“The top of the peak, which was about eighty feet by one hundred and fifty thick at its base, was shaped like a negro’s head and face.” (headpiece): composite woodblock illustration by Edward Killingworth Johnson, R. W. S., in H. Rider Haggard's "SHE:" A History of Adventure, 7 by 9 inches (12.8 cm high by 17.7 cm wide) in The Graphic (16 October 1886): Volume XXXIV, p. 417, framed. Volume title: “There were the thick lips, the fat cheeks, and the squat nose standing out with startling clearness” [p. 59]. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated: Cruising Past an African Landmark Given in Vincey's Note
Maurice Greiffenhagen's first-volume illustration of the storm scene in the storm scene in Chapter IV: 'Steer for your life, Mahomed!' (1888).
At length the heralds and forerunners of the royal sun had done their work, and, searching out the shadows, had caused them to flee away. Then up he came in glory from his ocean-bed, and flooded the earth with warmth and light. I sat there in the boat listening to the gentle lapping of the water and watched him rise, till presently the slight drift of the boat brought the odd-shaped rock, or peak, at the end of the promontory which we had weathered with so much peril, between me and the majestic sight, and blotted it from my view. I still continued, however, to stare at the rock, absently enough, till presently it became edged with the fire of the growing light behind it, and then I started, as well I might, for I perceived that the top of the peak, which was about eighty feet high by one hundred and fifty feet thick at its base, was shaped like a negro’s head and face, whereon was stamped a most fiendish and terrifying expression. There was no doubt about it; there were the thick lips, the fat cheeks, and the squat nose standing out with startling clearness against the flaming background. There, too, was the round skull, washed into shape perhaps by thousands of years of wind and weather, and, to complete the resemblance, there was a scrubby growth of weeds or lichen upon it, which against the sun looked for all the world like the wool on a colossal negro’s head. It certainly was very odd; so odd that now I believe it is not a mere freak of nature but a gigantic monument fashioned, like the well-known Egyptian Sphinx, by a forgotten people out of a pile of rock that lent itself to their design, perhaps as an emblem of warning and defiance to any enemies who approached the harbour. Unfortunately we were never able to ascertain whether or not this was the case, inasmuch as the rock was difficult of access both from the land and the waterside, and we had other things to attend to. [Chapter V, "The Head of the Ethiopian," 418]
Commentary on "The Head of the Ethiopian": Calm after Storm
After their miraculously surviving both the sudden Monsoon squall (which has sunk their Arab dhow and drowned the eighteen crew members), the helmsman, Mahomed, guides the specially constructed thirty-foot Dundee whaleboat through two lines of breakers off the East African coast and brings them into the calm waters immediately below the strangely-shaped headland. Johnson admirably distinguishes the figures in the twilight.
With its water-tight storage compartments, the whaleboat that the adventurers have had especially designed and constructed in Scotland has a width and a copper bottom admirably suited to exploring the shallow swamps of the East African coast. Thus, as it serenely passes the gigantic Ethiopian’s Head, it represents the triumph of European technology over the elements, its superiority to the Arab dhow manifested by its having so easily survived the monsoon squall which has sunk the native vessel and killed its crew. Some bracing brandy from the lockers revives Job, Holly, and the now-conscious Leo, who is certain that God has “chosen” them to live through the ordeal. We instantly recognize the bearded Horace Holly (centre rear) sitting beside the handsome, blond-haired Leo; in the bow is Job, next to the supplies; at the other end of the reefed sail, Mahomed (in eastern cap) sits in the stern, managing the tiller. Shortly they will set the sail and cruise upriver, where they find an ancient stone wharf which implies that the ruins of some great, long-lost city must lie nearby.
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use the images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose, as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned them, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Haggard, H. Rider. "SHE:" A History of Adventure. Illustrated by E. K. Johnson. The Graphic Magazine, Vols. XXXIV and XXXV. 2 October 1886 to 8 January 1887.
Haggard, H. Rider. SHE: A History of Adventure. Illustrated by E. K. Johnson. New York: Harper & Bros., 1887.
Haggard, H. Rider. She: A History of Adventure. Illustrated by Maurice Greiffenhagen and Charles H. M. Kerr. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1888.
"Johnson, Edward Killingworth." Haynes Fine Art. Web. Accessed 8 April 2025. https://www.haynesfineart.com/artists/edward-killingworth-johnson-uk
Created 12 April 2025