King Solomon's Mines

n we halted, feel

back," sai

asked

ck me that-what we s

, our eyes, weak as they were with staring at the snow, could not pierce the gloom of the cave for a wh

down and peere

with a sigh of relief,

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 hos

th can it b

guess?" a

ok my

José da Silvestra,

ped; "he died three

aland 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 lef

g our own miseries in this extraordinary an

ink from," and he pointed to a small wound on the Do

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 a

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

rnal vigil in the midst of the eternal snows, we crept out of the cave into the welcome sunshine and

ot 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 y

n plenty. But the question was how to do so. The beasts were fully six hundred yards o

tantly. To begin with, the wind was not favourable, and further, we must certainly be perceived, how

" said Sir Henry. "Which shall it be, Quater

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

the point of the shoulder and high up," said I; "and Umbo

best, as indeed a man is likely to do when he

ed, 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, a

be fanciful," said Good

en 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 vigou

y; "that brute has saved our

s, and grew a thick coat. I afterwards discovered that the natives of that wonderful country call these bucks "inco." They are very rare, and only found at a great altitude where no other game will live. This animal was fairly hit hi

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 countr

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

dly, 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 sto

ed in silence at this wonderful

on the map about Solomo

still gazing out o

is!" and he pointed

ause, 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

near us if we cut off to the right.

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

of this, Quatermai

I could make noth

oss the desert on the other side, but the sand there has covered it up, and

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

ly of mailed figures driving in chariots. One, which was exceedingly beautiful, repres

omon's Road, but my humble opinion is that the Egyptians had been here before Solomon's people ever

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

evident enthusiasm, "here is lots of wood, let us stop an

ome substantial hunks from the flesh of the inco 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

ith feathery tufts of wild asparagus, sung merrily at our side, the soft air murmured through the leaves of the silv

st, seemed to charm us into silence. Sir Henry and Umbopa sat conversing in a mixture of broken English and Kitchen Zulu

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 inco meat, till they looked, comparatively speaking, respectable. Having inspected them judiciously through his eye-

utting 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

ere 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 fron

out of the group, and catching the youth by the ar

threateningly. The party of natives still came on. It struck me that they could n

y chance of safety lay in conciliation. They obeyed, and walking t

knowing what language to use.

f had any difficulty in understanding him. Indeed, as we afterwards found out, the language spoken by this people is an old-fashioned for

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 Umbo

ered, speaking very slowly, so that he might

ut what do your lies matter?-if ye are strangers then ye must die, for no strangers may

he hands of some of the men steal down to their sides, where

at beggar say

ing to be killed,"

the top set down and allowing them to fly back to his jaw with a snap. It was a most fortunate move, for ne

s up?"

enry excitedly. "He moved them. T

he set into the sleev

d the men advanced slowly. Apparently they had no

ly 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 we

e old gentleman like an angry dog, revealing to his astonished gaze two thin red lin

" they shouted; "with

ontempt, Good swept his hand across his mouth. Then he gr

n the grass and gave vent to a prolonged howl of terror; and a

ve hair on one side of his face and not on the other, or a round and transparent

and, needless to say,

the truth. We come from another world, though we are men such as y

the chorus of asto

lie. "We come to stay with you a little while, and to bless you by our sojourn. Ye will se

t is so," sa

he old gentleman, "thou h

ant glance at hi

it in our hearts to avenge such a reception, mayhap to strike cold in death the imperi

n; "he is the king's son, and I am his uncle. If anyth

so," put in the young

tay, I will show you. Here, thou dog and slave (addressing Umbopa in a savage tone)

g as nearly resembling a grin as I have ever s

of Lords," he said w

a little klipspringer antelope standing on a mass of rock

to the party before me. "Tell me, is it possible for

le, my lord," ans

kill it," I

"That my lord cann

ll animal, and one which a man might well be excused

wly pressed on the trigger. T

rang into the air and fell on

ous terror burst fro

I remarked coolly, "

the klipspringer. I noticed with satisfaction that I had hit it fairly behind the shoulde

d, "I do not sp

was no

, "let one of you go stand upon that r

clined to take the hint, till

d upon the rock. It is but a buck that the m

ake the suggestion in good

ards, indeed. Let us bring them to the king. Yet if any should wish a further

neral and hasty exp

s," said one; "we are satisfied. All the witchc

n, children of the Stars, children of the shining Eye and the movable Teeth, who roar out in thunder, a

ragged me," m

ramount of the Kukuanas, keeper of the great Road, terror of his enemies, student of the Bla

d us then to Twala. We do not tal

. We are hunting three days' journey from the place of the k

or 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

indeed, it might almost have been spared, so deeply

f 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, excepti

e for them, and a lou

he melting Teeth touch them," said the old ma

em on!" roared Good,

trans

te legs (although he is so dark Good has a singularly white skin) from the e

hing; and meanwhile one of the m

d, "that black villai

haracter, and you must live up to it. It will never do for you to put on trousers ag

ny of these things the people will think that we are impostors. I am very sorry for you, but, se

think so?" said

e features of our party, and as Sir Henry says, you must live up to them

t took him a fortnight to become acc