Part 1 of 2
AFTER George Curtis went missing in South Africa, his brother Sir Henry engaged grizzled hunter Allan Quartermain to find him. George was last seen heading for Solomon’s Mines, twin peaks forty leagues north of the Kafue River — supposedly the Biblical Ophir, source of the ancient King of Israel’s fabulous wealth.*
Accompanied by Umbopa, a dignified native who insisted on coming along, Quartermain, Sir Henry and his friend Captain Good trekked north from Durban, crossing the baking desert on foot to reach the mountains of Solomon’s Mines.
There, they were ambushed by a group of warlike tribesmen, the Kukuanas. They faced summary execution until Captain Good fiddled with his false teeth, and Quartermain downed an antelope with his rifle at seventy yards. Now their awestruck captors took them for gods, and presented them before their king, Twala.
They arrived in time to watch Twala, incited by his counsellor Gagool (a horribly wise, unimaginably ancient hag), select a frightened girl named Foulata for human sacrifice.**
A league is thirty miles. Today, this would put the Kingdom of Kukuanaland in the very south of the Democratic Republic of Congo, just over the border from northern Zambia where the Kafue River rises. For Ophir, whose true location remains unknown, see e.g. 1 Kings 9:27-28.
** Haggard is here portraying a throwback civilisation, a lost tribe. As regards black Africans of his own day, Haggard’s narrator Quartermain rejects offensive terms for them, and recognises that Umbopa’s assumption of equality to Sir Henry is fully deserved. Captain Good’s interracial relationship with Foulata is declared ‘taboo’ (in both cultures) even as the reader is led into strong sympathy with it.
Précis
Sir Henry Curtis asked Allan Quartermain to accompany him to the legendary King Solomon’s Mines in southern Africa, in search of his brother George. Joined by Captain Good and a native named Umbopa, they reached the mines only to be taken captive by tribal warriors, who brought them to their cruel King Twala and his witch-like counsellor Gagool. (58 / 60 words)
Part Two
TO save Foulata, Quartermain (after a glance at his almanack) interrupted with a bold prediction of an imminent lunar eclipse. It duly arrived, and Umbopa further weakened Gagool’s spell over the people by revealing himself as Ignosi, whom Twala cheated of his rightful crown when just a boy. Pandemonium ensued, until at last Sir Henry slew the usurper in single combat.
King Ignosi now frightened Gagool into leading Quartermain’s party to a secret underground chamber, where they found Solomon’s legendary diamonds. As they gloated, Foulata spotted Gagool shutting the great stone door behind them, and sacrificed her own life to see Gagool crushed in the mechanism. Even so, the others remained entombed, until a faint stirring of air led them to an underground river, and escape.
Ignosi was heartbroken when his friends left for England. They took with them the errant George, whom they discovered living in a mountain hut, but barely a handful of diamonds. Somehow, they had lost their taste for them.
Précis
When Quartermain interfered in the tribe’s bloodthirsty rituals, and Umbopa claimed the tribal crown by birthright, they unleashed civil war. Victorious, Umbopa then commanded Gagool to reveal Solomon’s hidden treasure. She contrived to bury Quartermain’s party alive in an underground chamber, but they escaped, and returned to England having stumbled across Sir Henry’s missing brother on the way home. (59 / 60 words)