How the MS came to be posted I have been quite unable to discover;
but I presume, from the fact of its being posted at all, that

the little Frenchman, Alphonse, accomplished his hazardous journey
in safety. I have, however, advertised for him and caused various

inquiries to be made in Marseilles and elsewhere with a view
of discovering his whereabouts, but so far without the slightest

success. Possibly he is dead, and the packet was posted by another
hand; or possibly he is now happily wedded to his Annette, but

still fears the vengeance of the law, and prefers to remain incognito.
I cannot say, I have not yet abandoned my hopes of finding him,

but I am bound to say that they grow fainter day by day, and
one great obstacle to my search is that nowhere in the whole

history does Mr Quatermain mention his surname. He is always
spoken of as 'Alphonse', and there are so many Alphonses.

The letters which my brother Henry says he is sending with the
packet of manuscript have never arrived, so I presume that they

are lost or destroyed.
George Curtis

AUTHORITIES
A novelist is not usually asked, like a historian, for his 'Quellen'.

As I have, however, judging from certain experiences in the
past, some reason to anticipate such a demand, I wish to acknowledge

my indebtedness to Mr Thomson's admirable history of travel 'Through
Masai Land' for much information as to the habits and customs

of the tribes inhabiting that portion of the East Coast, and
the country where they live; also to my brother, John G. Haggard,

RN, HBM's consul at Madagascar, and formerlyconsul at Lamu,
for many details furnished by him of the mode of life and war

of those engaging people the Masai; also to my sister-in-law,
John Haggard, who kindly put the lines of p. 183 into rhyme for

me; also to an extract in a review from some book of travel of
which I cannot recollect the name, to which I owe the idea of

the great crabs in the valley of the subterranean river.
{Endnote 23} But if I remember right, the crabs in the book

when irritated projected their eyes quite out of their heads.
I regret that I was not able to 'plagiarize' this effect, but

I felt that, although crabs may, and doubtless do, behave thus
in real life, in romance they 'will not do so.'

There is an underground river in 'Peter Wilkins', but at the
time of writing the foregoing pages I had not read that quaint

but entertaining work.
It has been pointed out to me that there exists a similarity

between the scene of Umslopogaas frightening Alphonse with his
axe and a scene in Far from the Madding Crowd. I regret this

coincidence, and believe that the talented author of that work
will not be inclined to accuse me of literary immorality on

its account.
Finally, I may say that Mr Quatermain's little Frenchman appears

to belong to the same class of beings as those English ladies
whose long yellow teeth and feet of enormous size excite our

hearty amusement in the pages of the illustrated Gallic press.
The Writer of 'Allan Quatermain'

Endnote 1
Among the Zulus a man assumes the ring, which is made of a species

of black gum twisted in with the hair, and polished a brilliant
black, when he has reached a certain dignity and age, or is the

husband of a sufficient number of wives. Till he is in a position
to wear a ring he is looked on as a boy, though he may be thirty-five

years of age, or even more. -- A. Q.}
Endnote 2

One of the fleetest of the African antelopes. -- A. Q.
Endnote 3

Alluding to the Zulu custom of opening the stomach of a dead
foe. They have a superstition that, if this is not done, as

the body of their enemy swells up so will the bodies of those
who killed him swell up. -- A. Q.

Endnote 4
No doubt this owl was a wingless bird. I afterwards learnt that

the hooting of an owl is a favourite signal among the Masai tribes.
-- A. Q.

Endnote 5
Since I saw the above I have examined hundreds of these swords,

but have never been able to discover how the gold plates were
inlaid in the fretwork. The armourers who make them in Zu-vendis

bind themselves by oath not to reveal the secret. -- A. Q.
Endnote 6

The Masai Elmoran or young warriors can own no property, so all
the booty they may win in battle belongs to their fathers

alone. -- A. Q.
Endnote 7

As I think I have already said, one of Umslopogaas's Zulu names
was the 'Woodpecker'. I could never make out why he was called

so until I saw him in action with Inkosi-kaas, when I at once
recognized the resemblance. -- A. Q.

Endnote 8
By a sad coincidence, since the above was written by Mr Quatermain,

the Masai have, in April 1886, massacred a missionary and his
wife -- Mr and Mrs Houghton -- on this very Tana River, and at

the spot described. These are, I believe, the first white people
who are known to have fallen victims to this cruel tribe. -- Editor.

Endnote 9
Mr Allan Quatermain misquotes -- Pleasure sat at the helm. -- Editor.

Endnote 10
Where Alph the sacred river ran

Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea

Endnote 11
Mr Quatermain does not seem to have been aware that it is common

for animal-worshipping people to annually sacrifice the beasts
they adore. See Herodotus, ii. 45. -- Editor.

Endnote 12
There is another theory which might account for the origin of

the Zu-Vendi which does not seem to have struck my friend Mr
Quatermain and his companions, and that is, that they are descendants

of the Phoenicians. The cradle of the Phoenician race is supposed
to have been have been on the western shore of the Persian Gulf.

Thence, as there is good evidence to show, they emigrated in