Burnham had been instructed to avoid a fight, and was torn
between his desire to obey the Chartered Company and to prevent
a massacre. He decided to make it a sacrifice either of himself or
of Latea. As soon as night fell, with only three companions and a
missionary to act as a witness of what occurred, he slipped through
the lines of Latea's men, and, kicking down the fence around the
prince's hut, suddenly appeared before him and covered him with
his rifle.
"Is it peace or war?" Burnham asked. "I have the king your father's
guarantee of protection, but your men surround us. I have told my
people if they hear shots to open fire. We may all be killed, but
you will be the first to die."
The missionary also spoke urging Latea to abide by the treaty.
Burnham says the prince seemed much more impressed by the
arguments of the missionary than by the fact that he still was
covered by Burnham's rifle. Whichever argument moved him, he
called off his warriors. On this expedition Burnham discovered the
ruins of great granite structures fifteen feet wide, and made
entirely without mortar. They were of a period dating before the
Phoenicians. He also sought out the ruins described to him by F. C.
Selous, the famous hunter, and by Rider Haggard as King
Solomon's Mines. Much to the delight of Mr. Haggard, he brought
back for him from the mines of his imagination real gold
ornaments and a real gold bar.
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