King Solomon's Mines

rended steadily in a north-westerly direction. Infadoos and Scragga wa

d at length, "who

Gagool, who has lived for generations. We are not old enough to remember its maki

hrough which we have passed on the road?" I asked, ref

e road wrote the wonderful writi

uana people come

ins 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 count

with mountains, who is there f

ouds 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

w weary of resting on t

e destroyed the people that came down upo

was t

rd, to suffer twins to live; the weaker must always die. But the mother of the king hid away the feebler child, which was bo

el

ter 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

he was born, and stripping the 'moocha' (waist-cloth) off his loins, showed the people of the Kukuanas the mark of the sacred snake coiled round hi

t 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 asked. 'Why cry

by the hair, stabbed him through the heart with his knife. And the people being fickle, and ever ready t

s wife and her son Ignosi?

r 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 bl

ad lived he would be the tru

e is round his middle. If he lives he

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 I

tisfactory 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 gr

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

, was in his military command, of our arrival. This man had departed at an extraordinary speed, which Inf

within two miles of the kraal we could see that company after co

looked as though we were going to meet with a warm recep

y breast there dwells no guile. This regiment is one und

hough I was not qu

lendid 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 p

ix 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

e for close quarters only, when the wound inflicted by them is terrible. In addition to his bangwan 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 kni

ront, every spear was raised into the air, and from three hundred throats sprang forth with a sudden roar the royal salute of "Koom." Then, so soon as we had passed, the company formed up behind us and foll

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 bui

truck us most was their exceedingly quiet and dignified air. They were as well-bred in their way as the habituées 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. N

halted at the door of a large hut, which was sur

tions. A little food shall be brought to you, so that ye may have no need to draw your belts tight from hung

e are weary with travelling throug

ared for our comfort. Couches of tanned skins were spread

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 joi

ortion in a large earthenware pot over a fire which was built outside the hut, and when it was n

ner. 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 prop

ything of his brother's fate, or if they had ever seen or heard of him; but, on the whole, I thought that it woul

t. The Kukuanas were evidently unacquainted with the divine delights of tobacco-smoke. The herb is grown among t

hted to learn that preparations had been made for us to leave on the following m

in the first week of June. At this gathering all the regiments, with the exception of certain detachments left behind for ga

s, expected that we should reach Loo on the night of the secon

ranged to watch turn and turn about, three of us flung ourselves down and slept the swe