Copy Book Archive

King Solomon’s Mines Allan Quartermain goes in search of a lost tourist and a legendary hoard of diamonds.

In two parts

1885
Music: Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

© Simonchihanga, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0. Source

About this picture …

Great Zimbabwe, capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe in that region’s late Iron Age, roughly the 11th century to the 15th century AD. It was one of the inspirations for Haggard’s lost Kingdom of the Kukuanas, which he placed somewhat further north, just beyond where the Kafue River rises on the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.

King Solomon’s Mines

Part 1 of 2

‘King Solomon’s Mines’ was published in 1885, and written in open admiration of Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island’. It is recognised as spawning the ‘lost world’ genre of novels and movies, from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Professor Challenger stories to ‘Indiana Jones’.

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.**

Jump to Part 2

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

© Anagoria, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 4.0. Source

About this picture …

Inside the Cango Caves, near Oudtshoorn in South Africa. The closing scenes of the novel take place in petrified caves called the ‘Hall of Death’, where a secret chamber holds the vast hoard of Solomon’s legendary diamonds.

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.

Copy Book

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)

Source

Based on ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ by Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925).

Suggested Music

1 2

Clarinet Concerto in A minor

2. Andante con moto

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

Performed by Janet Hilton with the Ulster Orchestra, conducted by Vernon Handley.

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Clarinet Concerto in A minor

3. Allegro moderato

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924)

Performed by Janet Hilton with the Ulster Orchestra, conducted by Vernon Handley.

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