king, Nkulumane, made an abortive attempt to enter Matabeleland to claim his throne. That pretender’s mission was materially aided by a British colonial official in Durban named Theophilus Shepstone, under whom Haggard later served in the Transvaal. Haggard’s mysterious African character Umbopa inKing Solomon’s Mines accompanies Quatermain’s party into Kukuanaland, where he reveals himself to be the rightful king, Ignosi. In contrast to the Ndebele pretender, Umbopa succeeds—thanks in large part to the intervention of the British characters.

Kukuanaland

Kukuanaland (koo-koo-AH-nah-land). Imaginary African kingdom, located north of Matabele country, where the quest of Quatermain’s party ends. During the nineteenth century, legends of “lost” civilizations in the African interior abounded among Europeans, and some of these focused on the Zimbabwe region—the actual site of a former stone-building African culture. Although Haggard’s Kukuanaland and its capital, Loo, are totally fictional, his use of a great stone road leading to a lost city in the wilderness seemed to conform to rumors about a lost ancient civilization in the Zimbabwe region and added greatly to his novel’s sense of the mysterious and exotic.

Cave of death

Cave of death. Cavern in which Quatermain and his companions find a great mineral treasure in the novel’s climactic chapters. Three gigantic stone idols guard the entrance to the ancient mine and add even more foreboding and danger to an atmosphere already heavily laden with ominous overtones. The cavern, like Africa generally, offers its riches to those bold enough to claim them, but it never gives them up willingly.

The tale of King Solomon's Mines unfolds in the mid-nineteenth century, a time that coincides with Haggard's own era. The cities, rivers, landmarks, and tribes mentioned in the narrative are all real, although little was known about this region of southern Africa at the time. The fact that Africa was largely uncharted piqued readers' curiosity about the story. Many readers even believed the book to be a genuine account of the author's adventures, a notion bolstered by Haggard's straightforward and realistic writing style.

Haggard's narrative brims with intriguing details about the African landscape. To illustrate the arduous journey of the adventurers through the wilderness, he describes the "dreadful tsetse fly, whose bite is fatal to all animals except donkeys and men." Out of the twenty oxen they had at the start of their expedition, only twelve survived: "One we had lost from the bite of a cobra, three had perished from the want of water, one had been lost, and the other three had died from eating the poisonous herb called tulip."

The book's phenomenal success can be attributed to Haggard's skill in weaving extraordinary adventures into a gritty, realistic narrative. Quatermain, using a first-person perspective, recounts the tale in what he describes as a "plain, straightforward manner." This technique enables Haggard to create the impression of an authentic record of real events. Quatermain's reliability as a narrator is bolstered by his assertion that he is not a "literary man." He claims his account lacks the "flights and flourishes" typical of novels, further implying its authenticity.

Haggard's language choice strengthens this sense of realism. The style is straightforward, direct, and conversational, offering vivid details of the adventures along with Quatermain's occasional reflections on their significance. His narrative includes personal opinions and biases, which provide intriguing glimpses into his character.

Throughout the story, Quatermain contemplates deep philosophical issues: the fleeting nature of human life, the majesty and power of nature, and the meaning of human relationships. Though these passages are often poetic, they appear spontaneous and emotionally impactful. Quatermain's bluntness is effectively balanced by his thoughtful experiences and his empathy for others.

Haggard also employs his descriptive prowess to foreshadow future events and to convey both the beauty and peril of the environment. As Quatermain and his companions traverse the desert, Haggard vividly depicts the danger of their surroundings:

The stars grew pale and paler still, till at last they vanished; the golden moon waxed wan, and her mountain ridges stood out clear against her sickly face like the bones on the face of a dying man; then came spear upon spear of glorious light flashing far away across the boundless wilderness, piercing and firing the veils of mist till the desert was draped in a tremulous golden glow, and it was day.

Later in the narrative, after encountering the natives of Kukuanaland, Haggard realistically portrays brutal battles, bloody deaths, and treacherous betrayals. Many passages are written with a stark bluntness that intensifies the horror of some of the barbaric native ceremonies. One such scene involves a witch hunt led by Gagool, the King's grotesque sorceress, who ruthlessly marks tribesmen for immediate execution:

With a shriek she sprang in and touched a tall warrior with the forked wand. Instantly, two of his comrades, those standing immediately next to him, seized the doomed man, each by one arm, and advanced with him towards the king. He did not resist, but we saw that he dragged his limbs as though they were paralyzed, and his fingers, from which the spear had fallen, were as limp as those of a man newly dead.

Other scenes, such as the eerie solar eclipse during which Quatermain deceives the evil king and the terrifying episodes in the caves where they uncover the diamonds, are depicted with striking realism and chilling detail.

King Solomon's Mines clearly reflects the racial prejudices prevalent during Haggard's era. Although Quatermain, like his creator, admires and respects black Africans, he still believes in the necessity of racial separation. Interestingly, these beliefs are often voiced by the black characters in the story rather than the white ones. While the novel does not advocate for true equality or unity between blacks and whites, it is crucial to recognize that Haggard's work strongly affirms a sense of noble values inherent in both races. Despite their cultural differences, both races include individuals of honor and goodness, as well as those of treachery and evil. Haggard's perspective that blacks and whites could share the same moral world was more progressive than the views of many of his contemporaries, who regarded native Africans merely as savages.

An illuminating passage on this topic appears in the first chapter of King Solomon's Mines, when Allan opts to use the term "natives" instead of the more derogatory "niggers." It is significant that, although the word "niggers" is offensive to modern readers, Quatermain also finds it degrading and reprehensible. He specifically objects to its implication of inferior moral character, suggesting that a black "native" can be just as much a "gentleman" as a white man.

However, in its portrayal of women, Haggard's book seems less progressive. It is clearly a "boy's book" set in a "man's world," where women only play a marginal role. The closest character to a heroine is Foulata, a beautiful native girl who falls in love with Captain Good, but her stereotypical depiction may seem unconvincing to modern readers.

Once Foulata falls in love with Captain Good, his high moral character would require him to either stay with her in the native society or marry her and take her back to England. However, the story resolves this dilemma by having her die nobly, which conveniently brings the narrative to a satisfactory conclusion.

Foulata's tragic but convenient death spares Captain Good from making a difficult and, for nineteenth-century readers, controversial decision. Discussions of Foulata's character and her role in the story should consider the vast differences between contemporary views of women and those held by Victorian audiences.

The novel also includes some scenes of fairly graphic violence, such as the witch hunt and the bloody deaths of Twala and Gagool. Quatermain's vivid descriptions of this bloodshed are natural expressions of his effort to bluntly and accurately record significant events. Although somewhat lurid, these descriptions are brief and effective. The violence is not gratuitous; in fact, given the nature of the story, the number of graphically violent passages is surprisingly small.

King Solomon's Mines and She remain H. Rider Haggard's most celebrated works. Although King Solomon's Mines was released first, it was She—a peculiar and thrilling tale of a young man's journey back to Egypt to avenge an ancestor's death—that solidified Haggard's reputation as a master storyteller of fantastic adventures.

Haggard's lesser-known novels of this genre include Cleopatra, Montezuma's Daughter, The People of the Mist, The Brethren, Ayesha, The Ghost Kings, The Yellow God, Queen Sheba's Ring, The Ivory Child, The Virgin of the Sun, Queen of the Dawn, and Belshazzar. While some of these stories are loosely based—often very loosely—on historical events, their appeal largely lies in Haggard's skill at crafting vivid and thrilling situations in a straightforward, powerful prose style.

Over the years, Haggard expanded the adventures of Allan Quatermain through six sequels to King Solomon's Mines. These sequels include Maiwa's Revenge, Allan's Wife, The Ancient Allan, She and Allan, and Allan and the Ice-Gods.

In addition to these sequels, King Solomon's Mines has been adapted into film multiple times, starting with a silent version in 1919. The first sound adaptation, and arguably the best, was made in 1936. This version featured the renowned British actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke as Allan Quatermain and the celebrated African American actor Paul Robeson as Ignosi.

Subsequent film adaptations have been less successful. MGM's 1950 version, featuring Stewart Granger as a convincing Allan Quatermain, boasts excellent cinematography of African landscapes and wildlife, along with engaging footage of real Zulu warriors. However, despite its excitement, this version takes several liberties with Haggard's original work. For instance, it replaces the character of Sir Henry Curtis with his sister, Elizabeth, played by Deborah Kerr, to introduce a romantic subplot absent in the novel. It also omits the Battle of Loo, one of the book's most thrilling scenes. Nevertheless, this film remains a high-quality adventure, offering students a valuable viewing experience that stays true to the spirit of Haggard's story, if not the exact details.

More recent film adaptations, seemingly inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark, have been less impressive. King Solomon's Treasure (1977) is best avoided, as it is poorly cast and includes absurd elements like dinosaur battles. Richard Chamberlain stars as Allan Quatermain in King Solomon's Mines (1985) and its sequel, Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1985). These films are blatant and subpar attempts to turn Haggard's character into an Indiana Jones-like figure, failing to capture the essence of Haggard's original work.

Students would gain from reading King Solomon's Mines and watching one of the superior film adaptations. Comparing and contrasting the book with the movie versions would be both engaging and educational. It is noteworthy that every film adaptation is less graphically violent than the original book.

Barker, Ernest. History of the English Novel. London: Witherby, 1938. This book offers a broad, though somewhat outdated, overview of Haggard's role in the evolution of English fiction.

Cohen, Morton. Rider Haggard: His Life and Works. London: Hutchinson, 1960. While it delivers a detailed account of Haggard's life and provides useful summaries of his major works, this literary biography is tainted by Cohen's patronizing tone towards his subject.

Darton, F. J. Harvey. Children's Books in England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1932. This text offers valuable insights into the types of "boys' stories" Haggard wrote, along with other forms of Victorian young adult literature.

Ellis, Peter Berresford. H. Rider Haggard: A Voice From the Infinite. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978. Ellis's book provides a thorough and empathetic account of Haggard's life and works, and includes an extensive bibliography of Haggard's writings.

Tindall, William York. Forces in Modern British Literature 1881-1946. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947. This reference book situates Haggard's work within the broader context of the development of English fiction.