for the kind reception they have accorded to the successive
editions of this tale during the last twelve years. He hopes that
in its present form it will fall into the hands of an even wider
public, and that in years to come it may continue to afford
amusement to those who are still young enough at heart to love a
story of treasure, war, and wild adventure.

Ditchingham,
11 March, 1898.



POST SCRIPTUM

Now, in 1907, on the occasion of the issue of this edition, I can
only add how glad I am that my romance should continue to please
so many readers. Imagination has been verified by fact; the King
Solomon's Mines I dreamed of have been discovered, and are putting
out their gold once more, and, according to the latest reports,
their diamonds also; the Kukuanas or, rather, the Matabele, have
been tamed by the white man's bullets, but still there seem to be
many who find pleasure in these simple pages. That they may
continue so to do, even to the third and fourth generation, or
perhaps longer still, would, I am sure, be the hope of our old and
departed friend, Allan Quatermain.

H. Rider Haggard.
Ditchingham, 1907.