H. Rider Haggard Trivia

1. The book opens with news of which sad event?

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: The death of Allan's son.

Allan's son, Harry, was qualified as a doctor. Curtis in particular thought very highly of him, as on a hunting party Harry once shot Curtis in the leg, and then cut the pellets out himself, pointing out how useful it is to have a doctor around. Unfortunately, Harry volunteered to work in a small-pox hospital, and succumbed to the disease. Allan was distraught.

From Quiz "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard.

Answer: Ingoldsby Legends

"The Ingoldsby Legends" are a collection of stories written by Richard Harris Barham under the pen name Thomas Ingoldsby. They first appeared in magazines of the Victorian period. Quartermain quotes from them every now and then, but mustn't have read them as much as he thinks; he seems to get a little confused with his quotes.

From Quiz "She" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: A gentleman he had met once mailed it to him.

The narrator was visiting a university and was introduced to Horace Holly and Leo Vincey by a friend. Later, Mr. Holly mailed the manuscript to him to publish or not, as he saw fit. The narrator explained that he chose to publish it as written, making only minor changes to protect the true identities of the characters.

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: Three years.

Our heroes are sick of the trappings of civilisation. Allan has nothing to stay for with the death of his son, and Good and Curtis have equally valid reasons. Good reckons he is getting too fat, and Curtis is "sick of shooting pheasants and partridges". It's a tough life!

From Quiz "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard.

Answer: Evans

Evans is only briefly mentioned. Allan met him on an elephant hunt about thirty years prior to the events of the novel. The poor chap was killed by a wounded buffalo the following year. Not a nice way to go!

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: A hand.

With our heroes dozing in canoes in the river, the Masai swim out and attack, killing one of the native bearers. Mild mannered, unassuming, God fearing Allan instantly whips up a battle axe and chops off one of the Masai's arms. The Masai go away.

From Quiz "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard.

Answer: Khiva

Continuing with the brutal animal deaths, Khiva is ripped in two by an elephant. This is not far fetched. Although loved by all in zoos, elephants can and do kill people regularly in the wild.

From Quiz "She" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: The men travelling with Billali addressed him as "Father", so Holly did the same.

Initially, Mr. Holly addressed Billali as "Father" because he had heard the natives use that term. He later found out that Billali was considered the one "Father" of the tribe. The Amahagger people traced their lineage maternally, and did not acknowledge individual fathers.

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: Umslopogaas.

Umslopogaas is seriously not to be messed with. His axe has notches marking the number of men he has killed in hand to hand combat. There are 103 of them, and that doesn't count people he hasn't ripped open (a native custom) or "those whom another man had struck". Oh yeah. He's hard.

From Quiz "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard.

Answer: Not much. He was frozen to death

Not only frozen but extremely well preserved, Da Silvestra had been there for 300 years. But not doing much. Da Silvestra wrote the original directions to the mines that our heroes were following.

From Quiz "She" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: The Amahagger were planning to kill and eat Mahomed.

The "feast" was an Amahagger ritual. They were known as "the people who place pots upon the heads of strangers". The victim was killed by having a white-hot pot placed over his head.

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: Mackenzie.

The mission house is a beautiful place, tended lovingly by Mackenzie and his wife. Allan is struck by the splendour of the gardens. A home away from home! "You are very venturesome people" says Mackenzie to our heroes. He has no idea!

From Quiz "She" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: They smoked tobacco.

Although tobacco grew in Amahagger territory and the people used it medicinally and as snuff, they had never seen it smoked before.

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: Woodpecker.

Umslopogaas' axe, called Inkosi-kaas, had a cutting edge, but also a spike, with which the killing blow was delivered. Umslopogaas considered this much more sporting than a mere slash. The axe's name means, in Zulu, "Chieftainess" due to her habit of "prying very deep into things". A barrel of laughs Umslopogaas was not.

From Quiz "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard.

Answer: Very old, you just never actually find out

Gagool's age is never stated, but she does hint that she has lived for many generations of her people. She's a sly one though. I wouldn't trust a thing she says.

From Quiz "She" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: They were all deaf and dumb.

Since Ayesha believed that deaf-mutes made the best servants, she instituted a breeding program designed to produce a race of deaf-mutes to wait on her.

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: The heroic blood of his grandfather made him do it.

Alphonse lays out his tragic life story to our heroes. Falling in love, his conscription, deserting, trip back to France, loss of love, fleeing the authorities. Our heroes' response? They choke with laughter. But I do have to admit, Alphonse is a grade one chump.

From Quiz "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard.

Answer: Preserved in stalagmites

The dead kings of the Kukuanas sit around a table, preserved in stalagmites, in the Place of Death. Presiding over them is a colossal figure of Death, hewn from a single great stalagmite. Even our brave Allan is quite overcome and only manages to stay in the cave because, in time honoured tradition, Curtis "caught me by the collar and held me".

From Quiz "She" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: She asked Holly to give Leo a drug she had made.

Leo was almost literally breathing his last breath when Holly gave him the drug created by Ayesha. Chemisty was Ayesha's main hobby.

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: Chainmail shirts.

Wearing chainmail had worked for our heroes before, in "King Solomon's Mines". "They can do most things in the way of steel work in Birmingham" says Allan. What about Sheffield?

From Quiz "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard.

Answer: Crushed by a closing rock door

Gagool, in a fiendish last move stabs Foulata and kills her, breaking the heart of Good. But Foulata holds onto Gagool just long enough to slow her down, and the descending rock door crushes her flat. But hey, we have no sympathy.

From Quiz "She" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: Kallikrates

Ayesha believed Leo to be the reincarnation of Kallikrates, a man she had been in love with 2000 years earlier. She killed him in a fit of anger because he refused to choose her over Amenartas.

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: Shoot a hippo.

Yes, of course it's all about shooting. Our heroes try to blow the heads off a few hippopotami to impress the natives. That's what all the women love! However, this backfires when we find out that the priesthood venerate hippos as a sacred animal. Whoops.

From Quiz "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard.

Answer: A snake

The snake around his body is a (nearly) sure symbol that Umbopa is the rightful king. The chiefs need some more convincing though, and Good, with the aid of his trusty almanac pulls the old "total eclipse of the moon" chestnut out of the bag. Nice thinking chaps!

From Quiz "She" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: She began to age quickly and died.

Ayesha went into the fire a second time to show Leo that it was safe. She also hoped to increase her power and beauty, if possible. She never imagined that the flame could hurt her. However, when she emerged, she began to quickly progress to her true age and died within minutes.

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: Henry Curtis.

Ah, but now it starts. Nyleptha and Sorais both fancy Curtis. Good is after Sorais. Curtis falls in love with Nyleptha. "Oh my word!" Allan thinks " the ladies have come on the stage, and now we may look to the plot to develop itself." And Umslopogaas, he doesn't care as long as he can chop someone's head off at some stage.

From Quiz "King Solomon's Mines" by H. Rider Haggard.

Answer: The Greys

It's a tough old battle, this one, and The Greys are all but wiped out at the conclusion. Our heroes get knocked about a bit, climaxing with a duel between Henry Curtis and Twala, the outgoing king. Well, he didn't want to be outgoing but after Curtis chops his head off it gets sort of difficult to get respect from the populace.

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: Yellow Country

Allan isn't quite sure why this is the case, but reckons it has something to do with either the quantity of gold that can be found, or the yellow grasses. Still, it doesn't matter, our heroes are here to stay.

From Quiz "Allan Quatermain" by H. Rider Haggard

Answer: Denying him food.

"Well, I cannot execute a High Priest" says Nyleptha "But I can leave him to contemplate the altar of the Sun without anything to eat". Agon had not had breakfast and quickly agreed. Proving two things. One, Agon's spiritual development is perhaps a tad below par, and two, Curtis' marriage may be a little "bumpy".

This is category 18596

= Top 5% Rated Quiz, Top 10% Rated Quiz, Top 20% Rated Quiz, A Well Rated Quiz
= added recently, = Editor's Pick = FunTrivia Editor = Gold Member
Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

 ·  All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.