# What Was Found in the Pool explained — Allan Quatermain Stories

> Chapter companion for Allan Quatermain Stories by H. Rider Haggard.

## What happens

After a lioness kills Jim-Jim, Quatermain and Harry search for him but find only blood. They discover the lioness sleeping by the pool, and Quatermain shoots her. The chapter also recounts the earlier lion attack, the oxen's illness, and the camp's tense night.

## Themes in this chapter

### Wilderness vs. Civilization

The camp's fragile safety is shattered by the lioness, highlighting the constant threat of the wild.

### Adventure and Danger

The lion attack and the search for Jim-Jim underscore the perilous nature of life in the African bush.

### Fate and Mortality

Jim-Jim's sudden death and the oxen's illness reflect the unpredictability of life and death in the wilderness.

## Character check-ins

### Allan Quatermain

Narrator and hunter; leads the search for Jim-Jim and shoots the lioness.

### Sir Henry Curtis

Accompanies Quatermain; suggests washing in the pool.

### Pharaoh

Swazi worker; helps with oxen and warns of the lion.

### Jim

Mapoch Kaffir lad; killed and carried off by the lioness.

### Lion

The lioness that attacks the camp and kills Jim-Jim.

## Key lines

> The ox is the most exasperating animal in the world, a negro excepted.

Oxen are extremely frustrating, second only to Black people in that regard.

_Quatermain expresses his frustration with oxen, using a racially offensive comparison._

> I heard the unfortunate lad shriek, and then almost instantly I saw his legs thrown into the air. The lioness had seized him by the neck, and with a sudden jerk thrown his body over her back so that his legs hung down upon the further side.

Jim-Jim screamed as the lioness grabbed him by the neck and flung him over her back, his legs dangling.

_Vivid description of the lioness's attack and Jim-Jim's death._

> She had been sleeping on the slab, and oh, horror! what was that heaving, plunging, bellowing, and seemingly inextricable knot.

The lioness had been resting on the rock, and then a chaotic, tangled mass of cattle appeared.

_Quatermain's shock at discovering the lioness and the ensuing chaos with the oxen._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/allan_quatermain_stories_se/chapters/ii-what-was-found-in-the-pool
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/allan_quatermain_stories_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/allan_quatermain_stories_se/chapters