To the Memory of the Child
Nada Burnham,
who “bound all to her” and, while her father cut his way throughthe hordes of the Ingobo Regiment, perished of the hardships of war at Buluwayoon 19th May, 1896, I dedicate these tales—and more particularly the last,that of a Faith which triumphed over savagery and death.
H. Rider Haggard.
Ditchingham.
Of the three stories that comprise this volume[*], one, “TheWizard,” a tale of victorious faith, first appeared some years ago as aChristmas Annual. Another, “Elissa,” is an attempt, difficultenough owing to the scantiness of the material left to us by time, to recreatethe life of the ancient Phoenician Zimbabwe, whose ruins still stand inRhodesia, and, with the addition of the necessary love story, to suggestcircumstances such as might have brought about or accompanied its fall at thehands of the surrounding savage tribes. The third, “Black Heart and WhiteHeart,” is a story of the courtship, trials and final union of a pair ofZulu lovers in the time of King Cetywayo.
[*] This text was prepared from a volume published in 1900 titled “BlackHeart and White Heart, and Other Stories.”— JB.
At the date of our introduction to him, Philip Hadden was a transport-rider andtrader in “the Zulu.” Still on the right side of forty, inappearance he was singularly handsome; tall, dark, upright, with keen eyes,short-pointed beard, curling hair and clear-cut features. His life had beenvaried, and there were passages in it which he did not narrate even to his mostintimate friends. He was of gentle birth, however, and it was said that he hadreceived a public school and university education in England. At any rate hecould quote the classics with aptitude on occasion, an accomplishment which,coupled with his refined voice and a bearing not altogether common in the wildplaces of the world, had earned for him among his rough companions thesoubriquet of “The Prince.”
However these things may have been, it is certain that he had emigrated toNatal under a cloud, and equally certain that his relatives at home werecontent to take no further interest in his fortunes. During the fifteen orsixteen years which he had spent in or about the colony, Hadden followed manytrades, and did no good at any of them. A clever man, of agreeable andprepossessing manner, he always found it easy to form friendships and to securea fresh start in life. But, by degrees, the friends