'Greeting, Inkulu!' I said in Kaffir, as if I had been one of his indunas.
He turned his head and slowly and painfully rose to his feet.

The place, it was clear, was lit from without, and the daylight was growing.

The wall of the river had become a sheet of jewels, passing from pellucid diamond above to translucent emerald below.

A dusky twilight sought out the extreme corners of the cave.

Laputa's tall figure stood swaying above the white ashes, his hand pressed to his side.
'Who is it ?' he said, looking at me with blind eyes.
'It is the storekeeper from Umvelos',' I answered.
'The storekeeper of Umvelos',' he repeated.