1) Sir Henry Curtis asks Allan Quatermain, an experienced elephant hunter, for help finding his long lost brother George. 2) George had gone missing years ago in South Africa, intending to search for the fabled mines of King Solomon. 3) Quatermain had met George previously and knows the direction he was headed, giving Sir Henry, Captain Good, and Quatermain a starting point to begin their own search.

2. It is a curious thing that at my age – I shall
never see sixty again – I should be taking up a
pen to write this story. But, I have my reasons.
First reason – Sir Henry
Curtis and Captain John
Good asked me.
Second reason – I am confined here at Durban with
pain in my left leg. I have killed sixty-five lions in my
lifetime, but the sixty-sixth one chewed my leg like
a quid of tobacco, and it has troubled me since.
Third reason – I want my boy
Harry, who is studying to become
a doctor, to have something to
amuse him for a week or so.
Fourth and the last reason – it is the
strangest story that I remember.
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3. I first met Sir Henry Curtis and Captain
Good about eighteen months ago.
The Dunkeld was lying at the docks waiting
for another ship, the Edinburgh Castle,
which was due to arrive from England.
I had just been up elephant hunting
beyond Bamangwato, and I was ready to
return to Natal on board the Dunkeld.
I took my berth and went aboard. That
afternoon the Edinburgh Castle passengers were
transshipped. Among the passengers who came
on board were two who excited my curiosity.
One was Sir Henry Curtis, who was about
thirty years old. I never saw a finer looking
man, and somehow he reminded me of an
ancient Dane, a kind of a white Zulu.
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The other was Captain John Good,
a naval officer. He was broad, of
medium height, dark, stout, and quite
a curious man to look at. He was very
neat and also clean-shaven, and wore
an eye-glass on his right eye.
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4. That night during dinner, I was seated opposite
them. Since we were in Africa, the conversation
naturally turned to hunting and elephants.
Excuse me, sir, but
is your name Allan
Quatermain?
Ah, you‛ve found
the right man for that.
If anybody can, Hunter
Quatermain should be
able to tell you about
elephants.
Yes.
Fortunate.
Mr Quatermain,
I am Sir Henry
Curtis.
Would you join
me and my associate,
Captain John Good, for
a drink after dinner
in my cabin?
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I would
be delighted,
sir.
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5. After dinner, Sir Henry led
the way to his cabin, and a
very good cabin it was.
Would you
like some
whisky?
Yes,
thank you.
At first I thought he used to sleep in it,
but later I found out I was mistaken. He
used to put it in his trouser pocket when
he went to bed, along with his false teeth.
Captain Good‛s eye-glass seemed to
grow there, for it had no string, and
he never took it out except to wipe it.
Mr Quatermain,
two years back about
this time, I believe
you were at a place
called
Bamangwato, to
the north of the
Transvaal, South
Africa.
Yes, I
was.
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6. I thought I saw a curious
anxiety in Sir Henry‛s eyes.
You were
trading there,
weren‛t you?
Did you
meet a man
called Neville
there?
Yes. I took a
wagon full of goods,
and camped outside
the settlement till I
had sold them all.
Yes. He spent a
fortnight with me,
resting his oxen,
before going in to
the interior.
At the beginning
of May, he left Bamangwato
in a wagon, with a hunter called
Jim. He planned to trek as far
as Inyati, where he would sell
his wagon, and then
proceed on foot.
I recently
received a letter
from his lawyer, asking
about him, which I
answered to the best
of my knowledge.
Mr Quatermain, I
suppose you know nothing more
of why my-- Mr Neville went
northwards, or up to what point
the journey was directed?
I heard
something...
But I did not care
to discuss it.
I am going to tell you a
story, and ask your advice. The
lawyer who forwarded me your
letter told me that I might rely on it
implicitly, as you were well-known and
respected in Natal, and especially
known for your discretion.
Mr Neville
was my
brother.
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7. Many years ago, George Curtis set out for
South Africa in the wild hope of making a
fortune. Since then, his brother, Sir Henry
Curtis, has not seen or heard of him.
Sir Henry and his friend, Captain Good,
decide that sitting around waiting is
doing no good, and set out to find him.
As luck would have it, they meet Allan
Quatermain, an experienced elephant
hunter, who had encountered the missing
brother many years earlier. He had told
Quatermain that he was searching for the
mines of King Solomon – diamond mines,
which most people believe to be a myth.
With a glimmer of hope, and an idea
which way he had headed, our heroic trio
venture out into the unexplored regions
of Africa. Their quest takes them into the
very heart of danger.
Unbelievable adventures follow involving
ancient tribes, terrifying kings, and evil
witches. Will our adventurers find George
and the treasures rumoured to be hidden
in King Solomon’s mines? Or will the
obstacles they experience prove too
much for them?
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