall upon me for so doing. I almost think that I +must have been a little light-headed with thirst, weariness and the 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 burnt up, brown-eyed, +grizzly-haired little elephant hunter suddenly bound between them, put his +dirty face into the basin, and swallow every drop of the precious water. The +idea amused me so much that I laughed or rather cackled aloud, which woke the +others, and they began to rub <i>their</i> dirty faces and drag <i>their</i> +gummed-up lips and eyelids apart. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as we were all well awake we began to discuss the situation, which was +serious enough. Not a drop of water was left. We turned the bottles upside +down, and licked their tops, but it was a failure; they were dry as a bone. +Good, who had charge of the flask 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 end. +</p> + +<p> +“If we do not find water we shall die,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +“If we can trust to the old Dom’s map there should be some +about,” I said; but nobody seemed to derive much satisfaction from this +remark. It was so evident that no great faith could be put in the map. Now it +was gradually growing light, and as we sat staring blankly at each other, I +observed the Hottentot Ventvögel rise and begin to walk about with his eyes on +the ground. Presently he stopped short, and uttering a guttural exclamation, +pointed to the earth. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it?” we exclaimed; and rising simultaneously we went to +where he was standing staring at the sand. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” I said, “it is fresh Springbok spoor; what of +it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Springbucks do not go far from water,” he answered in Dutch. +</p> + +<p> +“No,” I answered, “I forgot; and thank God for it.” +</p> + +<p> +This little discovery put new life into us; for it is wonderful, when a man is +in a desperate position, how he catches at the slightest hope, and feels almost +happy. On a dark night a single star is better than nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile Ventvögel was lifting his snub nose, and sniffing the hot air for all +the world like an old Impala ram who scents danger. Presently he spoke again. +</p> + +<p> +“I <i>smell</i> water,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +Then we felt quite jubilant, for we knew what a wonderful instinct these +wild-bred men possess. +</p> + +<p> +Just at that moment the sun came up gloriously, and revealed so grand a sight +to our astonished eyes that for a moment or two we even forgot our thirst. +</p> + +<p> +There, not more than forty or fifty miles from us, glittering like silver in +the early rays of the morning sun, soared Sheba’s Breasts; and stretching +away for hundreds of miles on either side of them ran the great Suliman Berg. +Now that, sitting here, I attempt to describe the extraordinary grandeur and +beauty of that sight, language seems to fail me. I am impotent even before its +memory. Straight before us, rose 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 of them at least fifteen thousand feet in height, +standing not more than a dozen miles apart, linked together by a precipitous +cliff of rock, and towering in awful white solemnity straight into the sky. +These mountains placed thus, like the pillars of a gigantic gateway, are shaped +after the fashion of a woman’s breasts, and at times the mists and +shadows beneath them take the form of a recumbent woman, veiled mysteriously in +sleep. Their bases swell gently from the plain, looking at that distance +perfectly round and smooth; and upon the top of each is a vast hillock covered +with snow, exactly corresponding to the nipple on the female breast. The +stretch of cliff that connects them appears to be some thousands of feet in +height, and perfectly precipitous, and on each flank of them, so far as the eye +can reach, extend similar lines of cliff, broken only here and there by flat +table-topped mountains, something like the world-famed one at Cape Town; a +formation, by the way, that is very common in Africa. +</p> + +<p> +To describe the comprehensive grandeur of that view is beyond my powers. There +was something so inexpressibly solemn and overpowering about those huge +volcanoes—for doubtless they are extinct volcanoes—that it quite +awed us. 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 vapours and clouds gathered and increased around the +mountains, till presently we could only trace their pure and gigantic outlines, +showing ghostlike through the fleecy envelope. Indeed, as we afterwards +discovered, usually they were wrapped in this gauze-like mist, which doubtless +accounted for our not having seen them more clearly before. +</p> + +<p> +Sheba’s Breasts had scarcely vanished into cloud-clad privacy, before our +thirst—literally a burning question—reasserted itself. +</p> + +<p> +It was all very well for Ventvögel to say that he smelt water, but we could see +no signs of it, look which way we would. So far as the eye might 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 water could be found; there was no indication of a pan, a pool, +or a spring. +</p> + +<p> +“You are a fool,” I said angrily to Ventvögel; “there is no +water.” +</p> + +<p> +But still he lifted his ugly snub nose and sniffed. +</p> + +<p> +“I smell it, Baas,” he answered; “it is somewhere in the +air.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I said, “no doubt it is in the clouds, and about two +months hence it will fall and wash our bones.” +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry stroked his yellow beard thoughtfully. “Perhaps it is on the +top of the hill,” he suggested. +</p> + +<p> +“Rot,” said Good; “whoever heard of water being found at the +top of a hill!” +</p> + +<p> +“Let us go and look,” I put in, and hopelessly enough we scrambled +up the sandy sides of the hillock, Umbopa leading. Presently he stopped as +though he was petrified. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Nanzia manzie</i>!” that is, “Here is water!” he +cried with a loud voice. +</p> + +<p> +We rushed up to him, and there, sure enough, in a deep cut or indentation on +the very top of the sand koppie, 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 unpleasant 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 +we 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 the pool, absorbing the +moisture through our parched skins. You, Harry, my boy, who have only to turn +on a couple of taps to summon “hot” and “cold” from an +unseen, vasty cistern, can have little idea of the luxury of that muddy wallow +in brackish tepid water. +</p> + +<p> +After a while we rose from it, refreshed indeed, and fell to on our +“biltong,” of which we had scarcely been able to touch a mouthful +for twenty-four 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 its bank, and +slept till noon. +</p> + +<p> +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 set +its position down so accurately on the tail of his shirt. The wonderful thing +to us was that the pan should have lasted so long, and the only way in which I +can account for this is on the supposition that it is fed by some spring deep +down in the sand. +</p> + +<p> +Having filled both ourselves and our water-bottles as full as possible, in far +better spirits we started off again with the moon. That night we covered nearly +five-and-twenty miles; but, needless to say, found no more water, though we +were lucky enough the following day to get a little shade behind some +ant-heaps. When the sun rose, and, for awhile, cleared away the mysterious +mists, Suliman’s Berg with 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 marched 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 exhausted once more, 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, 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 from the bowels of the earth in some far past age. +</p> + +<p> +By eleven o’clock we were utterly exhausted, and, generally speaking, in +a very bad state indeed. The lava clinker, over which we must drag ourselves, +though 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 steered 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 clinker was covered with +a dense green growth. Evidently soil formed of 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. +</p> + +<p> +So we sat down under the rocks and groaned, and for one I wished heartily that +we had never started on this fool’s errand. As we were sitting there I +saw Umbopa get up and hobble towards the patch of green, and a few minutes +afterwards, to my great astonishment, I perceived that usually very dignified +individual dancing and shouting like a maniac, and waving something green. Off +we all scrambled towards him as fast as our wearied limbs would carry us, +hoping that he had found water. +</p> + +<p> +“What is it, Umbopa, son of a fool?” I shouted in Zulu. +</p> + +<p> +“It is food and water, Macumazahn,” and again he waved the green +thing. +</p> + +<p> +Then I saw what he had found. It was a melon. We had hit upon a patch of wild +melons, thousands of them, and dead ripe. +</p> + +<p> +“Melons!” I yelled to Good, who was next me; and in another minute +his false teeth were fixed in one of them. +</p> + +<p> +I think we ate about six each before we had done, and poor fruit as they were, +I doubt if I ever thought anything nicer. +</p> + +<p> +But melons are not very nutritious, and when we had satisfied our thirst with +their pulpy substance, and put a stock to cool by the simple process of cutting +them in two and setting them end on in the hot sun to grow cold by evaporation, +we began to feel exceedingly hungry. We had still some biltong left, but our +stomachs turned from biltong, and besides, we were obliged to be very sparing +of it, for we could not say when we should find more food. Just at this moment +a lucky thing chanced. Looking across the desert I saw a flock of about ten +large birds flying straight towards us. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Skit, Baas, skit!</i>” “Shoot, master, shoot!” +whispered the Hottentot, throwing himself on his face, an example which we all +followed. +</p> + +<p> +Then I saw that the birds were a flock of <i>pauw</i> or 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 to my +feet. On seeing me the <i>pauw</i> bunched up together, as I expected that 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 melon stalks, and he was +toasting over it, and we made such a feed as we had not tasted for a week. We +ate that <i>pauw</i>; nothing was left of him but his leg-bones and his beak, +and we felt not a little the better afterwards. +</p> + +<p> +That night we went on again with the moon, carrying as many melons as we could +with us. As we ascended we found the air grew cooler and cooler, which was a +great relief to us, and at dawn, so far as we could judge, we were not more +than about a dozen miles from the snow line. Here we discovered more melons, +and 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 <i>pauw</i>, 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 the expanse of snow +above us, which must, we thought, melt sometimes. But as we afterwards +discovered, owing to a cause which it is quite beyond my power to explain, all +the streams flowed down upon the north side of the mountains. +</p> + +<p> +Now we 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 entries made at the +time in my note-book. +</p> + +<p> +“21st May.—Started 11 a.m., finding the atmosphere quite cold +enough to travel by day, and carrying some water-melons with us. Struggled on +all day, but found 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. Suffered much during the night from cold. +</p> + +<p> +“22nd.—Started at sunrise again, feeling very faint and weak. Only +made about 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 +his blanket, to keep ourselves alive. Are now suffering frightfully from +starvation and weariness. Thought that Ventvögel would have died during the +night. +</p> + +<p> +“23rd.—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 Ventvögel 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, +linking the two Breasts, and the view is glorious. Behind us the glowing desert +rolls away to the horizon, and before us lie mile upon mile of smooth hard snow +almost level, but swelling gently upwards, out of the centre of which the +nipple of the mountain, that 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 that our time has come.” +</p> + +<p> +And now I will drop the journal, partly because it is not very interesting +reading; also what follows requires telling rather more fully. +</p> + +<p> +All that day—the 23rd May—we struggled slowly up the incline of +snow, lying down from time to time to rest. A strange gaunt crew we must have +looked, while, 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 we could see nothing to eat. We did not accomplish more than seven +miles that day. Just before sunset we found ourselves exactly under the nipple +of Sheba’s left Breast, which towered thousands of feet into the air, a +vast smooth hillock of frozen snow. Weak as we were, we could not but +appreciate the wonderful scene, made even more splendid by the flying rays of +light from the setting sun, which here and there stained the snow blood-red, +and crowned the great dome above us with a diadem of glory. +</p> + +<p> +“I say,” gasped Good, presently, “we ought to be somewhere +near that cave the old gentleman wrote about.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” said I, “if there is a cave.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come, Quatermain,” groaned Sir Henry, “don’t talk like +that; I have every faith in the Dom; remember the water! We shall find the +place soon.” +</p> + +<p> +“If we don’t find it before dark we are dead men, that is all about +it,” was my consolatory reply. +</p> + +<p> +For the next ten minutes we trudged in silence, when suddenly Umbopa, who was +marching along beside me, wrapped in his blanket, and with a leather belt +strapped so tightly round his stomach, to “make his hunger small,” +as he said, that his waist looked like a girl’s, caught me by the arm. +</p> + +<p> +“Look!” he said, pointing towards the springing slope of the +nipple. +</p> + +<p> +I followed his glance, and some two hundred yards from us perceived what +appeared to be a hole in the snow. +</p> + +<p> +“It is the cave,” said Umbopa. +</p> + +<p> +We made the best of our way to the spot, and found sure enough that the hole +was the mouth of a cavern, no doubt the same as that of which da Silvestra +wrote. We were not too soon, for just as we reached shelter the sun went down +with startling rapidity, leaving the world nearly dark, for in these latitudes +there is but little twilight. So we crept into the cave, which did not appear +to be very big, and huddling ourselves together for warmth, swallowed what +remained of our brandy—barely a mouthful each—and tried to forget +our miseries in sleep. But the cold was too intense to allow us to do so, for I +am convinced that at this great altitude the thermometer cannot have marked +less than fourteen or fifteen degrees below freezing point. What such a +temperature meant to us, enervated as we were by hardship, want of food, and +the great heat of the desert, the reader may 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 still and bitter +night, feeling the frost wander round and nip us now in the finger, now in the +foot, now in the face. In vain did we huddle up closer and closer; there was no +warmth in our miserable starved carcases. Sometimes one of us would drop into +an uneasy slumber for a few minutes, but we could not sleep much, and perhaps +this was fortunate, for if we had I doubt if we should have ever woke again. +Indeed, I believe that it was only by force of will that we kept ourselves +alive at all. +</p> + +<p> +Not very long before dawn I heard the Hottentot Ventvögel, whose teeth had been +chattering all night like castanets, give a deep sigh. 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 colder, till at last it felt like ice. +</p> + +<p> +At length the air began to grow grey with light, then golden arrows sped across +the snow, and at last the glorious sun peeped above the lava wall and looked in +upon our half-frozen forms. Also it looked upon Ventvögel, sitting there +amongst us, <i>stone dead</i>. No wonder his back felt cold, poor fellow. He +had died when I heard him sigh, and was now frozen almost stiff. Shocked beyond +measure, we dragged ourselves from the corpse—how strange is that horror +we mortals have of the companionship of a dead body—and left it sitting +there, its arms clasped about its knees. +</p> + +<p> +By this time the sunlight was pouring its cold rays, for here they were cold, +straight into the mouth of the cave. Suddenly I heard an exclamation of fear +from someone, and turned my head. +</p> + +<p> +And this is what I saw: Sitting at the end of the cavern—it was not more +than twenty feet long—was another form, of which the head rested on its +chest and the long arms hung down. I stared at it, and saw that this too was a +<i>dead man</i>, and, what was more, a white man. +</p> + +<p> +The others saw also, and the sight proved too much for our shattered nerves. +One and all we scrambled out of the cave as fast as our half-frozen limbs would +carry us. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap07"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +SOLOMON’S ROAD</h2> + +<p> +Outside the cavern we halted, feeling rather foolish. +</p> + +<p> +“I am going back,” said Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” asked Good. +</p> + +<p> +“Because it has struck me that—what we saw—may be my +brother.” +</p> + +<p> +This was a new idea, and we re-entered the place to put it to the proof. After +the bright light outside, our eyes, weak as they were with staring at the snow, +could not pierce the gloom of the cave for a while. Presently, however, they +grew accustomed to the semi-darkness, and we advanced towards the dead man. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry knelt down and peered into his face. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank God,” he said, with a sigh of relief, “it is +<i>not</i> my brother.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I drew near and looked. The body was that of a tall man in middle life +with aquiline features, grizzled hair, and a long black moustache. 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 woollen pair of hose, had been +removed, leaving the skeleton-like frame naked. Round the neck of the corpse, +which was frozen perfectly stiff, hung a yellow ivory crucifix. +</p> + +<p> +“Who on earth can it be?” said I. +</p> + +<p> +“Can’t you guess?” asked Good. +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, the old Dom, José da Silvestra, of course—who else?” +</p> + +<p> +“Impossible,” I gasped; “he died three hundred years +ago.” +</p> + +<p> +“And what is there to prevent him from lasting for three thousand years +in this atmosphere, I should like to know?” asked Good. “If only +the temperature is sufficiently low, flesh and blood will keep fresh as New +Zealand mutton for ever, 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 writing, took off his clothes and left him. He could not +have buried him alone. Look!” he went on, stooping down to pick up a +queerly-shaped bone scraped at the end into a sharp point, “here is the +‘cleft bone’ that Silvestra used to draw the map with.” +</p> + +<p> +We gazed for a moment astonished, forgetting our own miseries in this +extraordinary and, as it seemed to us, semi-miraculous sight. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay,” said Sir Henry, “and this is where he got his ink +from,” and he pointed to a small wound on the Dom’s left arm. +“Did ever man see such a thing before?” +</p> + +<p> +There was no longer any doubt about the matter, which for my own part I confess +perfectly appalled me. There he sat, the dead man, whose directions, written +some ten generations ago, had led us to this spot. Here in my own hand was the +rude pen with which he had written them, and about his neck hung the crucifix +that his dying lips had kissed. Gazing at him, my imagination could reconstruct +the last scene of the drama, the traveller dying of cold and starvation, yet +striving to convey to the world the great secret which he had +discovered:—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 before 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 doubtless he will still sit, +crowned with the dread majesty of death, for centuries yet unborn, to startle +the eyes of wanderers like ourselves, if ever any such should come again to +invade his loneliness. The thing overpowered us, already almost perished as we +were with cold and hunger. +</p> + +<p> +“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 +Ventvögel, he placed it near to that of the old Dom. Then he stooped, and with +a jerk broke the rotten string of the crucifix which hung round da +Silvestra’s neck, for his fingers were too cold to attempt to unfasten +it. I believe that he has it still. I took the bone pen, and it is before me as +I write—sometimes I use it to sign my name. +</p> + +<p> +Then leaving these 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. +</p> + +<p> +When we had walked about half a mile we came to the edge of the plateau, for +the nipple of the mountain does not rise out of its exact centre, though from +the desert side it had seemed to do so. What lay below us we could not see, for +the landscape was wreathed in billows of morning fog. Presently, however, the +higher layers of mist cleared a little, and revealed, at the end of a long +slope of snow, a patch of green grass, some five hundred yards beneath us, +through which a stream was running. Nor was this all. By the stream, basking in +the bright sun, stood and lay a group of from ten to fifteen <i>large +antelopes</i>—at that distance we could not see of what species. +</p> + +<p> +The sight filled us with an unreasoning joy. If only we could get it, there was +food in plenty. But the question was how to do so. The beasts were fully six +hundred yards off, a very long shot, and one not to be depended on when our +lives hung on the results. +</p> + +<p> +Rapidly we discussed the advisability of trying to stalk the game, but in the +end dismissed it reluctantly. To begin with, the wind was not favourable, and +further, we must certainly be perceived, however careful we were, against the +blinding background of snow, which we should be obliged to traverse. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, we must have a try from where we are,” said Sir Henry. +“Which shall it be, Quatermain, the repeating rifles or the +expresses?” +</p> + +<p> +Here again was a question. The Winchester repeaters—of which we had two, +Umbopa carrying poor Ventvögel’s as well as his own—were 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 +guess-work. 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. +</p> + +<p> +“Let each of us take the buck opposite to him. Aim well at the point of +the shoulder and high up,” said I; “and Umbopa, do you give the +word, so that we may all fire together.” +</p> + +<p> +Then came a pause, each of us aiming his level best, as indeed a man is likely +to do when he knows that life itself depends upon the shot. +</p> + +<p> +“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 over the silent snow. Presently the smoke +cleared, and revealed—oh, joy!—a 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 shooting, that +animal’s heart and liver were lying before us. But now a new difficulty +arose, we had no fuel, and therefore could make no fire to cook them. We gazed +at each other in dismay. +</p> + +<p> +“Starving men should not be fanciful,” said Good; “we must +eat raw meat.” +</p> + +<p> +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. Then we washed them in the ice-cold 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 vigour 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 +starved stomachs, we were careful not to eat too much, stopping whilst we were +still hungry. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank Heaven!” said Sir Henry; “that brute has saved our +lives. What is it, Quatermain?” +</p> + +<p> +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 in colour, with faint red +stripes, and grew a thick coat. I afterwards discovered that the natives of +that wonderful country call these bucks “<i>inco</i>.” They are +very rare, and only found at a great altitude where no other game will live. +This animal was fairly hit high up in the shoulder, though whose bullet 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 prowess, and we +did not contradict him. +</p> + +<p> +We had been so busy satisfying our hunger that hitherto we had 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 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 gaze. I have never seen anything like it before, nor shall, I +suppose, again. +</p> + +<p> +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 +veld or grass land, whereon 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 land between, amongst which we could see groups of +dome-shaped huts. The landscape lay before us as a map, wherein rivers flashed +like silver snakes, and Alp-like peaks crowned with wildly twisted snow wreaths +rose in grandeur, whilst over all was the glad sunlight and the breath of +Nature’s happy life. +</p> + +<p> +Two curious things struck us as we gazed. First, that the country before us +must lie at least three 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 upon the southern side of the vast range on +which we stood, but on the northern face were many streams, most of which +appeared to unite with the great river we could see winding away farther than +our eyes could follow. +</p> + +<p> +We sat down for a while and gazed in silence at this wonderful view. Presently +Sir Henry spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“Isn’t there something on the map about Solomon’s Great +Road?” he said. +</p> + +<p> +I nodded, for I was still gazing out over the far country. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, look; there it is!” and he pointed a little to our right. +</p> + +<p> +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, +on reaching the plain, it 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. We accepted the fact, that was all. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Good, “it must be quite near us if we cut off to +the right. Hadn’t we better be making a start?” +</p> + +<p> +This was sound advice, and so soon as we had washed our faces and hands in the +stream we acted on it. For a mile or more we made our way over boulders and +across patches of snow, till suddenly, on reaching the top of the little rise, +we found 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; though the odd thing +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 +vanished, the entire surface of the mountain being strewn with boulders +interspersed with patches of snow. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you make of this, Quatermain?” asked Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +I shook my head, I could make nothing of the thing. +</p> + +<p> +“I have it!” said Good; “the road no doubt ran right over the +range and across the desert on the other side, but the sand there has covered +it up, and above us it has been obliterated by some volcanic eruption of molten +lava.” +</p> + +<p> +This seemed a good suggestion; at any rate, we accepted it, and proceeded down +the mountain. It proved a very different business travelling along down hill on +that magnificent pathway with full stomachs from what it was travelling uphill +over the snow quite starved and almost frozen. Indeed, had it not been for +melancholy recollections of poor Ventvögel’s sad fate, and of that grim +cave where he kept company with the old Dom, we should have felt 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 great road over the St. +Gothard in Switzerland is very similar. No difficulty had been too great for +the Old World engineer who laid it out. At one place we came to a ravine three +hundred feet broad and at least a hundred feet deep. This vast gulf was +actually filled in with huge blocks of dressed stone, having arches pierced +through them at the bottom for a waterway, over which the road went on +sublimely. 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 through the base +of an intervening ridge, a space of thirty yards or more. +</p> + +<p> +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 +captives being marched off in the distance. +</p> + +<p> +“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 had been here before Solomon’s people ever set a +foot on it. If this isn’t Egyptian or Phoenician handiwork, I must say +that it is very like it.” +</p> + +<p> +By midday we had advanced sufficiently down the mountain to search 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 silver trees 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 their appearance here astonished me +greatly. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” said Good, surveying these shining-leaved trees with evident +enthusiasm, “here is lots of wood, let us stop and cook some dinner; I +have about digested that raw heart.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>inco</i> +which we had brought with us, we proceeded to toast them on the end of sharp +sticks, as one sees the Kafirs do, and ate them with relish. After filling +ourselves, we lit our pipes and gave ourselves up to enjoyment that, compared +with the hardships we had recently undergone, seemed almost heavenly. +</p> + +<p> +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, +sung merrily at our side, the soft air murmured through the leaves of the +silver trees, doves cooed around, and bright-winged birds flashed like living +gems from bough to bough. It was a Paradise. +</p> + +<p> +The magic of the place combined with an 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 watched them. +</p> + +<p> +Presently I missed Good, and I looked to see what had become of him. Soon 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, he was actively employed in making a +most elaborate toilet. He had washed his gutta-percha collar, had 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 scanned the +numerous rents and tears in them, which naturally had 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 <i>inco</i> meat, till they looked, comparatively speaking, +respectable. Having inspected them judiciously through his eye-glass, he put +the boots on and began a fresh operation. From a little bag that he carried he +produced a pocket-comb in which was fixed a tiny looking-glass, and in this he +surveyed himself. Apparently he was not satisfied, for he proceeded to do his +hair with great care. Then came a pause whilst he again contemplated the +effect; still it was not satisfactory. He felt his chin, on which the +accumulated scrub of a ten days’ beard was flourishing. +</p> + +<p> +“Surely,” thought I, “he is not going to try to shave.” +But so it was. Taking the piece of fat with which he had greased his boots, +Good washed it thoroughly in the stream. Then diving again into the bag he +brought out a little pocket razor with a guard to it, such as are bought by +people who are afraid of cutting themselves, or by those about to undertake a +sea voyage. Then he rubbed his face and chin vigorously with the fat and began. +Evidently it proved 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 in our circumstances. At +last he succeeded in getting the hair off the right side of his face and chin, +when suddenly I, who was watching, became conscious of a flash of light that +passed just by his head. +</p> + +<p> +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 not more than twenty paces from where I was, +and ten from Good, were a group of men. They were very tall and +copper-coloured, and some of them wore great plumes of black feathers and short +cloaks of leopard skins; this was 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 caused by a weapon which he had hurled. +</p> + +<p> +As I looked an old soldier-like man stepped forward out of the group, and +catching the youth by the arm said something to him. Then they advanced upon +us. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry, Good, and Umbopa by this time had 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 them with such +contempt. +</p> + +<p> +“Put down your guns!” I halloed to the others, seeing that our only +chance of safety lay in conciliation. They obeyed, and walking to the front I +addressed the elderly man who had checked the youth. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting,” I said in Zulu, not knowing what language to use. To my +surprise I was understood. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting,” answered the old 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 him. Indeed, as we afterwards found out, the +language spoken by this people is 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. +</p> + +<p> +“Whence come you?” he went on, “who are you? and why are the +faces of three of you 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. The face of Umbopa was +like the faces of the men before me, and so was his great form like their +forms. But I had not time to reflect on this coincidence. +</p> + +<p> +“We are strangers, and come in peace,” I answered, speaking very +slowly, so that he might understand me, “and this man is our +servant.” +</p> + +<p> +“You lie,” he answered; “no strangers can cross the mountains +where all things perish. 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 king’s law. Prepare then to die, O strangers!” +</p> + +<p> +I was slightly staggered at this, more especially as I saw the hands of some of +the men steal down to their sides, where hung on each what looked to me like a +large and heavy knife. +</p> + +<p> +“What does that beggar say?” asked Good. +</p> + +<p> +“He says we are going to be killed,” I answered grimly. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, Lord!” groaned Good; and, as was his way when perplexed, he +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 uttered a simultaneous yell of horror, and +bolted back some yards. +</p> + +<p> +“What’s up?” said I. +</p> + +<p> +“It’s his teeth,” whispered Sir Henry excitedly. “He +moved them. Take them out, Good, take them out!” +</p> + +<p> +He obeyed, slipping the set into the sleeve of his flannel shirt. +</p> + +<p> +In another second curiosity had overcome fear, and the men advanced slowly. +Apparently they had now forgotten their amiable intention of killing us. +</p> + +<p> +“How is it, O strangers,” asked the old man solemnly, “that +this fat man (pointing to Good, who was clad in nothing but boots and 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 wears one shining and transparent eye—how is it, I +ask, that he has teeth which move of themselves, coming away from the jaws and +returning of their own will?” +</p> + +<p> +“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 his astonished +gaze two thin red lines of gum as utterly innocent of ivories as a new-born +elephant. The audience gasped. +</p> + +<p> +“Where are his teeth?” they shouted; “with our eyes we saw +them.” +</p> + +<p> +Turning his head slowly and with a gesture of ineffable contempt, Good swept +his hand across his mouth. Then he grinned again, and lo, there were two rows +of lovely teeth. +</p> + +<p> +Now the young man who had flung the knife threw himself down on the grass and +gave vent to a prolonged howl of terror; and as for the old gentleman, his +knees knocked together with fear. +</p> + +<p> +“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? +Pardon us, O my lords.” +</p> + +<p> +Here was luck indeed, and, needless to say, I jumped at the chance. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! oh!” groaned the chorus of astonished aborigines. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I went on, “we do, indeed”; and again I smiled +benignly, as I uttered that amazing lie. “We come to stay with you a +little while, and to bless you by our sojourn. Ye will see, O friends, that I +have prepared myself for this visit by the learning of your language.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is so, it is so,” said the chorus. +</p> + +<p> +“Only, my lord,” put in the old gentleman, “thou hast learnt +it very badly.” +</p> + +<p> +I cast an indignant glance at him, and he quailed. +</p> + +<p> +“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 imperious hand that—that, in +short—threw a knife at the head of him whose teeth come and go.” +</p> + +<p> +“Spare him, my lords,” said the old man in supplication; “he +is the king’s son, and I am his uncle. If anything befalls him his blood +will be required at my hands.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, that is certainly so,” put in the young man with great +emphasis. +</p> + +<p> +“Ye may perhaps doubt our power to avenge,” I went on, heedless of +this by-play. “Stay, I will show you. Here, thou dog and slave +(addressing Umbopa in a savage tone), give me the magic tube that +speaks”; and I tipped a wink towards my express rifle. +</p> + +<p> +Umbopa rose to the occasion, and with something as nearly resembling a grin as +I have ever seen on his dignified face he handed me the gun. +</p> + +<p> +“It is here, O Lord of Lords,” he said with a deep obeisance. +</p> + +<p> +Now just before I had asked for the rifle I had perceived a little +<i>klipspringer</i> antelope standing on a mass of rock about seventy yards +away, and determined to risk the shot. +</p> + +<p> +“Ye see that buck,” I said, pointing the animal out to the party +before me. “Tell me, is it possible for man born of woman to kill it from +here with a noise?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not possible, my lord,” answered the old man. +</p> + +<p> +“Yet shall I kill it,” I said quietly. +</p> + +<p> +The old man smiled. “That my lord cannot do,” he answered. +</p> + +<p> +I raised the rifle and covered the buck. It was a small animal, and one which a +man might well be excused for missing, but I knew that it would not do to miss. +</p> + +<p> +I drew a deep breath, and slowly pressed on the trigger. The buck stood still +as a stone. +</p> + +<p> +“Bang! thud!” The antelope sprang into the air and fell on the rock +dead as a door nail. +</p> + +<p> +A groan of simultaneous terror burst from the group before us. +</p> + +<p> +“If you want meat,” I remarked coolly, “go fetch that +buck.” +</p> + +<p> +The old man made a sign, and one of his followers departed, and presently +returned bearing the <i>klipspringer</i>. I noticed with satisfaction that I +had hit it fairly behind the shoulder. They gathered round the poor +creature’s body, gazing at the bullet-hole in consternation. +</p> + +<p> +“Ye see,” I said, “I do not speak empty words.” +</p> + +<p> +There was no answer. +</p> + +<p> +“If ye yet doubt our power,” I went on, “let one of you go +stand upon that rock that I may make him as this buck.” +</p> + +<p> +None of them seemed at all inclined to take the hint, till at last the +king’s son spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“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 cannot kill a man.” +</p> + +<p> +The old gentleman did not take the suggestion in good part. Indeed, he seemed +hurt. +</p> + +<p> +“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 +tube may speak with him.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a most general and hasty expression of dissent. +</p> + +<p> +“Let not good magic be wasted on our poor bodies,” said one; +“we are satisfied. All the witchcraft of our people cannot show the like +of this.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“He nearly scragged me,” murmured Good. +</p> + +<p> +“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 a hundred thousand +warriors, Twala the One-eyed, the Black, the Terrible.” +</p> + +<p> +“So,” said I superciliously, “lead us then to Twala. We do +not talk with low people and underlings.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well, my lords, we will lead you; but the way is long. We are +hunting three days’ journey from the place of the king. But let my lords +have patience, and we will lead them.” +</p> + +<p> +“So be it,” 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 monkey tricks, set for us no foxes’ snares, for before your brains +of mud have thought of them we shall know and avenge. The light of the +transparent eye of him with the bare legs and the half-haired face shall +destroy you, and go through your land; his vanishing teeth shall affix +themselves fast in you and eat you up, you and your wives and children; the +magic tubes shall argue with you loudly, and make you as sieves. Beware!” +</p> + +<p> +This magnificent address did not fail of its effect; indeed, it might almost +have been spared, so deeply were our friends already impressed with our powers. +</p> + +<p> +The old man made a deep obeisance, and murmured the words, “<i>Koom +Koom</i>,” which I afterwards discovered was their royal salute, +corresponding to the <i>Bayéte</i> 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, that, as the reader may +remember, were neatly folded up beside him. +</p> + +<p> +He saw and made a dive for them, and a loud altercation ensued. +</p> + +<p> +“Let not my lord of the transparent Eye and the melting Teeth touch +them,” said the old man. “Surely his slave shall carry the +things.” +</p> + +<p> +“But I want to put ’em on!” roared Good, in nervous English. +</p> + +<p> +Umbopa translated. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, my lord,” answered Infadoos, “would my lord cover up +his beautiful white legs (although he is so dark Good has a singularly white +skin) from the eyes of his servants? Have we offended my lord that he should do +such a thing?” +</p> + +<p> +Here I nearly exploded with laughing; and meanwhile one of the men started on +with the garments. +</p> + +<p> +“Damn it!” roared Good, “that black villain has got my +trousers.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 exist in a flannel shirt, +a pair of boots, and an eye-glass.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I said, “and with whiskers on one side of your face +and not on the other. If you change any of these things the people will think +that we are impostors. I am very sorry for you, but, seriously, you must. If +once they begin to suspect us our lives will not be worth a brass +farthing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you really think so?” said Good gloomily. +</p> + +<p> +“I do, indeed. Your ‘beautiful white legs’ and your eye-glass +are now <i>the</i> features 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 +warm.” +</p> + +<p> +Good sighed, and said no more, but it took him a fortnight to become accustomed +to his new and scant attire. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap08"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +WE ENTER KUKUANALAND</h2> + +<p> +All that afternoon we travelled along the magnificent roadway, which trended +steadily in a north-westerly direction. Infadoos and Scragga walked with us, +but their followers marched about one hundred paces ahead. +</p> + +<p> +“Infadoos,” I said at length, “who made this road?” +</p> + +<p> +“It was made, my lord, of old time, none know 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 fashion such roads now, but the king suffers no +grass to grow upon it.” +</p> + +<p> +“And whose are the writings on the wall of the caves through which we +have passed on the road?” I asked, referring to the Egyptian-like +sculptures that we had seen. +</p> + +<p> +“My lord, the hands that made the road wrote the wonderful writings. We +know not who wrote them.” +</p> + +<p> +“When did the Kukuana people come into this country?” +</p> + +<p> +“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 further because of the high +mountains which ring in the land, so say the old voices of our fathers that +have descended to us the children, and so says Gagool, the wise woman, the +smeller out of witches,” and again he pointed to the snow-clad 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 plain so far as the eye of man +can reach.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if the land is walled in with mountains, who is there for the +regiments to fight with?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, my lord, the country is open there 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. So +since then there has been no war.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your warriors must grow weary of resting on their spears, +Infadoos.” +</p> + +<p> +“My lord, there was one war, just after we destroyed the people that came +down upon us, but it was a civil war; dog ate dog.” +</p> + +<p> +“How was that?” +</p> + +<p> +“My lord the king, my half-brother, had a brother born at the same birth, +and of the same woman. It is not our custom, my lord, to suffer twins to live; +the weaker must always die. But the mother of the king hid away the feebler +child, which was born the last, for her heart yearned over it, and that child +is Twala the king. I am his younger brother, born of another wife.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well?” +</p> + +<p> +“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 +favourite 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, made a proclamation to the people, saying, ‘The king Imotu +is no king.’ And at the time Imotu was sick with a wound, and lay in his +kraal not able to move. +</p> + +<p> +“Then Gagool went into a hut and led out Twala, my half-brother, and twin +brother to the king, whom she had hidden among the caves and rocks since he was +born, and stripping the ‘<i>moocha</i>’ (waist-cloth) off his +loins, showed the people of the Kukuanas the mark of the sacred snake coiled +round his middle, 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!’ +</p> + +<p> +“Now 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 our lawful king. Then just as the tumult was at its +height Imotu the king, though he was very sick, crawled from his hut holding +his wife by the hand, and followed by his little son Ignosi—that is, by +interpretation, the Lightning. +</p> + +<p> +“‘What is this noise?’ he asked. ‘Why cry ye <i>The +king! The king!</i>’ +</p> + +<p> +“Then Twala, his twin 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!’” +</p> + +<p> +“And what became of Imotu’s wife and her son Ignosi? Did Twala kill +them too?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, my lord. When she saw that her lord was dead the queen seized the +child with a cry and ran away. Two days afterward 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 corn to eat, and she blessed the child, and +went on towards the mountains with her boy before the sun rose again, and there +she must have perished, for none have seen her since, nor the child +Ignosi.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then if this child Ignosi had lived he would be the true king of the +Kukuana people?” +</p> + +<p> +“That is so, my lord; the sacred snake is round his middle. If he lives +he is king; but, alas! he is long dead.” +</p> + +<p> +“See, my lord,” and Infadoos pointed to a vast collection of huts +surrounded by a fence, which was in its turn encircled 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 lords sleep at all upon this +earth.” +</p> + +<p> +“When we are among the Kukuanas, my good friend Infadoos, we do as the +Kukuanas do,” I said majestically, and turned round quickly to address +Good, who was tramping along sullenly behind, his mind fully occupied with +unsatisfactory attempts to prevent his flannel shirt from flapping in the +evening breeze. To my astonishment I butted into Umbopa, who was walking along +immediately behind me, and very evidently had been listening with the greatest +interest to my conversation with Infadoos. The expression on his face was most +curious, and gave me the idea of a man who was struggling with partial success +to bring something long ago forgotten back into his mind. +</p> + +<p> +All this while we had been pressing on at a good rate towards the undulating +plain beneath us. The mountains we had crossed now loomed high above our heads, +and Sheba’s Breasts were veiled modestly in diaphanous wreaths of mist. +As we went 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. 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 Kukuanaland. +</p> + +<p> +So soon as we started Infadoos had despatched a runner 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 informed me he would +keep up all the way, as running was an exercise much practised among his +people. +</p> + +<p> +The result of this message now became apparent. When we arrived within two +miles of the kraal we could see that company after company of men were issuing +from its gates and marching towards us. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry laid his hand upon my arm, and remarked that it looked as though we +were going to meet with a warm reception. Something in his tone attracted +Infadoos’ attention. +</p> + +<p> +“Let not my lords be afraid,” he said hastily, “for in my +breast there dwells no guile. This regiment is one under my command, and comes +out by my orders to greet you.” +</p> + +<p> +I nodded easily, though I was not quite easy in my mind. +</p> + +<p> +About half a mile from the gates of this kraal is a long stretch of rising +ground sloping gently upwards from the road, and here the companies formed. It +was a splendid sight to see them, each company about three hundred strong, +charging swiftly up the rise, with flashing spears and waving plumes, to take +their appointed place. By the time we reached the slope twelve such companies, +or in all three thousand six hundred men, had passed out and taken up their +positions along the road. +</p> + +<p> +Presently we came to the first company, and were able to gaze in astonishment +on the most magnificent set of warriors that 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, whilst many stood six feet three or four. They wore +upon their heads heavy black plumes of Sakaboola feathers, like those which +adorned our guides. About their waists and beneath the right knees were bound +circlets of white ox tails, while in their left hands they carried round +shields measuring about twenty inches across. These shields are very curious. +The framework is made of an iron plate beaten out thin, over which is stretched +milk-white ox-hide. +</p> + +<p> +The weapons that each man bore were simple, but most effective, consisting of a +short and very heavy two-edged spear with a wooden shaft, the blade being about +six inches across at the widest part. These spears are not used for throwing +but like the Zulu “<i>bangwan</i>,” or stabbing assegai, are for +close quarters only, when the wound inflicted by them is terrible. In addition +to his <i>bangwan</i> every man carried three large and heavy knives, each +knife weighing about two pounds. One knife was fixed in the ox-tail girdle, and +the other two at the back of the round shield. These knives, which are called +“<i>tollas</i>” by the Kukuanas, take the place of the throwing +assegai of the Zulus. The Kukuana warriors can cast them with great accuracy to +a distance of fifty yards, and it is their custom on charging to hurl a volley +of them at the enemy as they come to close quarters. +</p> + +<p> +Each company remained still as a collection of bronze statues till we were +opposite to it, when at a signal given by its commanding officer, who, +distinguished by a leopard skin 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, so soon as we +had passed, the company formed up behind us and followed us towards the kraal, +till at last the whole regiment of the “Greys”—so called from +their white shields—the crack corps of the Kukuana people, was marching +in our rear with a tread that shook the ground. +</p> + +<p> +At length, branching off from Solomon’s Great Road, we came to the wide +fosse surrounding the kraal, which is at least a mile round, and fenced with a +strong palisade of piles formed of the trunks of trees. At the gateway this +fosse is spanned by a primitive drawbridge, which was let down by the guard to +allow us to pass in. The kraal is exceedingly well laid out. Through the centre +runs 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 are dome-shaped, and built, like those of the Zulus, of a +framework of wattle, beautifully thatched with grass; but, unlike the Zulu +huts, they have doorways through which men could walk. Also they are much +larger, and surrounded by a verandah about six feet wide, beautifully paved +with powdered lime trodden hard. +</p> + +<p> +All along each side of this wide pathway that pierces the kraal were ranged +hundreds of women, brought out by curiosity to look at us. These women, for a +native race, are 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 among most African races. But what struck us most was +their exceedingly quiet and dignified air. They were as well-bred in their way +as the <i>habituées</i> of a fashionable drawing-room, and in this respect they +differ from Zulu women and their cousins the Masai who inhabit the district +beyond Zanzibar. Their curiosity had brought them out to see us, but they +allowed no rude expressions of astonishment 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 suffer the feeling of +intense admiration which evidently mastered their minds to find expression. +They fixed their dark eyes upon this new and snowy loveliness, for, as I think +I have said, Good’s skin is exceedingly white, and that was all. But it +was quite enough for Good, who is modest by nature. +</p> + +<p> +When we reached the centre of the kraal, Infadoos halted at the door of a large +hut, which was surrounded at a distance by a circle of smaller ones. +</p> + +<p> +“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 may 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 food.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is good,” said I. “Infadoos; we are weary with travelling +through realms of air; now let us rest.” +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly we entered the hut, which we found amply prepared for our comfort. +Couches of tanned skins were spread for us to lie on, and water was placed for +us to wash in. +</p> + +<p> +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 drew the knife from his girdle and dexterously cut the ox’s +throat. In ten minutes it was dead, skinned, and jointed. The best of the meat +was then cut off for us, and the rest, in the name of our party, I presented to +the warriors round us, who took it and distributed the “white +lords’ gift.” +</p> + +<p> +Umbopa set to work, with the assistance of an extremely prepossessing young +woman, to boil our portion in a large earthenware pot over a fire which was +built outside the hut, and when it was nearly ready we sent a message to +Infadoos, and asked him and Scragga, the king’s son, to join us. +</p> + +<p> +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, they helped us to get through our dinner. The old +gentleman was most affable and polite, but it struck me that the young one +regarded us with doubt. Together with the rest of the party, he had 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 to be replaced by a sullen +suspicion—which made me feel rather uncomfortable. +</p> + +<p> +In the course of our meal Sir Henry suggested to me that it might be well to +try to 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 it would +be wiser to say nothing of the matter at this time. It was difficult to explain +a relative lost from “the Stars.” +</p> + +<p> +After supper we produced our pipes and lit them; a proceeding which filled +Infadoos and Scragga with astonishment. The Kukuanas were evidently +unacquainted with the divine delights of tobacco-smoke. The herb is grown among +them extensively; but, like the Zulus, they use it for snuff only, and quite +failed to identify it in its new form. +</p> + +<p> +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 departed to inform Twala the king +of our coming. +</p> + +<p> +It appeared that Twala was at his principal place, known as Loo, making ready +for the great annual feast which was to be held in the first week of June. At +this gathering all the regiments, with the exception of certain detachments +left behind for garrison purposes, are brought up and paraded before the king; +and the great annual witch-hunt, of which more by-and-by, is held. +</p> + +<p> +We were to start at dawn; and Infadoos, who was to accompany us, expected that +we should reach Loo on the night of the second day, unless we were detained by +accident or by swollen rivers. +</p> + +<p> +When they had given us this information our visitors bade us good-night; and, +having arranged to watch turn and turn about, three of us flung ourselves down +and slept the sweet sleep of the weary, whilst the fourth sat up on the +look-out for possible treachery. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap09"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +TWALA THE KING</h2> + +<p> +It will not be necessary for me to detail at length the incidents of our +journey to Loo. It took two full 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 camp which +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 we were overtaken by thousands of +warriors hurrying up to Loo to be present at the great annual review and +festival, and more splendid troops I never saw. +</p> + +<p> +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 lay Loo itself. For a native town it is an enormous place, quite five +miles round, I should say, with outlying kraals projecting from it, that serve +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 is beautifully situated, and through the +centre of the kraal, dividing it into two portions, runs a river, which +appeared to be bridged in several places, the same indeed that we had seen from +the slopes of Sheba’s Breasts. Sixty or seventy miles away three great +snow-capped mountains, placed at the points of a triangle, started out of the +level plain. The conformation of these mountains is unlike that of +Sheba’s Breasts, being sheer and precipitous, instead of smooth and +rounded. +</p> + +<p> +Infadoos saw us looking at them, and volunteered a remark. +</p> + +<p> +“The road ends there,” he said, pointing to the mountains known +among the Kukuanas as the “Three Witches.” +</p> + +<p> +“Why does it end?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“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 for to this +country, and it is there now that our kings are buried in the Place of +Death.” +</p> + +<p> +“What was it they came for?” I asked eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, I know not. My lords who have dropped from the Stars should +know,” he answered with a quick look. Evidently he knew more than he +chose to say. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes,” I went on, “you are right, in the Stars we learn many +things. I have heard, for instance, that the wise men of old came to these +mountains to find bright stones, pretty playthings, and yellow iron.” +</p> + +<p> +“My lord is wise,” he answered coldly; “I am but a child and +cannot talk with my lord on such matters. My lord must speak with Gagool the +old, at the king’s place, who is wise even as my lord,” and he went +away. +</p> + +<p> +So soon as he was gone I turned to the others, and pointed out the mountains. +“There are Solomon’s diamond mines,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +Umbopa was standing with them, apparently plunged in one of the fits of +abstraction which were common to him, and caught my words. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Macumazahn,” he put in, in Zulu, “the diamonds are +surely there, and you shall have them, since you white men are so fond of toys +and money.” +</p> + +<p> +“How dost thou know that, Umbopa?” I asked sharply, for I did not +like his mysterious ways. +</p> + +<p> +He laughed. “I dreamed it in the night, white men;” then he too +turned on his heel and went. +</p> + +<p> +“Now what,” said Sir Henry, “is our black friend driving at? +He knows more than he chooses to say, that is clear. By the way, Quatermain, +has he heard anything of—of my brother?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing; he has asked everyone he has become friendly with, but they all +declare that no white man has ever been seen in the country before.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you suppose that he got here at all?” suggested Good; “we +have only reached the place by a miracle; is it likely he could have reached it +without the map?” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t know,” said Sir Henry gloomily, “but somehow I +think that I shall find him.” +</p> + +<p> +Slowly the sun sank, then suddenly darkness rushed down on the land like a +tangible thing. There was no breathing-space between the day and 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 west there is a glow, then come rays of silver light, and at +last the full and glorious moon lights up the plain and shoots its gleaming +arrows far and wide, filling the earth with a faint refulgence. +</p> + +<p> +We stood and watched the lovely sight, whilst the stars grew pale before this +chastened majesty, and felt our hearts lifted up in the presence of a beauty +that I cannot describe. Mine has been a rough life, but there are a few things +I am thankful to have lived for, and one of them is to have seen that moon +shine over Kukuanaland. +</p> + +<p> +Presently our meditations were broken in upon by our polite friend Infadoos. +</p> + +<p> +“If my lords are rested we will journey on to Loo, where a hut is made +ready for my lords to-night. The moon is now bright, so that we shall not fall +by the way.” +</p> + +<p> +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 camp fires, appeared +absolutely endless. Indeed, Good, who is always fond of a bad joke, christened +it “Unlimited Loo.” Soon 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 +halted at last by 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” quarters. +</p> + +<p> +We entered, and found that a hut had been assigned to each of us. These huts +were superior to any that 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 so soon as we had washed ourselves with water, which +stood ready in earthenware jars, some young women of handsome appearance +brought us roasted meats, and mealie cobs daintily served on wooden platters, +and presented them to us with deep obeisances. +</p> + +<p> +We ate and drank, and then, the beds having been all moved into one hut by our +request, a precaution at which the amiable young ladies smiled, we flung +ourselves down to sleep, thoroughly wearied with our long journey. +</p> + +<p> +When we woke it was to find the sun high in the heavens, and the female +attendants, who did not seem to be troubled by any false shame, already +standing inside the hut, having been ordered to attend and help us to +“make ready.” +</p> + +<p> +“Make ready, indeed,” growled Good; “when one has only a +flannel shirt and a pair of boots, that does not take long. I wish you would +ask them for my trousers, Quatermain.” +</p> + +<p> +I asked accordingly, but was informed that these sacred relics had already been +taken to the king, who would see us in the forenoon. +</p> + +<p> +Somewhat to their astonishment and disappointment, having requested the young +ladies to step outside, we proceeded to make the best toilet of which the +circumstances admitted. 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 upon 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 general way I considered my maximum length. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +We remarked in reply that we should prefer to wait till the sun was a little +higher, we were yet weary with our journey, &c., &c. It is always well, +when dealing with uncivilised 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 permitted—namely, the Winchester rifle which had been used by poor +Ventvögel, 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 such things before. At length we declared that we +were ready, and guided by Infadoos, started off to the audience, Umbopa +carrying the rifle and beads. +</p> + +<p> +After walking a few hundred yards we came to an enclosure, something like that +surrounding the huts which had been allotted to us, only fifty times as big, +for it could not have covered less than six or seven acres of ground. All round +the outside fence stood a row of huts, which were the habitations of the +king’s wives. Exactly opposite the gateway, on the further side of the +open space, was a very large hut, built 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 +adequate idea of the grandeur of the spectacle which they presented, with their +waving plumes, their glancing spears, and iron-backed ox-hide shields. +</p> + +<p> +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 tiger-skin karross flung over its shoulders, +stepped out, followed by the boy Scragga, and what appeared to us to be a +withered-up monkey, wrapped in a fur cloak. The figure seated itself upon a +stool, Scragga took his stand behind it, and the withered-up monkey crept on +all fours into the shade of the hut and squatted down. +</p> + +<p> +Still there was silence. +</p> + +<p> +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. This man’s lips were as thick +as a Negro’s, the nose was flat, he had but one gleaming black eye, for +the other was represented by a hollow in the face, and his whole expression was +cruel and sensual to a degree. From the large head rose a magnificent plume of +white ostrich feathers, his body was clad in a shirt of shining chain armour, +whilst round the waist and right knee were the usual garnishes of white +ox-tail. In his right hand was a huge spear, about the neck a thick torque of +gold, and bound on the forehead shone dully a single and enormous uncut +diamond. +</p> + +<p> +Still there was silence; but not for long. Presently the man, whom we rightly +guessed to be the king, raised the great javelin in his hand. Instantly eight +thousand spears were lifted 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. +</p> + +<p> +“Be humble, O people,” piped out a thin voice which seemed to come +from the monkey in the shade, “it is the king.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>It is the king</i>,” boomed out the eight thousand throats in +answer. “<i>Be humble, O people, it is the king.</i>” +</p> + +<p> +Then there was silence again—dead silence. Presently, however, it was +broken. A soldier on our left dropped his shield, which fell with a clatter on +to the limestone flooring. +</p> + +<p> +Twala turned his one cold eye in the direction of the noise. +</p> + +<p> +“Come hither, thou,” he said, in a cold voice. +</p> + +<p> +A fine young man stepped out of the ranks, and stood before him. +</p> + +<p> +“It was thy shield that fell, thou awkward dog. Wilt thou make me a +reproach in the eyes of these strangers from the Stars? What hast thou to say +for thyself?” +</p> + +<p> +We saw the poor fellow turn pale under his dusky skin. +</p> + +<p> +“It was by chance, O Calf of the Black Cow,” he murmured. +</p> + +<p> +“Then it is a chance for which thou must pay. Thou hast made me foolish; +prepare for death.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am the king’s ox,” was the low answer. +</p> + +<p> +“Scragga,” roared the king, “let me see how thou canst use +thy spear. Kill me this blundering fool.” +</p> + +<p> +Scragga stepped forward with an ill-favoured grin, and lifted his spear. The +poor victim covered his eyes with his hand and stood still. As for us, we were +petrified with horror. +</p> + +<p> +“Once, twice,” he waved the spear, and then struck, ah! right +home—the spear stood out a foot behind the soldier’s back. He flung +up his hands and dropped dead. From the multitude about us 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 realised that it had been enacted. Sir +Henry sprang up and swore a great oath, then, overpowered by the sense of +silence, sat down again. +</p> + +<p> +“The thrust was a good one,” said the king; “take him +away.” +</p> + +<p> +Four men stepped out of the ranks, and lifting the body of the murdered man, +carried it thence. +</p> + +<p> +“Cover up the blood-stains, cover them up,” piped out the thin +voice that proceeded from the monkey-like figure; “the king’s word +is spoken, the king’s doom is done!” +</p> + +<p> +Thereupon a girl came forward from behind the hut, bearing a jar filled with +powdered lime, which she scattered over the red mark, blotting it from sight. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry meanwhile was boiling with rage at what had happened; indeed, it was +with difficulty that we could keep him still. +</p> + +<p> +“Sit down, for heaven’s sake,” I whispered; “our lives +depend on it.” +</p> + +<p> +He yielded and remained quiet. +</p> + +<p> +Twala sat silent until the traces of the tragedy had been removed, then he +addressed us. +</p> + +<p> +“White people,” he said, “who come hither, whence I know not, +and why I know not, greeting.” +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting, Twala, King of the Kukuanas,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“White people, whence come ye, and what seek ye?” +</p> + +<p> +“We come from the Stars, ask us not how. We come to see this land.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ye journey from far to see a little thing. And that man with you,” +pointing to Umbopa, “does he also come from the Stars?” +</p> + +<p> +“Even so; there are people of thy colour in the heavens above; but ask +not of matters too high for thee, Twala the king.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 you as him whom they bore away?” +</p> + +<p> +I laughed out loud, though there was little laughter in my heart. +</p> + +<p> +“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 +should 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 seen the like of us?” and I pointed to Good, feeling quite sure +that he had never seen anybody before who looked in the least like <i>him</i> +as he then appeared. +</p> + +<p> +“It is true, I have not,” said the king, surveying Good with +interest. +</p> + +<p> +“Have they not told thee how we strike with death from afar?” I +went on. +</p> + +<p> +“They have told me, but I believe them not. Let me see you kill. Kill me +a man among those who stand yonder”—and he pointed to the opposite +side of the kraal—“and I will believe.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” I answered; “we shed no blood of men 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.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” laughed the king, “kill me a man and I will +believe.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 given me much pleasure to shoot). +</p> + +<p> +On hearing this suggestion Scragga uttered a sort of howl, and bolted into the +hut. +</p> + +<p> +Twala frowned majestically; the suggestion did not please him. +</p> + +<p> +“Let a young ox be driven in,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +Two men at once departed, running swiftly. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Sir Henry,” said I, “do you shoot. I want to show this +ruffian that I am not the only magician of the party.” +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry accordingly took his “express,” and made ready. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope I shall make a good shot,” he groaned. +</p> + +<p> +“You must,” I answered. “If you miss with the first barrel, +let him have the second. Sight for 150 yards, and wait till the beast turns +broadside on.” +</p> + +<p> +Then came a pause, until presently we caught sight of an ox running straight +for the kraal gate. It came on through the gate, then, catching sight of the +vast concourse of people, stopped stupidly, turned round, and bellowed. +</p> + +<p> +“Now’s your time,” I whispered. +</p> + +<p> +Up went the rifle. +</p> + +<p> +Bang! <i>thud</i>! and the ox was kicking on his back, shot in the ribs. The +semi-hollow bullet had done its work well, and a sigh of astonishment went up +from the assembled thousands. +</p> + +<p> +I turned round coolly— +</p> + +<p> +“Have I lied, O king?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, white man, it is the truth,” was the somewhat awed answer. +</p> + +<p> +“Listen, Twala,” I went on. “Thou hast seen. Now know we come +in peace, not in war. See,” and I held up the Winchester repeater; +“here is a hollow staff that shall enable thee to kill even as we kill, +only I lay this charm 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 soldier +step forty paces and place the shaft of a spear in the ground so that the flat +blade looks towards us.” +</p> + +<p> +In a few seconds it was done. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, see, I will break yonder spear.” +</p> + +<p> +Taking a careful sight I fired. The bullet struck the flat of the spear, and +shattered the blade into fragments. +</p> + +<p> +Again the sigh of astonishment went up. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Twala, we give this magic tube to thee, and by-and-by I will show +thee how to use it; but beware how thou turnest the magic of the Stars against +a man of earth,” and I handed him the rifle. +</p> + +<p> +The king took it very gingerly, and laid it down at his feet. As he did so I +observed the wizened monkey-like figure creeping 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 from its face, revealed a most +extraordinary and weird countenance. Apparently it was that of a woman of great +age so shrunken that in size it seemed no larger than the face of a year-old +child, although made up of a number of deep and yellow wrinkles. Set in these +wrinkles was a sunken slit, that represented the mouth, beneath which the chin +curved outwards to a point. There was no nose to speak of; indeed, the visage +might have been taken for that of a sun-dried 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 parchment-coloured +skull, like jewels in a charnel-house. As for the head itself, it was perfectly +bare, and yellow in hue, while its wrinkled scalp moved and contracted like the +hood of a cobra. +</p> + +<p> +The figure to which this fearful countenance belonged, a countenance so fearful +indeed that it caused a shiver of fear to pass through us as we gazed on it, +stood still for a moment. Then suddenly it projected a skinny claw armed with +nails nearly an inch long, and laying it on the shoulder of Twala the king, +began to speak in a thin and piercing voice— +</p> + +<p> +“Listen, O king! Listen, O warriors! Listen, O mountains and plains and +rivers, home of the Kukuana race! Listen, O skies and sun, O rain and storm and +mist! Listen, O men and women, O youths and maidens, and O ye babes unborn! +Listen, all things that live and must die! Listen, all dead things that shall +live again—again to die! Listen, the spirit of life is in me and I +prophesy. I prophesy! I prophesy!” +</p> + +<p> +The words died away in a faint wail, and dread seemed to seize upon the hearts +of all who heard them, including our own. This old woman was very terrible. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Blood! blood! blood!</i> rivers of blood; blood everywhere. I see it, +I smell it, I taste it—it is salt! it runs red upon the ground, it rains +down from the skies. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Footsteps! footsteps! footsteps!</i> the tread of the white man +coming from afar. It shakes the earth; the earth trembles before her master. +</p> + +<p> +“Blood is good, the red blood is bright; there is no smell like the smell +of new-shed blood. The lions shall lap it and roar, the vultures shall wash +their wings in it and shriek with joy. +</p> + +<p> +“I am old! I am old! I have seen much blood; <i>ha, ha!</i> but I shall +see more ere I die, and be merry. How old am I, think ye? Your fathers knew me, +and <i>their</i> fathers knew me, and <i>their</i> fathers’ +fathers’ fathers. I have seen the white man and know his desires. I am +old, but the mountains are older than I. Who made the great road, tell me? Who +wrote the pictures on the rocks, tell me? Who reared up the three Silent Ones +yonder, that gaze across the pit, tell me?” and she pointed towards the +three precipitous mountains which we had noticed on the previous night. +</p> + +<p> +“Ye know not, but I know. It was a white people who were before ye are, +who shall be when ye are not, who shall eat you up and destroy you. <i>Yea! +yea! yea!</i> +</p> + +<p> +“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 +<i>Isanusi</i>, the witch doctress!” +</p> + +<p> +Then she turned her bald vulture-head towards us. +</p> + +<p> +“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 except once, and I remember +that he left it but to die. Ye come for bright stones; I know it—I know +it; ye shall find them when the blood is dry; but shall ye return whence ye +came, or shall ye stop with me? <i>Ha! ha! ha!</i> +</p> + +<p> +“And thou, thou with the dark skin and the proud bearing,” and she +pointed 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, these +thou leavest to ‘white men from the Stars.’ Methinks I know thee; +methinks I can smell the smell of the blood in thy heart. Strip off the +girdle—” +</p> + +<p> +Here the features of this extraordinary creature became convulsed, and she fell +to the ground foaming in an epileptic fit, and was carried into the hut. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +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 empty. +</p> + +<p> +“White people,” he said, “it passes in my mind to kill you. +Gagool has spoken strange words. What say ye?” +</p> + +<p> +I laughed. “Be careful, O king, we are not easy to slay. Thou hast seen +the fate of the ox; wouldst thou be as the ox is?” +</p> + +<p> +The king frowned. “It is not well to threaten a king.” +</p> + +<p> +“We threaten not, we speak what is true. Try to kill us, O king, and +learn.” +</p> + +<p> +The great savage put his hand to his forehead and thought. +</p> + +<p> +“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 for you. To-morrow I +will think.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well, O king,” I answered unconcernedly, and then, +accompanied by Infadoos, we rose and went back to our kraal. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap10"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /> +THE WITCH-HUNT</h2> + +<p> +On reaching our hut I motioned to Infadoos to enter with us. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Infadoos,” I said, “we would speak with thee.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let my lords say on.” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems to us, Infadoos, that Twala the king is a cruel man.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is so, my lords. Alas! the land cries out because of his cruelties. +To-night ye shall see. It is the great witch-hunt, 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 wife, or if he fears a man that he should +excite a rebellion against him, then Gagool, whom ye saw, or some of the +witch-finding women whom she has taught, will smell that man out as a wizard, +and he will be killed. Many must die before the moon grows pale to-night. It is +ever so. Perhaps I too shall be killed. As yet I have been spared because I am +skilled in war, and am beloved by the soldiers; but I know not how long I have +to live. The land groans at the cruelties of Twala the king; it is wearied of +him and his red ways.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then why is it, Infadoos, that the people do not cast him down?” +</p> + +<p> +“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 his 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 might have been otherwise; but they are both dead.” +</p> + +<p> +“How knowest thou that Ignosi is dead?” said a voice behind us. We +looked round astonished to see who spoke. It was Umbopa. +</p> + +<p> +“What meanest thou, boy?” asked Infadoos; “who told thee to +speak?” +</p> + +<p> +“Listen, Infadoos,” was the answer, “and I will tell thee a +story. Years ago the king Imotu was killed in this country and his wife fled +with the boy Ignosi. Is it not so?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is so.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was said that the woman and her son died upon the mountains. Is it +not so?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is even so.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 trees +again.” +</p> + +<p> +“How knowest thou this?” +</p> + +<p> +“Listen. They travelled on and on, many months’ journey, till they +reached a land where a people called the Amazulu, who also 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 became a wanderer again, and journeyed into a +land of wonders, where white people live, and for many more years he learned +the wisdom of the white people.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a pretty story,” said Infadoos incredulously. +</p> + +<p> +“For 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 journey thither to see his people and +his father’s house before he died. For long 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 travelled on and on, seeking for one who is +lost. They crossed the burning desert, they crossed the snow-clad mountains, +and at last reached the land of the Kukuanas, and there they found <i>thee</i>, +O Infadoos.” +</p> + +<p> +“Surely thou art mad to talk thus,” said the astonished old +soldier. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou thinkest so; see, I will show thee, O my uncle. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>I am Ignosi, rightful king of the Kukuanas!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +Then with a single movement Umbopa slipped off his “moocha” or +girdle, and stood naked before us. +</p> + +<p> +“Look,” he said; “what is this?” and he pointed to the +picture of a great snake tattooed in blue round his middle, its tail +disappearing into its open mouth just above where the thighs are set into the +body. +</p> + +<p> +Infadoos looked, his eyes starting nearly out of his head. Then he fell upon +his knees. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Koom! Koom!</i>” he ejaculated; “it is my brother’s +son; it is the king.” +</p> + +<p> +“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. Yet the old witch Gagool was right, the land shall run with blood +first, and hers shall run with it, if she has any and can die, 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 thou.” +</p> + +<p> +The old man put his hand to his head and thought. Then he rose, and advancing +to where Umbopa, or rather Ignosi, stood, he knelt before him, and took his +hand. +</p> + +<p> +“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 knees, +now shall my old arm strike for thee and freedom.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well, Infadoos; if I conquer, thou shalt be the greatest man in +the kingdom after its king. If I fail, thou canst only die, and death is not +far off from thee. Rise, my uncle.” +</p> + +<p> +“And ye, white men, will ye help me? What have I to offer you! The white +stones! If I conquer and can find them, ye shall have as many as ye can carry +hence. Will that suffice you?” +</p> + +<p> +I translated this remark. +</p> + +<p> +“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. Still, speaking for myself, I say +this. I have always liked Umbopa, and so far as lies in me I will stand by him +in this business. It will be very pleasant to me to try to square matters with +that cruel devil Twala. What do you say, Good, and you, Quatermain?” +</p> + +<p> +“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 his boy. My only stipulation is that he allows me to wear +trousers.” +</p> + +<p> +I translated the substance of these answers. +</p> + +<p> +“It is well, my friends,” said Ignosi, late Umbopa; “and what +sayest thou, Macumazahn, art thou also with me, old hunter, cleverer than a +wounded buffalo?” +</p> + +<p> +I thought awhile and scratched my head. +</p> + +<p> +“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 up for my friends, Ignosi. +You have stuck to us and played the part of a man, and I will stick by 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 Incubu’s (Sir +Henry’s) lost brother. You must help us to find him.” +</p> + +<p> +“That I will do,” answered Ignosi. “Stay, Infadoos, by the +sign of the snake about my middle, tell me the truth. Has any white man to thy +knowledge set his foot within the land?” +</p> + +<p> +“None, O Ignosi.” +</p> + +<p> +“If any white man had been seen or heard of, wouldst thou have +known?” +</p> + +<p> +“I should certainly have known.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou hearest, Incubu,” said Ignosi to Sir Henry; “he has not +been here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, well,” said Sir Henry, with a sigh; “there it is; I +suppose that he never got so far. Poor fellow, poor fellow! So it has all been +for nothing. God’s will be done.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now for business,” I put in, anxious to escape from a painful +subject. “It is very well to be a king by right divine, Ignosi, but how +dost thou propose to become a king indeed?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, I know not. Infadoos, hast thou a plan?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ignosi, Son of the Lightning,” answered his uncle, “to-night +is the great dance and witch-hunt. Many shall be smelt out and perish, and in +the hearts of many others there will be grief and anguish and fury against the +king Twala. When the dance is over, then I will speak to some of the great +chiefs, who in turn, if I can win them over, will 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 to-morrow’s light thou shalt have +twenty thousand spears at thy command. And now I must go and think, and hear, +and make ready. After the dance is done, if I am yet alive, and we are all +alive, I will meet thee here, and we can talk. At the best there must be +war.” +</p> + +<p> +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, each bearing a shining +shirt of chain armour, and a magnificent battle-axe. +</p> + +<p> +“The gifts of my lord the king to the white men from the Stars!” +said a herald who came with them. +</p> + +<p> +“We thank the king,” I answered; “withdraw.” +</p> + +<p> +The men went, and we examined the armour with great interest. It was the most +wonderful chain work that either of us had ever seen. A whole coat fell +together so closely that it formed a mass of links scarcely too big to be +covered with both hands. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you make these things in this country, Infadoos?” I asked; +“they are very beautiful.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, my lord, they came down to us from our forefathers. We know not who +made them, and there are but few left.<a href="#fn-7" name="fnref-7" id="fnref-7"><sup>[7]</sup></a> +None but those of royal blood may be clad in them. They are magic coats through +which no spear can pass, and those who wear them are well-nigh safe in the +battle. The king is well pleased or much afraid, or he would not have sent +these garments of steel. Clothe yourselves in them to-night, my lords.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-7" id="fn-7"></a> <a href="#fnref-7">[7]</a> +In the Soudan swords and coats of mail are still worn by Arabs, whose ancestors +must have stripped them from the bodies of Crusaders.—<i>Editor</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The remainder of that 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. Then the full moon +shone out in splendour, and as we stood watching her rays, Infadoos arrived, +clad in his war dress, and accompanied by a guard of twenty men to escort us to +the dance. As he recommended, we had already donned the shirts of chain armour +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 evidently had 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 in our hands the battle-axes which the king had sent +with the armour, we started. +</p> + +<p> +On arriving at the great kraal, where we had that morning been received by the +king, we found that it was closely packed with some twenty thousand men +arranged round it in regiments. These regiments were in turn divided into +companies, and between each company ran a little path to allow space for the +witch-finders 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 +to conceive. There they stood perfectly silent, and the moon poured her light +upon the forest of their raised spears, upon their majestic forms, waving +plumes, and the harmonious shading of their various-coloured shields. Wherever +we looked were line upon line of dim faces surmounted by range upon range of +shimmering spears. +</p> + +<p> +“Surely,” I said to Infadoos, “the whole army is here?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Macumazahn,” he answered, “but a third of it. One third +is present at this dance each year, another third 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 great people.” +</p> + +<p> +“They are very silent,” said Good; and indeed the intense stillness +among such a vast concourse of living men was almost overpowering. +</p> + +<p> +“What says Bougwan?” asked Infadoos. +</p> + +<p> +I translated. +</p> + +<p> +“Those over whom the shadow of Death is hovering are silent,” he +answered grimly. +</p> + +<p> +“Will many be killed?” +</p> + +<p> +“Very many.” +</p> + +<p> +“It seems,” I said to the others, “that we are going to +assist at a gladiatorial show arranged regardless of expense.” +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry shivered, and Good said he wished that we could get out of it. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me,” I asked Infadoos, “are we in danger?” +</p> + +<p> +“I know not, my lords, I trust not; but do not seem afraid. If ye live +through the night all may go well with you. The soldiers murmur against the +king.” +</p> + +<p> +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 royal hut. +</p> + +<p> +“It is the king Twala, Scragga his son, and Gagool the old; and see, with +them are those who slay,” said Infadoos, pointing to a little group of +about a dozen gigantic and savage-looking men, armed with spears in one hand +and heavy kerries in the other. +</p> + +<p> +The king seated himself upon the centre stool, Gagool crouched at his feet, and +the others stood behind him. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting, white lords,” Twala cried, as we came up; “be +seated, waste not precious time—the 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 you such a sight as this? See +how they shake in their wickedness, all those who have evil in their hearts and +fear the judgment of ‘Heaven above.’” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Begin! begin!</i>” piped Gagool, in her thin piercing voice; +“the hyænas are hungry, they howl for food. <i>Begin! begin!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +Then for a moment there was intense stillness, made horrible by a presage of +what was to come. +</p> + +<p> +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 refrain ran something as follows:— +</p> + +<p> +“<i>What is the lot of man born of woman?</i>” +</p> + +<p> +Back came the answer rolling out from every throat in that vast company— +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Death!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +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 love song, now a majestic +swelling war chant, and last of all a death dirge ending suddenly in one +heart-breaking wail that went echoing and rolling away in a volume of +blood-curdling sound. +</p> + +<p> +Again silence fell upon the place, and again it was broken by the king lifting +his hand. Instantly we heard a pattering of feet, and from out of the masses of +warriors strange and awful figures appeared running towards us. As they drew +near we saw that these were 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 +snake-skins, and round their waists rattled circlets of human bones, while each +held a small forked wand in her shrivelled hand. In all there were ten of them. +When they arrived in front of us they halted, and one of them, pointing with +her wand towards the crouching figure of Gagool, cried out— +</p> + +<p> +“Mother, old mother, we are here.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Good! good! good!</i>” answered that aged Iniquity. “Are +your eyes keen, <i>Isanusis</i> [witch doctresses], ye seers in dark +places?” +</p> + +<p> +“Mother, they are keen.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Good! good! good!</i> Are your ears open, <i>Isanusis</i>, ye who +hear words that come not from the tongue?” +</p> + +<p> +“Mother, they are open.” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Good! good! good!</i> Are your senses awake, +<i>Isanusis</i>—can ye smell blood, can ye purge the land of the wicked +ones who compass evil against the king and against their neighbours? 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 water of my +magic?” +</p> + +<p> +“Mother, we can.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then go! Tarry not, ye vultures; see, the slayers”—pointing +to the ominous group of executioners behind—“make sharp their +spears; the white men from afar are hungry to see. <i>Go!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +With a wild yell Gagool’s horrid ministers broke away in every direction, +like fragments from a shell, the dry bones round their waists rattling as they +ran, and headed for various points of the dense human circle. We could not +watch them all, so we fixed our eyes upon the <i>Isanusi</i> nearest to us. +When she came to within 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 evil-doer!” +“He is near, he who poisoned his mother!” “I hear the +thoughts of him who thought evil of the king!” +</p> + +<p> +Quicker and quicker she danced, till she lashed herself into such a frenzy of +excitement that the foam flew in specks from her gnashing jaws, till 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 with outstretched wand she 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, the +<i>Isanusi</i> was before them. Then she halted and pointed, and again crept on +a pace or two. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly the end came. With a shriek she sprang in and touched a tall warrior +with her forked wand. Instantly two of his comrades, those standing immediately +next to him, seized the doomed man, each by one arm, and advanced with him +towards the king. +</p> + +<p> +He did not resist, but we saw that he dragged his limbs as though they were +paralysed, and that his fingers, from which the spear had fallen, were limp +like those of a man newly dead. +</p> + +<p> +As he came, two of the villainous executioners stepped forward to meet him. +Presently they met, and the executioners turned round, looking towards the king +as though for orders. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Kill!</i>” said the king. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Kill!</i>” squeaked Gagool. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Kill!</i>” re-echoed Scragga, with a hollow chuckle. +</p> + +<p> +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 double +sure, the other had dashed out his brains with a great club. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>One</i>,” counted Twala the king, just like a black Madame +Defarge, as Good said, and the body was dragged a few paces away and stretched +out. +</p> + +<p> +Hardly was the thing done before another poor wretch was brought up, like an ox +to the slaughter. This time we could see, from the leopard-skin cloak which he +wore, that the man was a person of rank. Again the awful syllables were spoken, +and the victim fell dead. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Two</i>,” counted the king. +</p> + +<p> +And so the deadly game went on, till about a hundred bodies were stretched in +rows behind us. I have heard of the gladiatorial shows of the Cæsars, and of +the Spanish bull-fights, but I take the liberty of doubting if either of them +could be half so horrible as this Kukuana witch-hunt. Gladiatorial shows and +Spanish bull-fights at any rate contributed to the public amusement, which +certainly was not the case here. The most confirmed sensation-monger would +fight shy of sensation if he knew that it was well on the cards that he would, +in his own proper person, be the subject of the next “event.” +</p> + +<p> +Once we rose and tried to remonstrate, but were sternly repressed by Twala. +</p> + +<p> +“Let the law take its course, white men. These dogs are magicians and +evil-doers; it is well that they should die,” was the only answer +vouchsafed to us. +</p> + +<p> +About half-past ten there was a pause. The witch-finders gathered themselves +together, apparently exhausted with their bloody work, and we thought that the +performance was done with. But it was not so, for presently, to our surprise, +the ancient 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 vulture-headed old creature, bent +nearly double with extreme age, gather strength by degrees, until at last she +rushed about almost as actively as her ill-omened 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 this a sort of groan +went up from the regiment which evidently he commanded. But two of its officers +seized him all the same, and brought him up for execution. We learned +afterwards that he was a man of great wealth and importance, being indeed a +cousin of the king. +</p> + +<p> +He was slain, and Twala counted one hundred and three. Then Gagool again sprang +to and fro, gradually drawing nearer and nearer to ourselves. +</p> + +<p> +“Hang me if I don’t believe she is going to try her games on +us,” ejaculated Good in horror. +</p> + +<p> +“Nonsense!” said Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +As for myself, when I saw that old fiend dancing nearer and nearer, my heart +positively sank into my boots. I glanced behind us at the long rows of corpses, +and shivered. +</p> + +<p> +Nearer and nearer waltzed Gagool, looking for all the world like an animated +crooked stick or comma, her horrid eyes gleaming and glowing with a most unholy +lustre. +</p> + +<p> +Nearer she came, and yet nearer, every creature in that vast assemblage +watching her movements with intense anxiety. At last she stood still and +pointed. +</p> + +<p> +“Which is it to be?” asked Sir Henry to himself. +</p> + +<p> +In a moment all doubts were at rest, for the old hag had rushed in and touched +Umbopa, alias Ignosi, on the shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“I smell him out,” she shrieked. “Kill him, kill him, he is +full of evil; kill him, the stranger, before blood flows from him. Slay him, O +king.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a pause, of which I instantly took advantage. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“Gagool, mother of the witch-finders, has smelt him out; he must die, +white men,” was the sullen answer. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, he shall not die,” I replied; “he who tries to touch +him shall die indeed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Seize him!” roared Twala to the executioners; who stood round red +to the eyes with the blood of their victims. +</p> + +<p> +They advanced towards us, and then hesitated. As for Ignosi, he clutched his +spear, and raised it as though determined to sell his life dearly. +</p> + +<p> +“Stand back, ye dogs!” I shouted, “if ye would see +to-morrow’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 deliberate aim at Gagool. +</p> + +<p> +Twala winced perceptibly as my barrel came in a line with his broad chest. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” I said, “what is it to be, Twala?” +</p> + +<p> +Then he spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“Put away your magic tubes,” he said; “ye have adjured me in +the name of hospitality, and for that reason, but not from fear of what ye can +do, I spare him. Go in peace.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well,” I answered unconcernedly; “we are weary of +slaughter, and would sleep. Is the dance ended?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is ended,” Twala answered sulkily. “Let these dead +dogs,” pointing to the long rows of corpses, “be flung out to the +hyænas and the vultures,” and he lifted his spear. +</p> + +<p> +Instantly the regiments began to defile through the kraal gateway in perfect +silence, a fatigue party only remaining behind to drag away the corpses of +those who had been sacrificed. +</p> + +<p> +Then we rose also, and making our salaam to his majesty, which he hardly +deigned to acknowledge, we departed to our huts. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Sir Henry, as we sat down, having first lit a lamp of +the sort used by the Kukuanas, of which the wick is made from the fibre of a +species of palm leaf, and the oil from clarified hippopotamus fat, “well, +I feel uncommonly inclined to be sick.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 to be grateful to us; your skin came near to +having an air-hole made in it.” +</p> + +<p> +“I am grateful, Bougwan,” was Umbopa’s answer, when I had +translated, “and I shall not forget. As for Infadoos, he will be here +by-and-by. We must wait.” +</p> + +<p> +So we lit our pipes and waited. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap11"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +WE GIVE A SIGN</h2> + +<p> +For a long while—two hours, I should think—we sat there in silence, +being too much overwhelmed by the recollection of the horrors we had seen to +talk. At last, just as we were thinking of turning in—for the night drew +nigh to dawn—we heard a sound of steps. Then came the challenge of a +sentry posted at the kraal gate, which apparently was answered, though not in +an audible tone, for the steps still advanced; and in another second Infadoos +had entered the hut, followed by some half-dozen stately-looking chiefs. +</p> + +<p> +“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, that 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 behold the sacred snake +around thee, and hear thy story, Ignosi, that they may say whether or no they +will make cause with thee against Twala the king.” +</p> + +<p> +By way of answer Ignosi again stripped off his girdle, and exhibited the snake +tattooed about him. Each chief in turn drew near and examined the sign by the +dim light of the lamp, and without saying a word passed on to the other side. +</p> + +<p> +Then Ignosi resumed his moocha, and addressing them, repeated the history he +had detailed in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +“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 to-night. +Two other chiefs there were with whom I had it in my mind to speak, and where +are they now? The hyænas howl over their corpses. Soon shall ye be as they are +if ye strike not. Choose then, my brothers.” +</p> + +<p> +The eldest of the six men, a short, thick-set warrior, with white hair, stepped +forward a pace and answered— +</p> + +<p> +“Thy words are true, Infadoos; the land cries out. My own brother is +among those who died to-night; 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 a +thief and a liar? It is a great matter, I say, of which none can see the end. +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, rather than 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 of a truth that the +white man’s magic is with them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ye have the sign of the snake,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“My lord, it is not enough. The snake may have been placed there since +the man’s childhood. Show us a sign, and it will suffice. But we will not +move without a sign.” +</p> + +<p> +The others gave a decided assent, and I turned in perplexity to Sir Henry and +Good, and explained the situation. +</p> + +<p> +“I think that I have it,” said Good exultingly; “ask them to +give us a moment to think.” +</p> + +<p> +I did so, and the chiefs withdrew. So soon as they had gone Good went to the +little box where he kept his medicines, unlocked it, and took out a note-book, +in the fly-leaves of which was an almanack. “Now look here, you fellows, +isn’t to-morrow the 4th of June?” he said. +</p> + +<p> +We had kept a careful note of the days, so were able to answer that it was. +</p> + +<p> +“Very good; then here we have it—‘4 June, total eclipse of +the moon commences at 8.15 Greenwich time, visible in Teneriffe—<i>South +Africa</i>, &c.’ There’s a sign for you. Tell them we will +darken the moon to-morrow night.” +</p> + +<p> +The idea was a splendid one; indeed, the only weak spot about it was a fear +lest Good’s almanack might be incorrect. If we made a false prophecy on +such a subject, our prestige would be gone for ever, and so would +Ignosi’s chance of the throne of the Kukuanas. +</p> + +<p> +“Suppose that the almanack is wrong,” suggested Sir Henry to Good, +who was busily employed in working out something on a blank page of the book. +</p> + +<p> +“I see no 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 this one will be visible in South 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 ten o’clock +tomorrow night, and last till half-past twelve. For an hour and a half or so +there should be almost total darkness.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” said Sir Henry, “I suppose we had better risk +it.” +</p> + +<p> +I acquiesced, though doubtfully, for eclipses are queer cattle to deal +with—it might be a cloudy night, for instance, or our dates might be +wrong—and sent Umbopa to summon the chiefs back. Presently they came, and +I addressed them thus— +</p> + +<p> +“Great men of the Kukuanas, and thou, Infadoos, listen. We love not to +show our powers, for to do so is to interfere with the course of nature, and to +plunge the world into fear and confusion. But since 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 <i>Isanusi</i> Gagool, who would have put our +friend Ignosi to death, we have determined to break a rule, and to give such a +sign as all men may see. Come hither”; and I led them to the door of the +hut and pointed to the red ball of the moon. “What see ye there?” +</p> + +<p> +“We see the sinking moon,” answered the spokesman of the party. +</p> + +<p> +“It is so. Now tell me, can any mortal man put out that moon before her +hour of setting, and bring the curtain of black night down upon the +land?” +</p> + +<p> +The chief laughed a little at the question. “No, my lord, that no man can +do. The moon is stronger than man who looks on her, nor can she vary in her +courses.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ye say so. Yet I tell you that to-morrow night, about two hours before +midnight, we will cause the moon to be eaten up for a space of an hour and half +an hour. Yes, deep darkness shall cover the earth, and it shall be for a sign +that Ignosi is indeed king of the Kukuanas. If we do this thing, will ye be +satisfied?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yea, my lords,” answered the old chief with a smile, which was +reflected on the faces of his companions; “<i>if</i> ye do this thing, we +will be satisfied indeed.” +</p> + +<p> +“It shall be done; we three, Incubu, Bougwan, and Macumazahn, have said +it, and it shall be done. Dost thou hear, Infadoos?” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear, my lord, but it is a wonderful thing that ye promise, to put out +the moon, the mother of the world, when she is at her full.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet shall we do it, Infadoos.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well, my lords. To-day, two hours after sunset, Twala will send +for my lords to witness the girls dance, and one hour after the dance begins +the girl whom Twala thinks the fairest shall be killed by Scragga, the +king’s son, as a sacrifice to the Silent Ones, who sit and keep watch by +the mountains yonder,” and he pointed towards the three strange-looking +peaks where Solomon’s road was supposed to end. “Then let my lords +darken the moon, and save the maiden’s life, and the people will believe +indeed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay,” said the old chief, still smiling a little, “the people +will believe indeed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Two miles from Loo,” went on Infadoos, “there is a hill +curved like a new moon, a stronghold, where my regiment, and three other +regiments which these chiefs command, are stationed. This morning we will make +a plan whereby two or three other regiments may be moved there also. Then, if +in truth my lords can darken the moon, in the darkness I will take my lords by +the hand and lead them out of Loo to this place, where they shall be safe, and +thence we can make war upon Twala the king.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is good,” said I. “Now leave us to sleep awhile and to +make ready our magic.” +</p> + +<p> +Infadoos rose, and, having saluted us, departed with the chiefs. +</p> + +<p> +“My friends,” said Ignosi, so soon as they were gone, “can ye +do this wonderful thing, or were ye speaking empty words to the +captains?” +</p> + +<p> +“We believe that we can do it, Umbopa—Ignosi, I mean.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is strange,” he answered, “and had ye not been Englishmen +I would not have believed it; but I have learned that English +‘gentlemen’ tell no lies. If we live through the matter, be sure +that I will repay you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ignosi,” said Sir Henry, “promise me one thing.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will promise, Incubu, my friend, even before I hear it,” +answered the big man with a smile. “What is it?” +</p> + +<p> +“This: that if ever you come to be king of this people you will do away +with the smelling out of wizards such as we saw last night; and that the +killing of men without trial shall no longer take place in the land.” +</p> + +<p> +Ignosi thought for a moment after I had translated this request, and then +answered— +</p> + +<p> +“The ways of black people are not as the ways of white men, Incubu, nor +do we value life so highly. Yet I will promise. If it be in my power to hold +them back, the witch-finders shall hunt no more, nor shall any man die the +death without trial or judgment.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s a bargain, then,” said Sir Henry; “and now let +us get a little rest.” +</p> + +<p> +Thoroughly wearied out, we were soon sound asleep, and slept till Ignosi woke +us about eleven o’clock. Then we rose, washed, and ate a hearty +breakfast. After that we went outside the hut and walked about, amusing +ourselves with examining the structure of the Kukuana huts and observing the +customs of the women. +</p> + +<p> +“I hope that eclipse will come off,” said Sir Henry presently. +</p> + +<p> +“If it does not it will soon be all 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 we shall certainly not like.” +</p> + +<p> +Returning to the hut we ate some dinner, and passed the rest of the day in +receiving visits of ceremony and curiosity. At length the sun set, and we +enjoyed a couple of hours of such quiet as our melancholy forebodings would +allow to us. Finally, about half-past eight, a messenger came from Twala to bid +us to the great annual “dance of girls” which was about to be +celebrated. +</p> + +<p> +Hastily we put on the chain shirts that the king had sent us, and 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 bore a very +different appearance from that which it had presented on the previous evening. +In place of the grim ranks of serried warriors were company after company of +Kukuana girls, not over-dressed, so far as clothing went, but each crowned with +a wreath of flowers, and holding a palm leaf in one hand and a white arum lily +in the other. In the centre of the open moonlit space sat Twala the king, with +old Gagool at his feet, attended by Infadoos, the boy Scragga, and twelve +guards. There were also present about a score of chiefs, amongst whom I +recognised most of our friends of the night before. +</p> + +<p> +Twala greeted us with much apparent cordiality, though I saw him fix his one +eye viciously on Umbopa. +</p> + +<p> +“Welcome, white men from the Stars,” he said; “this is +another sight from that which 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 this day; but men are better. Kisses and the tender words of +women are sweet, but the sound of the clashing of the spears of warriors, 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 shall have them, +as many as ye will,” and he paused for an answer. +</p> + +<p> +As the prospect did not seem to be without attractions for Good, who, like most +sailors, is of a susceptible nature,—being elderly and wise, foreseeing +the endless complications that anything of the sort would involve, for women +bring trouble so surely as the night follows the day, I put in a hasty +answer— +</p> + +<p> +“Thanks to thee, O king, but we white men wed only with white women like +ourselves. Your maidens are fair, but they are not for us!” +</p> + +<p> +The king laughed. “It is well. In our land there is a proverb which runs, +‘Women’s eyes are always bright, whatever the colour,’ and +another that 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 won her way, thou wouldst have been stiff and cold by +now. It is lucky for thee that thou too camest from the Stars; ha! ha!” +</p> + +<p> +“I can kill thee before thou killest me, O king,” was +Ignosi’s calm answer, “and thou shalt be stiff before my limbs +cease to bend.” +</p> + +<p> +Twala started. “Thou speakest boldly, boy,” he replied angrily; +“presume not too far.” +</p> + +<p> +“He may well be bold in whose lips are truth. The truth is a sharp spear +which flies home and misses not. It is a message from ‘the Stars,’ +O king.” +</p> + +<p> +Twala scowled, and his one eye gleamed fiercely, but he said nothing more. +</p> + +<p> +“Let the dance begin,” he cried, and then the flower-crowned girls +sprang forward in companies, singing a sweet song and waving the delicate palms +and white lilies. On they danced, looking faint and spiritual in the soft, sad +light of the risen moon; 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 vigour which would have put most ballet girls to shame. At length +she retired exhausted, and another took her place, then another and another, +but none of them, either in grace, skill, or personal attractions, came up to +the first. +</p> + +<p> +When the chosen girls had all danced, the king lifted his hand. +</p> + +<p> +“Which deem ye the fairest, white men?” he asked. +</p> + +<p> +“The first,” said I unthinkingly. Next second I regretted it, for I +remembered that Infadoos had told us that the fairest woman must be offered up +as a sacrifice. +</p> + +<p> +“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, for she must die!” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Ay, must die!</i>” piped out Gagool, casting a glance of 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 ten yards off in front of a company of +maidens, engaged in nervously picking a flower from her wreath to pieces, petal +by petal. +</p> + +<p> +“Why, O king?” said I, restraining my indignation with difficulty; +“the girl has danced well, and pleased us; she is fair too; it would be +hard to reward her with death.” +</p> + +<p> +Twala laughed as he answered— +</p> + +<p> +“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 to-day, 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 +guards—“Bring her hither; Scragga, make sharp thy spear.” +</p> + +<p> +Two of the men stepped forward, and as they advanced, the girl, for the first +time realising her impending fate, screamed aloud and turned to fly. But the +strong hands caught her fast, and brought her, struggling and weeping, before +us. +</p> + +<p> +“What is thy name, girl?” piped Gagool. “What! wilt thou not +answer? Shall the king’s son do his work at once?” +</p> + +<p> +At this hint, Scragga, looking more evil than ever, advanced a step and lifted +his great spear, and at that moment I saw Good’s hand creep to his +revolver. The poor girl caught the faint glint of steel through her tears, and +it sobered her anguish. She ceased struggling, and clasping her hands +convulsively, stood shuddering from head to foot. +</p> + +<p> +“See,” cried Scragga in high glee, “she shrinks from the +sight of my little plaything even before she has tasted it,” and he +tapped the broad blade of his spear. +</p> + +<p> +“If ever I get the chance you shall pay for that, you young hound!” +I heard Good mutter beneath his breath. +</p> + +<p> +“Now that thou art quiet, give us thy name, my dear. Come, speak out, and +fear not,” said Gagool in mockery. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, mother,” answered the girl, in trembling accents, “my +name is Foulata, of the house of Suko. Oh, mother, why must I die? I have done +no wrong!” +</p> + +<p> +“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 own son.” +</p> + +<p> +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 may 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 lamb that is sick! Woe is +me, that no lover shall put his arm around me and look into my eyes, nor shall +men children be born of me! Oh, cruel, cruel!” +</p> + +<p> +And again she wrung her hands and turned her tear-stained flower-crowned face +to Heaven, looking so lovely in her despair—for she was indeed a +beautiful woman—that assuredly the sight of her would have melted the +hearts of any less cruel than were the three fiends before us. Prince +Arthur’s appeal to the ruffians who came to blind him was not more +touching than that of this savage girl. +</p> + +<p> +But it did not move Gagool or Gagool’s master, though I saw signs of pity +among the guards behind, and on the faces of the chiefs; and as for Good, he +gave a fierce snort of indignation, and made a motion as though to go to her +assistance. With all a woman’s quickness, the doomed girl interpreted +what was passing in his mind, and by a sudden movement flung herself before +him, and clasped his “beautiful white legs” with her hands. +</p> + +<p> +“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 +Gagool!” +</p> + +<p> +“All right, my hearty, I’ll look after you,” sang out Good in +nervous Saxon. “Come, get up, there’s a good girl,” and he +stooped and caught her hand. +</p> + +<p> +Twala turned and motioned to his son, who advanced with his spear lifted. +</p> + +<p> +“Now’s your time,” whispered Sir Henry to me; “what are +you waiting for?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am waiting for that eclipse,” I answered; “I have had my +eye on the moon for the last half-hour, and I never saw it look +healthier.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, you must risk it now, or the girl will be killed. Twala is losing +patience.” +</p> + +<p> +Recognising the force of the argument, and having cast one more despairing look +at the bright face of the moon, 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 that I could command between the prostrate girl and the advancing +spear of Scragga. +</p> + +<p> +“King,” I said, “it shall not be; we will not endure this +thing; let the girl go in safety.” +</p> + +<p> +Twala rose from his seat in wrath and astonishment, and from the chiefs and +serried ranks of maidens who had closed in slowly upon us in anticipation of +the tragedy came a murmur of amazement. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Shall not be!</i> thou white dog, that yappest 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 save her or thyself? +Who art thou that thou settest thyself between me and my will? Back, I say. +Scragga, kill her! Ho, guards! seize these men.” +</p> + +<p> +At his cry armed men ran swiftly from behind the hut, where they had evidently +been placed beforehand. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry, Good, and Umbopa ranged themselves alongside of me, and lifted their +rifles. +</p> + +<p> +“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 moon like a wind-blown lamp, +as we who dwell in her House can do, and plunge the land in darkness. Dare to +disobey, and ye shall taste of our magic.” +</p> + +<p> +My threat produced an effect; the men halted, and Scragga stood still before +us, his spear lifted. +</p> + +<p> +“Hear him! hear him!” piped Gagool; “hear the liar who says +that he will put out the moon like a lamp. Let him do it, and the girl shall be +spared. Yes, let him do it, or die by the girl, he and those with him.” +</p> + +<p> +I glanced up at the moon despairingly, and now to my intense joy and relief saw +that we—or rather the almanack—had made no mistake. On the edge of +the great orb lay a faint rim of shadow, while a smoky hue grew and gathered +upon its bright surface. Never shall I forget that supreme, that superb moment +of relief. +</p> + +<p> +Then I lifted my hand solemnly towards the sky, an example which Sir Henry and +Good followed, and quoted a line or two from the “Ingoldsby +Legends” at it in the most impressive tones that I could command. Sir +Henry followed suit with a verse out of the Old Testament, and something about +Balbus building a wall, in Latin, whilst Good addressed the Queen of Night in a +volume of the most classical bad language which he could think of. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly the penumbra, the shadow of a shadow, crept on over the bright surface, +and as it crept I heard deep gasps of fear rising from the multitude around. +</p> + +<p> +“Look, O king!” I cried; “look, Gagool! Look, chiefs and +people and women, and see if the white men from the Stars keep their word, or +if they be but empty liars! +</p> + +<p> +“The moon grows black before your eyes; soon there will be +darkness—ay, darkness in the hour of the full moon. Ye have asked for a +sign; it is given to you. Grow dark, O Moon! withdraw thy light, thou pure and +holy One; bring the proud heart of usurping murderers to the dust, and eat up +the world with shadows.” +</p> + +<p> +A groan of terror burst from the onlookers. Some stood petrified with dread, +others threw themselves upon their knees and cried aloud. As for the king, he +sat still and turned pale beneath his dusky skin. Only Gagool kept her courage. +</p> + +<p> +“It will pass,” she cried; “I have often seen the like +before; no man can put out the moon; lose not heart; sit still—the shadow +will pass.” +</p> + +<p> +“Wait, and ye shall see,” I replied, hopping with excitement. +“O Moon! Moon! Moon! wherefore art thou so cold and fickle?” This +appropriate quotation was from the pages of a popular romance that I chanced to +have read recently, though now I come to think of it, it was ungrateful of me +to abuse the Lady of the Heavens, who was showing herself to be the truest of +friends to us, however she may have behaved to the impassioned lover in the +novel. Then I added: “Keep it up, Good, I can’t remember any more +poetry. Curse away, there’s a good fellow.” +</p> + +<p> +Good responded nobly to this 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 in several +languages without stopping, and he scarcely ever repeated himself. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the dark ring crept on, while all that great assembly fixed their +eyes upon the sky and stared and stared in fascinated silence. Strange and +unholy shadows encroached upon the moonlight, an ominous quiet filled the +place. Everything grew still as death. Slowly and in the midst of this most +solemn silence the minutes sped away, and while they sped the full moon passed +deeper and deeper into the shadow of the earth, as the inky segment of its +circle slid in awful majesty across the lunar craters. The great pale orb +seemed to draw near and to grow in size. She turned a coppery hue, then that +portion of her surface which was unobscured as yet grew grey and ashen, and at +length, as totality approached, her mountains and her plains were to be seen +glowing luridly through a crimson gloom. +</p> + +<p> +On, yet on, crept the ring of darkness; it was now more than half across the +blood-red orb. The air grew thick, and still more deeply tinged with dusky +crimson. On, yet on, till we could scarcely see the fierce faces of the group +before us. No sound rose now from the spectators, and at last Good stopped +swearing. +</p> + +<p> +“The moon is dying—the white wizards have killed the moon,” +yelled the prince Scragga at last. “We shall all perish in the +dark,” and animated by fear or fury, or by both, he lifted his spear and +drove it with all his force at Sir Henry’s breast. But he forgot 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 Curtis had +snatched the spear from his hand and sent it straight through him. +</p> + +<p> +Scragga dropped dead. +</p> + +<p> +At the sight, and driven mad with fear of the gathering darkness, and of the +unholy shadow which, as they believed, was swallowing the moon, 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 his guards, some of the +chiefs, and Gagool, who hobbled away after them with marvellous alacrity, fled +for the huts, so that in another minute we ourselves, the would-be victim +Foulata, Infadoos, and most of the chiefs who had interviewed us on the +previous night, were left alone upon the scene, together with the dead body of +Scragga, Twala’s son. +</p> + +<p> +“Chiefs,” I said, “we have given you the sign. If ye are +satisfied, let us fly swiftly to the place of which ye spoke. The charm cannot +now be stopped. It will work for an hour and the half of an hour. Let us cover +ourselves in the darkness.” +</p> + +<p> +“Come,” said Infadoos, turning to go, an example which was followed +by the awed captains, ourselves, and the girl Foulata, whom Good took by the +arm. +</p> + +<p> +Before we reached the gate of the kraal the moon went out utterly, and from +every quarter of the firmament the stars rushed forth into the inky sky. +</p> + +<p> +Holding each other by the hand we stumbled on through the darkness. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap12"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +BEFORE THE BATTLE</h2> + +<p> +Luckily for us, Infadoos and the chiefs knew all the paths of the great town +perfectly, so that we passed by side-ways unmolested, and notwithstanding the +gloom we made fair progress. +</p> + +<p> +For an hour or more we journeyed on, till at length the eclipse began to pass, +and that edge of the moon which had disappeared the first became again visible. +Suddenly, as we watched, there burst from it a silver streak of light, +accompanied by a wondrous ruddy glow, which hung upon the blackness of the sky +like a celestial lamp, and a wild and lovely sight it was. In another five +minutes the stars began to fade, and there was sufficient light to see our +whereabouts. We then discovered that we were clear of the town of Loo, and +approaching a large flat-topped hill, measuring some two miles in +circumference. This hill, which is of a formation common in South Africa, is +not very high; indeed, its greatest elevation is scarcely more than 200 feet, +but it is shaped like a horseshoe, and its sides are rather precipitous and +strewn with boulders. On the grass table-land at its summit is ample +camping-ground, which had been utilised 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 mountain in the returning moonlight we +perceived that there were several of such regiments encamped there. +</p> + +<p> +Reaching the table-land at last, we found crowds of men roused from their +sleep, shivering with fear and huddled up 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. +</p> + +<p> +“I sent for them,” explained Infadoos; “and also for +these,” and he lifted up Good’s long-lost trousers. +</p> + +<p> +With an exclamation of rapturous delight Good sprang at them, and instantly +proceeded to put them on. +</p> + +<p> +“Surely my lord will not hide his beautiful white legs!” exclaimed +Infadoos regretfully. +</p> + +<p> +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 æsthetic longings with his one whisker, his transparent +eye, and his movable teeth. +</p> + +<p> +Still gazing with fond remembrance at Good’s trousers, Infadoos next +informed us that he had commanded the regiments to muster so soon as the day +broke, in order to explain to them fully the origin and circumstances of the +rebellion which was decided on by the chiefs, and to introduce to them the +rightful heir to the throne, Ignosi. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, when the sun was up, the troops—in all some twenty thousand +men, and the flower of the Kukuana army—were mustered on a large open +space, to which we went. 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 were speedily surrounded by all the principal chiefs +and officers. +</p> + +<p> +These, after silence had been proclaimed, Infadoos proceeded to address. He +narrated to them in vigorous and graceful language—for, like most +Kukuanas of high rank, he was a born orator—the history of Ignosi’s +father, and of how he had been basely murdered by Twala the king, and his wife +and child driven out to starve. Then he pointed out that the people suffered +and groaned under Twala’s cruel rule, instancing the proceedings of the +previous night, when, under pretence of their being evil-doers, many of the +noblest in the land had been dragged forth and wickedly done to death. Next he +went on to say that the white lords from the Stars, looking down upon their +country, had perceived its trouble, and determined, at great personal +inconvenience, to alleviate its lot: That they had accordingly taken the real +king of the Kukuanas, Ignosi, who was languishing in exile, by the hand, and +led him over the mountains: That 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, actually, by the exercise of their high magic, had put out the moon +and slain the young fiend Scragga; and that they were prepared to stand by +them, and assist them to overthrow Twala, and set up the rightful king, Ignosi, +in his place. +</p> + +<p> +He finished his discourse amidst a murmur of approbation. 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:— +</p> + +<p> +“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 you, 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 land to confound Twala and cover our +flight, darkness even in the hour of the full moon, yet before your +eyes?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is,” answered the soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +“I am the king; I say to you, I am the king,” went on Ignosi, +drawing up his great stature to its full, and lifting his broad-bladed +battle-axe above his head. “If there be any man among you 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 you true. Let him stand forth, I say;” and he +shook the great axe till it flashed in the sunlight. +</p> + +<p> +As nobody seemed inclined to respond to this heroic version of “Dilly, +Dilly, come and be killed,” our late henchman proceeded with his address. +</p> + +<p> +“I am indeed the king, and should ye stand by my side in the battle, if I +win the day ye shall go with me to victory and honour. I will give you oxen and +wives, and ye shall take place of all the regiments; and if ye fall, I will +fall with you. +</p> + +<p> +“And behold, I give you this promise, 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 you out so that ye may +be slain without a cause. No man shall die save he who offends against the +laws. The ‘eating up’ of your kraals shall cease; each one of you +shall sleep secure in his own hut and fear naught, and justice shall walk +blindfold throughout the land. Have ye chosen, chiefs, captains, soldiers, and +people?” +</p> + +<p> +“We have chosen, O king,” came back the answer. +</p> + +<p> +“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 you, and these my friends and protectors. To-morrow, +or perchance the next day, he will come against us with all who are faithful to +him. Then I shall see the man who is indeed my man, the man who fears not to +die for his cause; and I tell you that 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 you ready for war.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a pause, till presently one of the chiefs lifted his hand, and out +rolled the royal salute, “<i>Koom.</i>” It was a sign that the +soldiers accepted Ignosi as their king. Then they marched off in battalions. +</p> + +<p> +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 runners going forth from Loo in every +direction, doubtless to summon soldiers 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, so Infadoos and the chiefs calculated, had 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 aid. It was, of course, possible that some +of his troops would desert and come over to us, but it was not a contingency +which could be reckoned on. Meanwhile, it was clear that active preparations +were being made by Twala to subdue us. Already strong bodies of armed men were +patrolling round and round the foot of the hill, and there were other signs +also of coming assault. +</p> + +<p> +Infadoos and the chiefs, however, were of opinion that no attack would take +place that day, which would be devoted to preparation and to the removal of +every available means of the moral effect produced upon the minds of the +soldiery by the supposed magical darkening of the moon. The onslaught would be +on the morrow, they said, and they proved to be right. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, we set to work to strengthen the position in all ways possible. +Almost every man was turned out, and in the course of the day, which seemed far +too short, much was done. The paths up the hill—that was rather a +sanatorium 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 +approach was made as impregnable as time would allow. Piles of boulders were +collected at various spots to be rolled down upon an advancing enemy, stations +were appointed to the different regiments, and all preparation was made which +our joint ingenuity could suggest. +</p> + +<p> +Just before sundown, as we rested after our toil, we perceived a small company +of men advancing towards us from the direction of Loo, one of whom bore a palm +leaf in his hand for a sign that he came as a herald. +</p> + +<p> +As he drew near, Ignosi, Infadoos, one or two chiefs and ourselves, went down +to the foot of the mountain to meet him. He was a gallant-looking fellow, +wearing the regulation leopard-skin cloak. +</p> + +<p> +“Greeting!” he cried, as he came; “the king’s greeting +to those who make unholy war against the king; the lion’s greeting to the +jackals that snarl around his heels.” +</p> + +<p> +“Speak,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“These are the king’s words. Surrender to the king’s mercy +ere a worse thing befall you. Already the shoulder has been torn from the black +bull, and the king drives him bleeding about the camp.”<a href="#fn-8" name="fnref-8" id="fnref-8"><sup>[8]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-8" id="fn-8"></a> <a href="#fnref-8">[8]</a> +This cruel custom is not confined to the Kukuanas, but is by no means uncommon +amongst African tribes on the occasion of the outbreak of war or any other +important public event.—A.Q. +</p> + +<p> +“What are Twala’s terms?” I asked from curiosity. +</p> + +<p> +“His terms are merciful, worthy of a great king. These are the words of +Twala, the one-eyed, 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 +evil-doer, 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 +the black man his servant, who pretends to my throne, 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.” +</p> + +<p> +After consulting with the others a little, I answered him in a loud voice, so +that the soldiers might hear, thus— +</p> + +<p> +“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 ones +from the Stars, who make dark the moon, 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 gone down twice, 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 thou dost lift a hand against such as we are.” +</p> + +<p> +The herald laughed loudly. “Ye frighten not men with such swelling +words,” he cried out. “Show yourselves as bold to-morrow, O ye who +darken the moon. 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; fly not to the Stars, but wait for me, I pray, white men.” With +this shaft of sarcasm he retired, and almost immediately the sun sank. +</p> + +<p> +That night was a busy one, for weary as we were, so far as was possible by the +moonlight all preparations for the morrow’s fight were continued, and +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 silence. Sir Henry and I, accompanied by Ignosi and one of the chiefs, +descended the hill and made a round of the pickets. As we went, suddenly, from +all sorts of unexpected places, spears gleamed out in the moonlight, only to +vanish again when we uttered the password. It was clear to us that none were +sleeping at their posts. Then we returned, picking our way warily through +thousands of sleeping warriors, many of whom were taking their last earthly +rest. +</p> + +<p> +The moonlight flickering along their spears 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. +</p> + +<p> +“How many of these do you suppose will be alive at this time +to-morrow?” asked Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +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. To-night these thousands slept +their healthy sleep, to-morrow 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 for ever. +Only the old moon would shine on serenely, the night wind would stir the +grasses, and the wide earth would take its rest, even as it did æons before we +were, and will do æons after we have been forgotten. +</p> + +<p> +Yet man dies not whilst the world, at once his mother and his monument, +remains. His name is lost, indeed, but the breath he breathed still stirs the +pine-tops 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 to-day; +his passions are our cause of life; the joys and sorrows that he knew are our +familiar friends—the end from which he fled aghast will surely overtake +us also! +</p> + +<p> +Truly the universe is full of ghosts, not sheeted churchyard spectres, but the +inextinguishable elements of individual life, which having once been, can never +<i>die</i>, though they blend and change, and change again for ever. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +All sorts of reflections of this nature passed through my mind—for as I +grow older I regret to say that a detestable habit of thinking seems to be +getting a hold of me—while I stood and stared at those grim yet fantastic +lines of warriors, sleeping, as their saying goes, “upon their +spears.” +</p> + +<p> +“Curtis,” I said, “I am in a condition of pitiable +fear.” +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry stroked his yellow beard and laughed, as he answered— +</p> + +<p> +“I have heard you make that sort of remark before, Quatermain.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 +quite a chance if we can hold this place.” +</p> + +<p> +“We’ll give a good account of some of them, at any rate. Look here, +Quatermain, this business is nasty, 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 our +job. Speaking personally, I had rather be killed fighting than any other way, +and now that there seems little chance of our finding my poor brother, it makes +the idea easier to me. But fortune favours the brave, and we may succeed. +Anyway, the battle will be awful, and having a reputation to keep up, we shall +need to be in the thick of the thing.” +</p> + +<p> +He made this last remark in a mournful voice, but there was a gleam in his eye +which belied its melancholy. I have an idea Sir Henry Curtis actually likes +fighting. +</p> + +<p> +After this we went to sleep for a couple of hours or so. +</p> + +<p> +Just about dawn we were awakened by Infadoos, who came to say that great +activity was to be observed in Loo, and that parties of the king’s +skirmishers were driving in our outposts. +</p> + +<p> +We rose and dressed ourselves for the fray, each putting on his chain armour +shirt, for which garments 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 breast, +which it fitted like a glove. Nor did he stop there. At his request Infadoos +had provided him with a complete set of native war uniform. Round his throat he +fastened the leopard-skin cloak of a commanding officer, on his brows he bound +the plume of black ostrich feathers worn only by generals of high rank, and +about his middle a magnificent moocha of white ox-tails. A pair of sandals, a +leglet of goat’s hair, a heavy battle-axe with a rhinoceros-horn handle, +a round iron shield covered with white ox-hide, and the regulation number of +<i>tollas</i>, or throwing-knives, 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 that I seldom 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 a similar costume, I thought to +myself that I had never before seen two such splendid men. +</p> + +<p> +As for Good and myself, the armour did not suit us nearly so well. To begin +with, Good insisted upon keeping on his new-found trousers, and a stout, short +gentleman with an eye-glass, and one half of his face shaved, arrayed in a mail +shirt, carefully tucked into a very seedy pair of corduroys, looks more +remarkable than imposing. In my case, the chain shirt being too big for me, I +put it on over all my clothes, which caused it to bulge in a somewhat ungainly +fashion. I discarded my trousers, however, retaining only my veldtschoons, +having determined to go into battle with bare legs, in order to be the lighter +for running, in case it became necessary to retire quickly. The mail coat, a +spear, a shield, that I did not know how to use, a couple of <i>tollas</i>, a +revolver, and a huge plume, which I pinned into the top of my shooting hat, 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 as they would be useless in case of a charge, we +arranged that they should be carried behind us by bearers. +</p> + +<p> +When at length we had equipped ourselves, we swallowed some food hastily, and +then started out to see how things were going on. At one point in the +table-land of the mountain, there was a little koppie of brown stone, which +served the double purpose of head-quarters and of a conning tower. Here we +found Infadoos surrounded by his own regiment, the Greys, which was undoubtedly +the finest in the Kukuana army, and the same that 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 Loo in long ant-like columns. +There seemed to be no end to the length of these columns—three in all, +and each of them numbering, as we judged, at least eleven or twelve thousand +men. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as they were clear of the town the regiments formed up. Then one body +marched off to the right, one to the left, and the third came on slowly towards +us. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah,” said Infadoos, “they are going to attack us on three +sides at once.” +</p> + +<p> +This seemed rather serious news, for our position on the top of the mountain, +which measured a mile and a half in circumference, being an extended one, it +was important to us to concentrate our comparatively small defending force as +much as possible. But since it was impossible for us to dictate in what way we +should be assailed, we had to make the best of it, and accordingly sent orders +to the various regiments to prepare to receive the separate onslaughts. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap13"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +THE ATTACK</h2> + +<p> +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 give time to the other divisions to circumvent our position, which +was shaped more or less in the form of a horse-shoe, with its two points facing +towards the town of Loo. The object of this manoeuvre was that the threefold +assault should be delivered simultaneously. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, for a gatling!” groaned Good, as he contemplated the serried +phalanxes beneath us. “I would clear that plain in twenty minutes.” +</p> + +<p> +“We have not got one, so it is no use yearning for it; but suppose you +try a shot, Quatermain,” said Sir Henry. “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 bullet within five yards.” +</p> + +<p> +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; then, lying down and resting +the express on 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 I took him half-way 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, +to my disgust, I saw my man standing there unharmed, whilst 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 towards his men +in evident alarm. +</p> + +<p> +“Bravo, Quatermain!” sang out Good; “you’ve frightened +him.” +</p> + +<p> +This made me very angry, for, if possible to avoid it, I hate to miss in +public. When a man is master of only one art he likes to keep up his reputation +in that art. 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. +Instantly the poor man threw up his arms, and fell forward on to his face. This +time I had made no mistake; and—I say it as a proof of how little we +think of others when our own safety, pride, or reputation is in +question—I was brute enough to feel delighted at the sight. +</p> + +<p> +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 +the general had belonged to—which, indeed, as we ascertained afterwards, +he had commanded—fell 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 another Winchester repeater, and I also had +another shot or two, with the result, so far as we could judge, that we put +some six or eight men <i>hors de combat</i> before they were out of range. +</p> + +<p> +Just as we stopped firing there came an ominous roar from our far right, then a +similar roar rose on our left. The two other divisions were engaging us. +</p> + +<p> +At the sound, the mass of men before us opened out a little, and advanced +towards the hill and up the spit of bare grass land at a slow trot, singing a +deep-throated song as they ran. We kept up a steady fire from our rifles as +they came, Ignosi joining in occasionally, and accounted for several men, but +of course we produced no more effect upon that mighty rush of armed humanity +than he who throws pebbles does on the breaking wave. +</p> + +<p> +On they came, with a shout and the clashing of spears; now they were driving in +the pickets 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 forces must climb up hill, and they came slowly to +save their breath. Our first line of defence was about half-way down the side +of the slope, our second fifty yards further back, while our third occupied the +edge of the plateau. +</p> + +<p> +On they stormed, shouting their war-cry, “<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 <i>tollas</i>, or throwing-knives, began to flash backwards and forwards, +and now with an awful yell the battle closed in. +</p> + +<p> +To and fro swayed the mass of struggling warriors, men falling fast 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 action. +</p> + +<p> +But by this time the assailants were much exhausted, and besides had lost many +men killed and wounded, and to break through that third impenetrable hedge of +spears proved beyond their powers. For a while the seething lines of savages +swung backwards and forwards, 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 was. +</p> + +<p> +The soldiers caught sight of his tall form as he plunged into battle, and there +rose a cry of— +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Nanzia Incubu! Nanzia Unkungunklovo!</i>” (Here is the +Elephant!) “<i>Chiele! Chiele!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +From that moment the end was no longer in doubt. Inch by inch, fighting with +splendid gallantry, the attacking force was pressed back down the hillside, +till at last it retreated upon its reserves in something like confusion. At +that instant, too, a messenger arrived to say that the left attack had been +repulsed; and I was just beginning to congratulate myself, believing 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, +followed by swarms of the enemy, who had evidently succeeded at this point. +</p> + +<p> +Ignosi, who was standing by me, took in the situation at a glance, and issued a +rapid order. Instantly the reserve regiment around us, the Greys, extended +itself. +</p> + +<p> +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 two—we were +plunging through the flying groups of our men, who at once began to re-form +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 +pride—I rose—or rather sank—to the occasion. It was one +before which most people would have collapsed once and for all. Seeing that if +I stood where I was I must be killed, as the horrid apparition came I flung +myself down in front of him so cleverly that, being unable to stop himself, he +took a header right over my prostrate form. Before he could rise again, +<i>I</i> had risen and settled the matter from behind with my revolver. +</p> + +<p> +Shortly after this somebody knocked me down, and I remember no more of that +charge. +</p> + +<p> +When I came to I found myself back at the koppie, with Good bending over me +holding some water in a gourd. +</p> + +<p> +“How do you feel, old fellow?” he asked anxiously. +</p> + +<p> +I got up and shook myself before replying. +</p> + +<p> +“Pretty well, thank you,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank Heaven! When I saw them carry you in, I felt quite sick; I thought +you were done for.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not this time, my boy. I fancy I only got a rap on the head, which +knocked me stupid. How has it ended?” +</p> + +<p> +“They are repulsed at every point for a while. The loss is dreadfully +heavy; we have 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. +</p> + +<p> +In the centre of every group of four, and being borne by it, was a kind of hide +tray, of which a Kukuana force always carries a quantity, with a loop for a +handle at each corner. On these trays—and their number seemed +endless—lay wounded men, who as they arrived were hastily examined by the +medicine men, of whom ten were attached to a 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 injured man’s +condition proved hopeless, what followed was very dreadful, though doubtless it +may have been 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 the majority of 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 impossible. In most +instances the poor sufferers were already unconscious, and in others the fatal +“nick” of the artery was inflicted 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 anything of the kind +that affected me more than seeing those gallant soldiers thus put out of pain +by the red-handed medicine men, except, indeed, on one occasion when, after an +attack, I saw a force of Swazis burying their hopelessly wounded <i>alive</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Hurrying from this dreadful scene to the further side of the koppie, we found +Sir Henry, who still held a battle-axe in his hand, Ignosi, Infadoos, and one +or two of the chiefs in deep consultation. +</p> + +<p> +“Thank Heaven, here you are, Quatermain! I can’t quite 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 +invest us, with the view of starving us out.” +</p> + +<p> +“That’s awkward.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes; especially as Infadoos says that the water supply has given +out.” +</p> + +<p> +“My lord, that is so,” said Infadoos; “the spring cannot +supply the wants of so great a multitude, and it is failing rapidly. Before +night we shall all be thirsty. Listen, Macumazahn. Thou 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. Yet Twala +has learnt his lesson; the hawk did not think to find the heron ready; but our +beak has pierced his breast; he fears to strike at us again. We too are +wounded, and he will wait for us to die; he will wind himself round us like a +snake round a buck, and fight the fight of ‘sit down.’” +</p> + +<p> +“I hear thee,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“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 to-day he fought like a buffalo in a net, and +Twala’s soldiers went down before his axe like young 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 transparent eye.” +</p> + +<p> +“What sayest thou, Ignosi,” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“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, +hearken to thy words.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus adjured, after taking hasty counsel with Good and Sir Henry, I 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. 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. +</p> + +<p> +This expression of opinion seemed, on the whole, to be favourably 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 plans +lay with Ignosi, who, since he had been recognised as rightful king, could +exercise the almost unbounded rights of sovereignty, including, of course, the +final decision on matters of generalship, and it was to him that all eyes were +now turned. +</p> + +<p> +At length, after a pause, during which he appeared to be thinking deeply, he +spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“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 half-moon, and how the plain runs like a green tongue towards us within the +curve?” +</p> + +<p> +“We see,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Good; it is now mid-day, and the men eat and rest after the toil of +battle. When the sun has turned and travelled a little way towards the +darkness, let thy regiment, my uncle, advance with one other down to the green +tongue, and it shall be that when Twala sees it he will 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 may 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 battle-axe flashing in the first rank of the Greys 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 might happen, there may yet be +a king left to fight for; and with me shall come Macumazahn the wise.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 +when it is incurred in the course of duty. +</p> + +<p> +“And whilst the eyes of the multitude of Twala’s soldiers are thus +fixed upon the fight,” went on Ignosi, “behold, one-third of the +men who are left alive to us (i.e. about 6,000) 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 remain to me, charge home in Twala’s face, and if fortune +goes with us the day will be ours, and before Night drives her black oxen 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 +without fail; and stay, let my white father Bougwan go with the right horn, +that his shining eye may give courage to the captains.” +</p> + +<p> +The arrangements for 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 and devoured, the +divisions were formed, the scheme of onslaught was explained to the leaders, +and the whole force, numbering about 18,000 men, was ready to move, with the +exception of a guard left in charge of the wounded. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Good came up to Sir Henry and myself. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-bye, 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. +</p> + +<p> +We shook hands in silence, and not without the exhibition of as much emotion as +Anglo-Saxons are wont to show. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a queer business,” said Sir Henry, his deep voice shaking a +little, “and I confess I never expect to see to-morrow’s sun. So +far as I can make out, the Greys, 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. Good-bye, +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!” +</p> + +<p> +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 +Greys, whilst, with many misgivings, I departed with Ignosi to my station in +the second attacking regiment. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap14"></a>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +THE LAST STAND OF THE GREYS</h2> + +<p> +In a few more minutes the regiments destined to carry out the flanking +movements had tramped off in silence, keeping carefully to the lee of the +rising ground in order to conceal their advance from the keen eyes of +Twala’s scouts. +</p> + +<p> +Half an hour or more was allowed to elapse between the setting out of the horns +or wings of the army before any stir was made by the Greys and their supporting +regiment, known as the Buffaloes, which formed its chest, and were destined to +bear the brunt of the battle. +</p> + +<p> +Both of these regiments were almost perfectly fresh, and of full strength, the +Greys 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 was +stunned for my pains. As for the Buffaloes, they had formed the third line of +defence on the left, and since the attacking force at that point had not +succeeded in breaking through the second, they had scarcely come into action at +all. +</p> + +<p> +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 Greys, in poetical +language: explaining to them the honour 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 promising large rewards of +cattle and promotion to all who survived in the event of Ignosi’s arms +being successful. +</p> + +<p> +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 which marks the +great general, and often saves his forces and attains his ends, to certain +slaughter, in order to give their cause and the remainder of the army a chance +of success. They were foredoomed to die, and they knew the truth. 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 favourable 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 for ever, and yet able to contemplate their doom without a tremor. Even +at that moment I could not 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 +a complete indifference to its bitter fruits. +</p> + +<p> +“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 for ever be the name of him who shrinks from death for his king, or +who turns his back to the foe. 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 you a road to the heart of Twala’s host.” +</p> + +<p> +There was a moment’s pause, then suddenly a murmur arose from the serried +phalanxes before us, a sound 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 +by faint degrees died away into nothing, and suddenly out crashed the royal +salute. +</p> + +<p> +Ignosi, I thought to myself, might well be a proud man that day, for no Roman +emperor ever had such a salutation from gladiators “about to die.” +</p> + +<p> +Ignosi acknowledged this magnificent act of homage by lifting his battle-axe, +and then the Greys filed off in a triple-line formation, each line containing +about one thousand fighting men, exclusive of officers. When the last companies +had advanced some five hundred yards, Ignosi put himself at the head of the +Buffaloes, which regiment was drawn up in a similar three-fold formation, and +gave the word to march, and off we went, I, needless to say, uttering the most +heartfelt prayers that I might emerge from that entertainment 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 my chance of coming off +safe was smaller. +</p> + +<p> +By the time that we reached the edge of the plateau the Greys were already +half-way down the slope ending in the tongue of grass land 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 the attacking +force could emerge into the plain of Loo. +</p> + +<p> +This tongue, which was some four hundred yards in depth, even at its root or +widest part was not more than six hundred and fifty paces across, while at its +tip it scarcely measured ninety. The Greys, who, in passing down the side of +the hill and on to the tip of the tongue, had formed into a column, on reaching +the spot where it broadened out again, reassumed their triple-line formation, +and halted dead. +</p> + +<p> +Then we—that is, the Buffaloes—moved down the tip of the tongue and +took our stand in reserve, about one hundred yards behind the last line of the +Greys, and on slightly higher ground. Meanwhile we had leisure to observe +Twala’s entire force, which evidently had 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 each side, stood the famous regiment of Greys, the +pride and glory of the Kukuana army, ready to hold the way against their power +as the three Romans once held the bridge against thousands. +</p> + +<p> +They hesitated, and finally stopped their advance; there was no eagerness to +cross spears with these three grim ranks of warriors who stood so firm and +ready. Presently, however, a tall general, wearing the customary head-dress of +nodding ostrich plumes, appeared, attended by a group of chiefs and orderlies, +being, I thought, none other than Twala himself. He gave an order, and the +first regiment, raising a shout, charged up towards the Greys, who remained +perfectly still and silent till the attacking troops were within forty yards, +and a volley of <i>tollas</i>, or throwing-knives, came rattling among their +ranks. +</p> + +<p> +Then suddenly with a bound and a roar, they sprang forward with uplifted +spears, and the regiment met in deadly strife. Next second the roll of the +meeting shields came to our ears like the sound of thunder, and the plain +seemed to be alive with flashes of light reflected from the shimmering spears. +To and fro swung the surging mass of struggling, stabbing humanity, but not for +long. Suddenly the attacking lines began to grow thinner, and then with a slow, +long heave the Greys passed over them, just as a great wave heaves up its bulk +and passes over a sunken ridge. It was done; that regiment was completely +destroyed, but the Greys had but two lines left now; a third of their number +were dead. +</p> + +<p> +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! +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile we moved 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 command was scrupulously +carried out. It would have been a shocking sight, if we had found time to think +of such things. +</p> + +<p> +But now a second regiment, distinguished by white plumes, kilts, and shields, +was moving to the attack of the two thousand remaining Greys, 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 tragedy +repeated itself. +</p> + +<p> +But this time the issue was left longer in doubt; indeed, it seemed for awhile +almost impossible that the Greys should again prevail. The attacking regiment, +which was 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 truly awful, +hundreds falling every minute; and from among the shouts of the warriors and +the groans of the dying, set to the music of clashing spears, came a continuous +hissing undertone of “<i>S’gee, s’gee</i>,” the note of +triumph of each victor as he passed his assegai through and through the body of +his fallen foe. +</p> + +<p> +But perfect discipline and steady and unchanging valour can do wonders, and one +veteran soldier is worth two young ones, as soon became apparent in the present +case. For just when we thought that it was all over with the Greys, 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 through the din, and caught a +glimpse of his circling battle-axe as he waved it high above his plumes. Then +came a change; the Greys 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 once more—forward this time; as they had no +firearms there was no smoke, so we could see it all. Another minute and the +onslaught grew fainter. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, these are <i>men</i>, indeed; they will conquer again,” called +out Ignosi, who was grinding his teeth with excitement at my side. “See, +it is done!” +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly, like puffs of smoke from the mouth of a cannon, the attacking +regiment broke away in flying groups, their white head-dresses 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 +blood-spattered 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 rising knoll of ground, and, resuming their +triple formation, formed a threefold ring around its base. And there, thanks be +to Heaven, standing on the top of the 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 more the battle closed in. +</p> + +<p> +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 ardour. Warlike fragments from the “Ingoldsby +Legends,” together with numbers of sanguinary verses in the Old +Testament, sprang up in my brain like mushrooms in the dark; my blood, which +hitherto had been half-frozen 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, I +began to wonder if my face looked like theirs. There they stood, 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 after long +pursuit he sights his quarry. +</p> + +<p> +Only Ignosi’s heart, to judge from his comparative self-possession, +seemed, to all appearances, to beat as calmly as ever beneath his leopard-skin +cloak, though even <i>he</i> still ground his teeth. I could bear it no longer. +</p> + +<p> +“Are we to stand here till we put out roots, Umbopa—Ignosi, I +mean—while Twala swallows our brothers yonder?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Macumazahn,” was the answer; “see, now is the ripe +moment: let us pluck it.” +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke a fresh regiment rushed past the ring upon the little mound, and +wheeling round, attacked it from the hither side. +</p> + +<p> +Then, lifting his battle-axe, Ignosi gave the signal to advance, and, screaming +the wild Kukuana war-cry, the Buffaloes charged home with a rush like the rush +of the sea. +</p> + +<p> +What followed immediately on this it is out of my power to tell. All I can +remember is an irregular yet ordered advance, 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 an awful shock, a dull roar of voices, and +a continuous flashing of spears, seen through a red mist of blood. +</p> + +<p> +When my mind cleared I found myself standing inside the remnant of the Greys +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 shelter. +</p> + +<p> +As for the fight that followed, who can describe it? Again and again the +multitudes surged against our momentarily lessening circle, and again and again +we beat them back. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +“The stubborn spearmen still made good<br /> +The dark impenetrable wood,<br /> +Each stepping where his comrade stood<br /> + The instant that he fell,” +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +as someone or other beautifully says. +</p> + +<p> +It was a splendid thing to see those brave battalions come on time after time +over the barriers of their dead, sometimes lifting corpses before them to +receive our spear-thrusts, only to leave their own corpses to swell the rising +piles. It was a gallant sight to see that 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 on, +stepping forward to wherever the fighting was thickest, to bear his share in +its repulse. And yet more gallant was the vision of Sir Henry, whose ostrich +plumes had been shorn off by a spear thrust, 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 armour all red with blood, and +none could live before his stroke. Time after time I saw it sweeping down, as +some great warrior ventured to give him battle, and as he struck he shouted +“<i>O-hoy! O-hoy!</i>” like his Berserkir forefathers, and the blow +went crashing through shield and spear, through head-dress, hair, and skull, +till at last none would of their own will come near the great white +“<i>umtagati</i>,” the wizard, who killed and failed not. +</p> + +<p> +But suddenly there rose a cry of “<i>Twala, y’ Twala</i>,” +and out of the press sprang forward none other than the gigantic one-eyed king +himself, also armed with battle-axe and shield, and clad in chain armour. +</p> + +<p> +“Where art thou, Incubu, thou white man, who slewest Scragga my +son—see if thou canst slay me!” he shouted, and at the same time +hurled a <i>tolla</i> straight at Sir Henry, who fortunately saw it coming, and +caught it on his shield, which it transfixed, remaining wedged in the iron +plate behind the hide. +</p> + +<p> +Then, with a cry, Twala sprang forward straight at him, and with his battle-axe +struck him such a blow upon the shield that the mere force and shock of it +brought Sir Henry, strong man as he is, down upon his knees. +</p> + +<p> +But at this time the matter went no further, for that instant there rose from +the regiments pressing round us something like a shout of dismay, and on +looking up I saw the cause. +</p> + +<p> +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, as Ignosi predicted would be +the case, had fixed their attention on the bloody struggle which was raging +round the remnant of the Greys and that of 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 our horns were about to close upon them +that they had dreamed of their approach, for they believed these forces to be +hidden in reserve upon the crest of the moon-shaped hill. And now, before they +could even assume a proper formation for defence, the outflanking <i>Impis</i> +had leapt, like greyhounds, on their flanks. +</p> + +<p> +In five minutes the fate of the battle was decided. Taken on both flanks, and +dismayed at the awful slaughter inflicted upon them by the Greys and Buffaloes, +Twala’s regiments broke into flight, and soon the whole plain between us +and Loo was scattered with groups of running soldiers making good their +retreat. As for the hosts 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 heaped-up masses, and of the gallant Greys there +remained but ninety-five men upon their feet. More than three thousand four +hundred had fallen in this one regiment, most of them never to rise again. +</p> + +<p> +“Men,” said Infadoos calmly, as between the intervals of binding a +wound on 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 +well spoken of by your children’s children.” Then he turned round +and shook Sir Henry Curtis by the hand. “Thou art a great captain, +Incubu,” he said simply; “I have lived a long life among warriors, +and have known many a brave one, yet have I never seen a man like unto +thee.” +</p> + +<p> +At this moment the Buffaloes began to march past our position on the road to +Loo, and as they went a message was brought to us from Ignosi requesting +Infadoos, Sir Henry, and myself to join them. Accordingly, orders having been +issued to the remaining ninety men of the Greys 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, suddenly we discovered the figure of Good +sitting on an ant-heap about one hundred paces from us. Close beside him was +the body of a Kukuana. +</p> + +<p> +“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 ant-heap, 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 and most vicious dig, and with a shout of +“Take that, wizard!” bolted away. Good did not move, and we +concluded that our poor comrade was done for. Sadly we came towards him, and +were astonished to find him pale and faint indeed, but with a serene smile upon +his face, and his eyeglass still fixed in his eye. +</p> + +<p> +“Capital armour this,” he murmured, on catching sight of our faces +bending over him. “How sold that beggar must have been,” and then +he fainted. On examination we discovered that he had been seriously wounded in +the leg by a <i>tolla</i> in the course of the pursuit, but that the chain +armour 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. +</p> + +<p> +On arriving before the nearest gate of Loo we found one of our regiments +watching it in obedience to orders received from Ignosi. The other regiments +were in the same way guarding the different exits to the town. The officer in +command of this regiment saluted Ignosi as king, and informed him that +Twala’s army had taken refuge in the town, whither Twala himself had also +escaped, but he thought that they were thoroughly demoralised, and would +surrender. Thereupon Ignosi, 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, but saying that +if they did not do so before nightfall he would certainly burn the town and all +within its gates. This message was not without its effect. Half an hour later, +amid the shouts and cheers of the Buffaloes, the bridge was dropped across the +fosse, and the gates upon the further side were flung open. +</p> + +<p> +Taking due precautions against treachery, we marched on into the town. All +along the roadways stood thousands of dejected warriors, their heads drooping, +and their shields and spears at their feet, who, headed by their officers, +saluted Ignosi as king as he passed. 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 witch hunt, we found it deserted. No, not quite +deserted, for there, on the further side, in front of his hut, sat Twala +himself, with but one attendant—Gagool. +</p> + +<p> +It was a melancholy sight to see him seated, his battle-axe and shield by his +side, his chin upon his mailed breast, with but one old crone for companion, +and notwithstanding his crimes and misdeeds, a pang of compassion shot through +me as I looked upon Twala 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 which Fate +teaches to most of us 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. +</p> + +<p> +Filing through the kraal gate, we marched across the open space to where the +ex-king sat. When within about fifty yards of him 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 his +plumed head, and fixed his one eye, which seemed to flash with suppressed fury +almost as brightly as the great diamond bound round his forehead, upon his +successful rival—Ignosi. +</p> + +<p> +“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 in store +for me, O king?” +</p> + +<p> +“The fate thou gavest to my father, whose throne thou hast sat on these +many years!” was the stern answer. +</p> + +<p> +“It is good. 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 battle-axe towards the setting orb; “it is well that my sun should go +down in its company. And now, O king! I am ready to die, but I crave the boon +of the Kukuana royal House<a href="#fn-9" name="fnref-9" id="fnref-9"><sup>[9]</sup></a> +to die fighting. Thou canst not refuse it, or even those cowards who fled +to-day will hold thee shamed.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-9" id="fn-9"></a> <a href="#fnref-9">[9]</a> +It is a law amongst the Kukuanas that no man of the direct royal blood can be +put to death, unless by his own consent, which is, however, never refused. He +is allowed to choose a succession of antagonists, to be approved by the king, +with whom he fights, till one of them kills him.—A.Q. +</p> + +<p> +“It is granted. Choose—with whom wilt thou fight? Myself I cannot +fight with thee, for the king fights not except in war.” +</p> + +<p> +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 <i>me</i>? 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 battle-axe. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Twala spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“Incubu, what sayest thou, shall we end what we began to-day, or shall I +call thee coward, white—even to the liver?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay,” interposed Ignosi hastily; “thou shalt not fight with +Incubu.” +</p> + +<p> +“Not if he is afraid,” said Twala. +</p> + +<p> +Unfortunately Sir Henry understood this remark, and the blood flamed up into +his cheeks. +</p> + +<p> +“I will fight him,” he said; “he shall see if I am +afraid.” +</p> + +<p> +“For Heaven’s sake,” I entreated, “don’t risk +your life against that of a desperate man. Anybody who saw you to-day will know +that you are brave enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will fight him,” was the sullen answer. “No living man +shall call me a coward. I am ready now!” and he stepped forward and +lifted his axe. +</p> + +<p> +I wrung my hands over this absurd piece of Quixotism; but if he was determined +on this deed, of course I could not stop him. +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will fight, Ignosi,” was Sir Henry’s answer. +</p> + +<p> +“It is well, Incubu; thou art a brave man. It will be a good fray. +Behold, Twala, the Elephant is ready for thee.” +</p> + +<p> +The ex-king laughed savagely, and stepping forward faced Curtis. For a moment +they stood thus, and the light of the sinking sun caught their stalwart frames +and clothed them both in fire. They were a well-matched pair. +</p> + +<p> +Then they began to circle round each other, their battle-axes raised. +</p> + +<p> +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 massive battle-axe round his head, he brought it down with +tremendous force. My heart jumped into my mouth; I thought that 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 away, the axe falling on his left shoulder, but not +heavily enough to do any serious damage. In another moment Sir Henry got in a +second blow, which was also received by Twala upon his shield. +</p> + +<p> +Then followed blow upon blow, that were, in turn, either received upon the +shields 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 laid 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, and yelling +encouragements to Sir Henry— +</p> + +<p> +“Go it, old fellow!” he hallooed. “That was a good one! Give +it him amidships,” and so on. +</p> + +<p> +Presently Sir Henry, having caught a fresh stroke upon his shield, hit out with +all his force. The blow cut through Twala’s shield and through the tough +chain armour behind it, gashing him in the shoulder. With a yell of pain and +fury Twala returned the blow with interest, and, such was his strength, shore +right through the rhinoceros’ horn handle of his antagonists battle-axe, +strengthened as it was with bands of steel, wounding Curtis in the face. +</p> + +<p> +A cry of dismay rose from the Buffaloes as our hero’s broad axe-head 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 honour. 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’ head with the battle-axe, and Sir Henry trying to drive the +<i>tolla</i> he had drawn from his belt through Twala’s armour. +</p> + +<p> +It was a mighty struggle, and an awful thing to see. +</p> + +<p> +“Get his axe!” yelled Good; and perhaps our champion heard him. +</p> + +<p> +At any rate, dropping the <i>tolla</i>, he snatched at the axe, which was +fastened to Twala’s wrist by a strip of buffalo hide, and still rolling +over and over, they fought for it like wild cats, 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 hand. Another second and he was upon +his feet, the red blood streaming from the wound in his face, and so was Twala. +Drawing the heavy <i>tolla</i> from his belt, he reeled straight at Curtis and +struck him in the breast. The stab came home true and strong, but whoever it +was who made that chain armour, he understood his art, for it withstood the +steel. Again Twala struck out with a savage yell, and again the sharp 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 big +axe round his head with both hands, hit at him with all his force. +</p> + +<p> +There was a shriek of excitement from a thousand throats, and, behold! +Twala’s head seemed to spring from his shoulders: then it fell and came +rolling and bounding along the ground towards Ignosi, stopping just at his +feet. For a second the corpse stood upright; then with a dull crash it came to +the earth, and the gold torque from its neck rolled away across the pavement. +As it did so Sir Henry, overpowered by faintness and loss of blood, fell +heavily across the body of the dead king. +</p> + +<p> +In a second he was lifted up, and eager hands were pouring water on his face. +Another minute, and the grey eyes opened wide. +</p> + +<p> +He was not dead. +</p> + +<p> +Then I, just as the sun sank, stepping to where Twala’s head lay in the +dust, unloosed the diamond from the dead brows, and handed it to Ignosi. +</p> + +<p> +“Take it,” I said, “lawful king of the Kukuanas—king by +birth and victory.” +</p> + +<p> +Ignosi bound the diadem upon his brows. Then advancing, he placed his foot upon +the broad chest of his headless foe and broke out into a chant, or rather a +pæan of triumph, so beautiful, and yet so utterly savage, that I despair of +being able to give an adequate version of his words. Once I 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. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Now,” he began, “now our rebellion is swallowed up in +victory, and our evil-doing is justified by strength. +</p> + +<p> +“In the morning the oppressors arose and stretched themselves; they bound +on their harness and made them ready to war. +</p> + +<p> +“They rose up and tossed their spears: the soldiers called to the +captains, ‘Come, lead us’—and the captains cried to the king, +‘Direct thou the battle.’ +</p> + +<p> +“They laughed in their pride, twenty thousand men, and yet a twenty +thousand. +</p> + +<p> +“Their plumes covered the valleys as the plumes of a bird cover her nest; +they shook their shields and shouted, yea, they shook their shields in the +sunlight; they lusted for battle and were glad. +</p> + +<p> +“They came up against me; their strong ones ran swiftly to slay me; they +cried, ‘Ha! ha! he is as one already dead.’ +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Then breathed I on them, and my breath was as the breath of a wind, and +lo! they were not. +</p> + +<p> +“My lightnings pierced them; I licked up their strength with the +lightning of my spears; I shook them to the ground with the thunder of my +shoutings. +</p> + +<p> +“They broke—they scattered—they were gone as the mists of the +morning. +</p> + +<p> +“They are food for the kites and the foxes, and the place of battle is +fat with their blood. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“Where are the mighty ones who rose up in the morning? +</p> + +<p> +“Where are the proud ones who tossed their spears and cried, ‘He is +as a man already dead’? +</p> + +<p> +“They bow their heads, but not in sleep; they are stretched out, but not +in sleep. +</p> + +<p> +“They are forgotten; they have gone into the blackness; they dwell in the +dead moons; yea, others shall lead away their wives, and their children shall +remember them no more. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +“And I—! the king—like an eagle I have found my eyrie. +</p> + +<p> +“Behold! far have I flown in the night season, yet have I returned to my +young at the daybreak. +</p> + +<p> +“Shelter ye under the shadow of my wings, O people, and I will comfort +you, and ye shall not be dismayed. +</p> + +<p> +“Now is the good time, the time of spoil. +</p> + +<p> +“Mine are the cattle on the mountains, mine are the virgins in the +kraals. +</p> + +<p> +“The winter is overpast with storms, the summer is come with flowers. +</p> + +<p> +“Now Evil shall cover up her face, now Mercy and Gladness shall dwell in +the land. +</p> + +<p> +“Rejoice, rejoice, my people! +</p> + +<p> +“Let all the stars rejoice in that this tyranny is trodden down, in that +I am the king.” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Ignosi ceased his song, and out of the gathering gloom came back the deep +reply— +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Thou art the king!</i>” +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Thus was my prophecy to the herald fulfilled, and within the forty-eight hours +Twala’s headless corpse was stiffening at Twala’s gate. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap15"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /> +GOOD FALLS SICK</h2> + +<p> +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 quite done up, and, as is always the +case with me when exhausted, that old wound which the lion gave me began to +pain. 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. +</p> + +<p> +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. As I expected, we found that +the flesh underneath was terribly contused, for though the steel links had kept +the weapons from entering, they had not prevented them from bruising. Both Sir +Henry and Good were a mass of contusions, and I was by no means free. As a +remedy Foulata brought us some pounded green leaves, with an aromatic odour, +which, when applied as a plaster, gave us considerable relief. +</p> + +<p> +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, with other hurts, had a deep cut over the jaw, +inflicted by Twala’s battle-axe. Luckily Good is a very decent surgeon, +and so soon as his small box of medicines was forthcoming, having thoroughly +cleansed the wounds, he 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 +injured places with some antiseptic ointment, of which there was a pot in the +little box, and we covered them with the remains of a pocket-handkerchief which +we possessed. +</p> + +<p> +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 karrosses, or fur rugs, 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 +karross, that Sir Henry, the man who had slain him, slept that night. +</p> + +<p> +I say slept; but after that day’s work, sleep was indeed difficult. To +begin with, in very truth the air was full +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + “Of farewells to the dying<br /> + And mournings for the dead.” +</p> + +<p> +From every direction came the sound of the wailing of women whose husbands, +sons, and brothers had perished in the battle. No wonder that they wailed, for +over twelve thousand men, or nearly a fifth of the Kukuana army, had been +destroyed in that awful struggle. It was heart-rending to lie and listen to +their cries for those who never would return; and it made me understand 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, which, as I +afterwards discovered, proceeded from Gagool “keening” over the +dead king Twala. +</p> + +<p> +After that I got a little fitful sleep, only to wake from time to time with a +start, thinking that I was once more an actor in the terrible events of the +last twenty-four hours. Now I seemed to see that warrior whom my hand had sent +to his last account charging at me on the mountain-top; now I was once more in +that glorious ring of Greys, 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 +during the desperate efforts made by the Kukuana warrior on the previous day to +force his big spear through the chain armour. Sir Henry, however, seemed pretty +fresh, notwithstanding his wound on the face, which made eating difficult and +laughter an impossibility, though he was so sore and stiff that he could +scarcely stir. +</p> + +<p> +About eight o’clock we had a visit from Infadoos, who appeared but little +the worse—tough old warrior that he was—for his exertions in the +battle, although he informed us that he had been up all night. He was delighted +to see us, but much grieved at Good’s condition, and shook our hands +cordially. I noticed, however, 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, at the end of a day of such toil and bloodshed, could have slain +Twala, who, in addition to being the king, was supposed to be the strongest +warrior in the country, in single combat, shearing through his bull-neck at a +stroke. Indeed, that stroke became proverbial in Kukuanaland, and any +extraordinary blow or feat of strength was henceforth known as +“Incubu’s blow.” +</p> + +<p> +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 outlying +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 legitimate son, so +there was no rival claimant to the throne left alive. +</p> + +<p> +I remarked that Ignosi had swum to power through blood. The old chief shrugged +his shoulders. “Yes,” he answered; “but the Kukuana people +can only be kept cool by letting their blood flow sometimes. Many are killed, +indeed, but the women are left, and others must soon grow up to take the places +of the fallen. After this the land would be quiet for a while.” +</p> + +<p> +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 fortune. +</p> + +<p> +“Hail, O king!” I said, rising. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, Macumazahn. King at last, by the might of your three right +hands,” was the ready answer. +</p> + +<p> +All was, he said, going well; and he hoped to arrange a great feast in two +weeks’ time in order to show himself to the people. +</p> + +<p> +I asked him what he had settled to do with Gagool. +</p> + +<p> +“She is the evil genius of the land,” he answered, “and I +shall kill her, and all the witch doctors with her! She has lived so long that +none can remember when she was not very old, and she it is who has always +trained the witch-hunters, and made the land wicked in the sight of the heavens +above.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet she knows much,” I replied; “it is easier to destroy +knowledge, Ignosi, than to gather it.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is so,” he said thoughtfully. “She, and she only, knows +the secret of the ‘Three Witches,’ yonder, whither the great road +runs, where the kings are buried, and the Silent Ones sit.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, and the diamonds are. Forget not thy promise, Ignosi; thou must +lead us to the mines, even if thou hast to spare Gagool alive to show the +way.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not forget, Macumazahn, and I will think on what thou +sayest.” +</p> + +<p> +After Ignosi’s visit I went to see Good, and found him quite delirious. +The fever set up by his wound seemed to have taken a firm hold of his system, +and to be complicated with an internal injury. For four or five days his +condition was most critical; indeed, I believe firmly that had it not been for +Foulata’s indefatigable nursing he must have died. +</p> + +<p> +Women are women, all the world over, whatever their colour. 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 a +sick-room swiftly, gently, and with as fine an instinct as that of a trained +hospital nurse. For the first night or two I tried to help her, and so did Sir +Henry as soon as his stiffness allowed him to move, but Foulata 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 him and tended him, giving him his only medicine, a native +cooling drink made of milk, in which was infused juice from 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 +soft-eyed, shapely Kukuana beauty, her face, weary as it was with her long +vigil, animated by a look of infinite compassion—or was it something more +than compassion? +</p> + +<p> +For two days we thought that he must die, and crept about with heavy hearts. +</p> + +<p> +Only Foulata would not believe it. +</p> + +<p> +“He will live,” she said. +</p> + +<p> +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, except Sir Henry and myself, had been removed, lest +any noise should come to the sick man’s ears. One night, it was the fifth +of Good’s illness, as was my habit, I went across to see how he was doing +before turning in for a few hours. +</p> + +<p> +I entered the hut carefully. The lamp placed upon the floor showed the figure +of Good tossing no more, but lying quite still. +</p> + +<p> +So it had come at last! In the bitterness of my heart I gave something like a +sob. +</p> + +<p> +“Hush—h—h!” came from the patch of dark shadow behind +Good’s head. +</p> + +<p> +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 +the entire period did this 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 and weariness, to say nothing of want of food, nobody will ever know; but +it is the fact that, when at last he woke, she had to be carried away—her +limbs were so stiff that she could not move them. +</p> + +<p> +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 mid-day meal, for 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 that she understood him +marvellously as a rule, considering how extremely limited was his foreign +vocabulary. +</p> + +<p> +“Tell her,” said Good, “that I owe her my life, and that I +will never forget her kindness to my dying day.” +</p> + +<p> +I interpreted, and under her dark skin she actually seemed to blush. +</p> + +<p> +Turning to him with one of those swift and graceful motions that in her always +reminded me of the flight of a wild bird, Foulata answered softly, glancing at +him with her large brown eyes— +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, my lord; my lord forgets! Did he not save <i>my</i> life, and am I +not my lord’s handmaiden?” +</p> + +<p> +It will be observed that the young lady appeared entirely to have forgotten the +share which Sir Henry and myself had taken in her preservation from +Twala’s clutches. But that is the way of women! I remember my dear wife +was just the same. Well, 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 of Good in particular. +</p> + +<p> +There are two things in the world, as I have found out, which cannot be +prevented: you cannot keep a Zulu from fighting, or a sailor from falling in +love upon the slightest provocation! +</p> + +<p> +It was a few days after this last occurrence that Ignosi held his great +“indaba,” or council, and was formally recognised as king by the +“indunas,” or head men, of Kukuanaland. The spectacle was a most +imposing one, including as it did a grand review of troops. On this day the +remaining fragments of the Greys were formally paraded, and in the face of the +army thanked for their splendid conduct in the 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 Greys which was in process of formation. An order +was also promulgated throughout the length and breadth of Kukuanaland that, +whilst we honoured the country by our presence, we three were to be greeted +with the royal salute, and to be treated with the same ceremony and respect +that was by custom accorded to the king. Also the power of life and death was +publicly conferred upon us. Ignosi, too, in the presence of his people, +reaffirmed the promises which he had made, to the effect that no man’s +blood should be shed without trial, and that witch-hunting should cease in the +land. +</p> + +<p> +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 about them. +</p> + +<p> +“My friends,” he answered, “I have discovered this. 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, also, is a deep 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 tell 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. Yet 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 hidden in it. +But before he could take it she betrayed him, and he was driven by the king of +that day back to the mountains, and since then no man has entered the +place.” +</p> + +<p> +“The story is surely true, Ignosi, for on the mountains we found the +white man,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, we found him. And now I have promised you that if ye can come to +that chamber, and the stones are there—” +</p> + +<p> +“The gem upon thy forehead proves that they are there,” I put in, +pointing to the great diamond I had taken from Twala’s dead brows. +</p> + +<p> +“Mayhap; if they are there,” he said, “ye shall have as many +as ye can take hence—if indeed ye would leave me, my brothers.” +</p> + +<p> +“First we must find the chamber,” said I. +</p> + +<p> +“There is but one who can show it to thee—Gagool.” +</p> + +<p> +“And if she will not?” +</p> + +<p> +“Then she must die,” said Ignosi sternly. “I have saved her +alive but for this. Stay, she shall choose,” and calling to a messenger +he ordered Gagool to be brought before him. +</p> + +<p> +In a few minutes she came, hurried along by two guards, whom she was cursing as +she walked. +</p> + +<p> +“Leave her,” said the king to the guards. +</p> + +<p> +So soon as their support was withdrawn, the withered old bundle—for she +looked more like a bundle than anything else, out of which her two bright and +wicked eyes gleamed like those of a snake—sank in a heap on to the floor. +</p> + +<p> +“What will ye with me, Ignosi?” she piped. “Ye dare not touch +me. If ye touch me I will slay you as ye sit. Beware of my magic.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thy magic could not save Twala, old she-wolf, and it cannot hurt +me,” was the answer. “Listen; I will this of thee, that thou reveal +to us the chamber where are the shining stones.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ha! ha!” she piped, “none know its secret but I, and I will +never tell thee. The white devils shall go hence empty-handed.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou shalt tell me. I will make thee tell me.” +</p> + +<p> +“How, O king? Thou art great, but can thy power wring the truth from a +woman?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is difficult, yet will I do so.” +</p> + +<p> +“How, O king?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, thus; if thou tellest not thou shalt slowly die.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet will I slay thee. See, Gagool, mother of evil, thou art so old that +thou canst no longer love thy life. What can life be to such a hag as thou, who +hast no shape, nor form, nor hair, nor teeth—hast naught, save wickedness +and evil eyes? It will be mercy to make an end of thee, Gagool.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou fool,” shrieked the old fiend, “thou accursed fool, +deemest 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, <i>ha! ha!</i> they laugh to see another go out into the +dark; <i>ha! ha!</i> they laugh to see the evil that is done under the stars. +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, <i>ha! ha! ha!</i>” +and the old hag writhed in ghastly merriment on the ground. +</p> + +<p> +“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. +</p> + +<p> +“I will not show it; thou darest not kill me, darest not! He who slays me +will be accursed for ever.” +</p> + +<p> +Slowly Ignosi brought down the spear till it pricked the prostrate heap of +rags. +</p> + +<p> +With a wild yell Gagool sprang to her feet, then fell again and rolled upon the +floor. +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, I will show thee. Only let me live, let me sit in the sun and have +a bit of meat to suck, and I will show thee.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is well. I thought that I should find a way to reason with thee. +To-morrow shalt thou go with Infadoos and my white brothers to the place, and +beware how thou failest, for if thou showest it not, then thou shalt slowly +die. I have spoken.” +</p> + +<p> +“I will not fail, Ignosi. I always keep my word—<i>ha! ha! ha!</i> +Once before a woman showed the chamber to a white man, and behold! evil befell +him,” and here her wicked eyes glinted. “Her name was Gagool also. +Perchance I was that woman.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou liest,” I said, “that was ten generations gone.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 things 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 journey—we 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. +<i>Ha! ha! ha!</i>” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap16"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +THE PLACE OF DEATH</h2> + +<p> +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 is called to which Solomon’s +Great Road runs. Our party consisted of our three selves and Foulata, who +waited on us—especially on Good—Infadoos, 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 mountain, for the mass was evidently the result 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 snow-wreaths. Beneath the +snow-line the peaks were purple with heaths, 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 +peak, about five miles from us, and there stopped. It was its terminus. +</p> + +<p> +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 Dom three centuries ago, of my poor +friend, his ill-starred 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 little superstitious about the +matter, and so I think did Good and Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +For an hour and a half or more we tramped on up the heather-fringed way, going +so fast in our excitement that the bearers of Gagool’s hammock could +scarcely keep pace with us, and its occupant piped out to us to stop. +</p> + +<p> +“Walk more slowly, white men,” she said, projecting her hideous +shrivelled countenance between the grass curtains, and fixing her gleaming eyes +upon us; “why will ye run to meet the evil that shall befall you, ye +seekers after treasure?” and she laughed that horrible laugh which always +sent a cold shiver down my back, and for a while quite took the enthusiasm out +of us. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“Can’t you guess what this is?” I said to Sir Henry and Good, +who were staring in astonishment at the awful pit before us. +</p> + +<p> +They shook their heads. +</p> + +<p> +“Then it is clear that you have never seen the diamond diggings at +Kimberley. You may depend on it that this is Solomon’s Diamond Mine. Look +there,” I said, pointing to the strata of stiff blue clay which were yet +to be seen among the grass and bushes that 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 stone that were +placed on a gentle slope below the level of a watercourse which in some past +age had been cut out of the solid rock; “if those are not tables once +used to wash the ‘stuff,’ I’m a Dutchman.” +</p> + +<p> +At the edge of this vast hole, which was none other than the pit marked on the +old Dom’s map, the Great Road branched into two and circumvented it. In +many places, by the way, this surrounding road was built entirely out of blocks +of stone, apparently with the object of supporting the edges of the pit and +preventing falls of reef. Along this path we pressed, driven by curiosity to +see what were the three towering objects which we could discern from the hither +side of the great gulf. As we drew near we perceived that they were Colossi of +some sort or another, and rightly conjectured that before us sat the three +“Silent Ones” that are held in such awe by the Kukuana people. But +it was not until we were quite close to them that we recognised the full +majesty of these “Silent Ones.” +</p> + +<p> +There, upon huge pedestals of dark rock, sculptured with rude emblems of the +Phallic worship, separated from each other by a distance of forty paces, and +looking down the road which crossed some sixty miles of plain to Loo, were +three colossal seated forms—two male and one female—each measuring +about thirty feet from the crown of its head to the pedestal. +</p> + +<p> +The female form, which was nude, was of great though severe beauty, but +unfortunately the features had been injured by centuries of exposure to the +weather. Rising from either side of her head were the points of a crescent. The +two male Colossi, on the contrary, were 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 seemed +dreadful. It was the calm of that inhuman cruelty, Sir Henry remarked, which +the ancients attributed to beings potent for good, who could yet watch the +sufferings of humanity, if not without rejoicing, at least without sorrow. +These three statues form a most awe-inspiring trinity, as they sit there in +their solitude, and gaze out across the plain for ever. +</p> + +<p> +Contemplating these “Silent Ones,” as the Kukuanas call them, an +intense curiosity again seized us to know whose were the hands which had shaped +them, who it was that had dug the pit and made the road. Whilst I was gazing +and wondering, suddenly it 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 Zidonians, +Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the god of the children of +Ammon”—and I suggested to my companions that the figures before us +might represent these false and exploded divinities. +</p> + +<p> +“Hum,” said Sir Henry, who is 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 became the Aphrodite of the +Greeks, was represented with horns like the half-moon, and there on the brow of +the female figure are distinct horns. Perhaps these Colossi were designed by +some Phoenician official who managed the mines. Who can say?”<a href="#fn-10" name="fnref-10" id="fnref-10"><sup>[10]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-10" id="fn-10"></a> <a href="#fnref-10">[10]</a> +Compare Milton, “Paradise Lost,” Book i.:—<br /> +<br /> + “With these in troop<br /> + Came Ashtoreth, whom the Phoenicians called<br /> + Astarté, Queen of Heaven, with crescent horns;<br /> + To whose bright image nightly by the moon<br /> + Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs.” +</p> + +<p> +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 +mid-day. If we were ready to go at once, Gagool had announced her willingness +to guide us. As it was not later than eleven o’clock—driven to it +by a burning curiosity—we announced our intention of proceeding +instantly, 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. Meanwhile Foulata, at my request, +stored some “biltong,” or dried game-flesh, together with a couple +of gourds of water, in a reed basket with a hinged cover. Straight in front of +us, at a distance of some fifty paces from the backs of the Colossi, rose a +sheer wall of rock, eighty feet or more in height, that gradually sloped +upwards till it formed the base of the lofty snow-wreathed peak, which soared +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 face of this wall. We followed her till we came to a +narrow portal solidly arched that looked like the opening of a gallery of a +mine. +</p> + +<p> +Here Gagool was waiting for us, still with that evil grin upon her horrid face. +</p> + +<p> +“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 you the store of bright stones. +<i>Ha! ha! ha!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +“We are ready,” I said. +</p> + +<p> +“Good, good! Make strong your hearts to bear what ye shall see. Comest +thou too, Infadoos, thou who didst betray thy master?” +</p> + +<p> +Infadoos frowned as he answered— +</p> + +<p> +“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 hurt, Gagool, be’st thou fifty +times a witch, thou shalt die. Hearest thou?” +</p> + +<p> +“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 only to do the bidding of the king. +I have done the bidding of many kings, Infadoos, till in the end they did mine. +<i>Ha! ha!</i> I go to look upon their faces once more, and Twala’s also! +Come on, come on, here is the lamp,” and she drew a large gourd full of +oil, and fitted with a rush wick, from under her fur cloak. +</p> + +<p> +“Art thou coming, Foulata?” asked Good in his villainous Kitchen +Kukuana, in which he had been improving himself under that young lady’s +tuition. +</p> + +<p> +“I fear, my lord,” the girl answered timidly. +</p> + +<p> +“Then give me the basket.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, my lord, whither thou goest there I go also.” +</p> + +<p> +“The deuce you will!” thought I to myself; “that may be +rather awkward if we ever get out of this.” +</p> + +<p> +Without further ado Gagool plunged into the passage, which was wide enough to +admit of two walking abreast, and quite dark. We followed the sound of her +voice as she piped to us to come on, in some fear and trembling, which was not +allayed by the flutter of a sudden rush of wings. +</p> + +<p> +“Hullo! what’s that?” halloed Good; “somebody hit me in +the face.” +</p> + +<p> +“Bats,” said I; “on you go.” +</p> + +<p> +When, so far as we could judge, we had gone some fifty paces, we perceived that +the passage was growing faintly light. Another minute, and we were in perhaps +the most wonderful place that the eyes of living man have beheld. +</p> + +<p> +Let the reader picture to himself the hall 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 found ourselves, with the difference that this +cathedral designed by 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 adown 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, whilst high above, +depending from the roof, the point of a huge icicle could be dimly seen. +</p> + +<p> +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 be an interesting calculation to discover how long, at +that rate of dripping, it would take to form a pillar, say eighty feet by ten +in diameter. That the process, in at least one instance, was incalculably slow, +the following example will suffice to show. Cut on one of these pillars we +discovered the crude likeness of a mummy, by the head of which sat what +appeared to be the figure of an Egyptian god, doubtless the handiwork of some +old-world labourer in the mine. This work of art was executed at the natural +height at which an idle fellow, be he Phoenician workman or British cad, is in +the habit of trying to immortalise 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 carving, 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, we heard a drop of water fall. +</p> + +<p> +Sometimes the stalagmites 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 shape of a pulpit, beautifully +fretted over outside with a design that 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 two—and this is a wonderful instance of how nature carries out her +handiwork by the same unvarying laws, utterly irrespective of size—were +tiny. One little nook, for instance, was no larger than an unusually big +doll’s house, and yet it might have been a model for the whole place, for +the water dropped, tiny icicles hung, and spar columns were forming in just the +same way. +</p> + +<p> +We had not, however, enough time to examine this beautiful cavern so thoroughly +as we should have liked to do, since unfortunately, Gagool seemed to be +indifferent as 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 cave, and whether it was by the +hand of man or by that of nature that this was done; also if the place had been +used in any way in ancient times, as seemed probable. However, we consoled +ourselves with the idea that we would investigate it thoroughly on our way +back, and followed on at the heels of our uncanny guide. +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +“Are ye prepared to enter the Place of Death, white men?” asked +Gagool, evidently with a view to making us feel uncomfortable. +</p> + +<p> +“Lead on, Macduff,” said Good solemnly, trying to look as though he +was not at all alarmed, as indeed we all did except Foulata, who caught Good by +the arm for protection. +</p> + +<p> +“This is getting rather ghastly,” said Sir Henry, peeping into the +dark passageway. “Come on, Quatermain—<i>seniores priores</i>. We +mustn’t keep the old lady waiting!” and he politely made way for me +to lead the van, for which inwardly I did not bless him. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Tap, tap,</i> went old Gagool’s stick down the passage, as she trotted +along, chuckling hideously; and still overcome by some unaccountable +presentiment of evil, I hung back. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, get on, old fellow,” said Good, “or we shall lose our +fair guide.” +</p> + +<p> +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 evidently had been hollowed, by hand-labour, out +of the mountain. This apartment was not nearly so well lighted as the vast +stalactite ante-cave, and at the first glance all I could discern was a massive +stone table running down its length, with a colossal white figure at its head, +and life-sized white figures all round it. Next I discovered 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 was tailing +out of the place as hard as my legs could carry me. +</p> + +<p> +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 this 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 the stalactite cave, and that a 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. Next second, however, +<i>his</i> eyes became accustomed to the light, and he let go of me, and began +to mop the perspiration off his forehead. As for Good, he swore feebly, while +Foulata threw her arms round his neck and shrieked. +</p> + +<p> +Only Gagool chuckled loud and long. +</p> + +<p> +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 to strike; +one bony hand rested on the stone table before him, in the position a man +assumes on rising from his seat, whilst his frame was bent forward so that the +vertebræ 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. +</p> + +<p> +“Great heavens!” said I faintly, at last, “what can it +be?” +</p> + +<p> +“And what are <i>those things</i>?” asked Good, pointing to the +white company round the table. +</p> + +<p> +“And what on earth is <i>that thing</i>?” said Sir Henry, pointing +to the brown creature seated on the table. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Hee! hee! hee!</i>” laughed Gagool. “To those who enter +the Hall of the Dead, evil comes. <i>Hee! hee! hee! ha! ha!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +“Come, Incubu, brave in battle, come and see him thou slewest;” and +the old creature caught Curtis’ coat in her skinny fingers, and led him +away towards the table. We followed. +</p> + +<p> +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, +quite naked, the head which Curtis’ battle-axe had shorn from the body +resting on its knees, was the gaunt corpse of Twala, the last king of the +Kukuanas. Yes, there, the head perched upon the knees, it sat in all its +ugliness, the vertebræ 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.<a href="#fn-11" name="fnref-11" id="fnref-11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> +Over the surface of the corpse there was gathered a thin glassy film, that made +its appearance yet more appalling, for which we were, at the moment, quite +unable to account, till presently we observed that from the roof of the chamber +the water fell steadily, <i>drip! drop! drip!</i> on to the neck of the corpse, +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 the film +was—<i>Twala’s body was being transformed into a stalactite.</i> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-11" id="fn-11"></a> <a href="#fnref-11">[11]</a> +“Now haste ye, my handmaidens, haste and see<br /> +How he sits there and glowers with his head on his knee.” +</p> + +<p> +A look at the white forms seated on the stone bench which ran round that +ghastly board confirmed this view. They were human bodies indeed, or rather +they had been human; 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 might be, if there was any, beyond +the placing of them for a long period of years under the drip, I never +discovered, but there they sat, iced over and preserved for ever by the +siliceous fluid. +</p> + +<p> +Anything more awe-inspiring than the spectacle of this long line of departed +royalties (there were twenty-seven of them, the last being Ignosi’s +father), wrapped, each of them, in a shroud of ice-like spar, through which the +features could be dimly discovered, 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, supposing +that every king who reigned was placed here—an improbable thing, as some +are sure to have perished in battle far from home—would fix the date of +its commencement at four and a quarter centuries back. +</p> + +<p> +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 is hewn out of a single stalactite, and, looked +at as a work of art, is most admirably conceived and executed. Good, who +understands such things, declared that, so far as he could see, the anatomical +design of the skeleton is perfect down to the smallest bones. +</p> + +<p> +My own idea is, that this terrific object was a freak of fancy on the part of +some old-world 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 set 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 conclusion. +</p> + +<p> +Such, at any rate, was the White Death and such were the White Dead! +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap17"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +SOLOMON’S TREASURE CHAMBER</h2> + +<p> +While we were engaged in recovering from our fright, and in examining the +grisly wonders of the Place of Death, Gagool had been differently occupied. +Somehow or other—for she was marvellously active when she chose—she +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, after +bending down to kiss his icy lips as though in affectionate greeting, she +hobbled back, stopping now and again to address the remark, the tenor of which +I could not catch, to one or other of the shrouded forms, just as you or I +might welcome 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. The +spectacle of this wicked creature pouring out supplications, evil ones no +doubt, to the arch enemy of mankind, was so uncanny that it caused us to hasten +our inspection. +</p> + +<p> +“Now, Gagool,” said I, in a low voice—somehow one did not +dare to speak above a whisper in that place—“lead us to the +chamber.” +</p> + +<p> +The old witch promptly scrambled down from the table. +</p> + +<p> +“My lords are not afraid?” she said, leering up into my face. +</p> + +<p> +“Lead on.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good, my lords;” and she hobbled round to the back of the great +Death. “Here is the chamber; let my lords light the lamp, and +enter,” and 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 had still +a few in a box, and lit a rush wick, and then looked for the doorway, but there +was nothing before us except the solid rock. Gagool grinned. “The way is +there, my lords. <i>Ha! ha! ha!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not jest with us,” I said sternly. +</p> + +<p> +“I jest not, my lords. See!” and she pointed at the rock. +</p> + +<p> +As she did so, on holding up the lamp we perceived that a mass of stone was +rising slowly from the floor and vanishing into the rock above, where doubtless +there is a cavity prepared to receive it. The mass was of the width of a +good-sized 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 of counter-weights, probably the same as that by 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 this; but I have little doubt that there was some very simple lever, +which was moved ever so little by pressure at a secret spot, thereby throwing +additional weight on to the hidden counter-balances, and causing the monolith +to be lifted from the ground. +</p> + +<p> +Very slowly and gently the great stone raised itself, till at last it had +vanished altogether, and a dark hole presented itself to us in the place which +the door had filled. +</p> + +<p> +Our excitement was so intense, as we saw the way to Solomon’s treasure +chamber thrown open at last, that I for one began to tremble and shake. Would +it prove a hoax after all, I wondered, or was old Da Silvestra right? Were +there vast hoards of wealth hidden in that dark place, hoards which would make +us the richest men in the whole world? We should know in a minute or two. +</p> + +<p> +“Enter, white men from the Stars,” said Gagool, advancing into the +doorway; “but first hear your servant, Gagool 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, for that was done longer ago than even I +remember. But once has this place been entered since the time that those who +hid the stones departed in haste, leaving them behind. The report of the +treasure went down indeed 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 by the king of that 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 journeyed to this +place, and that by chance the woman learnt the secret of the door—a +thousand years might ye search, but ye should never find that secret. 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.” +</p> + +<p> +Here she paused. +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” I asked, breathless with interest as we all were, +“what happened to Da Silvestra?” +</p> + +<p> +The old hag started at the mention of the name. +</p> + +<p> +“How knowest thou the dead man’s name?” she asked sharply; +and then, without waiting for an answer, went on— +</p> + +<p> +“None can tell what happened; but it came about that the white man was +frightened, for he flung down the goat-skin, with the stones, and fled out with +only the one stone in his hand, and that the king took, and it is the stone +which thou, Macumazahn, didst take from Twala’s brow.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have none entered here since?” I asked, peering again down the +dark passage. +</p> + +<p> +“None, my lords. Only the secret of the door has been kept, and every +king has opened it, though he has 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, and therefore the kings do +not enter. <i>Ha! ha!</i> mine are true words.” +</p> + +<p> +Our eyes met as she said it, and I turned sick and cold. How did the old hag +know all these things? +</p> + +<p> +“Enter, my lords. If I speak truth, the goat-skin with the stones will +lie upon the floor; and if there is truth as to whether it is death to enter +here, that ye will learn afterwards. <i>Ha! ha! ha!</i>” and she hobbled +through the doorway, bearing the light with her; but I confess that once more I +hesitated about following. +</p> + +<p> +“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 business, for she was shivering with +fear, he plunged into the passage after Gagool—an example which we +quickly followed. +</p> + +<p> +A few yards down the passage, in the narrow way hewn out of the living rock, +Gagool had paused, and was waiting for us. +</p> + +<p> +“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, to the +height of two courses (about two feet three), had 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 tools, so far as we had time to examine them, appeared +to be of a similar shape and make to those used by workmen to this day. +</p> + +<p> +Here Foulata, who had been in a state of great fear and agitation throughout, +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 of +provisions by her side, and left her to recover. +</p> + +<p> +Following the passage for about fifteen paces farther, we came suddenly to an +elaborately painted wooden door. It was standing wide open. Whoever was last +there had either not found the time to shut it, or had forgotten to do so. +</p> + +<p> +<i>Across the threshold of this door lay a skin bag, formed of a goat-skin, +that appeared to be full of pebbles.</i> +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Hee! hee!</i> white men,” sniggered Gagool, as the light from +the lamp fell upon it. “What did I tell you, that the white man who came +here fled in haste, and dropped the woman’s bag—behold it! Look +within also and ye will find a water-gourd amongst the stones.” +</p> + +<p> +Good stooped down and lifted it. It was heavy and jingled. +</p> + +<p> +“By Jove! I believe it’s full of diamonds,” he said, in an +awed whisper; and, indeed, the idea of a small goat-skin full of diamonds is +enough to awe anybody. +</p> + +<p> +“Go on,” said Sir Henry impatiently. “Here, old lady, give me +the lamp,” and taking it from Gagool’s hand, he stepped through the +doorway and held it high above his head. +</p> + +<p> +We pressed in after him, forgetful for the moment of the bag of diamonds, and +found ourselves in King Solomon’s treasure chamber. +</p> + +<p> +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 to the arch of the roof, a +splendid collection of elephant-tusks. How many of them there were we did not +know, for of course we could not see to what depth 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 to make a man +wealthy for life. Perhaps, I thought, it was from this very store that Solomon +drew the raw material for his “great throne of ivory,” of which +“there was not the like made in any kingdom.” +</p> + +<p> +On the opposite side of the chamber were about a score of wooden boxes, +something like Martini-Henry ammunition boxes, only rather larger, and painted +red. +</p> + +<p> +“There are the diamonds,” cried I; “bring the light.” +</p> + +<p> +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 before, and with what looked like Hebrew characters stamped upon +them. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah!” I said, replacing the coin, “we shan’t go back +empty-handed, anyhow. There must be a couple of thousand pieces in each box, +and there are eighteen boxes. I suppose this was the money to pay the workmen +and merchants.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” put in Good, “I think that is the lot; I don’t +see any diamonds, unless the old Portuguese put them all into his bag.” +</p> + +<p> +“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.” +</p> + +<p> +Before translating this to Sir Henry, who carried the light, I could not resist +asking how she knew these things, if no one had entered the place since the +white man, generations ago. +</p> + +<p> +“Ah, Macumazahn, the watcher by night,” was the mocking answer, +“ye who dwell in the stars, do ye not know that some live long, and that +some have eyes which can see through rock? <i>Ha! ha! ha!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +“Look in that corner, Curtis,” I said, indicating the spot Gagool +had pointed out. +</p> + +<p> +“Hullo, you fellows,” he cried, “here’s a recess. Great +heavens! see here.” +</p> + +<p> +We hurried up to where he was standing in a nook, shaped something like a small +bow window. Against the wall of this recess were placed three stone chests, +each about two feet square. Two were fitted with stone lids, the lid of the +third rested against the side of the chest, which was open. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>See!</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 which dazzled us. When our eyes grew used to it we saw that the +chest was three-parts full of uncut diamonds, most of them of considerable +size. Stooping, I picked some up. Yes, there was no doubt of it, there was the +unmistakable soapy feel about them. +</p> + +<p> +I fairly gasped as I dropped them. +</p> + +<p> +“We are the richest men in the whole world,” I said. “Monte +Christo was a fool to us.” +</p> + +<p> +“We shall flood the market with diamonds,” said Good. +</p> + +<p> +“Got to get them there first,” suggested Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +We stood still with pale faces and stared at each other, 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 most fortunate men on +earth. +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Hee! hee! hee!</i>” cackled old Gagool behind us, as she +flitted about like a vampire bat. “There are the bright stones ye love, +white men, as many as ye will; take them, run them through your fingers, +<i>eat</i> of them, <i>hee! hee! drink</i> of them, <i>ha! ha!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +At that moment there was something so ridiculous to my mind at 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 that were ours, which had been found for <i>us</i> +thousands of years ago by the patient delvers in the great hole yonder, and +stored for <i>us</i> by Solomon’s long-dead 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, or 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 and ivory only waiting to be taken away. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly the fit passed off, and we stopped laughing. +</p> + +<p> +“Open the other chests, white men,” croaked Gagool, “there +are surely more therein. Take your fill, white lords! <i>Ha! ha!</i> take your +fill.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus adjured, we set to work to pull up the stone lids on the other two, +first—not without a feeling of sacrilege—breaking the seals that +fastened them. +</p> + +<p> +Hoorah! they were full too, full to the brim; at least, the second one was; no +wretched burglarious Da Silvestra had been filling goat-skins 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 +pigeon-eggs. A good many of these bigger ones, however, we could see by holding +them up to the light, were a little yellow, “off coloured,” as they +call it at Kimberley. +</p> + +<p> +What we did <i>not</i> see, however, was the look of fearful malevolence that +old Gagool favoured us with as she crept, crept like a snake, out of the +treasure chamber and down the passage towards the door of solid rock. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Hark! Cry upon cry comes ringing up the vaulted path. It is Foulata’s +voice! +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Oh, Bougwan! help! help! the stone falls!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +“Leave go, girl! Then—” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Help! help! she has stabbed me!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +By now we are running down the passage, and this is what the light from the +lamp shows us. The door of the rock is closing down slowly; it is not three +feet from the floor. Near it struggle Foulata and Gagool. The red blood of the +former runs to her knee, but still the brave girl holds the old witch, who +fights like a wild cat. Ah! she is free! Foulata falls, and Gagool throws +herself on the ground, to twist like a snake through the crack of the closing +stone. She is under—ah! 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 +have never heard, then a long sickening <i>crunch</i>, and the door was shut +just as, rushing down the passage, we hurled ourselves against it. +</p> + +<p> +It was all done in four seconds. +</p> + +<p> +Then we turned to Foulata. The poor girl was stabbed in the body, and I saw +that she could not live long. +</p> + +<p> +“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—I saw her come +in through the slowly falling door, and caught her and held her, and she +stabbed me, and <i>I die</i>, Bougwan!” +</p> + +<p> +“Poor girl! poor girl!” Good cried in his distress; and then, as he +could do nothing else, he fell to kissing her. +</p> + +<p> +“Bougwan,” she said, after a pause, “is Macumazahn there? It +grows so dark, I cannot see.” +</p> + +<p> +“Here I am, Foulata.” +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn, be my tongue for a moment, I pray thee, for Bougwan cannot +understand me, and before I go into the darkness I would speak to him a +word.” +</p> + +<p> +“Say on, Foulata, I will render it.” +</p> + +<p> +“Say to my lord, Bougwan, that—I love him, and that I am glad to +die because I know that he cannot cumber his life with such as I am, for the +sun may not mate with the darkness, nor the white with the black. +</p> + +<p> +“Say that, since I saw him, 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 it could live ten thousand +years, and yet be young. Say that if I live again, mayhap I shall see him in +the Stars, and that—I will search them all, though perchance there I +should still be black and he would—still be white. Say—nay, +Macumazahn, say no more, save that I love—Oh, hold me closer, Bougwan, I +cannot feel thine arms—<i>oh! oh!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +“She is dead—she is dead!” muttered Good, rising in grief, +the tears running down his honest face. +</p> + +<p> +“You need not let that trouble you, old fellow,” said Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +“Eh!” exclaimed Good; “what do you mean?” +</p> + +<p> +“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>” +</p> + +<p> +Until Sir Henry uttered these words I do not think that 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 for ever, for the only brain which knew its secret was crushed +to powder beneath its weight. This was a door that none could hope to force +with anything short of dynamite in large quantities. And we were on the wrong +side! +</p> + +<p> +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. +</p> + +<p> +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 and hunger in the company of the treasure +they had coveted. Now I saw the point of that sneer of hers about eating and +drinking the diamonds. Probably somebody had tried to serve the poor old Dom in +the same way, when he abandoned the skin full of jewels. +</p> + +<p> +“This will never do,” said Sir Henry hoarsely; “the lamp will +soon go out. Let us see if we can’t find the spring that works the +rock.” +</p> + +<p> +We sprang forward with desperate energy, and, standing in a bloody ooze, began +to feel up and down the door and the sides of the passage. But no knob or +spring could we discover. +</p> + +<p> +“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 hazards, curse +her.” +</p> + +<p> +“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 treasure +room.” +</p> + +<p> +We turned and went, and as we passed it 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 to the accursed treasure chamber that was to be our +grave. Then we returned and reverently bore in Foulata’s corpse, laying +it on the floor by the boxes of coin. +</p> + +<p> +Next we seated ourselves, leaning our backs against the three stone chests +which contained the priceless treasure. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us divide the food,” said Sir Henry, “so as to make it +last as long as possible.” Accordingly we did so. It 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 +game-flesh, there were two gourds of water, each of which held not more than a +quart. +</p> + +<p> +“Now,” said Sir Henry grimly, “let us eat and drink, for +to-morrow we die.” +</p> + +<p> +We each ate a small portion of the “biltong,” and drank a sip of +water. Needless to say, we had 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, sounding them and the floor carefully. +</p> + +<p> +There was none. It was not probable that there would be any to a treasure +chamber. +</p> + +<p> +The lamp began to burn dim. The fat was nearly exhausted. +</p> + +<p> +“Quatermain,” said Sir Henry, “what is the time—your +watch goes?” +</p> + +<p> +I drew it out, and looked at it. It was six o’clock; we had entered the +cave at eleven. +</p> + +<p> +“Infadoos will miss us,” I suggested. “If we do not return +to-night he will search for us in the morning, Curtis.” +</p> + +<p> +“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. To-day 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 to swell their +number.” +</p> + +<p> +The lamp grew dimmer yet. +</p> + +<p> +Presently it flared up and showed the whole scene in strong relief, the great +mass of white tusks, the boxes of gold, the corpse of the poor Foulata +stretched before them, the goat-skin 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. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Then the flame sank and expired. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap18"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> +WE ABANDON HOPE</h2> + +<p> +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 doom—for the bravest man on earth might well quail from +such a fate as awaited us, and I never made any pretensions to be +brave—the <i>silence</i> itself was too great to allow of it. Reader, you +may have lain awake at night and thought the quiet oppressive, but I say with +confidence that you can have no idea what a vivid, tangible thing is perfect +stillness. On the surface of the earth there is always some sound or motion, +and though it may in itself be imperceptible, yet it deadens the sharp edge of +absolute silence. But here there was none. We were buried in the bowels of a +huge snow-clad 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. Did we not know it who lay by poor Foulata’s side? The +crashing of all the artillery of earth and heaven could not have come to our +ears in our living tomb. We were cut off from every echo of the world—we +were as men already in the grave. +</p> + +<p> +Then the irony of the situation 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 have bartered them all gladly for the faintest +chance of escape. Soon, doubtless, we should be rejoiced to exchange them for a +bit of food or a cup of water, and, after that, even for the privilege of a +speedy close to our sufferings. Truly wealth, which men spend their lives in +acquiring, is a valueless thing at the last. +</p> + +<p> +And so the night wore on. +</p> + +<p> +“Good,” said Sir Henry’s voice at last, and it sounded awful +in the intense stillness, “how many matches have you in the box?” +</p> + +<p> +“Eight, Curtis.” +</p> + +<p> +“Strike one and let us see the time.” +</p> + +<p> +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 snow-wreaths far over our heads, and the breeze would be stirring the night +mists in the hollows. +</p> + +<p> +“We had better eat something and keep up our strength,” I +suggested. +</p> + +<p> +“What is the good of eating?” answered Good; “the sooner we +die and get it over the better.” +</p> + +<p> +“While there is life there is hope,” said Sir Henry. +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly we ate and sipped some water, and another period of time elapsed. +Then Sir Henry suggested that it might be well to get as near the door as +possible and halloa, 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 set to work. I must say that he made a most +diabolical noise. I never heard such yells; but it might have been a mosquito +buzzing for all the effect they produced. +</p> + +<p> +After a while he gave it up and came back very thirsty, and had to drink. Then +we stopped yelling, as it encroached on the supply of water. +</p> + +<p> +So we sat down once more against the 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 that I +heard Good gulping away on the other side, and swearing hoarsely at himself for +doing so. +</p> + +<p> +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 which 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 way, as once before I had 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 vigour. +</p> + +<p> +His is a beautiful character, very quiet, but very strong. +</p> + +<p> +And so somehow the day went as the night had gone, if, indeed, one can use +these terms where all was densest night, and when I lit a match to see the time +it was seven o’clock. +</p> + +<p> +Once more we ate and drank, and as we did so an idea occurred to me. +</p> + +<p> +“How is it,” said I, “that the air in this place keeps fresh? +It is thick and heavy, but it is perfectly fresh.” +</p> + +<p> +“Great heavens!” said Good, starting up, “I never thought of +that. It can’t come through the stone door, for it’s air-tight, if +ever a door was. It must come from somewhere. If there were no current of air +in the place we should have been stifled or poisoned when we first came in. Let +us have a look.” +</p> + +<p> +It was wonderful what a change this mere spark of hope wrought in us. In a +moment we were all three groping about on our hands and knees, feeling for the +slightest indication of a draught. Presently my ardour received a check. I put +my hand on something cold. It was dead Foulata’s face. +</p> + +<p> +For an hour or more we went on feeling about, till at last Sir Henry and I gave +it up in despair, having been 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. +</p> + +<p> +“I say, you fellows,” he said presently, in a constrained sort of +voice, “come here.” +</p> + +<p> +Needless to say we scrambled towards him quickly enough. +</p> + +<p> +“Quatermain, put your hand here where mine is. Now, do you feel +anything?” +</p> + +<p> +“I <i>think</i> I feel air coming up.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now listen.” He rose and stamped upon the place, and a flame of +hope shot up in our hearts. <i>It rang hollow.</i> +</p> + +<p> +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 sound of the place during our former +exhaustive examination. As the match burnt we scrutinised 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 round the ring with it. +Finally he worked it under, and levered away gently for fear of breaking the +hook. The ring began to move. Being of stone it had not rusted fast in all the +centuries it had lain there, as would have been the case had it been of iron. +Presently it was upright. Then he thrust his hands into it and tugged with all +his force, but nothing budged. +</p> + +<p> +“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 took hold and strained away, but no results. +</p> + +<p> +Then Sir Henry tried and failed. +</p> + +<p> +Taking the hook again, Good scratched all round the crack where we felt the air +coming up. +</p> + +<p> +“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>” +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry put out all his enormous strength, and Good and I did the same, with +such power as nature had given us. +</p> + +<p> +“Heave! heave! it’s giving,” gasped Sir Henry; and I heard +the muscles of his great back cracking. Suddenly there was a grating sound, +then a rush of air, and we were all on our backs on the floor with a heavy +flag-stone upon the top of us. Sir Henry’s strength had done it, and +never did muscular power stand a man in better stead. +</p> + +<p> +“Light a match, Quatermain,” he said, so soon as we had picked +ourselves up and got our breath; “carefully, now.” +</p> + +<p> +I did so, and there before us, Heaven be praised! was the <i>first step of a +stone stair.</i> +</p> + +<p> +“Now what is to be done?” asked Good. +</p> + +<p> +“Follow the stair, of course, and trust to Providence.” +</p> + +<p> +“Stop!” said Sir Henry; “Quatermain, get the bit of biltong +and the water that are left; we may want them.” +</p> + +<p> +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 twenty-four hours or so; indeed, the very idea of diamonds was nauseous, +seeing what they had entailed upon us; but, reflected I, I may as well pocket +some in case we ever should get out of this ghastly hole. So I just put my fist +into the first chest and filled all the available pockets of my old +shooting-coat and trousers, topping up—this was a happy +thought—with a few handfuls of big ones from the third chest. Also, by an +afterthought, I stuffed Foulata’s basket, which, except for one +water-gourd and a little biltong, was empty now, with great quantities of the +stones. +</p> + +<p> +“I say, you fellows,” I sang out, “won’t you take some +diamonds with you? I’ve filled my pockets and the basket.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, come on, Quatermain! and hang the diamonds!” said Sir Henry. +“I hope that I may never see another.” +</p> + +<p> +As for Good, he made no answer. He was, I think, taking his last farewell of +all that was left of the poor girl who had 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 twenty-eight hours with next to nothing to eat and +drink in that place, you would not have cared to cumber yourself with diamonds +whilst plunging down into the unknown bowels of the earth, in the wild hope of +escape from an agonising death. If from the habits of a lifetime, it had not +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 that I should not have bothered to fill my pockets and that basket. +</p> + +<p> +“Come on, Quatermain,” repeated Sir Henry, who was already standing +on the first step of the stone stair. “Steady, I will go first.” +</p> + +<p> +“Mind where you put your feet, there may be some awful hole +underneath,” I answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Much more likely to be another room,” said Sir Henry, while he +descended slowly, counting the steps as he went. +</p> + +<p> +When he got to “fifteen” he stopped. “Here’s the +bottom,” he said. “Thank goodness! I think it’s a passage. +Follow me down.” +</p> + +<p> +Good went next, and I came last, carrying the basket, 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 burnt my fingers and went out. Then arose the delicate question of +which way to go. Of course, it was impossible to know what the tunnel was, or +where it led 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 passage blew the flame to the left. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us go against the draught,” he said; “air draws inwards, +not outwards.” +</p> + +<p> +We took this suggestion, and feeling along the wall with our hands, whilst +trying the ground before us at every step, we departed from that accursed +treasure chamber on our terrible quest for life. If ever it should be entered +again by living man, which I do not think probable, he will find tokens of our +visit in the open chests of jewels, the empty lamp, and the white bones of poor +Foulata. +</p> + +<p> +When we had groped our way for about a quarter of an hour along the passage, +suddenly it 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 that 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 and adits travelled +hither and thither as the ore led them. This is the only way in which we could +account for such a multitude of galleries. +</p> + +<p> +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 sup of water, for our throats were like lime-kilns. +It seemed to us that we had escaped Death in the darkness of the treasure +chamber only to meet him in the darkness of the tunnels. +</p> + +<p> +As we stood, once more utterly depressed, I thought that I caught a sound, to +which I called the attention of the others. It was very faint and very far off, +but it <i>was</i> a sound, a faint, murmuring sound, for the others heard it +too, and no words can describe the blessedness of it after all those hours of +utter, awful stillness. +</p> + +<p> +“By heaven! it’s running water,” said Good. “Come +on.” +</p> + +<p> +Off we started again in the direction from which the faint murmur seemed to +come, groping our way as before along the rocky walls. I remember that I laid +down the basket full of diamonds, wishing to be rid of its weight, but on +second thoughts took it up again. One might as well die rich as poor, I +reflected. As we went the sound became more and more audible, till at last it +seemed quite loud in the quiet. On, yet on; now we 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 it, and Good, who was +leading, swore that he could smell it. +</p> + +<p> +“Go gently, Good,” said Sir Henry, “we must be close.” +<i>Splash!</i> and a cry from Good. +</p> + +<p> +He had fallen in. +</p> + +<p> +“Good! Good! where are you?” we shouted, in terrified distress. To +our intense relief an answer came back in a choky voice. +</p> + +<p> +“All right; I’ve got hold of a rock. Strike a light to show me +where you are.” +</p> + +<p> +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 hanging on to a projecting +rock. +</p> + +<p> +“Stand clear to catch me,” sung out Good. “I must swim for +it.” +</p> + +<p> +Then we heard a splash, and a great struggle. Another minute and he had grabbed +at and caught Sir Henry’s outstretched hand, and we had pulled him up +high and dry into the tunnel. +</p> + +<p> +“My word!” he said, between his gasps, “that was touch and +go. If I hadn’t managed to catch that rock, and known how to swim, I +should have been done. It runs like a mill-race, and I could feel no +bottom.” +</p> + +<p> +We dared not follow the banks of the subterranean river for fear lest we should +fall into it again in the darkness. So after Good had rested a while, and we +had drunk our fill of the water, which was sweet and fresh, and washed our +faces, that needed it sadly, 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 gallery +leading to our right. +</p> + +<p> +“We may as well take it,” said Sir Henry wearily; “all roads +are alike here; we can only go on till we drop.” +</p> + +<p> +Slowly, for a long, long while, we stumbled, utterly exhausted, along this new +tunnel, Sir Henry now leading the way. Again I thought of abandoning that +basket, but did not. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly he stopped, and we bumped up against him. +</p> + +<p> +“Look!” he whispered, “is my brain going, or is that +light?” +</p> + +<p> +We stared with all our eyes, and there, yes, there, far ahead of us, was a +faint, glimmering spot, no larger than a cottage window pane. It was so faint +that I doubt if any eyes, except those which, like ours, had for days seen +nothing but blackness, could have perceived it at all. +</p> + +<p> +With a 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 earth—it was <i>earth</i> now, mind you; the rock had +ceased. +</p> + +<p> +A squeeze, a struggle, and Sir Henry was out, and so was Good, and so was I, +dragging Foulata’s basket after me; 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 over and over and over through grass and bushes and soft, +wet soil. +</p> + +<p> +The basket caught in something and I stopped. Sitting up I halloed lustily. An +answering shout came from below, where Sir Henry’s wild career had been +checked by some level ground. I scrambled to him, and found him unhurt, though +breathless. Then we looked for Good. A little way off we discovered him also, +hammed in a forked root. He was a good deal knocked about, but soon came to +himself. +</p> + +<p> +We sat down together, there on the grass, and the revulsion of feeling was so +great that really I think we cried with joy. We had escaped from that awful +dungeon, which was so near to becoming our grave. Surely some merciful Power +guided our footsteps to the jackal hole, for that is what it must have been, at +the termination of the tunnel. And see, yonder on the mountains the dawn we had +never thought to look upon again was blushing rosy red. +</p> + +<p> +Presently the grey 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 been originally 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 is, or whence it flows, or whither it goes. +I, for one, have no anxiety to trace its course. +</p> + +<p> +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, hollow-eyed wretches, smeared all over with dust and mud, +bruised, bleeding, the long fear of imminent death yet written on our +countenances, we were, indeed, a sight to frighten the daylight. And yet it is +a solemn fact that Good’s eye-glass 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, nor the roll down the slope, had been able to +separate Good and his eye-glass. +</p> + +<p> +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. But now I had no more thought of leaving the basket; indeed, +nothing but death should have parted us. +</p> + +<p> +At last it was done, and we stood by the great road, on that side of the pit +which is opposite to the Colossi. +</p> + +<p> +At 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 staggered towards them, +supporting one another, and halting every few paces. Presently one of the +figures rose, saw us and fell on to the ground, crying out for fear. +</p> + +<p> +“Infadoos, Infadoos! it is we, thy friends.” +</p> + +<p> +He rose; he ran to us, staring wildly, and still shaking with fear. +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, my lords, my lords, it is indeed you come back from the +dead!—come back from the dead!” +</p> + +<p> +And the old warrior flung himself down before us, and clasping Sir +Henry’s knees, he wept aloud for joy. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap19"></a>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> +IGNOSI’S FAREWELL</h2> + +<p> +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 the treasure cave about three shades +greyer 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, looking at the thing from the point of view of an oldish man of the world, +that 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 sun mate with the darkness, or the white +with the black?” +</p> + +<p> +I need hardly state that we never again penetrated into Solomon’s +treasure chamber. After we had recovered from our fatigues, a process which +took us forty-eight 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 ant-bear and other holes. It was +impossible to say to which of these we owed our salvation. Also, on the day +before we started back to Loo, we 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. Passing beneath the spear of the White +Death we gazed, with sensations which it would be quite impossible for me to +describe, at the mass of rock that had shut us off from escape, thinking the +while of 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 could, 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 is 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. +</p> + +<p> +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 treasure chamber, 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 in +the world’s history has ever been accumulated in one spot. But there was +no help for it. Only dynamite could force its way through five feet of solid +rock. +</p> + +<p> +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 tens of +millions of pounds’ worth of jewels which lie in the three stone coffers +will never shine round the neck of an earthly beauty. They and Foulata’s +bones will keep cold company till the end of all things. +</p> + +<p> +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, by a lucky thought, I had taken the precaution to +fill the wide pockets of my old shooting coat and trousers with gems before we +left our prison-house, also Foulata’s basket, which held twice as many +more, notwithstanding that the water bottle had occupied some of its space. A +good many of these fell out in the course of our roll down the side of the pit, +including several of the big ones, which I had crammed in on the top in my coat +pockets. But, comparatively speaking, an enormous quantity still remained, +including ninety-three large stones ranging from over two hundred to seventy +carats in weight. My old shooting coat and the basket still held sufficient +treasure to make us all, if not millionaires as the term is understood in +America, 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. +</p> + +<p> +On arriving at Loo we were most cordially received by Ignosi, whom we found +well, and busily engaged in consolidating his power, and reorganising the +regiments which had suffered most in the great struggle with Twala. +</p> + +<p> +He listened with intense interest to our wonderful story; but when we told him +of old Gagool’s frightful end he grew thoughtful. +</p> + +<p> +“Come hither,” he called, to a very old Induna or councillor, who +was sitting with others in a circle round the king, but out of ear-shot. The +ancient man rose, approached, saluted, and seated himself. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou art aged,” said Ignosi. +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, my lord the king! Thy father’s father and I were born on the +same day.” +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me, when thou wast little, didst thou know Gagaoola the witch +doctress?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ay, my lord the king!” +</p> + +<p> +“How was she then—young, like thee?” +</p> + +<p> +“Not so, my lord the king! She was even as she is now and as she was in +the days of my great grandfather before me; old and dried, very ugly, and full +of wickedness.” +</p> + +<p> +“She is no more; she is dead.” +</p> + +<p> +“So, O king! then is an ancient curse taken from the land.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go!” +</p> + +<p> +“<i>Koom!</i> I go, Black Puppy, who tore out the old dog’s throat. +<i>Koom!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +“Ye see, my brothers,” said Ignosi, “this was a strange +woman, and I rejoice that she is dead. She would have let you 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 black heart loved, in his place. +Now go on with the tale; surely there never was its like!” +</p> + +<p> +After I had narrated all the story of our escape, as we had agreed between +ourselves that I should, I took the opportunity to address Ignosi as to our +departure from Kukuanaland. +</p> + +<p> +“And now, Ignosi,” I said, “the time has come for us to bid +thee farewell, and start to see our own land once more. Behold, Ignosi, thou +camest with us 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. To-morrow, at break of day, Ignosi, thou wilt give us an escort who +shall lead us across the mountains. Is it not so, O king?” +</p> + +<p> +Ignosi covered his face with his hands for a while before answering. +</p> + +<p> +“My heart is sore,” he said at last; “your words split my +heart in twain. What have I done to you, Incubu, Macumazahn, and Bougwan, that +ye should leave me desolate? Ye who stood by me in rebellion and in battle, +will ye leave me in the day of peace and victory? What will ye—wives? +Choose from among the maidens! 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 you an +ox or a cow. Wild game to hunt? Does not the elephant walk through my forests, +and the river-horse sleep in the reeds? Would ye make war? My Impis wait your +word. If there is anything more which I can give, that will I give you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nay, Ignosi, we want none of these things,” I answered; “we +would seek our own place.” +</p> + +<p> +“Now do I learn,” said Ignosi bitterly, and with flashing eyes, +“that ye love the bright stones more than me, your friend. Ye have the +stones; now ye would go to Natal and across the moving 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 white stones, and cursed he who seeks them. Death +shall it be to him who sets foot in the place of Death to find them. I have +spoken. White men, ye can go.” +</p> + +<p> +I laid my hand upon his arm. “Ignosi,” I said, “tell us, when +thou didst wander in Zululand, and among the white people of Natal, did not +thine heart turn to the land thy mother told thee of, thy native place, where +thou didst see the light, and play when thou wast little, the land where thy +place was?” +</p> + +<p> +“It was even so, Macumazahn.” +</p> + +<p> +“In like manner, Ignosi, do our hearts turn to our land and to our own +place.” +</p> + +<p> +Then came a silence. When Ignosi broke it, it was in a different voice. +</p> + +<p> +“I do perceive that now as ever thy words are 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 or to house among his +kraals. Well, ye must go, and leave my heart sore, because ye will be as dead +to me, since from where ye are no tidings can come to me. +</p> + +<p> +“But listen, and let all your brothers know my words. No other white man +shall cross the mountains, even if any man live to come so far. I will see no +traders with their guns and gin. My people shall fight with the spear, and +drink water, like their forefathers before them. I will have no praying-men to +put a fear of death into men’s hearts, to stir them up against the law of +the king, and make a path for the white folk 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 armies come, I will make war on them with all my strength, and they +shall not prevail against me. None shall ever seek 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 choke them with rocks, so that +none can reach even to that door of which ye speak, and whereof the way to move +it is lost. But for you three, Incubu, Macumazahn, and Bougwan, the path is +always open; for, behold, ye are dearer to me than aught that breathes. +</p> + +<p> +“And ye would go. Infadoos, my uncle, and my Induna, shall take you by +the hand and guide you with a regiment. There is, as I have learned, another +way across the mountains that he shall show you. 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 “<i>hlonipa</i>” +even as the names of dead kings, and he who speaks them shall die.<a href="#fn-12" name="fnref-12" id="fnref-12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> +So shall your memory be preserved in the land for ever. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-12" id="fn-12"></a> <a href="#fnref-12">[12]</a> +This extraordinary and negative way of showing intense respect is by no means +unknown among African people, and the result is that if, as is usual, the name +in question has a significance, the meaning must be expressed by an idiom or +other word. In this way a memory is preserved for generations, or until the new +word utterly supplants the old one.—A.Q. +</p> + +<p> +“Go now, ere my eyes rain tears like a woman’s. At times as ye look +back down the path of life, or when ye are old and gather yourselves together +to crouch before the fire, because for you the sun has no more heat, ye will +think of how we stood shoulder to shoulder, in that great battle which thy wise +words planned, Macumazahn; of how thou wast the point of the horn that galled +Twala’s flank, Bougwan; whilst thou stood in the ring of the Greys, +Incubu, and men went down before thine axe like corn before a sickle; ay, and +of how thou didst break that wild bull Twala’s strength, and bring his +pride to dust. Fare ye well for ever, Incubu, Macumazahn, and Bougwan, my lords +and my friends.” +</p> + +<p> +Ignosi rose and looked earnestly at us for a few seconds. Then he threw the +corner of his karross over his head, so as to cover his face from us. +</p> + +<p> +We went in silence. +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Next day at dawn we left Loo, escorted by our old friend Infadoos, who was +heart-broken at our departure, and by the regiment of Buffaloes. Early as was +the hour, 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 for having rid the land of Twala, throwing flowers before +us as we went. It was really very affecting, and not the sort of thing one is +accustomed to meet with from natives. +</p> + +<p> +One ludicrous incident occurred, however, which I rather welcomed, as it gave +us something to laugh at. +</p> + +<p> +Just before we reached the confines of the town, a pretty young girl, with some +lovely lilies in her hand, ran forward and presented them to Good—somehow +they all seemed to like Good; I think his eye-glass and solitary whisker gave +him a fictitious value—and then said that she had a boon to ask. +</p> + +<p> +“Speak on,” he answered. +</p> + +<p> +“Let my lord show his servant his beautiful white legs, that his servant +may look upon 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 +the fame of them has gone throughout the land.” +</p> + +<p> +“I’ll be hanged if I do!” exclaimed Good excitedly. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, come, my dear fellow,” said Sir Henry, “you +can’t refuse to oblige a lady.” +</p> + +<p> +“I won’t,” replied Good obstinately; “it is positively +indecent.” +</p> + +<p> +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 clear of the +town. +</p> + +<p> +Good’s legs, I fear, will never be so greatly admired again. Of his +melting teeth, and even of his “transparent eye,” the Kukuanas +wearied more or less, but of his legs never. +</p> + +<p> +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 which separates Kukuanaland from the desert, and is broken by the +towering shapes of Sheba’s Breasts. It appeared, also, 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 are much prized among them +for war head-dresses, and that in the course of their hunt they had been led +far from the mountains and were much troubled by thirst. Seeing trees on the +horizon, however, they walked towards them, and discovered a large and fertile +oasis some miles in extent, and plentifully watered. It was by way of this +oasis that Infadoos suggested we should return, and the idea seemed to us a +good one, for it appeared that we should thus escape the rigours of the +mountain pass. Also some of the hunters were in attendance to guide us to the +oasis, from which, they stated, they could perceive other fertile spots far +away in the desert.<a href="#fn-13" name="fnref-13" id="fnref-13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-13" id="fn-13"></a> <a href="#fnref-13">[13]</a> +It often puzzled all of us to understand how it was possible that +Ignosi’s mother, bearing the child with her, should have survived the +dangers of her journey across the mountains and the desert, dangers which so +nearly proved fatal to ourselves. It has since occurred to me, and I give the +idea to the reader for what it is worth, that she must have taken this second +route, and wandered out like Hagar into the wilderness. If she did so, there is +no longer anything inexplicable about the story, since, as Ignosi himself +related, she may well have been picked up by some ostrich hunters before she or +the child was exhausted, was led by them to the oasis, and thence by stages to +the fertile country, and so on by slow degrees southwards to +Zululand.—A.Q. +</p> + +<p> +Travelling easily, on the night of the fourth day’s journey we found +ourselves once more on the crest of the mountains that separate Kukuanaland +from the desert, which rolled away in sandy billows at our feet, and about +twenty-five miles to the north of Sheba’s Breasts. +</p> + +<p> +At dawn on the following day, we were led to the edge of a very precipitous +chasm, by which we were to descend the precipice, and gain the plain two +thousand and more feet below. +</p> + +<p> +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 you 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 +perchance in happy dreams.” +</p> + +<p> +We were very sorry to part from him; indeed, Good was so moved that he gave him +as a souvenir—what do you think?—an <i>eye-glass</i>; afterwards we +discovered that it was a spare one. Infadoos was delighted, foreseeing that the +possession of such an article would increase his prestige enormously, and after +several vain attempts he actually succeeded in screwing it into his own eye. +Anything more incongruous than the old warrior looked with an eye-glass I never +saw. Eye-glasses do not go well with leopard-skin cloaks and black ostrich +plumes. +</p> + +<p> +Then, after seeing that our guides were well laden with water and provisions, +and having received a thundering farewell salute from the Buffaloes, we wrung +Infadoos by the hand, and began our downward climb. A very arduous business it +proved to be, but somehow that evening we found ourselves at the bottom without +accident. +</p> + +<p> +“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 known unhappier times +than the last month or two, though I have never spent such queer ones. Eh! you +fellows?” +</p> + +<p> +“I almost wish I were back,” said Good, with a sigh. +</p> + +<p> +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 which I had +recently experienced. The thought of that battle makes me feel cold all over, +and as for our experience in the treasure chamber—! +</p> + +<p class="p2"> +Next morning we started on a toilsome trudge across the desert, having with us +a good supply of water carried by our five guides, and camped that night in the +open, marching again at dawn on the morrow. +</p> + +<p> +By noon of the third day’s journey we could see the trees of the oasis of +which the guides spoke, and within an hour of sundown we were walking once more +upon grass and listening to the sound of running water. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="chap20"></a>CHAPTER XX.<br /> +FOUND</h2> + +<p> +And now I come to perhaps the strangest adventure that happened to us in all +this strange business, and one which shows how wonderfully things are brought +about. +</p> + +<p> +I was walking along quietly, some way in front of the other two, down the banks +of the stream which runs from the oasis till it is 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 of me, placed in a charming situation, under +the shade of a species of fig-tree, and facing to the stream, was a cosy hut, +built more or less on the Kafir principle with grass and withes, but having a +full-length door instead of a bee-hole. +</p> + +<p> +“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 juncture Sir +Henry and Good walked up. +</p> + +<p> +“Look here, you fellows,” I said, “is that a white man, or am +I mad?” +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry looked, and Good looked, and then all of a sudden the lame white man +with a black beard uttered a great cry, and began hobbling towards us. When he +was close he fell down in a sort of faint. +</p> + +<p> +With a spring Sir Henry was by his side. +</p> + +<p> +“Great Powers!” he cried, “<i>it is my brother +George!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +At the sound of this disturbance, another figure, also clad in skins, emerged +from the hut, a gun in his hand, and ran towards us. On seeing me he too gave a +cry. +</p> + +<p> +“Macumazahn,” he halloed, “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 over, weeping for joy. +</p> + +<p> +“You careless scoundrel!” I said; “you ought to be well +<i>sjambocked</i>”—that is, hided. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the man with the black beard had recovered and risen, and he and Sir +Henry were pump-handling 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. +</p> + +<p> +“My dear old fellow,” burst out Sir Henry at last, “I thought +you were dead. I have been over Solomon’s Mountains to find you. I had +given up all hope of ever seeing you again, and now I come across you perched +in the desert, like an old <i>aasvögel</i>.”<a href="#fn-14" name="fnref-14" id="fnref-14"><sup>[14]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-14" id="fn-14"></a> <a href="#fnref-14">[14]</a> +Vulture. +</p> + +<p> +“I tried to cross 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 reached here a +boulder fell on my leg and crushed it, and I have been able to go neither +forward nor back.” +</p> + +<p> +Then I came up. “How do you do, Mr. Neville?” I said; “do you +remember me?” +</p> + +<p> +“Why,” he said, “isn’t it Hunter 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!” +</p> + +<p> +That evening, over the camp fire, George Curtis told us his story, which, in +its way, was almost as eventful as our own, and, put shortly, amounted to this. +A little less than two years before, he had started from Sitanda’s Kraal, +to try to reach Suliman’s Berg. As for the note I had sent him by Jim, +that worthy lost it, and he had never heard of it till to-day. But, acting upon +information he had received from the natives, he headed not for Sheba’s +Breasts, but for the ladder-like descent of the mountains down which we had +just come, which is clearly a better route than that marked out in old Dom +Silvestra’s plan. In the desert he and Jim had 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 a bank immediately above him. In so doing he loosened +a great boulder of rock, which fell upon George Curtis’s right leg, +crushing it frightfully. From that day he had been so lame that he found it +impossible to go either forward or back, and had preferred to take the chances +of dying in the oasis to the certainty of perishing in the desert. +</p> + +<p> +As for food, however, they 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 the flesh for food, and, after their clothes wore out, the +hides for clothing. +</p> + +<p> +“And so,” George Curtis 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 to help us away, but none have come. Only +last night we settled that Jim should leave me, and try to reach +Sitanda’s Kraal to get assistance. He was to go to-morrow, but I had +little hope of ever seeing him back again. And now <i>you</i>, of all people in +the world, <i>you</i>, who, as 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 that I have +ever heard of, and the most merciful too.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Sir Henry set to work, and told him the main facts of our adventures, +sitting till late into the night to do it. +</p> + +<p> +“By Jove!” said George Curtis, when I showed him some of the +diamonds: “well, at least you have got something for your pains, besides +my worthless self.” +</p> + +<p> +Sir Henry laughed. “They belong to Quatermain and Good. It was a part of +the bargain that they should divide any spoils there might be.” +</p> + +<p> +This remark set me thinking, and having spoken to Good, I told Sir Henry that +it was our joint wish that he should take a third portion 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 until some time afterwards. +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p> +Here, at this point, I think that I shall end my 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 +threw out splinters of bone. But we did accomplish it somehow, and to give its +details would only be to reproduce much of what happened to us on the former +occasion. +</p> + +<p> +Six months from the date of our re-arrival at Sitanda’s, where we found +our guns and other goods quite safe, though the old rascal 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. Thence I +bid farewell to all who have accompanied me through the strangest trip I ever +made in the course of a long and varied experience. +</p> + +<p> +P.S.—Just as I had written the last word, a Kafir came up my avenue of +orange trees, carrying 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 full. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +October 1, 1884.<br /> +Brayley Hall, Yorkshire. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +My Dear Quatermain,<br /> + I send 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, +brand new eye-glass, 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 his “beautiful +white legs.”<br /> + He is furious, especially as some ill-natured person has printed it in a +Society paper.<br /> + To come to business, Good and I took the diamonds to Streeter’s to be +valued, as we arranged, and really I am afraid to tell you what they put them +at, it seems so enormous. They say that of course it is more or less +guess-work, as such stones have never to their knowledge been put on the market +in anything like such quantities. It appears that (with the exception of one or +two of the largest) they are 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, over +a period of years indeed, for fear lest we should flood the market. They offer, +however, a hundred and eighty thousand for a very small portion of them.<br /> + 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 the 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 +expression.<br /> + I want you to come home, my dear old comrade, and to buy a house 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 tale till it is written by you, for fear lest 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 +advantages of having a medical student with every shooting party!<br /> + Good-bye, old boy; I can’t say any more, but I know that you will +come, if it is only to oblige +</p> + +<p class="right"> +Your sincere friend,<br /> +H<small>ENRY</small> C<small>URTIS</small>. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +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 buffalo horns you gave me, and look +magnificent; and the axe with which I chopped off Twala’s head is fixed +above my writing-table. I wish that we could have managed to bring away the +coats of chain armour. Don’t lose poor Foulata’s basket in which +you brought away the diamonds. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +H.C. +</p> + +<p> +To-day is Tuesday. There is a steamer going on Friday, and I really think that +I must take Curtis at his word, and sail by her for England, if it is only to +see you, Harry, my boy, and to look after the printing of this history, which +is a task that I do not like to trust to anybody else. +</p> + +<p class="right"> +A<small>LLAN</small> Q<small>UATERMAIN</small>. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING SOLOMON’S MINES ***</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 2166-h.htm or 2166-h.zip</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/6/2166/</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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