Allan Quatermain · Chapter
XXIV: By Another Hand explained
A year after Allan Quatermain's death, Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good prepare to send Alphonse as a messenger to England with the manuscript of their adventures and letters to their heirs.
What happens
A year after Allan Quatermain's death, Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good prepare to send Alphonse as a messenger to England with the manuscript of their adventures and letters to their heirs. The chapter describes Quatermain's peaceful death, his grand funeral in the Flower Temple, and the subsequent developments in Zu-Vendis: Good's naval construction and grief over Sorais, Nyleptha's birth of a son and heir, and Curtis's plans for political consolidation, reduction of priestly power, and the exclusion of foreigners to preserve Zu-Vendis's barbarism.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Mortality
Allan Quatermain's peaceful death and elaborate funeral ceremony, including his cremation in the Flower Temple.
Colonialism and the Ideal of the English Gentleman
Curtis's decision to exclude foreigners and preserve Zu-Vendis's barbarism, and his hope to raise his son as an English gentleman.
Power and Politics
Curtis's plans to consolidate clans under a central government and sap the power of the priesthood.
Religion and Superstition
Curtis's hope to replace Sun worship with Christianity, symbolized by the Cross on the Flower Temple.
Characters to notice
- Allan Quatermain
Died at dawn after writing the last chapter; his body was cremated in the Flower Temple furnace.
- Sir Henry Curtis
Now King-Consort of Zu-Vendis, father of a son and heir, and author of the postscript; plans to consolidate clans, sap priestly power, and exclude foreigners.
- Captain Good
Still grieving Sorais's death; busy building a navy on Lake Milosis and other lakes.
- Nyleptha
Present at Quatermain's death; gave birth to a son and heir nine months ago.
- Alphonse
Volunteers to carry the manuscript and letters to England; weary of Zu-Vendis and mocked for his cowardice in the great battle.
- Sorais
Mentioned as having died; Good was deeply attached to her.
- Nasta
Mentioned as a widower with a daughter considered as a potential match for Good.
Key passages
“He died at dawn on the day following that on which he wrote the last words of the last chapter.”
Allan Quatermain passed away at sunrise the day after finishing his narrative.
Describes the timing of Quatermain's death.
“I hope I may be able to bring him up to become what an English gentleman should be, and generally is—which is to my mind even a prouder and a finer thing than being born heir apparent to the great House of the Stairway.”
Curtis wishes to raise his son to embody the ideal of an English gentleman, which he values more than royal birth.
Reflects Curtis's colonial values and the theme of the English gentleman.
“I intend to devote myself to two great ends—namely, to the consolidation of the various clans which together make up the Zu-Vendi people, under one strong central government, and to the sapping of the power of the priesthood.”
Curtis plans to unify the Zu-Vendi clans and reduce the influence of the priests.
Outlines Curtis's political and religious reforms.
