HabS 13+ Comprehension SAMPLe
The following passage is an extract from the novel King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard. It is an account of the death of JosÈ Silvestre, and leads to the discovery of a secret map.
“A week passed, and I got the better of my fever. One evening I was sitting on the ground in front of the little tent I had with me, chewing the last leg of a miserable fowl I had bought from a native for a bit of cloth worth twenty fowls, and staring at the hot red sun sinking down over the desert, when suddenly I saw a figure, apparently that of a European, for it wore a coat, on the slope of the rising ground opposite to me, about three hundred yards away. The figure crept along on its hands and knees, then it got up and staggered along a few yards on its legs, only to fall and crawl again. Seeing that it must be somebody in distress, I sent one of my hunters to help him, and presently he arrived, and who do you suppose it turned 10 out to be?”
“José Silvestre, of course,” said Captain Good.
“Yes, José Silvestre, or rather his skeleton and a little skin. His face was bright yellow with bilious fever, and his large, dark eyes stood nearly out of his head, for all the flesh had gone. There was nothing but yellow parchment-like skin, white hair, and the gaunt bones sticking up beneath.
“‘Water! for the sake of Christ, water!’ he moaned. I saw that his lips were cracked, and his tongue, which protruded between them, was swollen and blackish.
“I gave him water with a little milk in it, and he drank it in great gulps, two quarts or so, without stopping. I would not let him have any more. Then the fever took him again, and he fell down and began to rave about Suliman’s Mountains, and the diamonds, and the desert. I took him into the tent and did what I could for him, which was little enough; but I saw how it must end. About eleven o’clock he got quieter, and I lay down for a little rest and went to sleep. At dawn I woke again, and in the half light saw Silvestre sitting up, a strange, gaunt form, and gazing out towards the desert. Presently the first ray of the sun shot right across the wide plain before us till it reached the faraway crest of one of the tallest of the Suliman Mountains more than a hundred miles away.
“‘There it is!’ cried the dying man in Portuguese, stretching out his long, thin arm, ‘but I shall never reach it, never. No one will ever reach it!’
“Suddenly he paused, and seemed to take a resolution. ‘Friend,’ he said, turning towards me, ‘are you there? My eyes grow dark.’ “‘Yes,’ I said; ‘yes, lie down now, and rest.’
“‘Ay,’ he answered, ‘I shall rest soon, I have time to rest — all eternity. Listen, I am dying! You have been good to me. I will give you the paper. Perhaps you will get there if you can live through the desert, which has killed my poor servant and me.’
“Then he groped in his shirt and brought out what I thought was a Boer tobacco pouch made of the skin of the Swart-vet-pens or sable antelope. It was fastened with a little strip of hide, what we call a rimpi, and this he tried to loose, but could not. He handed it to me. ‘Untie it,’ he said. I did so, and extracted a bit of torn yellow linen on which something was written in rusty letters.
ShoRt ANSWER Questions
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Read the line before, of, and after the word ‘fowl’:
“…in front of the little tent I had with me, chewing the last leg of a miserable fowl I had bought from a native for a bit of cloth worth twenty fowls, and staring at the hot red sun sinking down over the desert…”
What do we chew a leg of? Chicken or Bird
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You’re looking for something that shows scarcity of resources or harsh climate.
“the last leg of a miserable fowl”
“hot red sun sinking down over the desert”
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Read the line before, of, and after the word ‘bilious’:
“His face was bright yellow with bilious fever, and his large, dark eyes stood nearly out of his head, for all the flesh had gone.”
Bright yellow skin with fever usually means a person is:
nauseous
sick/ ill
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Despondent means hopeless.
You’re looking for something that indicates there is no hope left for his survival or negative emotions he is feeling, such as:
“chewing the last leg”
“miserable”
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“bright yellow with bilious fever”
“cracked lips and swollen, blackish tongue”
Long ANSWER Questions
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4-marker framework:
✔ POINT:
The narrator realises Silvestre is definitely going to die.✔ EVIDENCE:
He describes Silvestre’s symptoms as so advanced, such as having:“nothing but yellow parchment-like skin.”
“swollen and blackish” tongue
✔ EXPLANATION:
This shows Silvestre is so weak and starved that recovery is impossible. The narrator accepts that there is no possibility of recovery.✔ EFFECT:
This makes the reader understand the inevitability of his death and feel the narrator’s helplessness. -
4-marker framework:
✔ POINT:
The novel is set in Africa, potentially in the South.✔ EVIDENCE + ✔ EXPLANATION:
The narrator states:“bought from a native for a bit of cloth…” This suggests a colonial African environment.
“Boer tobacco pouch made of the skin…” connecting the setting to South Africa, where Boers historically lived.
“Sable antelope” are usually found in Africa.
✔ EFFECT:
These infer to the reader the setting in which the narrator is through items, animals and interactions around him. -
This is ‘first-person narrator’ question which commonly comes up in Habs Comprehension.
✔ POINT:
Rider Haggard involves Quartermain directly by making him the first-person narrator, allowing the reader to experience events as he does.
✔ EVIDENCE:
He participates in the action by sending a hunter to rescue Silvestre and personally caring for him, as seen in, “I took him into the tent and did what I could for him…”
✔ EXPLANATION:
This places him physically and emotionally at the centre of the scene.
✔ LANGUAGE:
This is done through use of emotive quotations, that evoke empathy.
✔ EFFECT ON READER:
This creates immediacy, as we witness Silvestre’s suffering through Quartermain’s eyes. It also builds trust in his judgement because we see his compassion and practicality in his care.
✔ REASON (AUTHORIAL PURPOSE):
The author ultimately wants the reader to feel more invested in both the mystery of the map and Quartermain’s future journey.
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✔ POINT:
Haggard presents Silvestre as fragile, desperate, and doomed.
✔ EVIDENCE + ✔ EXPLANATION:
His body is described as “nothing but yellow parchment-like skin… and gaunt bones,” creating a vivid image of extreme starvation.
His emotional desperation appears when he cries, “Water! for the sake of Christ,”
Despite his weakness, he is also determined and purposeful: he insists on giving the narrator the map, saying “I will give you the paper.”
✔ LANGUAGE:
This is done through juxtaposition of similes indicating his hopeless physical state paired with his powerful dialogue which conveys determination an incredibly high level of determination.
✔ EFFECT ON READER:
This language makes the reader feel the physical agony and religious pleading of Silvestre’s, thus grasping that his insistence to pursue this path is a final act of courage.
✔ REASON (AUTHORIAL PURPOSE):
Silvestre is ultimately portrayed as tragic yet noble, making the reader want to learn more about the map which drove him to this state.
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a) extracted (1 mark)
Pulled out / removed.
b) rimpi (2 marks)
A strip of animal hide used as a fastening.
c) loose (2 marks)
To undo / unfasten.
d) sable (3 marks)
A type of antelope (its skin forms the pouch).
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Haggard creates suspense and mystery through Silvestre’s final vision.
His dramatic cry, “There it is!” draws attention to a distant landmark (mountains) which instantly raises questions about what lies there. The repetition in “never reach it, never” intensifies the tension by suggesting the goal is both important and almost impossible.
The fact that Silvestre dies moments after revealing the map adds a sense of destiny and unfinished business. The reader feels compelled to discover why the mountains matter, what secret they hold, and whether Quartermain will succeed where Silvestre failed.
This blend of foreboding, mystery, and adventure creates a powerful narrative hook.