Quartermain (the main character from the many adventures found in the

Alan Quartermain

series) was a progressive Victorian big game hunter in Africa who championed the cause of the natives. Although Haggard often portrays Quatermain as being racist (at least in the light of our modern thinking), this short story gives us the full strengths, weaknesses, vision and prejudices of our adventurer, showing that his outlook to the locals is perhaps not quite what you’d expect.