Published by Good Press, 2019

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      EAN 4057664112880

Table of Contents

       INTRODUCTION

       KING SOLOMON'S MINES

       CHAPTER I

       I MEET SIR HENRY CURTIS

       CHAPTER II

       THE LEGEND OF SOLOMON'S MINES

       CHAPTER III

       UMBOPA ENTERS OUR SERVICE

       CHAPTER IV

       AN ELEPHANT HUNT

       CHAPTER V

       OUR MARCH INTO THE DESERT

       CHAPTER VI

       WATER! WATER!

       CHAPTER VII

       SOLOMON'S ROAD

       CHAPTER VIII

       WE ENTER KUKUANALAND

       CHAPTER IX

       TWALA THE KING

       CHAPTER X

       THE WITCH-HUNT

       CHAPTER XI

       WE GIVE A SIGN

       CHAPTER XII

       BEFORE THE BATTLE

       CHAPTER XIII

       THE ATTACK

       CHAPTER XIV

       THE LAST STAND OF THE GREYS

       CHAPTER XV

       GOOD FALLS SICK

       CHAPTER XVI

       THE PLACE OF DEATH

       CHAPTER XVII

       SOLOMON'S TREASURE CHAMBER

       CHAPTER XVIII

       WE ABANDON HOPE

       CHAPTER XIX

       IGNOSI'S FAREWELL

       CHAPTER XX

       FOUND

INTRODUCTION

       Table of Contents

      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.[1] 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