egret 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.

Allan Quatermain.

[1] 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.

CONTENTS

I I MEET SIR HENRY CURTIS
II THE LEGEND OF SOLOMON'S MINES
III UMBOPA ENTERS OUR SERVICE
IV AN ELEPHANT HUNT
V OUR MARCH INTO THE DESERT
VI WATER! WATER!
VII SOLOMON'S ROAD
VIII WE ENTER KUKUANALAND
IX TWALA THE KING
X THE WITCH-HUNT
XI WE GIVE A SIGN
XII BEFORE THE BATTLE
XIII THE ATTACK
XIV THE LAST STAND OF THE GREYS
XV GOOD FALLS SICK
XVI THE PLACE OF DEATH
XVII SOLOMON'S TREASURE CHAMBER
XVIII WE ABANDON HOPE
XIX IGNOSI'S FAREWELL
XX FOUND

KING SOLOMON'S MINES

CHAPTER I

I MEET SIR HENRY CURTIS

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 se