Ignosi

In a moment all doubts were at rest, for the old hag had rushed in and touched Umbopa, alias Ignosi, on the shoulder.

King Solomon's Mines Henry Rider Haggard 1890

'As the breath of the oxen in winter, as the quick star that runs along the sky, as a little shadow that loses itself at sunset,' as I once heard a Zulu called Ignosi put it, such is the order of our life, the order that passeth away.

Allan Quatermain Henry Rider Haggard 1890

"Ignosi," I said, "tell us, when thou didst wander in Zululand, and among the white people of Natal, did not thine heart turn to the land thy mother told thee of, thy native place, where thou didst see the light, and play when thou wast little, the land where thy place was?"

King Solomon's Mines Henry Rider Haggard 1890

Ignosi, rightful king of the Kukuanas, I have brought with me these men, "pointing to the row of chiefs," who are great men among us, having each one of them the command of three thousand soldiers, that live but to do their bidding, under the king's.

King Solomon's Mines Henry Rider Haggard 1890

"Nay, Ignosi, we want none of these things," I answered; "we would seek our own place."

King Solomon's Mines Henry Rider Haggard 1890

Ignosi thought for a moment after I had translated this request, and then answered --

King Solomon's Mines Henry Rider Haggard 1890

Yes, deep darkness shall cover the earth, and it shall be for a sign that Ignosi is indeed king of the Kukuanas.

King Solomon's Mines Henry Rider Haggard 1890

To-morrow, at break of day, Ignosi, thou wilt give us an escort who shall lead us across the mountains.

King Solomon's Mines Henry Rider Haggard 1890

Ignosi, who was standing by me, took in the situation at a glance, and issued a rapid order.

King Solomon's Mines Henry Rider Haggard 1890

If she did so, there is no longer anything inexplicable about the story, since, as Ignosi himself related, she may well have been picked up by some ostrich hunters before she or the child was exhausted, was led by them to the oasis, and thence by stages to the fertile country, and so on by slow degrees southwards to Zululand.

King Solomon's Mines Henry Rider Haggard 1890