ns. I said that I was
engaged upon a journey of exploration of the country beyond the Zambesi,
and that having heard of this settlement, which, by the way, was called
Strathmuir, as I gathered after a place in far away Scotland where
the Captain had been born and passed his childhood, I had come here to
inquire as to how to cross the great river, and about other things.

The Captain was interested, especially when I informed him that I was
that same "Hunter Quatermain" of whom he had heard in past years, but he
told me that it would be impossible to take the waggon down into the low
bush-veld which we could see beneath us, as there all the oxen would die
of the bite of the tsetse fly. I answered that I was aware of this and
proposed to try to make an arrangement to leave it in his charge till I
returned.

"That might be managed, Mr. Quatermain," he answered. "But, man, will
you ever return? They say there are queer folk living on the other side
of the Zambesi, savage men who are cannibals, Amahagger I think they
call them. It was they who in past years cleaned out all this country,
except a few river tribes who live in floating huts or on islands among
the reeds, and that's why it is so empty. But this happened long ago,
much before my time, and I don't suppose they will ever cross the river
again."

"If I might ask, what brought you here, Captain?" I said, for the point
was one on which I felt curious.

"That which brings most men to wild places, Mr. Quatermain--trouble. If
you want to know, I had a misfortune and piled up my ship. There were
some lives lost and, rightly or wrongly, I got the sack. Then I started
as a trader in a God-forsaken hole named Chinde, one of the Zambesi
mouths, you know, and did very well, as we Scotchmen have a way of
doing.

"There I married a Portuguese lady, a real lady of high blood, one of
the old sort. When my girl, Inez, was about twelve years old I got into
more trouble, for my wife died and it pleased a certain relative of hers
to say that it was because I had neglected her. This ended in a row and
the truth is that I killed him--in fair fight, mind you. Still, kill him
I did though I scarcely knew that I had done it at the time, after which
the place grew too hot to hold me. So I sold up and swore that I would
have no more to do with what they are pleased to call civilisation on
the East Coast.

"During my trading I had heard that there was fine country up this way,
and her