The Eldorado of the Ancients - Forgotten Books

T H E E L D O RAD O

OF THE ANCIENTS

DR . CARL PETERS

1 HOR I"

NEW LIGHT ON DARK AF RICA,"

K ING sommo n s GOLDEN ormn .

“TH E G ERMAN EAST AF RICAN PROTECTORATE, F TC ETC .

W ITH TWO MAPS AND N INETY-S FV FV l LL l'

STR -QTIONS

F ROM OR IG INAL DRA\V l h ( ) m'

I u“

(1 f an: Pfiaiagt'

ap J

L on d o .

C . Ar t"qr P e a r s o n in n .

0 t'

a Street

T H E E L D O RAD O

OF THE ANCIENTS

DR. CARL PETERS

AUTHOR OF

“NEW L IGHT ON DARK AF RICA,

”K ING SOLOMON ’

S GOLDEN OPH IR“TH E G ERMAN EAST AF RICAN pROT ECTORAT E,

”ETc . , ETC.

WITH TWO MAPS AND N INETY-SEVEN IL LUSTRATIONSFROM OR IGI NAL D RAW INGS BY TENNYSON COLE

a nd from P/zofograp/zs

Lon donC . A r thu r P e a r s o n L t d .

Hen rietta Street

Con ten ts

INTRODUCTION

MY CALL TO OPH IR .

EARLY EXPLORAT I ONS

AMONG TH E MAKALANGA

SPR ING ON THE ZAMBES I

THE KINGDOM OF MACOMBE

ANC I ENT RU INS IN INYANGA

IN THE HEART OF MAN I CALAND

SUNSH INE AND STORM

BY Ox- W AGGON ON THE SAB I

AMONG B IG GAME

THE GOLD OF OPH I R

THE‘ERYTHREAN W ORLD BEFORE THE T IME OF

SOLOMON

THE GOAL OF THE OPH I R VOYAGES

AN ANC I ENT ELDORADO

GOAL O F THE VOYAGE S TO PUNT

CONTENTSCIIAP

'

IER

XVI. CONNECT ION W I TH ANC I ENT EGYPT .

XVII. THE FUTURE O F ANCI ENT OPH IR

XVI I I . ADVANCE O F TH E W H ITE RACE

XIX. M INES,RAI LWAYS

,AND HARBOURS .

APPEND IX

A F IND O F CO INS

INDEX

MAPSCARTE DU ROYAUME DE CONGO Tofa cepage I

OUTL INE MAP OF DR . PETER S’ ZAMBES IA EXPED IT ION S

v i

L ist Of Illustration S

PAG EDR . CARL PETER S F ron tz

’

sp z'

ece

ENTRANCE TO TH E LUPATATHE CH INDE SHOREAN IMA L L I FE ON THE ZAM BES I

TAK ING W OOD ON BOARD FOR FU EL

I NJA-KORO,FORT TA M BARA

M ITONDAENTRANCE THROUGH THE MUI‘RA STRAI TSRU INED W ALLS NEAR INJA-KA—FURA .

I NJ A -KA-FURA VALLEY,AS SEE N FROM THE RU INS

TENJ E H I LL

TENJ E STAT IONA ZAMBES I NAT I VE F I SH INGGOING DOWN -STREAM IN A HOUSE-BOAT

LUPATA STATI ONTELA STAT IONMR . TENNYSON COLE ON THE ZAM BES I

SPR ING ON THE ZA M BES I

AFTER A HEAVY DAY’S W ORK IN M I TONDAH IPPOPOTA M US SHOOT ING

vii

L I ST OF IL LU STRATIONS

THE HOUSE-BOAT AT RESTERNST GRAMANNCOOK ING THE D INNERTRAVELL ING IN A HAM M OCK

MAKA LANGA MA IDE N S CARRY ING W ATERA ZAM BES I POST M ANON GOOD TER M S W IT H MACOMBEA MAKALANGA COUNTRY BELLEGREETING MAKALANGAA FLOUR BASKET AND A BEER BARREL IN TH E LAN D O F

TH E MAKALAN GAD I STI LL ING NAT I VE BRANDYSENTRY-Box IN MAKALANGALAND

W ATER-HOLE IN MACOMBE’

S COUNTRY

CUNTETE AND PI SO , MACOMBE’S BROTHER S

CARL PETER S

HA I R -DRESS ING IN THE CAMPP IT-RU INS IN INYANGA

THE POL ICE CAMP AT INYANGA

THE OLD FORT AT INYANGA .

RHODES’

S FA RM, INYANGA

OUR STAT ION AT INYANGA

THE INYANGA POLI CE A M BULANCEOLD UMTAL IFORD I NG THE UMTAL I R I VERGRAN I TE FORMATION NEA R U M TAL IA V I LLAGE IN MA N ICA LA ND'

\NCIENT M I N I NG W OR KS IN PENHALO NGA VALLEY, M A N ICALA ND

MACEOUECE

LIST OF IL L USTRATIONS

DR . PETER S AND M . F AGOTTE

W ATERFALL ON THE MOLTKE M I N E .

FOREST ON TH E WINDAHGIL .

G I V ING OUT THE DAY’S RAT ION SIN CAMPPHCENICIAN GRAVESTONE IN MAN I CA LANDDOLCE F AR N I ENTE IN AFR I CA

OUR STAT ION AT THE WINDAHGIL

M IN ING HEADQUARTER S , MACEQUECEHERR B LOCKER

MELSETTER ROAD, NEAR UMTAL IF I V E M I LES SPRU IT (W I TWATER)ON THE ROAD TO THE SAB I .A W ATER FALL NEAR LONGDEN’S FAR M

A V I EW OF MELSETTER TOWNMELSETTERMELSETTER FARMBOER TRAP

,MELSETTER

B LOCKER W ITH H I S BAG

L ION-HUNTING

LEOPARD -HUNT ING

OLD RU INS AT MELSETTERA SCENE NEAR MELSETTER TOWNON THE OPH I R JOURNEYMASS OF ROCK FROM WH ICH TH E ANC IENTS EXTRACTED

GOLDAN OLD M INE W I TH CHARACTER I ST IC STONESA CON I CAL TOWER , Z IMBABWE

TUMBLEDOWN W ALLS,Z IMBABWE

OLD W ALLS, SHOW I N G TH E RE M A IN S OF A CH IM N EY

L I ST OF IL L USTRAT I ONS

RU I N S AT INS IGA (I.)

RU I N S AT INS IGA (IL)OLD RU I N S AT B U LAWAYOBR ING I NG TR IBUTE FRO M PUNT (from P rof. F /in cz

’crs P etrie

’

s

H ist0ry offi qypt”

)

SH I PS LADEN AT PUNT (fron z P rof F tin n’ers P etrie

’s“H istory

OfEgypt

F I LE-HOU SES O F PUNT (from P rof. F lin ders P etrie’s Hi story

ofEgjyfit

RECENTLY D I SCOVERED BUSHMEN’

S DRAW I NG (from F a ir

brinfgc’

s orifrin a t tracing in D r . P eters’

possession)

BUSHMEN’

S DRAW I NG, W I TH HA I R D RES SED IN EGYPT I ANFASH IO N (from F a iréricige

’s or igin a l tra cingT in D r . P eters

’

possession)

BUSHMEN’

S DRAW I NG , N EAR TSUNGUES I, IN MASHO NALAND(from origin a l tra cing in D r . Pctcrs

’

possession)

BUSHMEN’

S DRAW I NG (frmn F a ir/vi gc’s Origin a l tra cing in

D r . P cters’

possessian)

BUSHMEN’

S DRAW I NG ON A ROCKBUSHMEN

’

S DRAW I NG ON F I V E M I LE R I V ER,NORTH

SAL I SBURYEGYPT IAN F IGURE FOUND SOUTH OF THE ZAMBES ISAL I SBURY

,TH E CAPITAL OF RHODES I A

NEAR UMTALION THE MA SHONALAND RAI LWAYTHE HA ND RA I LWAY AT B E I RA

F ONTESVIL LA, ON TH E PUNGWE

CAPTA I N D’ANDRADE,D I RECTOR OF M I N ES

,MACEQUECE

PAGE

INTRODUCTION

N publ i sh ing th i s de ta i l ed accoun t Of explorat ion sand researches wh ich have o ccupied me from

1 896 t i l l Igo a , I i n tend to prove that the most anc ien tnat ions Ofh i s to ry Obta i ned the i r gold

,ivory

,and Other

prec ious goods from Sou th Afri ca . My d i scove r iesShow part i cularl y that the “Oph i r Of th e t ime Of

Solomon wa s th e coun try between the Lower Zambes iand the Limpopo Rive r, and tend to es tabl i sh the factthat the Egypt ian Pun t ” exped i t ions i n search forthe yel low metal , copper , frank i ncense , and many otherth ings were d i rected to the same regions .I n o rde r to grasp the ev idence I br ing forward

,the

reader must fol low me on my exped i t i on from theLower Zambes i to the Upper Pungwe , throughMa combe

’

s count ry (wh ich , I take i t , wa s th e empi reOf the fabulous Mon omo tapa Of th e s ix teen th cen tu ry),and from the Pungwe down sou th to the Sabi R ive r .Al l over th i s d is t r ic t we shal l find many ru i ns Of ananc ien t gold -m in i ng era , and remnan ts Of the Pun i cBaal -Ashera worsh ip partl y i n ex istence up to thepresen t day . I can certa in ly prove that th ree to fou rthousand years ago South Afr ica wa s i n regular commun ica tion with the E ryth rean and Med i te rraneanworld ; i n fact , that i t formed part Of th e great C i rcl eOf Pun ic en terpri ses Wh i ch reached from the Bal t i c

I B

INTROD UCTION

and the Sc i l ly I s lands to the Canar i es ; from Malaccato Bulawayo ; from Madagascar to Cors ica ; andwh ich i ncl uded at the same t ime the I nd ian Ocean ,th e Med i te rranean

,and th e Atlan t i c .

I n put t i ng forward my theory,I have to say that I

stand on the shoulders Of a great many explo rers andscholars who have mater ial ly con t r ibu ted to theev idence

,by which I hOpe to arr ive at a final con

clusion . Karl Mauch , Theodore Ben t w i th M r . Swan ,Dr . Eduard Glase r

,Professor A . H . K eane , Messrs .

Hal l and Neal,and many Others who are men t ioned

i n the fol lowi ng narrat i ve,have done much to place

the South Afri can Oph i r theory on a fi rm bas i s .Wh i l e i n t roduc i ng th i s book

,I th i nk i t al so right

'

tO

expla i n to a B ri t i sh publ i c why my quest was turnedfrom the field OfGerman colon ial en te rpri se i n Cen t ralEas t A fri ca

,wh i ch occup i ed me from 1 884 t i l l 1 896 ,

to th i s Sou th Afri can explo rat ion . I have not vol umta rily l e ft my Old work , nor wi th a l igh t heart , bu t wascompel l ed to do so .

I n March,1 896 ,

i n a th ree days ’ d i scuss i on i n theGerman D i et , origi nated by H err B ebel , the l eaderOf th e Soc ial Democrat i c party , I wa s accused Of

cruel t i es al l eged to have been commi tted agai ns tnat i ves i n the K i l imanjaro d i s t r i c t i n 1 89 1

—9 2 .

Al though the l eaders Of the Conse rvat i ve part i es ,among whom were Coun t Arn im -Muskau

,Herr vo n

Ka rdo rff, Baron von Manteuffel,Count L imbu rg

S t i rum , Coun t M i rbach , took my s ide most l oyal lyand emphat i cal ly , th e Rad ical s w i th the RomanCathol i c Cen t re carr i ed the day

,and the Governmen t

Of Pr ince HOhen t e- S chillingsf'

tirs t wi th Baron vonMa seba ll inst i tu ted an i nqu i ry

,a n d , i n 1 89 7 , an accu

sat ion agai ns t me fo r “misuse Of Offic ial power,”

i n

INTRODUCTION

consequence Of wh ich I l os t my commiss ion i n theGerman se rv i ce .

As I find that my Engl i sh fri ends have gene ral ly awrong idea Ofwhat real ly happened , I take th i s opportun ity Of lay i ng before B ri t i sh reade rs the facts Of thewhole case

,wh ich have been al ready set forth i n a

pamphl e t wh ich D r . Scharlach , Of Hamburg ,one Of

th e lead ing German lawye rs , has publ i shed under thet i tl e

,a Vertneiciign ng van D r . Ca r l P eters (

“ I nDefence Of D r . Carl PetersI n 1 89 1 I was appo i n ted by

' Ka iser Wil l i am I I .I mperial H igh Commiss i one r fo r the K i l imanjarod i s t r i c t OfGerman East Afri ca , and duly rece i ved ful lpowe r fo r prepari ng the formal annexat i on Of th iscoun t ry

,espec ial l y power over l i fe and death . At

that t ime a rebel l i ous exc i temen t spread general l yove r German Eas t Afri ca . The commander Of th eSchu tz t ruppe (mi l i ta ry protect i ng force), Baron von

Zelewski, wi th several hundred men , was ki l l ed by theWahehe t ribe . The commun icat i on between K i l imanjaro and th e coas t wa s , somet imes fo r weeks ,i n te rrupted by a rebel l i ous ch i e f i n the U sambaramounta i ns . I n consequence I proclaimed mart ial lawi n my d i st r i c t .NOW i n September , 1 89 1 , th e re happened several

bu rglari es i n my stat ion , the fts Of prov is ions, &c . ,

th eperpetrator Of wh ich cou ld no t then be found out .One n ight

,however , I heard a no i se i n the mess

room Of the Office rs , wen t ou t Of my bed room ,and

found that the messroom door had been fo rcedOpen .

I alarmed the s tat i on , and told the men that Iexpected the burglar to g i ve h imsel f up . Should hedo SO

,he would be len i en tl y deal t wi th , bu t i f not , I

INTRODUCTION

should have h im hanged for endangeri ng the l i fe o fwh i tes i n a state of mart ial law .

On the fol low i ng morn ing a care fu l exami nat i onwa s made , and i t appeared probabl e that the man haden tered a room next to the mess i n wh ich some femal ese rvants of the s tat ion sl ept . Whether th i s wa s real l yso has neve r been ascertai ned .

Afte r an i nqu i ry,wh i ch lasted t i l l th e begi nn i ng of

November , 1 89 1 , i t tu rned out that my own headservant , who had t ri ed to l ead my su sp i c ion to severalo thers , was h imsel f the crim inal . A court-mart ial ofth ree Offi ce rs , pres ided over by me , sen tenced h im tobe hanged , wh i ch sen tence was carr i ed out the sameday . I n th i s execu t ion I i n no way t respassed th epower of the commiss ion g iven me by h i s Maj estythe Emperor .I n February , 1 89 2 , i t was my unpl easan t duty to

o rde r a second execu t ion . I had i n my d i st ri c t s ixtyfive sold ie rs i n the m ids t o f a host i l e populat ion Of

abou t people . We had a s a ru l e more thanS i x ty Chai ned pri soners i n the stat ion w i th on ly abou tth i rty men of our m i l i tary force . Twice a week thesehard labou r cand idates were warned that an attempton the i r part to escape would be pun i shed by death .

TWO n igh ts be fore I l e ft the K i l imanjaro d is t r i c t totake charge of the newly -appo i n ted Anglo-Germanfront ie r commiss ion one of the women escaped frompr i son . Th is woman had to unde rgo s i x months ’

hard labou r for consp i racy w i th a rebel l ious Ch ie f.She was subsequen tly brough t back by the nat i veCh i e f, and a cou rt—mart ial dec ided that she shouldundergo cap i tal pun ishmen t

,in orde r to keep up the

general system of d isc ipl i n e i n ou r s tat ion . I pe rsonal ly voted agai ns t th i s dec i s i on

,but had i t carr i ed ou t

,

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INTRODUCTION

1 89 2 I had wri tte n a l e tte r to B i shop Tucke r ofUganda

,i n wh i ch I had admi tted hav i ng hanged my

se rvan t and my concub i ne fo r adu l te ry . Th is , th eGovernmen t declared , was a new fac t wh ich had notbeen known when I was twice acqu i t ted

,and so a new

i nqu i ry was orde red . Al though B ishop Tucker h imsel f declared that he had never i n his l i fe rece i ved anyle t te r from me

,and certa i n l y not the one refe rred to

by H err Bebel,and al though i t wa s cl earlyproved

that the accusat ion brough t aga ins t me by H err B ebeland othe rs wa s devo id of any sort o f foundat ion , i nasmuch as the two execut ion s wh ich had taken place onthe Kilima n tja ro had n o connect ion wi th one another ,i t was al l eged that six years prev iousl y I had “misusedmy offi c ial powe r . I was commi t ted for t r ial , andcondemned by a “Disc ipl in ary Cou rt ,

” and l os t mycommiss ion .

Th is,i n short

,i s the “Pete rs—case

,of wh i ch ,

however,the las t word has not ye t been heard .

Meanwh i le,i n 1 90 1 , H err Bebe l declared i n th e

Re ichs tag that as to the “Tucke r l e t te r he had been“myst ified by somebody whom he bel i eved at thet ime

,and that I had never wri t ten th i s l e t te r . We

have,moreover , found ou t that the ch i ef w i tness

again s t me befo re the d i sc ipl i nary cou rt i s al so thei nven tor of the s to ry of the al l eged l et te r to B i shopTucker . My lawyers are Of Op in ion that I may nowhave a case of consp i racy agains t th i s ca l umn iator ,whose gross l i e l ed to the th i rd i nqu i ry aga in st me .

I have founded German East Afri ca , and i f mycount ry has a colony on the eas te rn s ide of the I nd ianOcean

,i t is ow ing to my endeavou rs and exped i t i ons

from 1 884 till 1 890 . I am therefore conv i n ced thatmy count rymen wi l l l e t me have ampl e j ust i ce i n t ime ,

6

INTRODUCTION

and I hold to-day al ready very many proofs that th i si s the feel i ng and des i re among gen tlemen Of Germannat ional i tyS t i l l , i n 1 896 , d isgusted wi th the cou rse th i ngs had

taken , I re tu rn ed to London , and th rew mysel f i n tothe sol u t ion Of that ques t ion wh i ch i s treated i n th i sboo l ' I t remains fo r the reade r to dec ide how far Ihave been successful .I grate ful ly acknowledge that i n England I have

found encou ragemen t and support i n my task fromthe B r i t i sh South Afri ca Company

, a s wel l as fromind iv idual s . The coun try of Newton

,Carlyle

,and

Darwi n cannot bu t accept the great pri n c ipl e that i nsc ien t ific explorat ion and research the d i ffe rence Of

nat i onal i ty does not coun t . The company wh ichbacked my en te rpri se i s an Anglo -German conce rn ,wi th i ts seat i n London

,and my comrades i n Afr ica

duri ng the exped i t i ons wh ich have prov ided thematerial for th i s book we re part ly Engl i sh gen tl emenand partly German . The resul ts wh ich I here narrateare . there fo re , equal ly the property Ofboth nat ional i t i es .Should they mee t wi th the approval and arouse the

i n te res t Of competen t c ri t i cs i n Europe , I hope tocon t i n ue them at once i n South and Cen tral Afri ca .

CARL PETERS .

LONDON, August, 1 90 2 .

The Eldo ra do of the An cien ts

CHAPTER I

MY CAL L To OPH IR

N J une , 1 89 5 , I was potte ri ng abou t i n the l ib raryof a fr i end at B lumen thal

,on the Weser

,when I

chanced on an h is to r i cal a tla s i n seven vol umes ,en t i t l ed A tla s H istor ique , ouN ouvette In troductionci t

’

H istoire, (2 in C/i ron otogie, et (2 to; Geograp/zie

A n cien n e et M oder n e . Th i s atlas was publ i shed inthe ‘years 1 70 5

— 1 70 9 ,and came from the press of

L’

Hon oré and Chatela i n OfAmsterdam . I n add i t i onto an in te res t i ng se ri es of maps of the d i ffe ren tcount ri es and other i l lu s trat io ns

,i t con ta i ned an

accompany ing and wel l—wri t ten text,done i n the

Fren ch language . I n the s i xth volume of th i satlas I found a map of Afr ica wh i ch part i cularlyexc i ted my in te res t . Not on ly were the Congo R ive rand the Zambes i noted wi th some accuracy upon i t ,bu t i t al so con ta i ned a remarkably complete demarcat ion of the Portuguese se tt l emen ts i n Cent ral andSouthern Afri ca

,above all of the Portuguese gold

markets and gold -mi nes south of the Zambes i .A detai l ed explanatory tex t made my find doubly

9

M Y CALL TO OPHIR

i n te res t i ng. Th is explanat ion was wri t ten , as i sreco rded i n the preface to the s i x th vol ume , byMons ieu r de Geudeville . I fancy that the map musthave been made e i ther by the cel ebrated F renchgeographer De l’Isle h imsel f, or el se by one of h i spup i l s . I t has many s im i lari t i es w i th the recogn i sedDe l

’

Isle map of Afr i ca i n sect ions,as i t wa s known

at tha t day,and resembles i t al so i n its general

Characte r,on ly i t is r i che r i n en tr i es . I would cal l

i t a completed map by De l’Isle .

This i s the most comprehens i ve and the mos t exac tof the old maps of South Afr ica that are known tome , and I cons ide red i t worth wh i l e to republ i sh i ti n 1 89 5 .

I The text i s,to al l appearances

,founded on

the descript ions—

ofPortuguese wri te rs of the s i x teen thand seven teen th cen tu ri es (De Barros , De Coutos ,Dos Santos , and on the reports of the Domi n i canand J esu i t m iss ionaries

,who had developed a l i vely

act i v i ty on the Congo Ri ver , and , more espec ial ly , i nth e Zambes i d i s t r i c ts .I n the cou rse of the researches wh ich were i nc iden tal

to the publ i cat ion Of th i s map , I was natural l y l ed tocons ider the Oph i r -probl em wh ich has occup ied theheads of geographers and h is tor ian s fo r more thantwo thousand years . Not only had the Portugueseconqu i s tadors

,whose act i v i ty wa s the fon s et or igo of

th i s geograph i cal work,themsel ves thought to have

d iscovered i n the Zambes i regions the goal of theSolomon ic voyages to Oph i r ; bu t on the map i tsel f Ifound the fabulous Mount Fu ra regis tered wi th acerta i n ty wh ich must have i nduced me to fol low thematte r th rough .

I Equa toria l an d South Africa a s depicted in 1 7 1 9 : The Con goR iver a n d the

“Grea t Fo rest ” 1 6 3 yea rs before the i r discovery byS tan ley. Ophir an d the Po rtugu ese go ld-min es o n the Zamb es i .

IO

M Y CALL TO OPH IR

The name Fu ra,as the Portuguese au tho rs s tated ,

was a corrupt ion o f the word Afur , or Aufur , bywh i ch Arab ian traders cal led the moun ta in . Afir ,

however,was

,as I was taugh t by the A rab i sts

,th e

South—Arab ian form Of th e H ebrew word Oph i r .Was not here a poss ibl e s tart i ng-po i n t towards asol ut ion Of th e Oph i r problem ? The en try on themap

,as well as the descript ion i n the le tte r-press ,

gave the impress ion of real i ty . Here was ce rtai n lyno quest ion of one of th e numerous myths wh ichcharacter i se th e h is to ry of Afr i can geography . Byal l appearances

,eve ryth ing res ted on rel iable h i sto r i cal

sou rces .I the refo re began to occupy mysel f se riously wi th

the Oph i r probl em from the year 1 89 5 , and i n thecou rse of my stud ies th e conv i c t i on fo rced i tsel f uponme that the word Afir has been preserved to ourown day i n the name of the con t i nen t , Africa .

I TheRomans l earn t to know the name Afir from theCarthagin ian s i n North A fri ca . They formed theadj ect i ve Africus from i t and the names Terra Afri caand Afri ca . The progress ion

,Afi r

,Afer , Africus ,

Terra Afri ca , and Afr ica , as showing the developmen tOf our des ignat ion for the dark con t inen t

,i s an

al together natural one,and effec t iv ely d isposes Of two

geograph ical probl ems i nasmuch as,on the one s ide ,

i t offers the long-sough t deri vat ion of the word Afri ca ,and on the Other , i t tu rns the t reatmen t of the Oph i rproblem towards a set tl ed d i rec t ion . I s Oph i r or Afirthe Old Semi t i c name for the con t i nen t of Afr ica i ngeneral , so mus t the Oph i r o f the Solomon ic age besough t for i n th i s con t i nen t ; and i f, as stated by theArabians , Fura on the Zambes i was the name that is

1 Compare Chapter V I I .

1 1

MY CALL TO OP H IR

st i l l preserved from the Oph i r of the Old Testamen t ,i t wa s natu ral that my glance Should be tu rned i n th i sd i rec t i on when t ry i ng to gathe r further tes t imony .

Thus far d id my s tud ies of the year 1 89 5 carry me ,wh ich I se t down i n my book

,K ing S olomon

’

s

Golden Op/z ir .

By th i s t ime Mauch’

s and Ben t ’s d i scoveri es ofanc ien t ru i n s i n Matebel e and Mashonaland had gi vena ve ry sol id foundat ion to al l Oph i r research . I t wasthese d iscove ri es wh i ch gave the impetus wh i ch ,accord ing to Ri t te r, the South Afri can Oph i r theoryhad always lacked — namely , a real foundat ion and onebased on anc ien t records

,fo r the assumpt ion that

H i ram and Solomon may have sen t the i r flee ts toSou th Afri ca . I n these ru i ns we had the proof thato ld South -Arab ian se tt l ements had ex i s ted i n SouthAfri ca , and the repeated occurrence of th e namesSabi , Rusap i , &C. ,

po i n ted pla i n ly to the fact thatthese se t t l emen ts were spec ial l y related to Sabaeanen te rpri s es . One can hardly expla i n th i s mul t i formrepet i t i on of a name—sound

,to wh ich I shal l have to

re turn , i n any othe r way . From th is i t comes thatone of the gates of en try to th i s anc i en t region ofru i ns and m ines s t i l l bears the name Sofala o rSofara

,a name whi ch is to be sought for i n the

Egypt ian prefix S a ,

” mean ing “land , and Ofa ra orO fer

,the Semi t i c word w i th wh i ch we are concerned .

I t i s probabl e that th i s name had , at the t ime of thet ranslat ion of the S eptuagi n t , al ready d i splaced thegeneral use of the old fo rm

,Oph i r .

To these ph i lol og ical and general h i s to rical reasonsnow came as an essen t ial impulse the added fac t thatthe te rri to ry i n ques t ion was year by year prov i ngi tse l f more a land of gold i n the ful les t mean ing of the

1 2

MY CAL L TO OPH IR

Pou r déc ri re par o rd re la s i tuat ion e t la d i spos i t iondes habi tat ion s Portugai ses

, et donner une idée desFo i res ou Ma rches d ’or , supposons que nous en tronspar la Barre de Luabo jusques a l

’

Ha b ita tio n de Sena ,il y a 60 l i euses . Toutes le s te rres qu i son t aubordde la R iv i e re , appart i ennen t a l a Couronne dePortugal . Les J esu i tes on t deux Paro i sses a Luabo ,e t une autre a Gombe qu i n ’est pas élo ignée de S én a .

Cette Hab i tat io n de Sena , s i tuée dans le Royaumed

’

Inhamoy, a son Egl i se Cathéd ral e , la M iséri co rde , leCouven t de S t . Domin ique , e t l a res id en ce de laCompagn ie de j ésus fondée dans le meme l i eu , oul ’ond épeco it e t l

’on ven do it autre fo i s la Chai r h umai ne . Il

peut y avo i r 30 Fami l l es Portugai ses , e t nugrandnombre de Ch ré t iens duPays de Sena j usques a Té téqu i es t la seconde Habi tat ion des Portuga i s . I ] y aauss i so i xan te l i eues de Pays dans ce d is tri c t : l es

jesu i tes en on t une s itue’

e dans le Pays de la Chemba ,e t une aut re dans le Ma ra ngué . l l y peut avoi r dansTété 1 5 ou 2 0 Fami l les Portuga ises , une Egl i sePa ro issa le de Rel igi eux Domin i cai n s , une residen ce

de la Compagn i e de J esus et un bon nombre deNatu rel s batises .

Nous en t re rons ensu i te dans le vas te Royaume deMumbay

,Pat r imo i ne duMo n opo tapa ,

don t les Paysqu i son t l es pl us avancés dans les te rres s

’

appellen t

Mocra nga ; e t ceux qu i son t pres de la Riviére

Botonga . E n n a vigea n t donc de Tété 30 l i eues enremon tan t la Riv iere , on rencon t re un roche r qu ioccupe et t rave rse tou te ce t te Ri v iere , e t qu i empéchele passage des Vai sseaux . On peu t néanmoinsvoyager le l ong de ce fl e uve par un grand chemi nroyal , par l equel , du temps de F ranco i s Barre to ,prem ie r conquéran t d es mines , d i x Portuga i s a lléren t

I4

MY CAL L TO OP H IR

pour en découvri r l a sou rce,don t i l s n e pu ren t r i en

apprendre .

Entre l es Fo i res ouse fa isoit la t ra i te d’

o r, l aprem iere qu i n e subs i s te pl us , éto it un l i eu appelé ,Lua n z e , élo igné de Tété de 3 5 l ieues ducoté duSud ,ent re deux pet i tes Ri v ieres qui se j o ignen t en une ,l aquel l e prend le nom de Manzoro et se j et te dans leZambese . Il y a vo it dans ce tte Fo i re u ne Egl i se deRel igi euses de S t . Domin ique . El l e a bo n do it envaches , poul es , buerre e t r i s . 11 y a quan t i té debonnes fonta i nes qu i arrosen t cet te con t rée e t l aren den t fort sai ne , comme son t toutes l es Terres deMocra nga .

“La seconde Fo i re éto it cel l e de Bocuto a t ri e zeli eues de Lua n z e en l igne dro i te : sa s i tuat ion é toitentre deux pet i tes Riv ieres qu i se déchargen t dans leManzoro

,a demi - l i eu e de l’ha bita tion . On porto it

beaucoup d ’o r a ce t te Fo i re , ou l’

on trouvo it auss iquan t i té de raffra ichissemen ts , d

'

herbages e t de fru i ts ,et OiI il y avo it une Egl i se de Rel ig i eux Dom in i ca i ns .A 50 l i eu es de Té té a 1 0 l i eues de Bocuto et dem i

j ou rnée de la R iv iere de Ma n soro es t le bourg deMassapa

,qu i étoit anc iennemen t l a pri nc i pal e Fo i re

c ’est encore auj ourd ’hu i l a residen ce d'

un Capi tai nePortugai s qu ’on nomme le Capi ta i n e d es Portes , acause que de la en avan t dans Ie Pays on t rouve lesm ines d ’

Or. Les Domi n i ca i ns y on t une Egl i se deNotre Dame duRosa i re . Tous les Portugai s dansce t empi re on t le pri v i lege de prendre la qual i té deFemmes de l’Empereur ; et meme ce pri n ce appel l e leCapi ta i ne d es Portes sa grande femme . Cet Officierest honoré de ce t i t re par l es Cafres : j usques a

presen t il me s’es t t rouvé personne qu i a i t puexpl ique r

ce que c ’es t ce Pr iv i lege .

1 5

MY CALL TO OP H IR

Aupres de ce l i eu es t la grande mon tagn e de Fu rat res r i che en or , e t il y en a qu i prétenden t que ce

nom de Fura v ien t par corrupt ion dumot Ofir. Onvo i t encore auj ou rd ’hu i dans cette im o n tagn e desence i n tes de p ie rre de ta i l l e

,de la hauteu r d ’un

homme , en cha ssées les u ne dans l es au tres , avec unart ifice admi rabl e , san s y avo i r de Chaux , et sans et ret ravai l l ées au p ic . C

’

éto it apparemmen t - dans cesence intes oh d émeuro ien t les J u i fs de la Flote deSalomon Depu i s ce temps - la l e s Maures duran tpl us i eu rs S iecl es , on t été l es mait res de ce commerce .

C’

est en tre cet te montagne que passe la R i v iere deDamba ra ri vers le Nord . Ces deux Foi res on t étédétru i tes par le Général Gam i ra , cafre , qu i se soul evaaumois de Novembre 1 693 ,

avec ce tte d ifference quel es hab i tan ts de L o ngoe ,

tan t Portugai s que Ca n a rin s ,

eu ren t le temps de s e sauver e t"

echa pperen t ; ma i sceux de Damba ra ri, qu i voulu ren t se montre r pl uscou rageux pér i ren t tous en se defen da n t . C

’

est ai ns ique tou tes ces Foi res a I

’

Or,que l es Portugai s ava ien t

é tabl ies dans la Mo cra nga duran t un S i l ong espaced

’

a n n ées,on t été ru in ées tou t d

’

un coup ; pour vengerle to rt e t les i nj us t i ces qu

’

ils a vo ie n t fa i tes auxempereu rs de Mo n opo tapa ,

qu i l es a voien t touj ou rsrecus e t t ra i tés commes l eu r en fan tes ; ou b ien ,su ivan t qu

’

ils s’en expl iquen t eux -memes , a cause que

l eu rs femmes ma rquoien t um peu t rop d’

amitiés auxEt rangers .“F i fty leagues from Tété

,ten l eagues from Bocuto ,

and hal f a day ’s j ourney from the R ive r Ma n soro ,i s

th e fort of Massapa,wh ich used to be the pri nc ipal

gold market . I t i s s t i l l to -day t he res idence of aPortuguese capta in

,whom they cal l the Capta in of the

Gates,because from there onward i n the coun try one

1 6

M Y CALL TO OPH IR

finds the gold -mines . The Domin icans have the re achurch of Notre Dame duRosai re .

“Near th i s place i s th e great moun ta i n o f Fu ra ,

very ri ch i n gold , and there are people who say thatth i s name ‘Fura ’ i s a co rrup t ion of the word Ofir.

One sees to-day st i l l i n th i s moun ta in wal l s o f cyclopean s tones

,o f the he igh t of a man , fixed together

wi th an admi rabl e art , wi thou t mortar and wi thoutbe i ng worked w i th a pi ck . I t was apparen tly wi th i nthese wal l s that th e J ews of th e navy of Solomonstayed . S ince that t ime the Moors have , duri ngseveral cen tu r ies

,been mas te rs of th i s (gold)com

merce . Past th i s moun ta i n the r i ver of Damba ra ri

flows to the north . These two markets were destroyed by the Gene ral Gami ra , a K a ffi r

,who rose i n

the month of Novembe r, 1 693 , wi th th i s d i ffe rence ,that the i nhab i tan ts of L o ngoe ,

Portuguese as wel l asCa n a rin s , had t ime to save themselves and escaped ,bu t those of Damba ra ri, who wished to Show themsel ves more courageous , al l pe ri shed wh i l e defend ingthemsel ves . S O was i t tha t al l the gold marketswh ich the Portuguese had es tabl i shed i n theMocra nga du ri ng such a long space of years weredest royed at a blow .

”

My readers wi l l find , i n th e cou rse of th i snarrat i ve , that th i s report , wh ich reads so mys

teriously, yes , almos t a s someth ing fabulous,is

founded i n eve ry part i cu lar on geograph ical fac ts .

I t has been my gu ide to the Fura d i s t r i c t . HereI wi l l on ly remark that the person s men t ioned i n thereport who agreed that Fu ra was a corrupt ion o f theword Oph i r , were the Portuguese wr i te rs , who hadrece i ved th i s i n te rpretat ion from the Arabian t radersof the i r day . Thus De Coutos says d i rect l y

I 7

M Y CALL TO OPHIR

The ri chest m ines are those o f Massapa,where

they show the Abyss i n ian m i ne from wh i ch theOn ee n of Sheba ext racted the greate r part o f thegold wh i ch she bes towed on Solomon ’s temple . Andi t i s Oph i r, for the Kaffi rs cal l i t F ur and the ArabsAfur . The ve i ns of gold are so th i ck that they pu tforth such a s trength a s to ra is e the roots of the t reesby two feet .Al l reports connec t the m ines of Fura w i th the

place Massapa . I have arr i ved at the concl us ion thatthe name Massapa origi nated from the word Massabath rough a sl igh t consonantal t ransmutat ion

,j us t as

the r iver Sab i i s t rans fo rmed i n to the Rusap i in oneof i ts Ch ief t r ibu tari es . (Ru or Lu i s a Bantuprefixand s ign ifies a r i ver.) We have thus i n Massapa al sothe vocal sound that we la id down i n Sabi .On a fu rther pursu i t of the matte r I found that al l

reports agreed as to the weal th of the Fura d is t r i c t .Thus the Decca d a of Anton io Boccaro (p . 5 86)relates : “ I t is remarkable to Observe wi th what awonderful profus ion natu re br i ngs forth and producesthe metal . I t is wel l known

,and we have i t from

cred i tabl e w i tnesses , that i n the S erra da Fura overworth of gold was taken from a quarry in

qu i te a shor t t ime . I n some parts nuggets of v i rgi ngold worth £400 were found on the su rface , andseveral worth 5This no te i n the Decca d a ,

together wi th the onequoted above

,made me wonder whethe r also from

the material po i n t o f v iew i t m igh t not repay one torev i s i t th i s E ldorado of the oft ~men tio n ed Fu ra .

Where,however , was Moun t Fu ra , as the Engl i sh

cal led i t , or la grand e mon tagne de Fura , a s i t wasnamed i n my old at las , or “Serra da Fura , as the

1 8

MY CAL L TO OPH IR

Portuguese wri te rs had i t,to be found ? On

S tanford ’s map of 1 896 the problem seemed to beal ready sol ved ; fo r the re i t wa s en te red i n Mashonaland as Moun t Darwin . But i f Moun t Darwi n wa s

the Old Moun t Fura of our map , e i the r there must bea great deal of gold i n i ts v i c i n i ty , or I mus t concl udethat the old reports we re en t i re l y con trad ictory , andtha t

'

the whole th i ng ,the refore

,wa s a myth . On

S tan ford ’s map o f the year 1 899 th e iden t ificat ion ofMount Fura as Moun t Darwi n had been droppedagain

,but

,i n place of that

,Old Fort Fura w i th

Damba ra ri were pushed a good p iece forward towardsthe north -west . B ent

,as wel l as Theal , l e t them

sel ves be gui ded by th e r i ver de Manzoro , orMa n z ovo ,

wh ich,wi thout more ado , they iden t i fy

wi th the Mazoe River of to day . Th is seemed atfi rs t very plaus ibl e

,and for a long t ime I adopted th i s

hypothes i s,but In sp i te o f the en t i c i ng con form i ty of

sound th i s i n te rpre tat ion is a fal se one , as any readerwho has careful ly compared the old chart w i th themodern map of Zambes ia w i l l a t o n ce d i scove r . Wehave one po in t on both wh i ch we can locate exactly ,and that is the Lupata Gorge . Th i s gorge was wel lknown to the old Portuguese t ravel l ers who j ou rneyedto Tete . They erroneously connec ted th e moun tai nrange

,thro ugh wh ich the Zambes i th ere breaks its

way,wi th the slopes of Mashonaland and Man ica

land . Th is wa s because th ey kept to the Z ambes iR i ve r

,and th is impress ion i s l e ft when one sa i l s up the

r i ver . The en t ry of the Lupata range towards thenorth and sou th i s even on ou r map st ri k ingly s im i la rin appearance

,j udged from the po i n t of V i ew of th e

ri ver voyage r .But even i f these Old geographers were not qu i te

2 0

MY CALL TO OP H IR

fo r themsel ves,they wi l l find that the i n fo rmat i on

gi ve n exceeds cons ide rably the en t ry of Moun t Fu ra .

F i rs t,i t i s not i ceabl e that the lands of Mo n omo tapa

a re l ocated much fu rther eastwards than mos t autho rit i es assume them to be s i tuated . No doubt thatwh ich i s en te red on the old maps as the Lupata range ,runn ing s tra igh t th rough South Afri ca , i s merely theslope of the great tabl eland wh i ch runs to the southfrom Mashonaland by way of the T ransvaal andOrange S tates . Mo n omotapa

’

s te rr i to ry i s l ocated tothe eas t of th i s zone . I n real i ty i t is i den t i cal w i thMa combe

’

s land o f to-day . The real s i te of Monomotapa

,whi ch modern explorers l ook for i n the Z imbabwe

Of Ben t , is placed on ou r map north - east of Man icaland . Th is map has

,as we have seen , been re fu ted

by Portuguese sou rces of i n format ion , our sol e gu idesto Mo n omotapa ; i t i s therefore a h igh ly importan th i sto ri cal documen t for the locat ion of th i s terr i to ry ,confi rmed mos t thoroughly by al l o ther accoun ts , aswe shal l see presen tly .

East of the border of th e tabl eland are the m ines of

Quiticui and those of B urro ; i n the lat te r name Iseemed at once to recogn i se the Barue

‘

or Barge ofto -day , and wi th i t th e presen t

'

Macombe - land . Tothe south -west the author of our map al ready knowsthe h ighlands of Man ica wi th its gold -m ines . I askedmysel f whether i t should be supposed that the en t ri eson the map of Fura

,Burro

,and Quiticui, were l ess

sol id ly founded on ascerta i ned fact than those ofMan i caland . That the lat te r we re correc t i n al l essent ial poi n ts we al ready knew i n 1 896. Would i t notrepay one to t ry and d i scove r th e whereabou ts of theother gold d i str i c ts men t ioned on th i s remarkablemap

p

22

MY CAL I.. TO OP H IR

I there fo re began by t ry i ng to ascerta i n , from theold report i n ou r map

,where

,i n the l igh t of ou r new

c ri t ical d i scove ry , th i s region , and espec ial ly Moun tFu ra

,should be looked for . I would make i t my

start i ng-po i n t,resol v i ng i n advance , however , to ex

tend my researches ove r th e whol e of th i s remarkabl eregion . or at l eas t ove r Man icaland . Nor would Iomi t the gold -mines of ou r map

,wh i ch are on the

fu rthe r s id e of the Lupata borde r , and must the re fo rebe sough t for i n the presen t Mashonaland .

To - these c ri t i cal dec i s i ons was now added the veryweigh ty facto r that I nja-ka -Fura

,even to th i s day ,

belongs to the terr i to ry of Macombe,the ch ie f o f th e

Makalanga , and the re fore , exact l y to the s t r ip of landwhere the Portuguese conqu i s tadors sough t fo r andul t imate ly found the gold moun ta i n Fura .

How , then , could I have been i n doub t as to thes tart i ng-poi n t o f my voyage o f d i scove ry ? Up theZambes i I mus t t ravel as fa r as the easte rn en t ry i n tothe Lupata gate , and from the re I mus t look around .

The furthe r course of th i s en terpr i se was se t tl ed i nadvance . I t was necessary to t raverse the actualk ingdom of Mo n omo ta pa , or , as I al ready knew i n1 897 , Ma combela n d . Then the easte rn decl i v i ty ofthe South Afri can tabl eland would have to be ex

plo red , and , i n any case , Man icaland wa s necessaryas a base for the pract i cal work of prospect i ng . Forhere d i scovery had gone a good deal furthe r thangeneral i sat ions . Here , more pract i cal l y , i t could confine i tsel f to the open ing up of s i ngl e gold -field s .

Thus there fo rmed i n my mi nd , duri ng the years1 89 7

— 1 898 , th e comple te plan of a new Sou th A fr icanvoyage of d i scove ry . My next s tep was to foundWi th several fr i e nds a “D r . Carl Pe ters ’ Estates and

2 3

MY CAL L TO OPH IR

Explorat ion Company , i n o rde r to procu re the n eces

sary financ ial foundat ion for the en te rpri se . True,we

al l knew that such an undertak ing took some t ime to

ge t on i ts fee t , wa s rathe r a long winded affai r , andthat one cou ld not expec t any pract i cal resul ts betweento day and to morrow . I mysel f was conv i nced thatsometh i ng more than an exped i t ion wa s wanted forme i f my programme wa s to be carri ed out i n i tsen t i re ty . The scheme was a dari ng one

,but i t wa s

not the fi rs t t ime that I had at tacked a s im i laren terpri se .

By the end of 1 898 the preparat ion s i n Eu ropewere completed , and on J anuary 2 1 , 1 899 ,

I t ravel l edfrom - London to Southampton to embark for SouthA fr ica on the H awa rclen Ca stle. On February

9 th I was i n Cape Town . Thence I t ravel l ed vici

J ohannesburg,Bulawayo

,and Sal i sbu ry

,where I had

to concl ude some importan t bus i ness arrangemen tswi th the B ri t i sh South Afr i ca Company , to B e i ra ,where I ar ri ved on March 1 5 th . H ere I gatheredtogether the gen tl emen I had al ready engaged for myexped i t i on

,and wi th whom I arr i ved on March 2 8 th

at Ch i nde,th e new harbou r at the mouth of the

Zambes i .My mind was exc i ted to the u tmost by th e in te rest

i ng task that lay before me . Let us t ry to sol ve theold r iddle of Oph i r ove r wh ich scholarsh ip has broodedfo r thousands of years ! Let us see i f we can succeedi n acqu i r i ng fo r oursel ves some of its hal f- l egendarytreasu res ! Let us fol low the old t races of the Portu

guese conqu i stadores of the s i x teen th cen tu ry ! Aswi th Baret to , so al so wi th us th e sol ut ion l i es ups t ream on the Zambes i .

24

CHAPTER I I

EARL Y EXPLORAT IONS

E 'were to begi n ou r at tack on th i s old land o fruins s tart i ng from the mou th of the Zambes i

,

wh ich , apparen t ly , was even i n the remotes t t imes ah igh - road i n to the i n te r io r . I w i l l endeavou r to showlater on that the Rhapta of the P er iplus M a r is

E rytnra ei, a descr ipt ion of the East Afr i can coastdat ing from the fi rs t centu ry A.D .

,was most probably

our Quilima n e on the most northern es tuary of th eZambes i . Thus far

,the refore , there ex i sted two

thousand years ago a regular t rad i ng in te rcou rsefrom the Med i te rranean bas in , that wi thou t quest ion ,deri ved its ch ie f support from the products o fZambes ia .

To -day Quilima n e has los t th i s importance,because

the northern estuary of the Zambes i i s choked w i thsand . Ch inde , at the mouth o f the nav igabl e Ch i ndeRi ver

,has taken i ts place . From here several r i ve r

steamboat compan ies carry on the t raffi c to theNyassa regi on on the one hand , up the Zambes i onthe othe r . Eigh t o r n i ne mon ths of the year theri ver i s open to steamers . I n the d ry season

,from

the m iddl e of S eptember t i l l towards the end o fDecember

,th e t raffic above the Sh i re estuary has to

be conducted by means of sa i l i ng and row ing boats .2 5

EARLY EXP LOR AT I ONS

Th is i s a great h i nd rance to t raffic,bu t i n j udging i t

one often forgets that the r i ve rs of the con t i nen t o fEurope are eve ry year closed by ice for almos t a s

l ong .

I a rr ived,then

,i n Ch i nde at the end of March , 1 899 ,

my i n ten t ion be ing to l ead st ra igh t up thence to theeaste rn en trv to the Lupata Gorge . We were , al ltold

,a party of s ix,

of whom I will only men t ion M r.Puz ey,

Herr Grama n n ,and H err vo n Napo lski.

Thanks to the k ind ass i stance of M r . Ed d elb'uttel, of

th e I n ternat ional F lot i l la and T ransport Company ,ou r preparat ion s were fin i shed i n a few days

,and we

were ready to proceed up- r i ve r on board the K ing , onApri l 3rd . I t wa s Easte r Monday of the year 1 899 .

My sat i s fac t ion wi l l be unders tood i f i t i s cons ideredthat we had to pack and load abou t fou rteen tons ofl uggage

,a weigh t that wa s caused ch iefly by the

i nst rumen ts and mach i nes belonging to the geologi calequ ipmen t .The whol e Eu ropean colony at Ch inde bade us

farewel l on the beach,as the K ing ,

i n a wide c i rcl e,

s teamed from port i n to th e Ch i nde River,and wi th

th ree chee rs and much wav i ng of hats we were sen ton our exped i t ion . We answered the fr i endly sal u tat i ons , and soon Ch i nde d isappeared beh i nd a corne rof the green -bordered r i ve r . Both i t s banks arecovered w i th mangrove bush ; Cl ear as a m i rro r itswate r fl oats beneath us i n the rays of the set t i ng sun ,on ly the stern -whee l at the back th rows up thegl i t te ri ng foam . B efore us the sky i s s lowly pai n tedi n al l the i nexpress ibl e colou rs and shades and tonesof a tropi cal sunse t , from bri l l ian t gold and flam ingred to dark v i ol et

,wh i l e fan tast i c groups and frag

men ts o f Cl ouds th row fa i ryl ike p i ctu res upon the2 6

EAR LY EXPLORATIONS

glowing background ; caves and val l eys are open ing ,

rocks and moun tai ns r i se,and st range ca s tles w ith

towers and windows charm the eye . I n man i foldwind ings th e Ch i nde R iver runs . We were s tand ingi n the fore of the sh ip and look i ng to the myster iousworld i n fron t of us

,wonderi ng what fate may bri ng

to al l of u s . S lowly the sun s inks , and n igh t fal l sover the world i n the bush hund reds of glow -wormsare flam ing , a n d above us the star-Spangled skyappears ; proud Orion , the Southern C ross , Castor

THE CH I NDE SHORE .

and Pol l ux , wi th red -glowing Mars above,Alpha and

Beta i n the sou th , and a l i t t l e late r J upi te r i n the east .and the G reat Bear i n the north are ri s i ng .

Then ou r amiabl e captai n,Mr . J ames Moore , comes

and i n forms us that d i nner i s ready i n a wel lappo in ted open saloon i t i s se rved on two tabl es .Bes ide s the gen tl emen of my exped i t i on , an Engl i shprospector

,who i s go ing to North Cha rterla n d ,

andthree Portuguese share i t . Abou t n i ne o ’clock

,wh i l e

we are st i l l at d inner , the K ing anchors for the n ight ,2 7

EARLY EXP LORATIONS

and we spend anothe r hou r over a c igar, a n d th en go

to sl eep i n ou r cab i ns .

The steam nav igat i on on the Zambes i as far as Tetei s open e igh t to n i ne mon ths i n th e year

,from th e end

of December un t i l th e m iddl e o f September . Duri ngth e other th ree mon ths and a hal f th ere i s no nav igabl e wate rcourse , So that i t i s on l y open up to theSh i re and Nyassa . Were the r i ve r properl yregulated , certa i n ly the whol e lower course would benav igable al l the year round up to Tete , as there i spl en ty of wate r i n the r i ve r at al l seasons . S uchregulat ion s I am sure wi l l not be effected befo re morereal i n teres ts are developed along the banks o f th es t ream t i l l th i s i s done , nav igat i on , owing to so manyshal lows , wi l l be poss i bl e by day l igh t on ly .

We ancho r regularly every even i ng t i l l th e d awnal lows us to proceed

,bu t al though the nav igat ion is

th us pract i cal l y l im i ted to abou t twel ve hou rs , andtwo heavy l igh te rs are fixed on the righ t and l eft ofthe s teamer on wh ich th e nat i ves and th e cargo areplaced , we st i l l do dai l y abou t s i x ty m i l es . Thesteamers are scarcel y i n fer i or i n comfort to anymodern ocean vessel

,and beat any pl easu re- s teamer

on the Rh i ne . . Duri ng th e day somet imes fl i esa re t roubl esome

,and i n the even ings mosqu i toes and

bee tl es bu t th e mosqu i to nets i n the cab in s are good ,and the cool sou th - east w i nds d r i ve the unwel comeguests from the quarte r -deck

,where I preferred to

sleep afte r the fi rs t n igh t .On the morn ing of Apri l 4th we ascend the r i ver i n

a chee rful mood . Towards e igh t o ’clock we l eave th eCh inde R ive r and steam in to the Zambes i proper ,wh i ch here has a wid th of abou t two m i l es . TheCh i nde R iver

,a s i s wel l known , i s rather a new mouth

2 8

EARLY EXPLORAT I ONS

i n the ri ch del ta o f th i s g igan t i c s t ream . At the spo twhere i t l eaves the Zambes i

,at the co rn e r o f a man

grove i sland , we are del igh ted by the gay play ofseve ral h ippopotam i .Hence we s team up the Zambes i i n a north

westerl y d i rect i on ; the landscape on both banks ofthe river i s a genu ine al l uv ial l owland

,th rough whi ch

the m igh ty s tream,wi th frequen t i s lands and channel s ,

winds i ts way slowly towards th e ocean . The wid thvari es from one to th ree m i les ; the banks are cove redwi th acac ias

,cot ton trees

,and groups of s i ngl e palms .

Among these the se t tl emen ts of the nat i ves a rescat te red

,on wh i ch ri ce

,ground nu ts

,mai ze and barl ey

are plan ted,wh ich now

,afte r the ra iny season , are

look ing fresh and green . On the banks and on th ei s lands flami ngoes , ducks , geese , and pigeons areseen i n the wate r he re and the re cl umsy h ippopotam ir i se

,or wh i te—grey fish j ump . F rom t ime to t ime

t runks of t rees o r en t i re i s lands of grass float pas t u s .They come from the Sh i re and Nyassa , says th ecaptain .

S O we go on al l day long, an d when t i red of look i ng

at the st range landscape we take a book to read , or apen to j o t down some notes i n the d iary , or to wri tea l e t te r .Afte r the sun had set , and wh i l e the red afte r-glow

is dyi ng , about a quarte r pas t s ix , we anchor near ani s land cal l ed Mquira , 7 5 m i les above the ou tl e t of theCh inde River . Our boys j ump ashore

,and soon the

camp fi res a re gl owi ng around us,on wh i ch they cook

the i r food fo r the even ing,and for the fol low ing

day .

At ten O’

clock th e boa t i s gathe red i n the s i l en ce ofn igh t . The character of the r i ver n ext day remain s

30

EARLY EXPLORATIONS

unchanged ; eve rywhere extens ive marshy plai ns .

Towards afte rnoon the sou thern banks ri se a l i tt l eh igher and more compact

,and abou t two o’clock we

anchor near the Portuguese Custom H ouse S tat ion ,Lacedon ia

,i n . orde r to arrange our Custom House

bus in ess . I t was here that L i v ings tone had to buryh is wi fe , the daugh ter of D r . Moffat . I th en marchedwi th Capta i n S i lve r and M r . l’uz ey i n land i n orde r totry our r ifles

,and had a walk w i th M r . Puz ey,

who

knows the coun try and th e people,to a nat i ve v i l lage

i n the ne ighbourhood,where we enj oyed a cup of

n igge r bee r . S trange i s the way the nat i ves salu teyou ; the men make th ree regular bows , at the sametime sc rap in g the ground wi th the i r r igh t and l eft fee tal ternately ; the g i rl s c ross the i r hands ove r the i rbosoms , and make a deep cu rtsey afte r the manne r ofLou i s X I V . Th is they have l earn t from the Portu

guese , who have been rul i ng here abou t fou r cen tu r ies .At five O

’

c lock we s team on and anchor near a b igv i l lage on the sou thern bank cal l ed Luare de Ramao

,

wh ich was formerl y the ch ie f marke t -place fo r sl avegi rl s on the r i ver .On Thu rsday the landscape i n the north undergoes

a Change more and more d is t i nct l y the Sh i re Mountains r i se on the hori zon

,i n part i cu lar the impos i ng

Ma rromba le , wh ich i s fou r thousand fee t h igh . I nthe sou th alluv ial depos i ts predom inate . The Sh i reMounta i ns are the sou the rn con t i nuat ion of the easte rnmarg i n o f the so -cal led “G reat East Afri can D i tch ,

”

wh ich s tarts from the Dead Sea,th rough the Red Sea ,

passes along Abyss i n ia,and th rough the whole

Afr i can Cont i nen t . I had crossed i t i n former yearson Lake Bar i ngo and i n Ugogo . The bottom of thed i tch

”

i s here seven m i les w ide,and the Sh i re runs

3 1

EARLY EXP LORAT I ONS

th rough i t . The wes tern margi n of the “D i tch”

is

formed by the Mgowe Mounta i ns , wi th i ts southerncon t in uat i on o f the Lupa ta s .

Geological ly speak i ng,I bel i eve that the whol e

te rr i to ry of th e Lower Zambes i,east of the Lupata

Gorge,was formerly a large s ea ,

wh ich ha s beenfi l l ed up i n thousands o f years by the Zambes i and theSh i re wi th al l uv ial depos i ts . Th is depress ion i sbo rdered on the sou th by th e h i l l y coun try of Gorongoza , and on the north -west by the plateaux ofCh i ramba and Tambara , th e r i ver-beds of th e Pompue

'

and the Muira , wh i ch slope down to the Zambes i bedi n te rraces . We anchored on Thursday even ing nearthe s tat ion of the Mozambique Company

,Morassa

,on

the sou the rn bank,and took fuel fo r ou r s teamer .

Thi s gave me another chance fo r a long wal k i n th ene ighbourhood , wh ich i s wel l cu l t i vated .

I n order to reach Morassa we had to pass th roughthe Lower Sh i re , and a new branch of the Zambes iwh ich had broken i n to the S h i re from the wes t . Th i scon t i n uous new format ion of ri ve r branches proves

,

more than any th ing el se , how young al l these al l uv ialdepos i ts real l y are . The d is tr i c t i s

,geologi cal l y

speak ing , j us t r i s i ng from the mud of the r i ver .Above Morassa, th reaten i ng c rowds of m i l l ia rds oflocus ts were hanging

,wh i ch dur i ng my walk were

j us t beginn i ng to set t l e l i ke a brown carpet ove r th ecoun try , to devour and destroy i n a short t ime grass ,l eaves , and the whole r i ch harves t .Up to Thursday period i cal ra i n fal l s had a ccom

pa n ied us . Friday morn ing I fe l t that we wereleav ing th i s ra i ny zone . I n br i l l ian t weather aj ourney o f e igh t hou rs brough t u s on to Muta ra re ,

as tat ion of the Companh ia da Zambes ia

,where I had

3 2

EARLY EXPLORATIONS

to arrange some bus i ness . Muta ra re has a lovelys i tuat ion at the foo t of the Mgowe Mounta ins , oppos i teSena ; i t s tands on sands tone l i ke a pen insula be tweenthe Zambes i and an outl e t from th i s r iver i n to theSh i re cal l ed the Zue-Zue The Zambes i

,very

cha racter i s t i c of th i s whole r i ve r system,sends here

a t ribu tary i n to one of i ts own t r i bu tari es .

TAK I NG \VOOD ON BOARD F OR FUEL .

Herr Mul l e r,the Ch ie f of the stat ion , rece i ved me

very k i ndly,and ou r bus i ness wa s soon se t tled sat i s

fa cto rily, so that we were abl e to leave at fou r o’

clock ,cross i ng th e r i ver to anchor near Sena .

Sena i s abou t two mi les from the presen t Zambes i .Four centu ries ago

,when i t was fi rs t seen by33 D

EAR LY EXP LORATIONS

Eu ropeans,i t was touched d i rec tl y by the r i ve r , so

that he re al so the re i s an absol ute Change of the r i ve rbed . To -day only one branch of the r i ve r , the S t .Paul wh ich has water i n the ra i ny season , reaches towi th in hal f a m i l e o f th e town .

As i t wa s five o ’clock when we anchored , I delayedmy V i s i t to the Governor t i l l n ext morn ing, but askedM r. Puz ey to row at once i n company wi th the capta into S ena

,i n orde r to make an appoi n tmen t for th i s

offic ial v i s i t . The two gen tl emen returned late atn igh t w i th a very fr i end ly i nv i tat ion from the Governor to lunch wi th h im at e l even o ’clock next morn i ng ,

fo r Captai n S i l ver , Mr . Puz ey,and mysel f. We

started at hal f-pas t seven fo r S ena i n order to have agood look at the i n te res t ing old place and its surround i ngs . Sena is s i tuated at the foot of a vol can i ch i l l ; the fo rt i s abou t 1 80 years old , and en t i rely i nthe s tyl e of ol d bu i ld i ngs of the las t cen tury al ong theEast Afri can Coast . I n th e town i s one bus i nesss t reet , wi th an al ley of acac ias i n its cen tre . I n S ena ,as always on the Zambes i , the Ba nja n s and I nd ian spredom inate . Near the n igge r V i l lage l i es the handsome Government bu i l d i ng , pa in ted wh i te w i th a largeveranda, underneath the h i l l .The Commandan t o f S ena , Senhor P in to Basto ,

rece i ved us w i th the greates t co rd ial i ty,and our

bus i ness wa s soon happi ly arranged,for I have

always rece i ved from the Portuguese offic ial s , i nMacequece as i n Ch i nde and i n S ena

,courteous t reat

men t . Soon the h igh offic ial s o f the place appeared,

among them D r . Barral , and sa t down to an excel len td i nne r w i th us i n the cool d in i ng-hal l o f Governmen tH ouse . I n pl easan t conversat ion

,mostly i n French ,

three agreeable hours were spent,fol lowed by a V i s i t

34

EARLY EXP LORATIONS

to the Docto r,and towards four O

’cl ock al l the Portu

guese accompan ied us back on board the K'

ing , wherewe took ou r l eave afte r a farewel l pl edged i n Ge rmanbeer .Early on Sunday morn i ng , Apri l 9 th, we steamed

furthe r up - s tream , wi th the Mgowe Moun ta i ns on ou rr ight . Th is s t re tch of the ri ve r rem inded me a l i t tl eof the Danube between Passau and L i n tz , al though i ti s l ess p i c tu resque . On ou r l e ft fron t the banks we reri s i ng to a h igher l evel

,the P lateau of Ch i ramba

,

th rough wh ich the Pompue River makes i ts way . Th i swe reached nex t morn i ng ; that n igh t we spen t n ear theplan tat ion of Santa Tao , where forme rly s tood thePortuguese fo rt . I had j us t t ime for an hou r

’

s wal kbefore n igh t fel l , du rin g wh ich I pa id a v is i t to anI nd ian . Herr von Na polski measured , at my reques t ,the al t i tude above sea l evel , and found that we were2 10 fee t above the sea .

On Monday , Apri l l o th, we agai n s tarted w i th thedawn . I n the morn i ng now regularl y a dense fog layover the ri ver

,wh ich several t imes delayed ou r depar

ture for hal f an hou r o r more . Soon we steamedalong the plateau of Ch i ramba , wh ich i n long te rracesslopes down to the wate r . I t cons i s ts of gran i te w i tha rough sands tone on top of i t , and i s cove red wi thgreen fo res t . I n fron t of us, more and more d is t i n c tl y ,the peaks and tabl e -moun ta in s of the Lupata arer is i ng

,th rough wh ich the Zambes i R i ve r i n a narrow

gorge has to break i ts way . At one o ’c lock we passedby the mouth of the Pompue r i ver , and at two o

’clockmade a short s top at the s tat i on of the MozambiqueCompany

,Ch i ramba

,to take i n fuel . I always made

use of these stoppages for shorte r o r l onger wal ks .Then we s teamed fu rther on i n the br i l l ian t ly sunny

35

EAR LY EXP LORATIONS

but comparat i vely cool afte rnoon,for Mqua si, where

we i n tended to s l eep that n igh t . The Lupata Mounta i ns rose more and more d is t i n ctl y aga i ns t th e eveni ng sky, and on th e southe rn bank of the r i ve r, wi th afew dome - shaped moun ta i ns

,th e plateau of Tambara

came i n to s igh t , th e northe rn con t i n uat i on of th eplateau o f Ch i ramba

,wh ich we had passed i n th e

morn ing .

L ike a d ream the w ide st ream spreads before us,

calm , and brigh t , and ful l of soul , i t l ooks up at thebl ue sky . A wreath of green i slands frames i t ; onthe banks we see he re and there the statel y form of apalm tree . I n the water

, whole school s of h ippopotam iare sport i ng , two of wh i ch I shot .Above , the even i ng sky bu rns ove r Lupata i n a

beau ty wh i ch I have never seen surpassed . May Itake th i s fl am i ng S ign as a good omen for the workthat i s befo re me ? Alas ! the t imes of omens ands igns are pas t for me ; I have grown accus tomed toreckon on ly w i th the brutal real i t i es of cause andeffec t ; when the scat te red s tars i n the trop i cal sky

l ook down on the sl umberi ng world , melancholyreflect ions about once and to -day possess mysouIOn Apri l 1 1 th,

ou r s team -boat i ng came to an end .

We stopped at Tambara , where I pa id a short v i s i t tothe Portuguese Commandan t

,and then , afte r a furthe r

j ourney of an hour , I l anded my exped i t i on near th eeaste rn en t rance to the Lupata Gorge , prepared tocommence my march i n to the i n ter io r .M i tonda i s a s tat ion laid down i n 1 896 by M r .

Puz ey as a factory for the . tra d e wi th Macombe .

M a combe’

s te rr i tory extends to abou t on e and a hal fm i l es sou th -wes t of M i tonda . At th i s t ime the Maka

36

EA RLY EXP LORATIONS

Herr Grama n n,I c rossed the fron t ie r of Ma combe

’

s

k ingdom on the afte rnoon of Apri l 1 4th i n order tobegi n my ent ry i n to the d is t r i c t of I nj a-ka -Fura . AsI have explai n ed I had a sc ie n t ific bas i s fo r thesuppos i t i on that i n this

'

d istrict I had before me thegold - region s so often men t ion ed by Portuguesewr i te rs .On Apri l 1 5 th , th e ri s i ng sun found us on th e march

to the Muira,wh i ch we reached i n th ree -quarte rs of

an hou r . The ri ve r-bed was d ry,or rathe r the wate r

fl owed underground,r i s i ng everywhere to the surface

where the wate rcou rse wa s shaded . We steppedalong i n th e dry ri ve r-bed

,th e banks of wh i ch are

framed i n dark green fol iage . Here and the re gu i neafowl s arose , o r a baboon took to h is heel s on ourapproach . Soon I wa s wi th M r . Puz ey i n advance o fthe col umn . We fol lowed a fresh nat ive t rack of thesame morn i ng

, which,.however, wa s presen t l y los t on

the eas tern bank . No man was to be seen .

From ten o ’clock onwards th e wes tern range ofhe igh ts kep t r i s i ng before us i n ou tl i nes that greweve r sharper and more gro tesque . B lack blocks ofs late i n the r i ve r-bed al ready l e t us i n to the secre t ofi ts format ion . Towards el even o

’clock we approachedthe spot whe re the Muira leaves the mounta i ns . Likesen tr ies two rugged

,flat-topped h i l l s keep watch to

righ t and l eft of i t s place o f ex i t .For years I had had ce rta i n fan tas t i c i deas abou t

the appearance of Fu ra . Thi s t ime , for once , thereal i ty su rpassed al l my fanc ies . Anyth i ng morep i ctu resque , and , at th e same t ime , more myster i ous ,even the fancy of a R ider H aggard could not havedep i cted , than the en trance i n to th i s anc i en t andfabulous Eldo rado . Like two rock castl es th e masses

38

EARLY EXP LORATIONS

of slate s tood on the l e ft and righ t o f the MuIra River ,overgrown on the top by a dense growth of green .

Below the wate rs o f the ri ve r r ippl ed,reflect i ng the

dark -bl ue sky of the t rop i cal world . Before us a r ive rval l ey opened , i n to wh ich on both s ides th e dark rockwal l s descended

,at fi rs t l ike waves of h i l l s

,then s teep

and wide ; and above th i s charm ing landscape laythe s i n i s ter s i l en ce o f death— Sabbath st i l l ness asi t preva i l s i n the t rop i cs at m idday ! Thus d id Ifind the easte rn en try to Fu ra , on Saturday noon ,Apri l 1 5 , 1 899 .

I p i tched camp at m idday unde r th e h i l l on theeaste rn bank of the Mu

'

i'

ra . M r . Puz ey and I , wh i lelook ing ou t on th i s gateway , were spontaneouslycarr i ed back to the “Captai n of the Gates o f ou rol d report . To ou r great regre t H err Grama n n hadcon t rac ted a seve re at tack of feve r on the march , so

that I had to presc r ibe regular doses of ipecacuanha .

Afte r l unch I went up the r i ver w i th M r . Puz ey andtwo Somal i s , wad i ng th rough a val l ey knee -deep i nwater . Al ready th i s fi rs t afte rnoon we could see muchquartz sand i n the ri ve r-bed , so that we could safe lyconcl ude that there mus t be quartz reefs h ighe r up .

But to -day we cared l i t t l e for th i s ; ou r fi rs t thoughtwa s to s teep oursel ves i n the fan tas t i c landscape , atthe same t ime keep i ng a good look -out fo r any t racesof anc i en t rui n s . Many of the peaks on both s ides ofthe r i ver resembled

-

th e ru in s o f old cas tl es , wi th the i rframework of fal len rocks and the i r cu rious i nc i s i on s

,

wh ich from below seemed almos t l i ke art ific ialapproaches . A closer examinat ion , however, alwaysresul ted i n our find i ng that these wonderfu l format ionswe re natu ral . About hal f an hour ’s j ourney above ou rcamp the Mulra took a curve , by wh ich , on i ts l e ft

40

EARLY EXP LORATIONS

bank , large sand al l uv ial had bee n depos i ted . Beh i ndth i s al l u v ial the val l ey narrowed

,and on both s ides ,

about fee t h igh,two table -mounta i n s rose l ike

m igh ty fo rt ificat ions . Next morn ing I ascertai nedthat they form the sou thern l im i t of th i s sl ateenclosu re , where the ri ve r en te rs the moun ta i ntowards the north . Withou t doubt they are themost characte ri s t ic and nobl es t part o f th i s whol efo rmat ion .

I named the mountai n on the r igh t o r easte rn s ideof the ri ve r afte r the chai rman of the D r . Carl Pete rsCompany , S i r Thomas Thornh i l l , Moun t Thornh i l l ;that on the l eft

,Moun t Peters . There must have

been a t ime when they formed one mass i ve mounta i n ,th rough wh i ch the Muira River has broken i ts way.

West of th i s go rge s t re tches the w ide val l ey ofI nj a-ka -Fura . Th is wa s origi nal l y a mountai n lake ,t races of wh i ch we found . The sun was low whenwe perforce broke off th i s examinat ion of the r i ve r .Deep and black were the shadows of the mounta i n sthat fel l ac ross the val l ey . The vo i ces of th e featheredworld became loud ; above al l one cou ld h ear thet rumpet - l i ke no tes of th e francol i n . With he igh tened ,yes , almos t fest i ve , sp i r i t , I s tepped ou t on the wayback to camp

,consc ious of mov i ng across so i l that for

more than two cen tu ri es had la i n un t rodden by thefoot of any Eu ropean .

Nex t morn ing I t ransfe rred the camp to the sandbank i n the cen t re of the r i ve r val l ey , wh ich we hadd iscovered the day before ; and on the afte rnoon ofApri l 1 6 th , I wen t w i th M r . Puz ey as far as the sou thernend of the Muira Val l ey

,wh ich i n th i s spot be tween

wal l s o f rock that fel l s t ra igh t and sheer, becomes averi tabl e gorge . On th i s s ide the slate grows more

42

EARLY EXP LORATIONS

and more red , ow ing to the large quant i ty of i ron thati t con ta i ns . Th is afte rnoon I could see for mysel fhow exact ou r old report i s

,Where i t says

,C ’est dans

ce tte montagne que la r i v iere Damba ra ri passe vers leNord .

” The ri ve r flows tnrougn the moun ta i n , i n thetru e sense of the word and the re , where i t ha s forcedi ts way between Moun t Thornh i l l and Mount Pe te rs

,

i ts d i rec t i o n i s s t raigh t to the north . I n the m iddle andlower val ley i t tu rn s towards th e north -eas t . Beh indthe actual gorge and towards the south

,Moun t Thorn

h i l l t u rns ia a wide bend to the eas t,wh i l e Moun t

Peters turns to the wes t . Thus they form a wide bay,

enclosed by a steep mounta i n - range . Towards thesouth -west

,the eastern margi n nears the sou thern

cont i nuat ion of Mount Pete rs,and el evates i tsel f i n

the M susi Mountai n once more i n to a s teep andm igh ty slate (sch i s t)rock , wh ich l ocks the val l ey i nthe sou th . At the foot o f th i s M susi Mounta i n l i esth e great K raal o f I nja -ka -Fura

,where the second

I nduna of Macombe,Kamba ro te ,

res ides , the governorof the whole d is t r i c t o f I nj a-ka -Fu ra

,wh ich extends from

here some e igh t m i les towards the west , north , andsouth . Dail -VVa nga ,

of Mafunda , and Kamba ro te , ofI nj a-ka -Fura

,keep watch on the northe rn borde r agains t

the Portuguese forts of the Zambes i,and they can

d i spose of some rifl es .As a matte r of cou rse th e nat i ves had observed us

from the fi rs t momen t o f ou r en try , and none of ou rmovemen ts had escaped them . Al ready on Satu rdayseveral of them came to our ten ts , and I told them tobri ng fowl s and food for sal e . On Sunday afte rnoonothers arr i ved

,who told us they came from I nja

Sapa .

“Whe re i s I nj a-Sapa ? ” I asked .

43

EARLY EXP LORATIONS

To the eas t of the mounta i ns i n the sou th o fMafunda

, wa s the repl y .

There we had an i n te res t i ng fac t . Accord i ng toou r reports Moun t Fura was to be found to the wes to f Massapa . Here we learn t that there was a placecal l ed I nj a- Sapa to the eas t o f the mounta i n rangewhere we had camped .

On Sunday,Apri l 1 6 th , I d i sm i ssed the bearers who

had carr i ed our baggage to th e Muira Val l ey . Thefel lows were feel i ng uncomfortabl e i n Ma combe

’

s

coun try , and I cou ld now awai t w i th an easy m ind th ebeare rs I expected from Tete

, a s ou r nex t work couldbe done i n dai l y t r i ps from ou r presen t camp .

On Apri l 1 7 th M r . Puz ey and I wen t to I nja—Sapa .

The path l ed pas t ou r fi rs t campi ng ground,and we

kept to the eas t , march i ng i n the bed of the r i ver .The unpleasan t part o f these excu rs ion s from theMu

'

i ra camp wa s,that we had always to wade th rough

wate r i n the r i ver- bed,wh i ch d id extrao rd inary

damage to ou r foo t-wear . B ut the bed was so

narrow that a path on the banks was ou t of thequest ion . I nj a-Sapa l i es abou t th ree m i les eas t ofthe Mu

'

i'

ra , abou t n ine m i l es sou th of the Portuguesefort , I nja—Koro , a l i t t l e to the sou th of Mafunda .

The place l i es i n the m iddl e o f a dense fores t, a n d is

fort ified wi th a s t rong s tockade . Puz ey,who acted as

i n te rprete r on my fi rs t V i s i t t o th i s coun try , asked thenat i ves who rece i ved us w i thou t many compl imen tsbu t no t unamicably : Do you know a place cal ledMassapa ?

Massapa , they answe red laugh i ng, i s th i s ve ryplace . The people cal l i t I nj a - Sapa or Massapa , j us tas they l i ke ; i t i s on e and the same th i ng (n zoosin zoosi). Apparen tl y we were here on the s i te o f

44

EARLY EXP LORATIONS

the old Portuguese marke t -place of Massapa . EveryC i rcumstance bore ou t th i s suppos i t i on

,i ts proxim i ty to

I nj a-ka -Fura as wel l as i ts d i s tance from the Zambes i ,wh ich , acco rd ing to a report furn i shed by J . Lopes daLima , should have been e igh t l eagues . That wecou ld not expec t to find the remai ns o f the formerPortuguese fo rt at Massapa i s Cl ear from a passage i nThea l

’

s Tne P ortuguese in S outn Afr ica (p .

Accord i ng to th i s,K apra n z in e ,

who was then ch ief ofthe coun try

,resol ved , about th e year 1 6 20 , to k i l l al l

the Chri st ians and Eu ropeans i n h i s domin ions .An d re Fere i ra

,th e Capi tao das Portas

,who chanced

to be i n th e cap i tal,fled by n igh t w i th De Barros and

the coloured Chri s t ians who were th reatened , toMassapa , where a smal l wooden fort was hurr i ed lye rected . From th i s accoun t Theal h imsel f concludesthat a real fort w i th a permanen t garr i son never couldhave ex is ted i n Massapa

,for the even t narrated

occu rred when the Po rtuguese domi nat ion i n theseparts was begi nn i ng to decl i n e .

Massapa , apparent l y, wa s at al l t imes noth i ng butan open marke t- town

,i n wh ich gold was exchanged ,

and where the Cap i tao das Po rtas w i th a few Bened i ct ine monks had his res idence . The place wa s not i nthe gold region i tsel f, but at the gates of i t , whencethe t i t l e Capi tao das Portas . Exactly so did we findi ts s i tuat ion i n 1 899 . Two roads l ead to I nj a—ka -Furafrom Massapa . The one , two hours long, i s by wayof the eas te rn banks of the Mu

'

i'

ra R iver and Moun tThornh i l l ; the other , one and a hal f hours long ,

i sth rough the Muira Val l ey i n wh ich lay our encampmen t . An hour ’s march wes t of I nja-ka -Fura l i e theanc i en t gold -mines wh ich we d i scove red i n J u ly , andwh ich al so l i e “west of Massapa . The name Massaba

46

EARLY EXP LORATIONS

poin ts to relat ions wi th the Sabaeans of South Arabia ,and i t may be tha t the anc ien t conquerors forced the i rway from here to the m i nes , as the bes t land ing

-placeon the Zambes i i n th i s part i cular ne ighbourhood i sunques t ionably the h i l l of I nja-K oro to the north o fMassapa

,from wh ich even to th i s day th e road to

I nja-ka -Fu ra runs pas t Mafunda and Massapa . All

these places are i n the Tambara d is t ri c t .The resul t of ou r V i s i t to I nja-Sapa was th erefore

qui te sat i s fac tory,and M r . Puz eyand I were conv i nced

that we should soon find the ru i ns of Fu ra i tsel f.With th i s purpose i n v i ew we next morn ing resolved

on a carefu l exam inat ion of the eastern banks of th eMuira Ri ver , wh ich r is e s t ra igh t above Massapa . HerrGrama n n was s t i l l confined to h is bed . An ext remelyt i r i ng march of about s i x hou rs

,wi th a s teep ascen t

from Moun t Thornh i l l over bare rubble and th roughthorny underwood

,wh i ch brought us back i n a w ide

curve to our fi rs t campi ng-place, wa s wi thou t resul t ,

and very t i red we retu rned to camp where to our j oywe found that H err Grama n n wa s conval escen t . He

and I next morn i ng exami ned the sou thern r i ve rval l ey , and i n the afte rnoon , so as to have someth ingdefin i te to go upon

,I l e t h im pan the al luv ial sand of

the M u'

i'

ra Val l ey . To our del igh t he at once a scerta in ed that the Muira held real gold , al though th ewater d id not al low h im to descend very far

,l e t alone

to the rocky bottom . This wa s good ev idence thatwe were i n the r igh t quarte r .Meanwh i l e our rela t ion s wi th the nat i ves began to

give some cause for anx ie ty . On Apri l 1 7 th theI nduna of Mafunda had thought fi t to defi l e ostenta tiously pas t my camp wi th 300 r i fl es on h i s wayto K amboro te i n I nj a-ka—Fura , wi th whom ,

h i ther to,

47

EARLY EXPLORATIONS

we had also neglected to es tabl i sh re la t ions . Al thoughI had made repeated requests to the nat i ves

,they

had not so far sold us any corn or produce,or even a

s i ngl e ch i cken . We learn t that a twen ty- fou r hou rs ’

bee r-dri nk i ng wa s tak i ng place i n I nja-ka -Fu ra , wi thwar-dances and th reats aga i ns t us . Mafunda peopl enow began to capture messenge rs of m i ne , and tooverawe my servan ts w i th th reats . With howl i ngsthese Mafunda fel lows danced the i r war-dance roundour ten ts , and I was glad that my bearers from Tetehad not ye t arr i ved

,because th ey would have most

certa i n l y fled be fo re such a demons t rat ion . At thesame t ime I saw that th i s s tate of affa i rs mus t bebrough t to an end

,and the refore

,on the morn i ng of

Apri l 2o th I sen t M r . Puz ey to I nja-ka - Fura,whose

i nhabi tan ts he had known when at M i tonda,to set t l e

matte rs w i th the ch i e fta i n Kamba ro te . I,meanwh i l e ,

remai ned i n camp wri t i ng my report-s fo r London .

Towards noon Puz ey,whom I had not expected before

even ing , wa s al ready back . H e took me i n to my ten tand said , I have good news I have seen the anc ien trui n s . The road to I nj a-ka -Fura passes a h i l l wh i chbranches off from Moun t Pete rs towards the Msus iMoun ta i n . Al l . along th i s h i l l M r . Puz ey had seenfrom the r i ve r a m igh ty cyclopean wal l

,and he had at

once re tu rned to me,i n o rde r to br i ng me the glad

t id ings . On the afternoon of the same day I v i s i tedth i s h i l l w i th M r . Grama n n .

I t was hal f-past fou r o ’clock when we reached thefoo t of “Puz ey

’

s H il l ,” wh ich i s su rrounded by a bend

of the Mu'

I'

ra River. I bel i eve that th i s wa s formerlyan art ific ial d i tch i n to wh ich the Muira was deflected ,as the r i ve r i s deeper he re than anywhere el se and al socon ta i ns runn ing wate r the whole year th rough . I t i s

48

EARLY . EXP LORATIONS

probabl e that formerly beh i nd th i s d i tch and a t thefoot o f the h i l l rose a cyclopean wal l wh i ch is markedto -day on ly by vas t clef/Wis .

Over th i s cle‘ér is Mr . Grama n n and I b roke our way,

th rough d ense thorn and th i ck bush , wh ich made theascen t ext remely unpleasan t . I t wa s as thoughNature h ersel f w ished to preserve th i s old myste ry !Moreover, march ing i n fron t , I was attacked by bees ,who pun ished me seve re ly for my i n trus ion w i th twopai n ful s tabs i n the face . Neverthel ess

,on we wen t

,

and afte r about a quarte r o f an hou r , hot and exhaus ted , we s tood on the platform of the h i l l . Thi swas what we saw .

Round the margi n of the top appeared the remnan tso f an old cyclopean wal l , th e s tones of wh ich hadapparen tl y been worked wi th a p i ck , as they showedcerta i n t r iangular forms w i th the edges turned ou tward .

Far back from the margi n , towards the cen tre o f theh i l l

,we found a m ighty hori zon tal l edge , wh i ch we

fi rs t took to be the en t rance to a cave . Late rresearches proved that th i s was a m istake . Round th i sl edge a wal l of s tones that were art ific ial l y shaped i nthe form of a heart had been bu i l t . Near th i s wal l wefound a great number of cu r iousl y formed s tones wh i chI am i ncl i ned to regard as b e tylae , wh ich were obj ec tsof rel ig ious worsh ip i n the oldes t S emi t i c cul ts . Amongthese betylee I found a phal l us . Phal l us -worsh ip wa sconnected wi th the or ig i nal S em i t i c sun -worsh ip .

That these s tones are the work of m a n , and not sportsof nature i s proved by the fac t that they are formed ofsandstone

,wh i l e the rock and the whol e

’

format ion ofth e h i l l i s c rystal l i ne slate .

We had l i t tl e t ime i n the afte rnoon o f Apri l 2o thto s tudy th i s find . Before everyth ing I w i shed to

50

EA RLY EXP LORATIONS

examine the cyclopean wal l wh i ch i n te rsec ts th em idd le o f the h i l l , and wh ich Puz ey had seen frombelow . We there fo re broke a new way to the northof our ascen t , across vas t (leor is once more , wh ich layi n s tupendous heaps on the edge of th e prec ip ice .

About 30 fee t below the h i l l s ide we d iscovered a sortof courtyard

,and had the wal l before us

,wh ich

,i n a

m igh ty c i rcl e,fol l ow i ng the ou tl i nes of the h i l l

,

st re tches to both s ides . Here i t s tood, 1 5 fee t

and h ighe r ; there i t was hal f broken down , therebroken . down al togethe r . At some places the s tonestood bare , at o the rs i t was overgrown by a densevegetat ion . Reverence and awe fi l l ed us as we s toodspel l -bound before these rel i cs o f a remote Ci v i l i sat ion .

The impress ion they made on us grew i n magn ificencewhen the sun began to s i nk before us i n th e west , andthe grey shadows of twi l igh t crept ove r these ru i nedwal l s . We were both overpowered by the h is tor i cals ign ificance of what we saw

,and were th r i l l ed w i th

the mystery of a pas t whose years we re numbered i nthousands . I n these ru i ns we possessed more than anh is tor i cal note ; they represen ted a record , wh ich mustbe its own spokesman prov ided we were abl e todec ipher i ts sec re ts .Twi l igh t compel l ed us to cl imb back to the top of

the h i l l . We had on ly a few mi nutes to look over thelaugh i ng landscape that lay before us i n the west ;through wh ich the Mu

'

ira flows i n broad wind i ngs,

wi th its fields and i ts woodlands,wi th the redd ish

spl endour of Moun t M susi on th e l eft , and the hugebulk of Moun t Longue

' st ra igh t before us,c los ing i n

the landscape on i t s western s ide . J u s t so must theold conquero rs have looked ou t on the landscapebelow them . From th i s h i l l they could command the

EARLY EXP LORAT I ONS

count ry i n fron t , as wel l as the mounta i n -ma ssive tothe rea r . Above a ll they had from th i s poi n t thecommand of the M uira Val l ey

,and wi th that the road

to the eas t and to the sea . I t i s about ten m i les fromhere to the r i ve r Zambes i . The place i s as thoughmade fo r a st ronghold

,whose pu rpose i s to afford

protec t ion to a body of t roops,and at the same t ime

se rve as a depos i to ry for gold a n d other t reasu re .

Th is wa s the opi n ion of M r . Grama n n and mysel fas we made ou r way back to camp , wh i ch we reachedwhen i t was qu i te dark .

Compared w i th the Mashonaland ru i ns , wh ich wegot to know late r

,th ese remai n s of I nja-ka -Fu ra give

an impress ion of far greater an t iqu i tyi They aremuch roughe r and more fal l en i n to decay

,and I would

sugges t that i t was he re that the South -Arabian gol dseekers fi rs t en te red South Afri ca . With th e r i ver i ni ts normal s tate they could have sa i l ed the i r boat s asfar as Lupata

,and from then ce

,c ross i ng the Mu 1ra

Gorge they cou ld make s tra igh t fo r the weste rnfron t i ers of the gold region

,wh i ch extends from here

towards Mashonaland . Cap i tao das Po rtas , the commandan t of Massapa

,wa s cal led by the Portuguese

a s we al ready know .

The Muira Val l ey by Moun t Pe te rs fi rs t represen tsthe gateway by wh ich one has access to the northernpart o f the anc i en t E ldorado .

That we are here face to face wi th a gold - format ion ,th e researches “ of the las t th ree years have proved .

The geograph i cal format ion of the d is t r i c t is a s

fol lowsF rom the eas t and s tart in g from Tambara we see

before u s an escarpmen t s t re tch i ng N .N .W . to theS . S . E . of the Lupata Gorge , th rough wh ich the Muira

EARLY EXPLORATIONS

tinued the i r pass i ve res i stance t i l l c l ose on J ul y . Asa matte r of fac t

,one cannot blame them for not

w i l l i ngl y hand ing over the secrets of the i r coun tryto the dangerous wh i te i n t rude r . They espec ial l yopposed the ascen t of h i l l s wh ich they have regardedas sacred from of old .

\V hen,on May 1 3 th ,

Herr B locker and I cl imbedMoun t Msusi above I n ja-ka -Fura

,runne rs came hotfoo t

TEN J E H I LL .

from Kamba ro te wi th orde rs that we should return atonce . One morn i ng as I wa s prospect i ng w i th M r .Puz ey on Mount Pe te rs the same command cameth rough the i nduna ; and even when , accompan ied byB locke r and Grama n n , I had reached the summ i to f the Tenj e H i l l , the i nduna appeared in personto po in t ou t the impie ty of our proceed ings . Tomy sorrow I was not i n a pos i t i on to respond to

S4

EARLY EXPL ORA'

I‘IONS

such rel ig ious cons iderat ions . At Sherele , i n theTela d is t ri c t the re i s a pi l lar of d io r i te wh ich i s hel di n espec ial vene rat ion by the nat i ves . To th i s spoton J uly 1 1 , 1 90 1 , I sen t H err B locke r to examine i tmore closel y . He wa s almos t i n danger of h i s l i fewhen he attempted to c ross the fenc i ng round thepi l lar . I n short

,we soon d i scovered that i n th i s

region he igh ts and s tones were obj ects of rel ig i ousvenerat ion

,and th i s fac t was

,from the po i n t of my

own researches , of a very great in teres t .The deta i l s of ou r geologi cal research are not o f

general i n te res t . From May onwards we prospectedthe gold reefs around Tenj e and Tela i n Inyamenga le

i n every way , and al though we could natu ral l y notarr i ve at any cl ear concl us ions as to th e worki ngcapac i ty i n so short a t ime

,the resul ts were st i l l p ro

m ising enough to make me dec ide on regi s teri ngprov is ional l y e igh ty claims i n the Tenje d i s t ri c t at theGold -field s of Zambes ia i n Tete , and to begi n thee rect ion of a permanent s tat ion eas t o f Tenj e H i l l .

CHAPTER I“

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

N J une 2 8,1 899 ,

I se t ou t fo r Tete i n o rde r toget my Cl a ims regi ste red the re . At th e sam e

t ime I w ished to equ ip mysel f there for my progressth rough Ma comb e

’

s coun t ry , and espec ial l y to buysu i tabl e presen ts fo r Macombe . I n my absence H err(}mun a n n and Ii en '

xmn i lfi apOEki‘

wen t to peg ou to ther gold reefs i n the Tenj e d i s t r i c t for us ; th eformer

,however

,wa s as soon as poss ibl e , to march to

I nja-Banda,where we hoped to find the actual Fu ra

reefs wes twards of our en campmen t .At hal f-pa s t S ix on J une 2 8 th, accompan ied byH err B locke r , I s tarted i n a north -westerl y d i rect ionfrom the s tat ion at Tenj e

,wh ich was i n cl uded i n the

plans I had la id down , and I hoped to find the dwel li ng - house i n work i ng orde r on my re tu rn .

Ligh t o f heart we set ou t on ou r march , at fi rs t( HT X one of the qua n z mans we had exa nfi n ed

,then

by a known footpath th rough the Afri can bush .

Herr B locke r , when free from feve r, i s a very pl easan tt ravel l i ng compan ion

,always cheerful

,obl igi ng , and

at ten t i ve . And,fu rther

,he i s not onl y a hunte r by

pro fess ion but from cho i ce . The morn i ng passed i npl easan t Chatte r , B locke r tel l ing me many i n te res t i ngth ings about h i s Afri can career . “(e gave th e ful les t

5 6

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

atten t ion to the geolog ical fo rmat i ons . \VC not i cedthat shortl y afte r we had su rveyed the Tenj e H i l l tothe sou th , the quartz became rarer and soon ceasedal together . The d iori te gave way to pure gran i teformat ions .At el even o ’clock we reached I nj a -ka -Rungue

,

whe re I dec ided to camp,because i t t u rned out tha t

i n pack i ng we had forgotten the sal t . I nj a-ka -Runguei s a d i rty and poori sh place . I a t once sen t mes

TENIE STATI ON .

sengers to the Tenj e Camp , who re tu rned towardseven ing wi th the i nd i spensabl e cond iment .B locke r thought the ne ighbou rhood was ri ch i n

game,and i n the afternoon wen t on a long hunt i ng

exped i t i on wi th one of my servan ts ; bu t noth i ng cameof i t . I n the even i ng wi th the sal t the re came al so al e t ter from H err Grama n n say i ng that Cun te te hadarr i ved w i th a miss ion from Macombe . I answeredh im

,te l l ing h im to keep Cun tete there t i l l my retu rn .

5 7

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

Next morn i ng we began a long march to T in to , onthe Zambes i . On th i s day we l e ft the prim i t i vefo rmat ions beh i nd us , en teri ng a sand and l imestonecoun t ry

,and towards two o ’clock we passed a succes

s ion o f h igh l y i n teres t i ng petrifica tion s , among wh i chthe s tump of a t ree- t runk ri s i ng ou t of the ground wasespec ial l y no t i ceabl e . I n my op i n ion the format ion i sc lass i c t r ias . Th is cont i nued wi thou t i n te rrupt ion asfar as Te te .

At three o ’c lock we reach ed T i n to,and once agai n

saw th e proud Zambes i , wh i ch rol l s i ts masses of wate ri n m igh ty w i nd ings towards the ocean . T in to l i esabou t 4 mi l es below the Portuguese fort o f Massangano

,and the r i ve r i s he re abou t 12 mi l es w i de . For

San i tary reasons and al so fo r fear o f mosqu i toes,I had

pi tched our camp some 300 va rd s from the r i ve r . Iwas thus abl e to enj oy i n “ sol i tude the p i ctu re thats t retched befo re me . I took my stat ion on a stonethat lay on the bank

,and as I l ooked out over the

landscape my thoughts wen t back to the waters of theElbe

,and the days of Ch i ldhood .

Now we march con t i n uously along the banks of theZambes i . Like a gu ide the tel egraph l i ne from Teteto Ch i romo runs at ou r s ide

,and is taken across the

r i ve r l ower down at Lupata . A hol iday mood comesover us a s agai n and agai n we feas t ou r eyes on th egi lded surface of the waters , and the wonderfu l an imall i fe of the r i ver . We see c rocod i l es and h ippopotam i .Whole colon i es of gu i neafowl r i se up ducks , herons ,and flam ingoes offer a wel come mark fo r our r ifles .On J une 3o th I sho t fou r c rocod i l es ; Herr B lockerl im i ted h imsel f to p igeons and gu i neafowl . Abouthal f-pas t seven we passed the state ly and th reaten i ngwal l s o f Fort Massangano , and at e igh t the kraal of

5 8

A ZA M BES I NATIVE F I SH ING .

AMONG THE MAKA LANGA

the once notori ous robber-Ch ief Bonga . Betweenand n ine we c ross the Ruenje River , wh ich , at i tsmouth , i s 300 to 400 fee t w ide . Wad ing

,the wate r

reaches to the armp i ts . I,however

,pre fe rred to be

carr i ed across by th ree boys .On the fu rthe r s ide of the Ruenje we en te red Mar

angue , a r ich ,cul t i vated coun try

,i n wh i ch we con t inued

ou r j ou rney t i l l e l even o ’clock . Everywhere we sawgroups of i ndust ri ous peopl e busy wi th the harvest .At eleven I had a camp made i n a shady place on theh igh ri ve r-bank close to the Zambes i

,and we spen t

the afte rnoon look ing ou t on the exqu i s i te landscapebe fore us .The nex t day the landscape re ta i ned i ts Characte r .

We moved con t i n ual l y down the broad,wel l- cul t i vated

Zambes i Val l ey,wi th i ts accompan imen t of chal k -h i l l s

to the l e ft . The v i l lages become more numerous , thequan t i ty o f cattl e i n the fields larger . Herds of oxenmake a pleasan t break among the flocks of smal l e ran imal s that preponderate . We are approach i ng thetown .

Unfortu nate ly the enj oymen t o f th i s morn ing wasspoi l t for H err B locke r by a new attack of fever ,whi ch he pl uck i l y ove rcame by march i ng on wi thou ta hal t . About hal f-pas t twel ve Tete appeared beforeus , and we reached i t at one o

’clock .

We marched to the house occup ied by M r. Puz ey,

oppos i te the Oceana Company , and were soon seatedbes ide h im and enj oy ing an excel len t l unch . Mr .Puz ey, who had had to go back to Tete on accoun tof s i ckness

,was

,I am thankfu l to say, completely

recove red .

My bus i ness i n Tete wen t off ve ry smooth ly . ByJ uly Is t I had regis te red my Cla ims . My purchases

60

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

bui lders suppose , that the t raffi c of Tete and i ts ne ighbourhood wi l l be d i verted to the sou th

,to Rhodes ia

and Cape Colony ; but , on the con t rary , that th e tradeof North Mashonaland w i l l go towards Tete and theZambes i , so as to go s tream downwards to Ch in deand the I nd ian Ocean . For

,al l th e world ove r ,

goods always seek the neares t and cheapes t roadwayto the coas t . So i t wi l l be i n A fr i ca

,and th i s fact

w i l l make i t imposs ibl e for the Cape to Cai ro ra i l roadto pay i t s way.

There are supposed to be abou t e igh ty Portugueseand abou t twen ty other Europeans i n Tete to -day .

I l e ft th i s place on Tuesday , J u ly 4th,i n th e company

of M r . Puz ey and H err B locke r, hav ing h i red twohouse- boats from a Portuguese

,wh i ch were to carry

us to Kapien dega , a s ta tion of the Zambes ia Company,

above the Lupata -Gorge , wh ich i s 2 0 mi les d i s tan tfrom my stat i on at Tenj e . A house -boat on theZambes i i s a large boat that can be sa i led or rowedalong , and at the back of wh ich there is a so rt of hu twhere a man can recl i n e i n comfort . I handed one ofthe boats ove r to my two compan ions

,and occup ied

th e other mysel f.The up - r i ver j ou rney was spl end id . The tempera

tu re wa s cool but su nny , and wi th neve r-ceas ing del igh tone los t onese l f i n the sm i l i ng pi ctu re o f the r i ver, wi thits i sl ands , its green banks framed i n ranges of h i l l s ,and its r i ch profus ion of an imal l i fe . Somet imes wehun ted for a change . On the Tuesday we camped atthe same place as on the prevIous Friday . I had myten t put up M r . Puz ey and H err B lo

‘cker s lept i n theboats . Towards m idday of J u ly 6th we arr i ved atthe Portuguese s tat ion Kapien d ega , where we weremet by my beare rs , whom I had sen t overland . On

62

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

Thursday and Friday we marched , the LupataMounta i ns to ou r l e ft , th rough th i ck bush back tomy stat ion at Tenj e .

The Lupata moun ta i n group , wi th the cel ebratedLupata Gorge th rough wh ich the Zambes i forces i tsway,

i s w i thou t ques t ion , as landscape , th e mos t

GO I NG DO\VN-STREA M IN A HOUSE-BOAT .

spl end id part'

of th i s whol e region . The gorge i sabout 2 2 mi l es l ong , and at the rate of 5— 6 mi lesan hou r the gian t s tream pours i ts masses of wate rth rough th e moun tai n s . Like two powerful sen t i nel s ,to r igh t and le ft of the r ive r a t i ts upper en t ry , twodark and rugged gran i te peaks

,some 800 fee t h igh ,

63

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

keep watch . Below th i s moun ta i n,on the righ t bank

o f the s t ream , i n 1 900 ,I e rected a s tat ion and had a

waggon - road made th rough the bush from here to thene ighbou rhood of Tete .

When one has en te red a t the rocky gateway thatl eads to the Lupata Gorge

,the eye i s del ighted

by magn ificen tly s i tuated moun tai n -peaks,s t rangely

formed domes of rock,or shee r masses of moun ta i n

,

r i s i ng on both banks st ra igh t from the water . I trecal l s th e Rh i ne between B i ngen and Coblen z .Hal fway down the gorge i s a so rt of depress ion ,apparen tly formed by an ext i nc t cra ter

'

roun d wh ichare grouped i n a C i rcl e eleven slen d erlv formed cones .I f th i s remarkabl e fo rmat ion were s i tuated i n Eu ropesome legend of the Apostl es

,or someth i ng s im i la r,

would have grown up round i t . A l i t tl e furthe r downs tream

, o n the le ft-hand s ide , r i ses the cone cal led.Men a

’o a ngonca ,

i n pass ing before wh ich the nat i vebares h i s head

,es teem ing i t apparen tl y an obj ect of

re l ig ious venerat ion . Towards the lower pass themoun ta i nous enclosu re becomes more and more h i l ll i ke , and , close to M i tonda , ceases al together . Thenatural beau t i es I have j us t descr ibed onl y becameknown to me i n detai l d u ring the fol lowing year.On J u ly 7 , 1899 , we passed , a s al ready stated ,

ac ross the wes tern s lopes of the Lupata -nuzssive, onour way back to our camp at Tenj e . On arr i v i ngthere towards noon

,we found that H err Grama n n

was on the po i n t of s tart i ng fo r I nja-ka -L o ngoe'

.

Cun tete was st i l l th ere w i th h i s bro ther Kash i . H ebrough t me a presen t o f i vory from Macombe coupledwi th a second i nv i tat ion to v i s i t h im at M isongwe .

Apparen tly Macombe was by no means d is i ncl i ned toOpen personal relat ion s w i th my party . That we m igh t

64

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

know that he was i n the land o f the l i v i ng he had,a

few weeks ago , at tacked and des t royed Tela , wh ich i sabout an hou r

’

s march to the eas t o f ou r second camp ,and wa s the seat of D ingo

,a ch ie f fr i endly to the

Portuguese . D ingo had been ki l l ed,and one of

Ma combe’

s men put i n h i s place . S imul taneously h ehad attacked and deposed a s wel l as burn t the kraalof one of his brothe rs , whose seat wa s i n the west , on

LUPATA STATION .

the Ruenje River , and who had recogn ised thePortuguese suzera i n ty . H err B locker , who marchedthat way some weeks late r , s t i l l saw the ru i ns . I sa i dto Cun tete ,

“ I am ready to V i s i t Macombe . I f,however

,I see that you r peopl e aga i n refuse to sel l

me any grai n,as i n Apri l

,I w i l l tu rn away towards

the west,and march over the Ruenje to Mashona

land .

Before I broke camp I pushed on the bu i ld ing of65

F

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

the s tat ion wh ich was r i s i ng up under the d i rec t ion ofM r . Puz ey and H err B locker . I worked so hard thati n a few days the mai n bu i ld ing was ready , and , whenI marched away the roof was covered i n as wel l .The further exam inat ion of the Tenj e d i s t ri c t fo rgold—m ines I passed on to H err vo n Napolski, who

wa s al so o rdered to make a cartograph i c survey of thecoun t ry . Mr . Puz ey

’

s con t rac t expi red on J ul y 1 5 th ,

and on that day he re turned to B ulawayo by th eRuenje rou te and vici Umtal i . H err vo n Napolski

was the re fo re my rep resen tat i ve i n Tenj e .

On J uly 1 1 th I sen t H err B locker w i th a smal lcaravan to Sherele ,

to examine the s to ne p i l lar thereof wh ich the nat i ves spoke so much . On the morn ingo f J uly 1 2 th I mys z lfs t ruck camp , go ing to th e south .

Sherele l i es to the eas t o f the I nj a-Ndara H i l l s , andBlocker took that s ide . I chose the wes tern s ide ofth i s d io r i te e l evat io n fo r my prel im inary march , so

that between us we cove red the whole ground . Thatday I camped in a narrow r i ve r-bed , sou th of K raalI nj a—Ndara

,where we drank ou t of a water-hol e .

Almos t al l the southern tr ibu tari es of the Zambes i ,wi th the except ion of th e Ruenje ,

are d ry i n thesummer The reason for th i s i s that the landth rough wh i ch they flow is i nc l i ned towards theZambes i

,that is to the north ~west

,wh i l e the w i nd

that br i ngs ra i n comes from the south -eas t . Thi swi nd fi rs t un loads i ts mo is ture i n the bas i n of thePungwe Rive r

,wh ich is i n cl i n ed towards the south

eas t . The tr ibutari es of the Zambes i l i e i n the“ra i n - shadow .

” The northern t r ibu tar ies o f thePungwe , on the othe r hand , are ful l o f water thewhole year rou nd

,wh ich makes i tsel f fel t ve ry

agreeably when one c rosses from the Zambes i wate r66

A M ONG THE M AKALANGA

Shed to that of the Pungwe . The ch ie f water -burs tsof the sou th -eas t monsoon

,wh ich preponderates

,

descend fu rthe r to the wes t , i n the tabl elands o fMatabel e and Mashona - land , where they mostl yflow off i n to the Zambes i , whose sou thern t ri bu tar iesare ful l a t al l seasons of the year . III th e lowe rZambes i regions , i n th e d ry season , one i s almos teve rywhere dependen t on wate r—holes

,wh ich

,as i t

seems , can be dug for anywhere .

On arr i v i ng at camp , I la i n down for a l i t t l e

TELA STATI ON .

whi l e on my bed when I wa s surpr i sed by a “Goodmorn ing , D r . Peters . I t wa s Herr B locke r who hadacc identally come across my camp on h i s march fromSherele to I nj a-ka -L ongoe. He i n formed me thatthe pi l lar at Sherele was of d ior i te , wa s abou t fou rfeet h igh and sl igh tl y i ncl i ned to the east . I t wasapparen tl y held i n venerat i on by the nat i ves

,as i t wa s

fenced round and when he had begun to d ig i t up i norde r to find out whether i t was of natu ral o r art ific ialorigi n

,the nat i ves had i n te rposed wi th cr ies and

67

A M ONG THE M AKALANGA

th reaten i ng ges tu res . I sen t th i s news a t once toH err von Napolski, wi th orde rs to examine furthe ri n to the matter .I n I nja -Ndara I l earn t from the nat i ves that H err

Grama n n had marched from I nj a-ka - L o ngoe to I njaBanda . I n consequence of th i s I changed the rou teof my march sl igh tly to the wes t

,and earl y next

morn ing set ou t wi th H err B locke r towards I njaBanda . Our march l ed up and down through a h i l lycoun try covered w i th spl end id fo rests . I aga inmarched i n advance , and towards el even o

’clockd iscove red an enormous quartz reef

,covered wi th

i ron cap , wh ich , judging by th e“ou tc rop

,m igh t

be 30 fee t w ide . I t was imposs ibl e to overlook i tas i t ran th rough the swel l i ng ground . Th is reef,wh ich l ie s pre t ty Cl ose ly to the wes t of the ru i ns o fFura , I a t once resol ved to annex fo r ou r party .

When we reached the I nj a- Banda R iver we saw

Bobb,my Zul u oversee r

,at work on the r igh t bank

wi th a n umber of my people . H e wa s work i ng a reefwh ich H err Grama n n had d i scovered the re . Shortl yafterwards we came to H err Grama n n

’

s campi ng-place ,who ,

to our so rrow , we found i l l i n bed wi th fever .Duri ng these mon ths the c l imate had been con

tinuously pl easan t , the days not too hot , th e n igh tscool and agreeabl e . Mosqu i toes there were hardlyany . Towards the end of J uly

,however

,the coun try

commenced to suffer severel y from drough t ; i t wasd i ffi cul t to find good dri nk ing-wate r.Th is developmen t con t i n ued dur i ng the fol low i ng

mon ths,and from Octobe r onwards the whole coun try

becomes d ry as a deser t , and the Cl imate su l try andOppressive .

I Unfortunate ly,M r . Tennyson Col e , the

I See Chapter IV .

68

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

i l l us trator of th i s book , saw th e I nja -ka - Fura d i s t ri c tat th i s u n favou rabl e season . H e came to me i nM i tonda on Octobe r 2

,1 900 ,

t ravel l ed th rough theLupata Gorge

,saw ou r fou r s tat ions , the Mu

'

iraV al l ey and the whol e of the I nj a—ka - Fura d is t ri c t ,maki ng hundreds of sketches and al so tak ing ma n v

photographs . H e i s a great hun te r and has a keeneye for the an imal - l i fe of th e coun t ry , and i s th e fi rs tart i s t whose brush has depi c ted the remarkabl e worldof the Lower Zambes i .I was st i l l at I nj a- Banda on J ul y i 4th, so as to gi ve

Grama n n a rest , and , espec ial ly , to i n t roduce H errB locke r as my represen tat i ve to Kamba ro te , thei nduna of I nja-ka -Fura

,wi th eve ry fo rmal i ty . Herr

Grama n n had complai ned that th e nat i ves would sel lh im no grai n . I fel t I mus t remedy th i s beforepush ing on fu rthe r i n to Ma combe

’

s coun t ry,un less

I w ished to leave a Chaos beh i nd me .

On former exped i t i on s th i s ques t i on of n ouri shmen thad frequen tly been the cause of armed confl i c ts w i ththe nat i ves . Th i s t ime such a n i ssue wa s to beavo ided at any cos t . The fi rs t exchange of shotswould not on ly have j eopard i sed al l ou r l i ves , bu t al sothe exped i t i on i tsel f. But I was on my way toMa combe

’

s capi tal as an i nv i ted gues t of the ru l e rh imsel f. H is brothe rs Cun tete and K ash i were i nmy camp

,and I resol ved to make use of th i s fac t as

a bas i s for my negot iat i on s w i th K amb a ro te , i n order,a t th e same t ime , to sett l e th e quest i on of grai n .

S O I took Cun tete wi th me when , on the morn ingof J ul y 1 4th , I wen t to I nja -ka -Fu ra w i th H errB locke r . On the way there We d iscove red old m ineworki ngs . Hal fway between I nja - Banda and I njaka - Fu ra

,i n a del igh tfu l val l ey , l i e s the v i l lage I nja

70

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

ka -L o ngoe'

. Herr Grama n n had compla ined of theunfri endly beari ng of the local ch ief

,and I resol ved to

tes t for the fi rs t t ime my n ew method of tackl i ngl nja-ka - Fura .

’ I the re fo re ordered a hal t at th i sv i l lage , and sen t Cun te te to demand the presence ofthe Ch i efta i n . I i n formed h im that I had brough tbearers w i th me i n o rder to buy grai n from h im . Hewould be so good as to fetch five loads of flour

,and

arrange the pri ce wi th me . I am he re at Ma combe’

s

i nv i tat i on,whose fr iend I am , and i n whose name I

speak ; Cun te te here wi l l confi rm th i s I said .

“But I have rece i ved no perm iss ion from Kam

ba ro te ,answered the ch ie f.

“That i s noth ing to do wi th you . I am now goi ngto Kamba ro te mysel f ; i f you l ike , you can go wi th me .

Bu t meanwh i l e I am go ing to stay he re t i l l I have theflour

,wh ich must be brough t at once i n to my camp

,

wa s my repl y .

Afte r a short consu l tat i on wi th Cun te te , th e ch ie fgave the necessary orde rs

,and soon I had the satis

fac t ion ofseei ng women arri ve wi th the flou r, and alsoof heari ng around me the pleasan t sound of co rnpound ing . I n real i ty the peopl e glad ly sold gra in , asthe harves t had been ri ch

,and they were in need of

text i l es . Only they were afrai d of the i r ch i e f.As soon as th i s matte r had been settl ed , we cont i nn ed ou r jou rney along the fam i l iar val l ey of theMu '

i'

ra Rive r,wi th the ru in s of Fura before our eyes .

Towards ten o’cl ock we arri ved at I nja-ka -Fura ,whose numerous popu lat ion gathe red i nqu is i t i vel ytogethe r as we en te red . We wen t th rough wi nd ingstreets to the counc i l -hutj a n d I sen t Cun tete to i n v i tethe ch ief and the notabl es to a con ference . I hadbrough t magn ificen t presen ts wi th me fo r Kamba ro te

7 1

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

colou red stu ffs from Tete , a frock-coat , a bottl e o fcognac , a p iece of cal i co , &c.

Soon the l ead i ng men of I nja-ka - Fura gatheredtogether and took up the i r s tat ions i n the i r customaryplaces

,two rows deep . Last o f al l appeared K am

ba ro te h imsel f,a hal e and stu rdy man of about fo rty ,

wi th whom I exchanged a fri endly greet i ng . Iha rd lyrecogn i sed the old arrogan t Kamba ro te of las t Apri l ,so pol i te had he grown .

H e sa t fac i ng th e meet ing . On h is l eft sa t Cun tete ,

on h i s r igh t I w i th “Herr B locker . A dense crowd ofnat i ves s tood cur iousl y around the hut . On th i smorn i ng H err BlOcker and I again not i ced , what Ihad before obse rved , how absol utel y J ew ish i s thetype of th i s peopl e . They have faces cut exact ly l i kethose of the anc i en t J ews who l i ve around Aden .

Also the way they wear the i r hai r , the cu rl s beh indth e ears

,and the beard drawn out i n s i ngl e cu rl s

,

gi ves them the appearance of Aden or of Pol i sh - J ewso f the good old type . Th is i s ve ry d i ffe ren t from thegeneral S emi t i c type

,as we often find i t among the

Ban tu tr ibes,wh i ch owes i ts or igi n to an admixture of

Arabian bl ood . Here we had real u nal loyed J ewishphys iognomies before us .

When we had al l sa t down I tu rned to Kamba rote

I have come here , Kamba ro te , I sa id , “to gree tyou as a fr i end

,and to br i ng you these presen ts . I

have reached here on the march from I nj a -Nemga le

to Macombe, who has i nv i t ed me to v i s i t h im .

Macombe has sen t me assu rances of h i s fr i en dsh ip .

Therefore we al l are fr i ends now . I br i ng al so myfr i end H err BlOcker, who is to represen t me i n you rprov i nce when I am absen t . Rece i ve h im as a fri end

,

a n d help h im i n h i s work .

”

72

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

What do you wan t me to do for you ? answeredKamb a ro te .

I w ish you to command you r people to trade wi thus and to sel l us food for ou r se rvan ts . We wi l l paywhat i s r igh t i n s tuffs . Also

,I w ish youto give me

beare rs to carry my presen ts for Macombe as far asMisongwe and fu rthe r , that you orde r you r peopl eto work for H err B locke r . For th i s al so we wi l l paywhat i s righ t . ”

How many of my peopl e do you requ i reS i x for mysel f

,and ten for H err B locker .

NOW‘

Kamba ro te began a long d iscourse to h i speopl e wh ich I could fol low word for word . Whi le hespoke h i s head -men accompan i ed h im wi th a soft ,regular and rhythm ic clappi ng of the hands

,and wi th

con t in uous i n te rrupt ions of approval .“You know th i s wh i te man

,he said ;

“he is noPortuguese

,and has worked here qu ie tl y and peace

ful ly . Then he went ove r to I nja-Nemga le , and the real so he worked peace fu l ly . What he bough t , he pa idfor . Now he comes back to us and bri ngs me thesepresen ts . He is go ing to Macombe as a guest and asa fri end

,and begs us to help h im forward . H e wi shes

to buy food from us,he wan ts workmen

,and wi l l pay

what i s r igh t for both . Now say, shal l we rece i veh im as a fr i end and fulfi l h i s w ishes ?

When Kamba ro te had fin i shed th i s H omeri c d i scou rse there fol lowed a l oud clapping of hands , andthe foremost o f the n otabl es . an old man w i th wh i tehai r

,arose and said

“We have heard thy words , O Kamba ro te , andthey are good . We wi l l rece i ve the wh i te manDoka tore Pete rs as a fri end , and wi l l g i ve h im what

he a sks .”

73

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

Agai n th e mul t i tude applauded .

Then Kamba ro te tu rned to meDoka tore Pete rs ,

” he said ,

“my peopl e w i l l sellthee food , a s much as thou mayes t requ i re , and th i sve ry day I shal l send th e workmen . Also thy fri endhere we wi l l rece i v e i n peace . I f my peopl e ask tooh igh a pri ce from you

,th en send to me

,and I wi l l fix

the pri ce mysel f. Shou ld th ey not obey,I w i l l have

the i r heads cut off.These negot iat i ons occupi ed abou t three -quarte rs

o f an hour . Then Kamba ro te l ed us to h i s pr i vateh ouse , wh i ther some of th e n otabl es fol l owed us . Ihad had some cold l uncheon brough t fo r H err B locke rand mysel f : bread bu tte r

,ox—tongue

,and a bottl e of

clare t , wh ich we d i scussed on the veran da of Kam

ba ro te’

s house . The remnan ts I gave to the Ch i e fh imsel f, and he ate them wi th the greates t del igh t .He had a goat and gra i n brought to us i n re turn , andat once sen t o rders to the su rround ing v i l lages thatth ey shou ld open the i r markets to us . During suchnegot iat i ons my pi ctu resquel y at t i red Somal i s alwaysbehaved wi th the greates t d ign i ty , and

‘ by the i rbeari ng ass i s ted to he igh ten ou r prest ige among th ei nhabi tan ts .Ligh t o f heart we re tu rned unde r the bu rn ing noon

day sun to ou r camp . I n I nj a-ka -L ongoe the flou rwe had bough t was ready for us . I took i t w i th me ,and at once had i t port ioned out among ou r peopl e .

I agai n repeat here,as I sa id years ago i n my

descript ion of the Em in -Pasha exped i t i on , thatAfr ican t ravel

,l i ke eve ryth i ng el se i n th e world ,

i s fi rs t and foremost an affa i r -

Of th e stomach . I fone feeds one ’s column wel l , one can mai n tai nd i sc ipl i n e and order . The same th i ng appl i es to

74

AMONG THE MAKALANGA

the negro that A rthu r S chopenhaue r says of theGerman :

Ge ist un d W i tze w i llst duverschwen denDen An ha n g d er Men schen Dir zuzuwen den ?(l ieb ihn en ’

wa s Gu tes zufressen ,zusau fen ;

S ie kommen in Schaa ren D ir zugelaufen .

”

(“Youwish to wa ste wit

, youwish to wa ste soulThe hea rts of ma n kin d to co n tro l ?G ive them good th ings to stu ff a n d swi l lThey’l l come in crowds to d o your will.

75

CHAPTER I V 1

S PR ING ON THE ZAMBES I

ET me add to th e narrat i ve of ou r wanderingsand explorat i on s on the Zambes i a bri e f pen

pi cture of the great r i ve r i n i ts vari ed moods .Not on the wings of th e storm -winds does spri ng

en te r Zambes ia . The snow does no t mel t i n thefields

,and no r i vers bu rs t th e bonds of impri son i ng

i ce . No lark t r i l l s i t s j oyous song of thanks to thefi rmamen t above , and no bi rds of passage appearfrom warmer Cl imes . Ne i the r does th e heart of mancel ebrate here natu re

’s awaken ing from n igh t andfrost , wh ich makes the com ing of our northe rn spri ngso j oyous and so rad ian t an even t . Whose soul doesno t s t i l l echo that h eartfel t del igh t o f Ch i ldhood

’s dayswh ich was cal l ed forth i n us by th e appearance of thefi rs t s tork , of the swa l l ow , even by the buzz i ng of thefi rs t bee i n the March sunsh i ne H ow touch ing a j oyi s fel t i n the n orth when the snowdrop rai ses i tsi n nocen t head fromthe moss

,and the dai sy p ies the

meadows l ike a m i l ky way of l i t tl e s tarsThe com ing of spr i ng on the Zambes i can arouse

no emot ions l i ke these . The magic ian , who herecomes from the north

,has not to free nature from the

th raldom of cold , but the earth , the forests , and theI Some of the materia l in this chapter ha s a lready appeared in

German in the F in a n z C/zron ile.

76

SPRING ON THE ZA M BESI

fields are p in i ng fo r mo is tu re,and spri ng comes i n to

the coun try beari ng showers of ra i n . I n the t rop icsthe wi n te r opens wi th the d ry season

,the summer

wi th the ra i ny season . On the Zambes i the ra in scome to an end towards the beginn ing of Apri l

,i n

J u ly the c rops are reaped,i n Augus t the grass begin s

to ge t scorched , and then the coun t ry is exposed tothe burn i ng sun

, black and s t i l l as a corpse . Theri ve r-beds grow dry . Even the Zambes i is changedfrom a m igh ty s tream i n to a numbe r of shal lowri vul e ts , wh ich , for al l that , are s t i l l nav igable by smal lboats . The wate r-holes are empty

,and the nat i ves

mus t often wa l k dai ly fo r hours to supply the i r n eedof the i nd i spensabl e e l ement . There i s no quest ionbu t that , even duri ng these mon ths , wate r i s eve rywhere obta i nable unde rground

,and that European

sc ience would eas i l y succeed i n revol ut ion i s i ng thecoun try i n th i s respec t . B ut

,for the presen t , i t i s the

negro who coun ts here,and the negro i s no t fond of

revolu t ions , l eas t of al l s c i en t ific ones . Thus the landgrows more and more d ry ; and bleak and waste , asi n w i n ter- t ime w i th us

,the greate r part of the land

scape st re tches before one ’s eyes , wi th th i s d i ffe rencece rta in ly , that such evergreen t rees a s palms , acac ias ,miton d o s

, and aloes s t i l l pu t a ce rtai n vari ety i n to thep i c ture . I n September

,and even more so i n Oc tobe r ,

the heat becomes sul t ry and almos t unbearable . Thetemperatu re ri ses to I 1 30 Fah r . i n the shade by day ,a nd the n igh ts

,al though cons ide rably coole r, often

bri ng no real re l i e f.B ut the demon

,who thus oppresses the world , d igs

h i s own grave . Nature,the great econom is t , i s

everywhere wi se and wastes no force . The sameheat that parches the so i l and shat t ers our ne rves i s

7 7

S P R I NG ON THE ZA M BESI

s imul taneously made use of i n the o rgan i sat ion of thegreates t pumping operat ion s known to our plane t .Natu re con t i nuousl y sucks up mo is tu re from theocean . These vapou rs are Changed to ra i n - clouds ,and the cold wi nds that force the i r wa v from thesouth i n to the aer ial mass make them descend asmasses o f water. The th i rs t i ng Dark Cont i nen t isd renched wi th them . Thus here too heat is t ran sform ed in to useful work . S uch of i t as i s used topour masses of water over Afri ca is neut ral i sed , and ,therefore

,i s no t fe l t . The ra i n from the bel t o f th e

upper layers of a i r that fal l s on to the burn i ng earthcools th i s earth

,and then a good part of the sun

’

sglow i s agai n neu t ral i sed i n revapourising the wate rthat has descended . Thus does th e t rop i cal heatdefeat i tse l f by its own excess , and we here , at th i st ime , are on ly too glad of a sul t ry glow , because i t i sa su re precurso r of th e refresh ing thunders to rm .

Here al so the road to j oy i s th rough sufferi ng , andthe “negat i veness of th e sensat ion Of pl easuretaugh t by A r thu r Schopenhauer i s once mo re provenby these natu ral phenomena .

G rotesque and enormous is the approach of thecatast rophe that bri ngs sal vat ion . Towards even i ngthe northern and eas te rn hori zons are covered wi th al eaden and i nflex ibl e wal l o f cloud . The sun s i nksand d i sappears i n the west

,and n igh t breaks i n over

th e earth tha t res ts expec tan t l y . Suddenly there i s amovemen t i n the wal l o f Cl oud , now grown dark , andl ightn i ng-fla sh fol lows on l igh tn i ng-fla sh. For one ortwo even ings th i s i s al l . The storm i s too far awayto reach us . We must con ten t ou rsel ves wi th thespectacle o f the sheet l ightn i ng . But on th e th i rdand fourth even ings a change comes over the pi c tu re .

7 8

S P RING ON THE ZAM BESI

The cu rta i n of cloud moves qui ckl y ac ross the sky .

Fan tast i c and baroque sh reds and po i n ts o f cloudspread ove r the z en i th and soon across the whol efi rmamen t . Flash fol lows flash ; sudden ly the re i s agus t of wi nd and a low roari ng

,l ike the short growl

o f a l i on , i n the north - east . Then i t comes neare rand neare r, and soon we oursel ves a re i n th e m ids tof the wi ld uproar of th i s bat tl e o f the el ements .Thunder and l ightn ing , l igh tn i ng and thunder

,

m ingl i ng and c rash ing , as though the Go'

tterclc‘

in i

n ierung were abou t to open befo re us . And theni t pou rs down i n a del uge . The wate r fal l s rat t l i ngon my ten t l ike a perpe tual rol l i ng o f drums . I tbeats down on the loads that l i e Cl ose by

,on the trees

and on the grou nd,and soon l i t t l e b rooks and water

ways are r ippl i ng on al l s ides towards the r i ver -bed .

Meanwh i l e we are s i t t i ng i n our ten ts reve ren twi tnesses of th i s magn ificen t man i fes tat ion of theAlm ighty

,and gratefu l for the r i ch bl ess i ng wh i ch

natu re has once more bes towed upon the necess i toussons of th i s earth . Thus i t goes on for one

,two

,even

th ree hours . At las t the thunder d i es away i n thesouth -west

,the ra i n fal ls gen tly w i th frequen t short

i n terrupt ions,and .then a roari ng downpour again .

Now i t i s over,and onl y the t ree unde r wh i ch we are

camped shakes i tsel f from t ime to t ime , th rowing alas t spray on to the roof of our ten t . We , however ,qu i t th e shel te r

,go through the camp , del igh ted to

i nhal e th e del i c iousl y pure ai r,and a refresh i ng n igh t’s

res t compensates us for the tortu res of the day before .

Or, perhaps , the ra i n con t inues and we are l ul l ed tosl eep by i ts even

,murmur i ng fal l . With such s igns

and accompan iments does spri ng en ter i n to theregions of the Zambe s i .

80

SPRING ON THE Z AM BESI

And , as wi th a magi c wand , spri ng touches andchanges the su rround ing coun t ry h ere as wel l . Weare at presen t encamped i n the Mu

'

i'

ra Val l ey,and

,

l i ke the scenery of a theatre , the wal l o f mountai n sl ies to the west before ou r eyes . Fou rteen days agoand i t stood there grey and bare . The fi rs t ra inbrough t colou r and l i fe i n to the pi c tu re . In a t ri cethe t rees were i n leaf, and every morn ing we not icedwi th pl easu re how a larger su rface of the p ictu reshone green , j us t as though a

“ landscape pai n te r hadbeen a t work overn ight . Th i s sudden change i s dueto the fact that th e buds , before they real ly burs t ,appear grey on the i r outs ide , and change colou r i n thesame momen t that they open . Thus the fo res tappears qu i te suddenly i n l igh t green , l i ke the beechwoods of ou r northern home . And on the earth aswel l there i s green . Fresh grass pushes i ts wayth rough the black mass of ashes , a tasty d i e t forgame and s tock . Thus here al so a morn ing or.even ing walk recal l s ou r spr i ng .

And the mus i cal feathered world gi ves express ionto its new zes t i n l i fe as wel l . Now the gu inea- fowland other b i rds pai r, and l iv ely i s the sound of th e i rsong . True we do not hear the cuckoo here , but weare s im i larly affec ted by the gu rgl i ng and cal l ing ofthe many ki nds of p igeons as we would be by i ts note .

The ducks and geese return to the Zambes i . Ospreysand vul tu res balance themsel ves h igh i n the a i r .Swal l ows

,quai l

,and larks are busy , even though the

las t-named are dumb here . Trop ical natu re Spreadsthe tabl e for many , and everyth i ng presses towardsl i fe and cont i nu i ty .

The game seek new graz i ng grounds ; the statel yelk

,the koodoo

,the hartebees t , the wate r spri ng

8 1 G

S P RING ‘

ON THE ZAMBESI

and bush -buck change ove r to th e o the r s ide of theMui

’

ra . We go th rough the fo res t and suddenly cometo a stands t i l l , for ou r glance fal l s on a group ofgraceful sword -antelopes peace ful l y n ibbl i ng away atthe fresh j u icy green . Or

,perhaps

,a hare sudden l y

spri ngs up at ou r fee t and hast i l y makes i tsel f scarce .

I n the sand , however , we see th e traces of b ig game ,of the m igh ty rh i noce ros , of the buffalo , and , i n moreh idden corners , of th e el ephan t as wel l . As everywhere ,th e b ig an imal s are fol lowed by the tr i be of beasts o fprey . Through the s i len ce o f n igh t one hears thelaugh ing of the hyena , the growl i ng of the leopard , o rthe maj est i c roar of the l ion .

My presen t compan ion , H err B locker , shot a l eoparda few days ago some fi fty paces from ou r camp at fiveo

’

cl ock i n the afte rnoon ; and I mysel f had a shot ata l i on a Short t ime ago at seven O’clock i n the morn ing

,

scari ng i t away from a nat i ve whom i t had st ruckdown together wi th fou r othe rs , among whom was myfr i end Cun tete , the bro ther of Macombe . B locker

,a

German foreste r and a hu nter by profess ion, n ow

suppl i es ou r k i tchen regu larl y wi th game .

I f natu re now wakens he re to new l i fe , man , las tno t l east

,s t i rs al so. The whole negro world i s at

p resen t bus i l y engaged i n d igging and plant ing .

Above al l m i l l e t,the al l - importan t umpire, i s sown ,

whose harves t w i l l be nex t J u ne and J uly . Last yearthe crops fa i l ed owing to the scarc i ty of ra in , and th i spresen t sow ing i s accompan ied by ou r spec ial wi shesfor i ts wel fare , as we al so have to su ffer from thescarc i ty o f food . I have to feed my servan ts onI nd ian r i ce from Ch i nde and negro corn from Tete

,

wh ich h inders me i n my movemen ts . May Naturebe more grac ious to us th i s t ime . I t ry to persuade

82

SP RING ON THE ZAMBESI

bus iness cal l s me to the coas t I mus t go down i n myrowing-boat M anet. Mr . Thomson and I have tu rnedth i s rowi ng-boat i n to a house -boat . We have coveredi ts s te rn wi th a “house ” about fou r fee t h igh and S ix fee tl ong , i n wh i ch my deck-cha i r has pl en ty of room ,

andwhere i n case of need a sl eepi ng-place cou ld al so bearranged . The “house cons ists of a network oftw igs cove red wi th cane . Over th i s we have drawnwatert igh t sai l -Cl o th , wh ich can be l e t down i n fron tand beh i nd as wel l as on both S i des

,by wh ich mean s

the whole i s tu rned i n to an absol u te ly rai nproof room .

The boat i s propel l ed by e igh t oarsmen wi th paddlesand pol es

,a s tee rsman who s tands beh in d my house ,

and a pi lo t who stands i n fron t and measures th e waterw i th a pol e . I have embarked wi th two se rvan ts anda cook

,whose places are forward . My diary runs

thus8 D ecen zoer Thomson and I r i se at 5 a m ,

bu t th e boatmen from Tambara have not come yet . Ihave al l my baggage put i n to the boat , and then passan impat i en t hou r i n th e s tat ion and i n the garden ofM i tonda . At ten boatmen come from the Portu

guese s tat ion Injako ro i n Tambara w i th a l e t te r fromthe commandant .

'

We start at on ce . Thomsonaccompan i es me as far as Injako ro . The morn i ng i scool and pl easan t afte r a ra i ny n igh t . The sky ISclouded

,and the Lupata Moun ta i ns l i e beh i nd us

wrapped i n mys ter i ous ve i l s o f m i s t . A Short d i stancebelow M i tonda I shoot an enormous h ippopotamuswho Spri ngs up h igh and then fal l s backwards headforemost i n to the flat water . A l i t t l e l ower down Ibag a crocod i l e . A second

,at wh i ch I have a shot ,

escapes me . At we land i n Inja koro ,where I

take a fr i end ly farewel l of the Commandan t , Senho r84

SPRING ON THE ZAMBESI

Hen riquo da S i l va da Ribe i ro , and h i s ass i stan t ,Senhor da Costa . Thomson re tu rn s from here toM i tonda . The banks of the r i ver below Injako ro areflat . But wi th the i r green fri nges of fores t , i n wh ichpalms s tand ou t here and the re , and pleasan tl y brokenup as they are by long rows of papyrus reeds

,th e

effec t i s pl easan t , and the many i slands offer a Change .

AFTER A HEAVY DAY’S IN M ITONDA .

The Zambes i,below the Lupata Gorge , wa s once a

m igh ty lake to wh i ch the Rufumbo Lake i n the northalso belonged . I n i nn umerabl e Channel s the r i ve r nowwinds th rough a maze of i slands . This i s a d i fficul tpassage to nav igate . However , we go bri skly clowns tream

.The quan t i ty of r i ve r-game i s enormous .

Before noon I have Shot th ree h ippopotam i , of wh ich85

S P R I NG ON THE ZAMBESI

we have secured two up to now (7 p m ) On thei slands the re are crowds o f cranes , s torks , flamingo eS,herons

,and black as wel l as wh i te geese . P rocess ion s

of ducks c ross them . I n the ai r the re are eagl es andd iffe ren t k i nds of sn ipe . Lapwings and other smal l e rspec i es are seen . There is so much to see and to takei n al l around that I cont i n ual l y lay the book I amread ing (Dickens

’s B lea k H ouse), as ide . To -day Isho t e igh t c rocod i les

,S i x h ippopotam i

,th ree ducks , and

two ri ver -hens . At twel ve , noon , I g ive orde rs for ahal t near a set t l emen t cal led Pambu

'

e'

nge , where theke tt l e i s pu t on . At we go on . Every nowand again my men run the boat aground , and thenthey have to ge t ou t and draw i t th rough the wate rfo r a b i t . The afte rnoon con t in ues grey and dark , i nthe north -eas t over B lan tyre

,and i n the sou th -west

ove r Ma combe’

s coun try s torms s tand i n th e Sky . Themounta i ns of Fu ra are more and more los t i n th eglare of the c louds

,from wh ich the fam i l iar Shapes of

the peaks l ook ou t on me myste r iously . From fou rO

’

clock onwards I regard the s t range landscape s tanding uprigh t befo re my

“house . I nexhaus t ibl e Natu reshows hersel f i n a perfect ly novel i l l um i nat ion , and thesoul de l igh ts i n such

’

impressio n s .

Towards s ix o ’clock I lay- to at a second i sland ,S a ramagombie , and have my ten t pu t up . Whi le Iwri te th i s I see my cook occup ied i n maki ng sn ipesoup fo r me

,and roas t i ng two plump ri ve r-hens fo r the

same person .

9 D ecen zoer .

—La s t n igh t at ten o ’clock th e s tormbroke . J us t as pleasan t as s torms are when one i sunde r a sol id roof are they unpleasan t i n one

’s ten t atn igh t , for they always rob one of seve ral hours

’ S l eep .

Rise a t S ix and rouse the column wi th cus tomary no i se .

86

S PR I NG ON THE ZAM BESI

\Ve real ly ge t off a t five past s ix. Soon the fores t ofInjamkwa s i r i ses on the l e ft bank ; th e banks fal l Shee rabou t 2 0 fee t to the r i ve r . At seven o ’c lock we

pass the s tat ion of the Zambes ia Company . Thefauna con t i n ues to be as n umerous and vari ed as ever .AS I a m Shoot i ng a h ippopotamus (the nat ive M a ni)j us t h ere at Injamkwa s i, the bu t t of my gun i s dashedwi th such force i n to my face th rough a movemen t ofthe boat that fo r the fi rs t momen t I am afra id that myrigh t eye i s knocked ou t

,the more so a s a s tream of

blood i s flowing down my face . Luck i l y onl y a p ieceof fl esh is to rn ou t above th e r igh t Cheek -bone j us tunder the eye . I have to b ind the wound ant i sept i cal l y .

No more Shoot ing for to - day ! The boat , always go ingwi th the s tream

,gl ides over to the r igh t bank of the

m igh ty r i ve r,where the pecu l iar e levat ions of Ch i ramba

come i n to v i ew . I reflec t on the teem ing a n ima l l i fe .

One spec i es always devours the o ther . As soon a s Ifind a spec i es I know

,I a sk ,

“Who,my boy , do you

eat , and by whom are you eaten ?” Man , a s the

st rongest,devours them al l

,but he is agai n the v i ct im

of the smal les t,of the m icrobes i n the shape of chol e ra ,

typho id , bubon i c plague , t uberculos i s , cancer , 8 1 0 , so

as to even matte rs ou t . That th i s sys tem , upon wh ichou r whole nature is planned

,as on i t s i rre fragable law ,

exac tly betokens the “world based on un i ve rsal l ove”

of certa i n ph i losophers,can hardly be mai n tai ned from

an i n tel l ectual po in t of v i ew . One need only camp fora n igh t i n the Afri can bush

,and hear t ime afte r t ime i n

the sounds that break the st i l l ness the c ri e s o f beas tsfr ightened fo r the i r l i ves i n orde r to apprai se the bes to f al l poss ibl e worlds o f Le ibn i tz . We reach ani nkl i ng of the d iv i ne al l - embrac i ng love when weaccep t i n a l l ser iou sness that l i fe and death , bi rth and

88

SPR ING ON THE ZA M BESI

decay , are on ly appearances based on an i l l us ion of ou ri nd i v idual i n tel l igence

,and i n no way affect i ng ou r

actual be i ng . Th i s though t al so becomes moreplaus ibl e than el sewhere on a m ighty t ropi cal r i verw i th i ts superabundance of l i fe . Namely that

,i n sp i te

o f al l the eat i ng and be i ng eaten,eve ry spec ies s t i l l

remai ns fresh and rad ian t i n its zes t o f l i fe . None ismiss i ng . Nature

,the al l -mother

,i n c l udes them al l

,and

the ri se and fal l o f the i nd iv idual real ly seems to beon ly a l i ve ly romping of a mothe r wi th he r Ch i l dren ,who th rows them on h igh to always catch them aga i nsm i l i ngly i n he r l ap .

I l unch abou t noon below the stat ion of theMozamb ique Company

,Ch i ramba

,and i n the afte r

noon pass bes ide the fo rests of th i s d i s t ri c t . A squal lwh i ch r i ses sudden ly abou t 4 p m . forces us to hal t fo rhal f an hour . To-day we agai n h ave overcas t Sk ies ,bu t a sunse t a la Rembrand t . About s ix o

’c lock Io rde r nay-men to hal t on the l eft bank , where we haveapproached the wes te rn spu rs o f the Sh i re Moun ta i ns ,and have my ten t pu t up i n the Cl ean sand of a d ryt r ibutary coming from the north - east . The ai r he re i scool and spl end idly pure . A beaut i fu l S unday l i esbeh in d me .

1 0 D ecen ioer .

— Looks l i ke ra i n . We leave ata .m . i n cold weather ; th e morn i ng, howeve r , re

mains fine . On our l e ft r i se the Maka nja Moun ta i n s ,pas t wh i ch we row the whole day long. Aboutthe Zambes ia Company ’s s tat ion

,Shinga le , comes i n

S igh t , and the commandan t asks me i f I w i l l comei n and say

“how do you do to the wh i tes . “No ,thanks ! ” I w i l l no t spo i l t he del i c ious gi ft wh ichGod is bless i ng me wi th these days — sol i tude andnature ! Li ke Antaeus from contac t w i th his mothe r

90

S PR I NG ON THE ZA M BESI

th i s earth l y l i fe cons i s ts i n the happin ess of the i nd iv i dual , the n the negro has fulfi l l ed th i s pu rpose . Thusfar he has actual cla ims to gen ius . T/ze rea son wéy

any one i s happy i s o f no consequence,prov ided that

‘

the person i s happy . I t is , therefore , s tup id to speako f the poor black man . I t is much more correc t tospeak o f the “poor wh i te man .

” One should onl ycompare the sombre

,agi tated faces of the wh i tes w i th

th e laugh ing phys iognomies of the blacks ! Thereason of the i r j oy i s w i thou t doub t that

,l ike the

beasts , they l i ve exclus i vel y i n the presen t , and knowno care for th e morrow . Bu t I do not bel i eve thatthe pu rpose of l i fe cons is ts i n the happ i ness o f thei nd i v idual , and , the re fore , I p re fer to belong to thecareworn sect ion of human i ty .

On our l eft we have a mountai n chai n con t i nuouslybes ide us , wh ich looks ve ry lovel y w i th i ts ornamen tso f newly opened greene ry . At we pass Sena ,and shortl y after twel ve arr i ved at Muta ra re wheresol i tude and travel l i ng by boat come to an end for thepresen t . For

,short l y afte r my arr i val

,S enhor Fere i ra ,

the head of the Zambes ia Company i nv i tes me to takeup my quarte rs i n the Portuguese fort

,and towards

even i ng,Herr H ermann Mul l e r comes from Sena ,

and Mynheer S in d eram of H ol land from the V i l laBoccagio on the Sh i re , both acqua i n tances of m ine ,and we spend a l i ve ly even ing together .

1 4 D eceméezc — Herr S in d eram had bough t a l i t tl es teamer i n S ena from the Mozambique Companywh ich he wished to have “quan ted ” down -s tream toCh i nde . H e wa s good enough to i n v i te me to a ccom

pany h im,and as I w i shed to see my house—boat back

i n M i tonda agai n as soon as poss ible , I accepted h isi n v i tat ion . Consequent ly I had to wai t a t Muta ra re

92

SP RING ON THE Z AMBESI

on the 1 2 th December, and only abou t fou r o’clock

yeste rday were H err S in d eram ’

s preparat ions to l eaveMuta ra re complete . I t rai ned very heav i l y these days

,

and , on th i s accoun t , I was glad to be out of thehouseboat , and to set tl e down unde r th e gal van i sedi ron roof wh ich covers H err S in d eram ’

s s teamer fromone end to the o the r . The boat i s cal l ed Ta fl zéam , aname I am acquai n ted wi th

, a s M itonda l i es i n theTambara coun try . I t can carry e igh t tons and wasorigi nal l y i n tended as a pol i ce boat . Now S in deramwants to use i t to carry n igge rs and fo r othe r bus inesspu rposes, afte r the mach i nery has been careful l yexam ined i n Ch i nde . Forty men “quan t ” andpaddle the boat down - s t ream ,

wh ich,however

,only

moves at the rate of abou t th ree m i l es an hour , asevery now and then i t gets stuck on a sand -bank .

Now that the sun i s se t t i ng the volcan i c cones ofSena and the wh i te bu i ld i ngs of Muta ra re begin tod i sappear beh ind us i n the haze

,wh i l e to the le ft the

m igh ty Moun t Ma romba le wi th the Sh i re cha i n growsever more enormous . Everyth i ng i s hal f-sh rouded i nc louds .But we have arranged th i ngs comfortably fo r ou r

sel ves i n the fore part of the boat wi th tables andchai rs ; we read , smoke , and chat , and every n ow andthen fi re off a sho t . S in d eram acts as sk ipper , wh i l eI superi n tend the k i tchen . Towards seven o ’clock weland on a sand -bank where we remain for the n igh t .Early i n the morn i ng (1 4th December)we cont i nue

our voyage . The weather has cleared a l i t t l e bu t thesky remai ns clouded . A strong wind blows the wholeday , h i nder i ng ou r passage . The boat goes sl owlywi th th e cu rren t

,tu rn i ng i n c i rc l es . But for al l that

we move,and are percept ibl y neare r to the Sh i re . I n

93

SPR ING ON THE ZAMBESI

th e afte rnoon more heavy showers . Towards six o’clock

the sky clears and we lay to at an i sland close toMorassa, wh i ch i s covered by seve ral v i l lages .S in deram and I take an even i ng wal k to buy eggsand fru i t , i n wh ich we are unsuccessful . I have myten t pu t upon the bank where we d i ne and where late ron I tu rn i n .

1 5 D ecen iéen — ln th e n igh t we are d is t u rbed byh ippopotam i i n the most shameless fash ion . S in d eram ,

who i s s l eep ing on board , has the lamp brough t andbegin s to read . At las t I ge t up and shoot one of th ebeas ts , whereupon the no i se ceases . At five o

’clockour j ou rn ey con t i n ues . Th rough a newly formedchannel we run i n to the Sh i re Rive r about ten o ’clock

,

and go slowly down - st ream . At el even o ’clock we - lay,

pressed by the w ind,cl ose to the l e ft bank

,when

suddenly we obse rved the smoke of a s teamer aheadof us . I t wa s the K ing of the F lot i l la Company ,on i ts j ou rney to Ch i romo . I fi red my gun as as ignal , and soon we were s ide by s ide . A fri endlygreet ing passed between us and Capta i n Wal lace andthe enginee r

,M r . Dawson , both old acquai n tances .

I wen t on board the K ing wh i l e M r . Dawson i nspectedour engines . To my aston i shmen t I me t a Germanlady on the K ing ,

Frau D r . Sch rode r, on th e way tothe Berl i n M i ss ion of Uben a i n German East Africa .

I had mysel f i n t roduced and exchanged a few words wi thher . H er husband

, unfo rtunately , l ay i l l i n th e cab in .

At noon the K ing s teamed on , afte r we had takencoal and wood on board . S in d eram wants to ge t upsteam . The afternoon wa s wet and stormy l i ke a la teSeptember day i n S cotland . We lay- to at the tel egraph s tat ion of Ch imara Where I had my ten t e rec tedi n the rai n .

94

S PRING ON THE ZAMBESI

own engi nes,somet imes be i ng towed . About we

reach Shipa nga ,where ou r mach i ne ry i s final ly se t i n

o rde r. From here we steam past the jesu i t M iss ionof Lacedon ia to Vicen tis , th e place of cal l fo r th eMopea sugar factory and i n the afte rnoon , i n spl end idweathe r, we con t i nue down the sunny Zambes i toMarameo

,anothe r sugar factory . Mopea placed

tons of sugar on the marke t th i s year , Marameo

900 tons . Sugar has certa i n ly a b ig fu tu re on theZambes i . I have my ten t pu t up close to the r i ve r ,next to the factory plan tat ion s . Captai n Coplan dand M r . Paterson d i ne w i th me i n the even i ng , wh i l eH err S in d eram has a sl igh t attack of feve r . Atd inner M r . Copland te l l s me that M cKin ley has beenre-el ected Pres iden t , and that the old Governmen t ha scome i n agai n i n England ; that i n Germany P ri nceH ohenlohe has res igned

,and that Coun t von Bul ow

has become Chancel lo r .1 8D ecemoer .

— The morn i ng breaks beam ing brigh tlyove r the world . I am about at as the days arenow very long

,and I go fo r a walk i n the ne ighbour

hood . At the Cameron s teams off ; we fol low anhou r late r, as ou r s team i s no t ye t up . Then we goqu i ckl y down -s t ream . I shoo t h ippopotam i dai l y .

B ut crocod i l e grow scarce down here . At ten o’

clockwe reach Ben to , a t imber s tat i on at S in deram

’

s, and

at one o’

clock anothe r s tat ion at the en try to theCh i nde River , wh ich S in deram i s good enough toch ri s ten Peters . Mynhee r S in d eram has the monopolyof the t imber t rade between Ch i nde and Ch i romo .

We stop at Pete rs S tat ion,because we do not know

whethe r ou r engin es won ’t smash i n th e Ch inde Rive r,where both banks are swamps

,and where consequen tl y

there was no anchorage . I n the afte rnoon,wh i l e we

96

SPR ING ON THE Z AMBESI

are at l unch,the s teamer from Marameo suddenly

arr i ves and l i es by al ongs ide of us,and i s go ing to

stay he re to -day . Capta i n Evans and H err Bourg ignonlook us up at once . So we agai n have company forthe even ing . From here the Zambes i runs

,form ing

a del ta , i n to the I nd ian Ocean . As the l i fe of thei nd iv idual dwi ndles away i n to the great s t i l l sea

of death , so does the Zambes i flow in to the ocean ,d i ss ipated and d ispersed in to a hundred scatteredcourses . Like the poores t r i vul e t

,al l i ts ene rgy and

al l the wonder of i ts flood ends i n the ocean ! And i ti s as though i t had not been . Va n ila s va n ita l nm

But fo r al l that , i t has been th e arte ry wh ich hasi n fused l i fe i n to whole count r ies , and i t al so ce lebratesi ts resurrec t ion from the lap of death i n the ete rnalc i rcl e of Nature .

97

CHAPTER V

THE K INGDOM OF MACOMBE

NOW fixed my departu re for the afte rnoon of

ju ly 1 5 th , a Satu rday . The rest of F riday wespen t i n repack i ng the loads

,as H err B locker had

to separate h i s prov i s i on s from ours . On Satu rdaymorn ing I wen t wi th H e rr B locke r to the old m i n i ngwork i ngs wh ich we had d i scove red the day before ,and we came upon some quartz reefs

,wh ich he furthe r

exami ned .

At two o ’c lock everyth i ng wa s ready fo r departure ,bu t un fo rtunatel y H err Gram a n n was at the las tmomen t prost rated by such a heavy fresh attack offeve r that i t appeared doubtfu l to me whethe r hewould be able to u ndertake the exped i t i on at al l .I therefore resolved to march alone , and to wa i teven tual ly for h im i n M isongwe . So l eav i ng carr i e rsbeh i nd fo r h im

,we moved on i n a sou th -westerly

d i rect ion .

Herr B locker accompan ied me for a short d i s tanceup th e M uira Road . He wa s unde r orde rs to j o i n mei n Mashonaland by the Ruenje Road afte r he hadfin ished his work i n I nja -Banda .

Soon we tu rned in to the Mui’

ra r i ve r—bed,th rough

the sandy ground of wh i ch we marched up -r i ve r,and

I took l eave of M r . Blocker . The d io ri te here soon98

THE KINGD OM OF MACOMBE

The col umn moves i n a long l i ne,and soon I find

mysel f i n fron t of i t , accompan i ed on ly by Osman , mySomal i boy , who carri es my double express .The consc iousness of walk i ng on anc ien t h i s to ri c

ground possesses me . What figures may have walkedhere thousands o f years ago ; and what sor t of l i femay have exi s ted i n these su rround ings ? Ah !“W’

hen the cou rse of the world i s no t kept togethe r by ph i l osophy , the mechan i sm i s con t i n uedby hunge r and love

,

” Sch i l l e r says . As i f ph i losophycould eve r take the place of hunger and loveThe afte rnoon i s advanc i ng

,and the sun i s s i nk i ng

deepe r to the west . The rugged landscape aroundus became s teepe r and more fanc i ful i t seems to gai nl i fe . H ere

,grotesque faces are gri nn ing towards u s

the re , th reaten i ngly , an arm i s ra i sed wh i ch seems toorde r us back .

“What w i l t thou,poor weak man

,

i n ou r realm ? Generat i on afte r generat ion of thyl i ke s i nk i n to noth i ngness befo re ou r eyes ; for e te rn i tyonl y we were born

,we sons of the depths . Of what

use i s thy pass ionate s t ri v ing ? Dus t and mou ld i sthe goal to wh ich thou art runn i ng .

Bu t othe rs w i l l fol l ow me,one may reply , “and

you you rselves, youhaughty ch i ld ren of the depths ,

wi l l be but sand and dus t before th e las t o f my racehas t rodden th i s plane t .With sunse t we arri ved at I nj a-ka -Lapa , a l i t t l e

v i l lage on the north -west bank of the r i ver. I hadmy ten t p i tched on the cl ean r i ver-sand , and orde redthe nat i ves

,th rough Cun tete ,

to br i ng flou r fo r mymen . Th is was done

,and we feas ted l uxu riously .

Next morn ing we marched on partl y i n the r i ve rbed , partl y th rough beaut i ful h igh forests along th ewestern bank . Towards hal f-pas t seven we l eft the

1 00

THE K INGDO M OF MACOM BE

dis t ri c t o f I nja-ka - Fura , and an hou r late r we reachedL o lo ngoe. The people rece i ved us ve ry k indly

,and

I rema ined here an hou r i n o rder to have a good lookat the place , where , as the nat i ves told me , there hadformerl y been a Portuguese stat ion . Th i s i s theL o lo ngoe or Bocuto of the old report in my AtlasAnt iques . L O

” i s a p refix i n South Afri canlanguages .

COOK I NG THE DINNER .

Theal i n h i s book Tne P or lngn ese in S on tn Afr ira ,

page 1 79 ,says

,

“Bocuto was th i rty m i les d i s tan tfrom Massapa

,and on ly a l i t t l e s tore wi th no in

teres ting featu res . Massapa wa s s i tuated near Moun tFu ra

,from the top of wh ich we had an exceed

ingly good V i ew over the Kalanga Land , bu t noPortuguese wa s perm i t ted to c l imb i t , because the

1 0 1

THE KINGDO M OF M ACO M BE

Mo n omo tapa (so th e Portuguese cal l th e ch i ef of theMakalanga) d id not w i sh them to know too mucho f h i s coun try .

I t i s su rpri s i ng that Theal d id not th i nk i t necessaryto locate geograph i cal ly and d i s t i n c tl y the scenes ofthe h i s tory he te l l s . I t su ffices h im to say

,Massapa

was s i tuated on the R i ve r Manzoro,th e Mazoe

’

o fto-day , and th i s se t t les the quest ion . That appearsto me though tl ess . From what po i n t n ear the Mazoei s one abl e to look from a moun tai n ove r th e Makalanga coun try ? The cen tre of the K alanga count ryi s the Mu

'

ira ; i ts ch i e f i s Macombe , whose res idence ,M iso ngwe , l i es on the bank o f th i s r i ver. On theM u ira we found I nj a-ka—Fu ra , Massapa , and theanc ien t ru i n s . I t i s a p i ty that Theal d id no t godeeper i n to th i s quest i on before wr i t i ng his book .

H e speaks con t i n ual l y abou t the K alanga d i s tr i c ts ,Makalanga , &c . ,

he desc ribes negot iat ions and even tswh ich took place i n the i r coun t ry , wi thou t s tat ingwhere th i s clan l i ved . So a veil . is spread over anothe rwi se excel l en t narrat i ve

,wh ich preven ts a fi rm

grasp of the even ts , and leaves the d i fferen t Por tugueseexped i t ions absol u tely i n a hal f l igh t . I shal l have tore turn to th i s .L o lo ngoe l i es c l ose to the Mui

’

ra . and not far fromthe mos t importan t t r ibu tary of i t

,Macombe . I t

there fore corresponds to the geograph i cal no te i n ou rreport “between two r i vers al so the d is tance fromMassapa , wh i ch is men t ioned as th i rteen leagues , fi tsth i s spo t pre t ty wel l . L o ngoe, I take i t , wa s th ename of the d i s t r i c t , wh i ch has been kept up to -dayi n I nj a-ka - L o ngoe

'

. Bocuto wa s the name of theL o ngoe s tore i n th i s coun try . A trace of the namewe find preserved i n the name Lo—L ongoé .

”

THE K I NGDOM OF MACO M BE

The road led aga i n th rough h igh forests upon th ele ft bank of the Mu1ra , wh i l e M iso ngwe i s s i t uated onthe righ t bank . On th i s march I d i scove red a se rieso f old i ron work i ngs

,and two fu rnaces were shown me .

On the road messengers from Macombe repeatedlyran up i n o rde r to b i d me wel come . Th is remindedme of my entrance i n to Mengo i n Uganda i n February ,1 890 . Towards ten o ’clock we camped i n fron t o fM iso ngwe unde r a b ig legum inous t ree o n the margi nof the r i ver-bed . Soon a messenger from Macombearr i ved , and i nv i ted us to en ter M isongwe ,

and amidgreat exc i temen t and a gene ral concou rse of thepopulat i on we marched i n to the place . Over theen trance door two skul l s fixed on poles gri nned

“Ahearty welcome ” I had al toge ther fifty-s ix portersa n d five Somal i s . H err Grama n n and I were l edi n to a hut

,wh ich

,al though smal l , was cl ean and

a i ry . Macombe had ass igned th i s as ou r quarte rs .H is eldes t b ro the r and he i r to the th rone , Shewa nga ,

a very i n tel l igen t and courteous man,d id th e honours

o f the place,bu t I told h im at once that I should

pre fe r to l i ve i n my own ten t,and requested h im to

i nform Macombe of th is . Perm iss ion wa s gi ven , andI a t once pitched my ten t i n a n open space i nM isongwe . Then I sen t the presen ts I had brough tto Macombe : s t rong cal i co

,coloured pri n t fo r his

wi ves,cook ing u tens i l s and pots

,a load of sal t

,and

a load of flou r,and las t

,bu t by no means l east

,a

d emionjo , or twenty—five bot t l es,of n igger gi n .

These presen ts we re grac iousl y accepted wi th heartythanks . At the same t ime Macombe sen t word thathe would rece i ve me next morn i ng .

And a very pleasan t day was before us ; hard thesun bu rn t down upon ou r ten ts i n the cen t re of dusty

1 04

THE K INGDOM OF MACOM BE

Miso ngwe wi th i ts i ndescr i babl e smel l s . The townhas from four to five thousand i nhabi tan ts , who l i veclosely togethe r wi th i n a narrow pal i sade the st ree tsare narrow and wind i ng

,and i n the cent re i s the

palace of Macombe,wh ich cons i s ts of a n umbe r of

TRAVELLI NG IN A HA M M OCK .

l arger huts arou nd a w ide open square al l thesebu i ld i ngs are surrounded by a spec ial wal l o f pal i sades .The fort ificat i ons round M iso ngwe have seve ral bul l e tproof bast ions from wh ich the glac i s around can becommanded . The al t i t ude of the place is fee t

1 05

THE K I NGDO M OF M ACO M BE

above sea - l evel,and i t l i es— from a n igger ’s po i n t of

v i ew— l i ke an impregnable s t ronghold on the margi nof the val ley of the Mu

'

i'

ra,about th i rty feet above the

bot tom of the ri ve r . Thi s i s a l l wel l and good , butsuch a n igger town i s no t exact ly th e place i n wh ichI would choose to spend a summer hol iday . I mus tadd that I wa s overrun al l day lon g by the I ndunas ofMacombe

,among whom Shewa nga wa s always con

spicuous ; he came to me w i th a sort o f swagger i norde r to tal k “h igh pol i t i cs

,but i n real i ty that he

m igh t break,

i n to my l i t tl e s tock o f brandy and wh i sky,

wh ich I could ill avoid a s i t wa s importan t to main ta i ngood relat ions w i th these people . I cou ld scarce lykeep th i s company away from me du ri ng my meal s ,so I placed Somal i s be fo re my ten t , upon whom theexal ted ones of the coun t ry made no impress ion

,and

they tu rned them rudel y away .

Duri ng the even i ng at e igh t o ’clock,the you ths of

the town danced a war dance i n fron t of my ten t i nmy honour, for wh ich d isplay I had to pay a grea tn umber of “s tre tches ” of cal i co

,and even duri ng the

n igh t the d rumming and shout i ng con t i nued . At fou ro

’

clock i n the morn ing a sort of tattoo w i th d rums wasg i ven , to wh ich I answered not exac tl y w i t h bl ess i ngs .Very t i red I rose nex t morn ing

,and was del igh ted to

not i ce,wi th my fi rs t peep from my ten t

,big flocks of

ch i ldren who were anx ious to see me shav ing andd ress ing. These ch i ld ren

,as wel l a s a number o f the

beau t i fu l sex of the nat i ves , accompan ied me wi thou ti n te rrupt ion whereve r I wen t . I was not a secondal one , and could but swear at our apparen t populari ty .

At hal f-pas t te n o ’clock the aud ience w i th Macombetook place i n h i s palace

,for wh ich I took , bes ides

H err Grama n n , a few Somal i s . I al so took th ree1 06

THE KINGDOM OF MACO M BE

smal l bottl es o f champagne , wh ich I handed over toMacombe

,as a presen t from mysel f.

When we en te red the cou rtyard,wh ich was

surrounded by the pri vate houses of Macombe,I saw

on my righ t a number o f Makalanga s i t t i ng , amongwhom I recogn ised some of the I ndunas who hadmade the preced ing day so pleasan t wi th the i r repeatedv i s i ts

,and to whom I winked i n a fr iend ly way . Herr

Grama n n and I were l ed to a carpe t under a w ideve randa on the l e ft -hand s ide ,upon wh ich we sa t down .

Suddenly a figure from the cen tre of the I ndunas roseand stepped towards me ; I supposed he was one ofmy yeste rday’s fri e nds and sal uted h im i n rather a freeand -easy fash ion w i thou t r i s i ng from my seat . I wa ssu rpri sed when my al l eged fr iend sa t down betweenme and H err Grama n n and the crowd groupedrespectful ly i n fron t of us . I t was Macombe h imsel f.H e is a st rongly made man of m iddle s i ze , wi thi n tel l igen t eyes , a rathe r soft mouth and a curledhea rd . The imp ress i on of h i s face i s dec idedly pl easi ng

,his behav iour modes t but ful l o f d ign i ty , and I

had i nvol un tari ly the feel i ng that I was i n the presenceof no common man . The aud ience commenced w i thmuch ce remony by my presen t i ng Macombe wi th theth ree bott l es o f champagne , wh i ch I had opened .

Macombe ordered a tumble r which wa s fi l l ed , and outo f wh ich I had to dri nk the fi rs t hal f. Th is was theunpleasan t s ide of my v i s i t to Macombe , noth i ng wentoff w i thou t much d ri nk i ng , and I always had to gohal f—shares wi th the k ing . As he un fortunatel y had apred i lec t i on fo r cognac and champagn e , hal f a n d hal f,and v i s i ted me twi ce qu i te earl y ; my stay i n Miso ngwebecame a real pun ishment

,fo r i n A fri ca I am not at

al l accus tomed to take much al cohol i c dri nk . This ,1 08

THE K I NGDOM OF MACOM BE

however , could not be helped ; pol i cy requ i red th i ssacrifice .

When we had fin i shed the champagne,of wh i ch I

was pl eased to see the I ndunas had to take a share,

I spoke to Macombe .

I am glad to make th i ne acquai n tance thy namei s wel l known i n Europe

,and I have made a l ong

voyage from England i n o rde r to see thy coun t ry . Ithank thee that thou hast sen t Cun tete who brough tme here , so that I now see the Macombe h imsel fbefore me . I hope thou wi l t be my fri end (Shema re

ango)Macombe repl i ed i n a l ong speech wh i ch he

addressed partl y to h is su i te, who l i s tened respectful l y ,

and accompan ied i t w i th a subdued clappi ng of hands .Thou and thy brothe rs are welcome . I am pleased

to see Engl i shmen and Germans wi th me ; onlyPortuguese are not al lowed to come here . But nowI hear that thou thysel f hast a Portuguese i n thyserv i ce at Inja nmenga le . That su rpr ises me , forshould h e en te r my coun t ry I would have to k i l l h im .

Also I have l earn t that thou art the fri end of th ePortuguese i n Tambara ; I am afra id i f I al low theeto t ravel th rough my coun t ry

,and i f thou ge ttes t

real es tate , that soon the Portuguese w i l l fol l owthee . Now I am at wa r wi th them . and i n tend toremai n at wa r ; my fathers have fough t th em s i ncemany

,many years (é a re éa re). Look here , i n s ign of

th i s old enmi ty I carry the ri ng of one of the i r greatones around my neck whom we have k i l l ed , the ri ngof Senhor Gouveir. Ifthouwi l t work here alone andi n peace

,thou art wel come

,but I w i l l not have any

Portuguese he re,I w i l l k i l l the Portuguese i n thy

serv i ce .

1 09

THE KINGDOM OF MACOM BE

Whom dost thou mean by ‘my Portuguese’ ? I

asked .

H is name i s Pol sk i,and he i s a t th i s momen t near

th e Tenj e H i l l .I could not help laugh i ng al oud when I l ooked at

H err Grama n n . Herr von Na po lski i s o f a yel lowcolou r , wi th dark ha i r , and the '

people he re took h imto be a Portuguese .

I sa id , “The man whom thou meanest i s noPortuguese

,but a German he looks d i ffe rent ly from

us because h i s ances to rs were Russ ian s ” (Russk i asthe Makalanga do not know anyth ing about th e Pol es).I t seemed that Macombe d id not bel i eve me , and

the s i tuat ion became rathe r s t rai ned,as I began to fee l

angry , bu t I remembered that rudeness on my s idem igh t eas i l y lead to the end of th i s exped i t ion , andeven of ou r l i ves . I though t of the two skul l s i n fron to f the door , and of M r . Perch , who was ki l l ed someyears ago by the Makalanga i n the north—west of thecoun t ry because he possessed a red blanket , wh i chhurt the rel ig ious feel i ngs of the tr ibe . I t was qu i tec lea r that a h in t from my fr i endly ne ighbou r wassu ffic i en t to “blo t out ” Herr Grama n n and mysel f,so I saidI f thou takest me to be a l ia r

,i t i s be t te r to fin i sh

th i s conve rsat ion , bu t I th i nk i t be tte r that thoushou lds t conv i nce thysel f fi rs t whethe r Napo lski i sa Portuguese befo re thou speakes t l i ke th i s . I am thyguest ; I have come he re upon th i n e i nv i tat ion . I ti s t rue the Portuguese

,are al so my fr iends

,but that i s

no reason why I shou ld not be thy fri end too .

Macombe shook hands,and repl ied So tel l me

then what I can do for thee ?“F i rs t , perm i t me to p i tch my ten ts outs ide

1 1 0


I made i t , because by carry i ng i t ou t I was mostcerta i n to re tai n fri endsh i p w i th th i s clan . If l hadthe favouri te b rother of the P ri nce wi th me i n E ngland , then good relat i ons w i th my stat ion s duri ngmy absence were secured , and the relat ions wh i chI had s tarted could be developed normal ly .

I was surpri sed that Macombe accepted my proposal at once .

“Cun tete a ta en d e na ive kwanza uta kala lapa

pa ngon o Cun tete shal l go wi th thee,but before

that thou sha lt s tay awh i l e w i th“ I canno t s tay a long t ime here , a s I have pl en ty

of work on hand before the rai n s set i n al so I shou ldl i ke to send thee as soon as poss ibl e thy mantl e fromUmtal i . (I knew my fri ends .)“ I n order to reach Ka terere thou must buy a l ot

o f gra i n , and that w i l l take seve ral days , he sa id .

With th i s I d ropped the subj ect ; th e aud i ence hadlasted longe r than an hou r

,and had been rathe r

exc i t i ng i ndeed,our heads were at s take . Anyhow

,

i t had helped th e fu rthe r progress o f the exped i t ionand th e success of my plans i n Ma combe

’

s count ry .

As soon as I got back to ou r camping-plac e I hadthe ten ts down and had th em taken “i n w i ld fl igh tfrom the place to a h i l l o n the other s ide of theMu1ra

,where the wi nd bl ew , and where we could

breathe God ’s fresh a i r once more , where we coul dl i s ten to the rust l i ng of the t rees and the song of theb i rds

,i n s tead of th e rude laugh te r of a n igger band

,

where the th i rs ty I ndunas had to c ross a ri ve r i n orderto lay the i r fingers on my cognac ; where a largecrowd had no room to s i t down . The h i l l , wh ich Ihad al ready poi n ted out i n the morn ing, wa s smal land n arrow on i ts su rface , and fel l down s teep , almos t

1 1 2

A ZAMBES I POST M AN.

THE K INGDO M OF M ACO M BE

vert i cal ly , 0 11 th ree s ides,l eav i ng room only for my

ten ts and a smal l n umber of men . I placed outpos tson the only po i n t o f access

,wi th an o rder to d ri ve

away,wi thou t a n v cons iderat ion , the usual crowd of

cu rious peopl e W i th a sj ambok . The trade i n flou rwas to be done at th e bot tom of the h i l l . I wan tedpeace and the swee t breath of natu re .

Our qu i ck depar tu re from Misongwe had been toomuch for the ne rves of my porters ; two of thembol ted at once because th ey though t the aud i encehad taken a bad turn

,and that the usual s laugh te r

would commence . I fel t that I had made a m is takei n fol low i ng my heart ’s des i re too eagerly .

I n the afternoon a b ig counc i l took place i n theres idence of Macombe . Calmly the even ing cameon i n ful l moon l igh t ; I wa s j us t occup ied i n break ingeggs fo r ou r suppe r i n to the fry i ng- pan

,and said to

H err Grama n n ,

“Now we’

l l have a n i ce qu i e teven i ng , when suddenl y th e “door o f skul l s o fM iso ngwe was opened , and out came a wi ld , fan tas t i ceor te

‘

ge ; i n fron t were young gi rl s dan c i ng, then aband of mus i c cons i s t ing of d rums , pipes , and s tri ngedi ns trumen ts . Then fol lowed several I ndunas

,then a

s i ngl e figure wh ich we found when they came neare rto be Macombe h imsel f. Beh i nd h im

, Cun te te ,

Kash i , and several o the r notabl es— al together fromforty to fifty men . I had qu i ckl y carr i ed away mypan and my eggs

,and advanced to the margi n of th e

h i l l,where th e pass reached to the top

,to mee t

Macombe . When he had asce nded I took h im bythe hand and l ed h im to the en t rance of my ten t

,

where two cha i rs were placed fo r h im and for me .

Herr Grama n n sat on a box next to me , and the crowdpoured i n on the smal l space round the prec ip i ce .

1 1 4


I answered,

“ I shal l be a good fri end to thee . Iam the enemy of my enemies

,and the fr i end of my

fr i ends .With l oud applause th i s declarat ion was rece ived

by the Makalanga . The s i nger j umped up and sunga song i n my honou r wh ich be accompan i ed w i th arhythm i c dance . I t wa s a fan tast i c scene . L igh tc louds hurr i ed pas t the moon

,whose l igh t j o i ned

w i th the yel low flame of ou r candles and camp fi res ;around us were the s t range fo rms of the su i te ofMacombe

,and i n the backgrou nd xmy Somal i s and

por te rs . Fo r abou t hal f an hour we were so s i t t i ngi n the m ids t o f the c rowd dri nk i ng and smok ing .

Then Macombe took me by the hand and said“For a long t ime I have had the w i sh to have an

able wh i te man for a fr i end . I s ee how you wh i temen advance more and more i n Afri ca ; on al l s idesof my count ry compan ies are at work ; on the Zambes i s teamers are runn i ng ; from B e i ra the rai lwayleads to Mashonaland i n Umtal i

,Macequece , and

other places townsh ips have ri sen . My count ry alsow i l l have to take up these refo rms

,and I am qu i te

prepared to open i t up to the wh i tes . I have therefore gi ven thee permi ss i on to prospec t for gold i n mycoun try and to bu i ld s tores

,hav i ng seen that thou and

thy fr i ends are i ndustr ious workers . I shou ld al sol i ke to have good road s and rai lways i n K a la nga la n d

bu t I w i l l remai n the Macombe a s my fathers havebeen . I n th i s cr i s i s I wan t a wh i te fr i end i n orde rto se tt l e i t al l i n fr i endsh ip w i th the Portuguese .

I an swered Macombe,

“ I w i l l do th i s , and Ibel i eve that my bre th ren wi l l l i ke to l i s te n to thywords . We wi l l work hard

,and wi l l open up the

coun t ry , and thou and thy fami ly shal l have noth i ng1 1 6

THE K I NGDOM OF MACOMRE

to fear fo r thy pos i t i on . we wi l l al l work i n fr i endsh ip togethe r .Macombe then wen t i n to further d eta l ls , and

among other th i ngs he said that he would have alarge house bu i l t fo r me near M isongwe .

Towards n in e o ’clock the v i s i to rs wen t as they hadcome

,wi th mus i c and danc i ng gi rl s i n fron t . Sweet

res t and deep peace en te red ou r camp i n th e sh i ne ofthe ful l moon . B ut i n M isongwe afte r a wh i l e thew i ld o rgi e of a general dance commenced wh i chlas ted t i l l m id n igh t . When Macombe had gone andwe were s i t t i ng at d i nner the th ree leaders of mypor te rs came and sa id“S i r

,we have seen that you a re a b ig man now

gi v e us a n i ce presen t i n con formi ty to th i s fac t .With a few energet i c words , wh ich were not exactly

bl ess i ngs,I chased th em away .

The next morn ing by seven o’

clock Macombe paidme a v i s i t , and I asked h im i n a fr i endly way to hurryon the preparat ion s fo r my departu re . Th is h e prom ised to do , and at once ordered h i s people to sel lme great quan t i t i es of flou r (nf n). I bough t ten sacksof th i s duri ng the n ext few days .I n M iso ngwe I

’

repeatedl y rece i ved reports fromMess rs . Blocke r and Napolski. B locke r sen t me thepl eas ing news that h e had obta i ned good resul ts i npann i ng the I nja Banda Reefs , a n d that he had foundabsolute ev idence that we possessed i n th e newlyd iscove red ree fs anc i en t m ines— su rface work ings

,

an old shaft , a quarry , and old roads cu t i n to therock

,wh i ch ce rtai n ly were not made by n at i ves .

I n the afte rnoon of june 2o tb I gave a mus i cal boxas a presen t to Macombe , wh ich seemed to pleaseim much .

1 1 8


The unpl easan t consequence of my fri endshi p w i thMacombe was the renewed rush of the I ndunas , whonow adopted a c ri nging at t i tude towards me . H iswi ves al so v i s i ted me , and one of h i s younger s i s tersabsol ute ly des i red to be marr i ed to me

,cl i ngi ng to

me unt i l h e r brothers,at my request

,carr i ed her

away . Macombe , who heard th i s , sen t h i s chamberla i n d ur ing the even ing to ask me whe the r I wan tedany othe r gi rl s

,wh ich

,howeve r

,I decl i ned .

On june 2 t st anothe r bro ther o f Macombe ap

pea red i n my camp .

~ He pretended to be a l i on ,or that the sp i r i t o f a l io n possessed h im . H eplayed l i ke a savage ma n

,th rew h imsel f down ,

roared l i ke a l ion,&C. At fi rs 1 I though t that he

wa s an epi l ept i c t i l l the t ruth was told “me . I trem inded me of s im i la r tal es of L i v i ngstone . Wh enthe possessed one at las t asked me for a bot tl e o fb randy I to l d h im that l i on s d id not dri nk brandy

,

upon wh i ch the c rowd broke i n to a roar of laugh te r.On the even ing of

’

the same day Cun tete told methat Macombe had procu red men for carry i ng ou rflou r, and gu ides . I n o rder to show to the Makalangathat I was ser ious l y plann i ng my departure

,I broke

up my camp on J uly 2 2 n d , abou t noon , and had i tremoved abou t hal f a m i l e to th e south of Misongweon the righ t bank of the ri ver, and took the road toS en la ngomb ie and to the Pungwe . Duri ng the afte rnoon I had the flou r wh ich I bough t properl y packedi n loads

,and i n formed Macombe that I shou ld march

next morn ing .

Towards n i ne o’

clock I wen t to sl eep ; at hal f-pas tn i n e Macombe appeared i n the camp wi th a beau t i fu li vory tusk as a presen t fo r me . When he l earned thatI wa s asleep he asked that I shou ld not be d i s tu rbed ,

1 2 0


and wi th h i s own hands pu t the tusk i n my ten t, so

that I should see i t fi rs t th i ng next morn ing when Iawoke . I s no t th i s a proof of refined tact , even ofgen tl emanly fee l i ng ?

With dawn nex t morn ing I had th e ten ts packedup , and everyth i ng was made ready fo r my departu re .

The gu ides had no t ye t come , bu t I sen t Cun tete toMacombe i n o rde r to fe tch them . Soon Macombecame h imsel f i n a very fr i end ly manner to superi n tendeveryth i ng personal l y . He said I should l eave myservan t Tom

,a Matabel e boy , anothe r day wi th h im ;

he migh t bri ng my flou r to S en la ngombie the carrie rsfor th i s were to arr i ve i n the cou rse of the day . Thenhe gave me two of h i s hun te rs , who knew the waterholes , upon wh ich we were dependen t , as gu ides . I twas almos t i n a fatherly way that he looked afte r a llou r wan ts and cared fo r our wel fare . He seemed verymuch amused a t the manner i n whi ch I set my carr iersi nto mot ion . When the column was on the marchI took a fr i endly farewel l o f Macombe : “Salane

,

Macombe, shema re ea ngo ; av i ta ku ta ma n ingi !

”

Farewel l,Macombe

,my fri end ; many thanks . )

I had taken a great l i k i ng to h im duri ng the fewdays of our acquai n tance .

I have observed the Makalanga du ri ng the s i xmonths I spen t amongst them w i th great i n te res t

,

and I have stud i ed the i r manners and customs .Makalanga means “Sons of th e great S un . [11 a

i s a pl u ral prefix ; éa = grea t, and la nga or i/a ngasun . They , there fore , have the same name as theanc ien t I nkas of Pe ru . As regards the i r blood , theybelong essen t ial l y to the Bantu t ri bes of East A frica

,

but they have a s tronge r i nflux of As iat i c blood thanany othe r nat ion wh ich I know .

1 2 1


The i r type is not so much Arab,for they are

dec idedly jewi sh ; bu t th i s , perhaps , i s j us t th e typeof the genu i ne o rigi nal Phoen i c ian populat i on of Sou thArabia . Many of the men are tal l and s trong— realBan tu figures . Then again

,one sees smal l forms wi th

very refined , cl ever express ion s to th i s class my fri endCun tete belongs . The gi rl s are pre tt i e r than those ofmost Bantu t r ibes

,and at M isongwe they rem ind you

of European lad i es , j us t as I found them in formeryears at Uganda

,at the court of Mwanga . They are

graceful , and i n the i r i n te rcourse w i th s trangers arenot at al l bash ful . I n th i s respect the i r manners areve ry d i ffe ren t to the submiss i ve behav iou r o f theord i nary negro gi rl s5 . When they offer you anyth i ngth ey take i t i n both hands and make a deep cu rtsey ,and w i thd raw backwa rds . When greet i ng you

,they

c ross the i r hands ove r th e i r chests and make two orth ree bows . The men gree t by scrap i ng the groundregularly w i th the i r feet . This is just as we found i ton the Z ambes i , and they have undoubtedly learned i tfrom the Portuguese . I f a Makalanga passes the ten tor house of a “great one

,he takes off h i s cap

,and

does not pu t i t on agai n un t i l he i s ou t o f s igh t andhe always remai ns bareheaded wh i l s t tal k ing to h i ssuperio r .The hab i ts amongst th i s c lan

,at l east at M isongwe ,

seem to be rather fes t i ve . Beer (a’oroe

' or oafn a) i smuch drunk , and they seem to dance eve ry day . Thenumber of ch i ld ren amongs t them is su rpri s i ng . Theyare al l agri cul tu r i s ts , growing barl ey , maize , groundnuts , swee t potatoes , and tobacco everywhere . Theso i l belongs to Macombe

,who en trusts i t to d i ffe ren t

people fo r cu l t i vat ion . Al toge the r i t seems that he i sthe propri e to r o f everyth i ng

,the people hav ing the

1 2 2

THE KINGD OM OF MACOMBE

place . Gold i s washed i n r i ve rs and i s sold i n qu i l l s ;i ron i s dug i n hol es and pu r ified i n furnaces ; th eyobta i n i t from ferri ferous quartz

,and from brown clay

i ron ore , wh i ch i s found everywhere . The Makalangaare ve ry cl ever i ron -workers

,and the i r kn i ves are

much sough t for . They al so know how to make hoesand hatchets . They are very smart j o i ners ; the i rchai rs and head- res ts are works of art

,very finel y

carved , and at Misongwe we saw very el egan tcarv i ngs on the outs ide of the houses . The i r mats

(magan a’o)al so show much taste and sk i l l . All over

the coun t ry the women make pot te ry , wh ich they evenunderstand how to glaze . I have often used the i rv esse l s as cold -wate r jugs , as wel l as for cooki ng-pots .G reat are they as beer brewe rs . F rom the month

of june , when the harves t commences to ripen , hap

pin ess and danc i ng everywhere hold sway i n thev i l lages . I t i s

,more than anything el se

,th i s charac

teristic of the nat ional l i fe wh ich gives “boys ” atUmtal i and Macequece sudden attacks of homes i ckness

,and i nduces them to bol t .

Ci rcumc is ion was “ forme rl y general , bu t i s now ,

Cun tete te l l s me , be ing dropped . The dead areburi ed ly i ng i n graves ; the i r sp i r i ts (ma simo) arehonoured w i th offeri ngs of food and dr i nk .

Of the i r rel ig ious ideas I have asce rta i n ed thefol lowi ng . The Makalanga bel i ev e i n a great God

who l i ves above i n the bl ue sky. Bes idesH im is a god who l i ves on the earth , or rathe r in th eearth

,and who i s adored a smal le r god , bu t i n neare r

relat ion to man (K aon /a K agoro). To h im belong al lthe fi res o f the coun t ry

,and h i s serv i ce i s done by the

h igh pr i estess of the clan,an old woman who has the

t i t l e of Qua rra Qn a fe.

” She sees K aon /n K agoro,

1 24


tal ks to’

h im,commun icates h i s orders to Macombe ,

and offers h im h i s sacr ifices , cal l ed “j n swisse.

”

Qn a r ra Qn a te i s though t to be abou t s ix thousandyears of age , and wa s , a s Kamba ro te of Inja kaguratold me , forme r l y the wi fe of K aon /n K agoro. Nowshe i s his pri es tess ; she l i ves i n S en la ngombie , whereI saw he r house

,bu t un fortunately not he rself.

A FLOUR BASKET AND A BEER BARREL IN THE LAND OF THE

M AKALANGA .

K aon /n K agoro means , translated ,“the Omn ipresen t

Great Bu l u , who i s the god of fi re . I t seems that

Qn a rra Qn a z‘e has a sort of moral power even over

Macombe . B ut Macombe i s of a godly characte rh imsel f, and i s enwrapped wi th a godly glory . I t isextraord i nari l y d i fficul t to penetrate i n to these secretso f the nat i ve sou l .

1 2 5

THE K INGDO M OF M ACO M BE

Every year at the t ime o f the win te r sols t i ce (i n

june)old Qua r ra Q n a fe i s carri ed from S en la ngomb ieto M isongwe i n o rder to super i n tend the big sacrific ialfes t i v i t i es fo r K

'

aon /n K agoro . The sacrifices areoffe red i n meat , goats , and gra in . Thi s yearly fes t i valo f the whole clan i s ce lebrated at the burial -place ofthe ch ie fs ; part i cu lar rel ig i ous adorat ion i s gi ven alsoto certa i n moun ta i ns , h i l l s , and rocks , the Msusi,Tenj e

,Sumue, or bet te r : these h i l l s a re the favouri te

places for sacrifices to the De i ty. G reat re l ig iousimportance attaches to fi re . Eve ry year at th e t imeof the great nat ional sacr ifice al l the fi res i n thecoun try mus t be ex t i ngu i shed , and rel igh ted from asacred fi re wh ich Qn a rra Qua l‘e keeps i n the houseof K aon /n K agoro, and wh i ch Macombe handsove r to his people . I t seems that the idea is

preval en t that th e o rd i nary fi res have been sul l i edby dai l y use ,

and have to be renewed from th i s puresou rce .

The Macombe,i n th e scal e from M /n ngn th rough

K aon la A’

agoro, i s the th i rd who rece i ves rel igiou shonour

,but he i s pica n n in i (smal l) compared to

[( aon ln K agoro, whose orde rs he ha s to carry out .When Qua rra Q n a fe, the pri e stess , shows herse l f to

the peopl e,no red colou r must be seen anywhere the

sacred colou r is black . I n th i s we fi n d a connect ionwi th the l igh t-and -fi re -worsh ip of the sun . Al l malerelat ions ofMa combe

’

shouse have the t i tl e I nja-ka - Fura .

Ma combe’

s fam i ly does not belong to the Makalanga,

but i s of d i ffe ren t o rig in . The t i tl e I nja-ka -Fura fo rthe pri nces of Ma comb e

’

s house may be explain ed bythe fac t that the dynas ty orig i nal l y res ided at I nja-kaFura

,

“the Land of the Great M i ne , and that th i s ,the refore

,was the i r o rigi nal home .

1 26


or i n the Engl i sh B ibl e t ranslat ion), where i tsays :

Kyrus the kin g had caused to be bu i lt the House of the Lordat Jerusa lem

,where He is hon oured by the everlastin g fire .

Of course the “Lord here is not th e jew ishJ ehovah , bu t the Pers ian sun -god Ormuzd , whosecoun terpart i s th e Phoen i c ian Baal .We find then traces o f th i s sun and fire -god i n the

presen t day among the Makalanga i n K aon /n K agoro,

The Omn ipresen t Great B ulu .

” Can we doubt tha tB ul u is the anc i en t S em i t i c Baal o r B el us h imsel f ?

On h i l l s and wi th eve rlas t i ng fi re he is honoured , andat the t ime of the w in te r sol s t i ce h i s great sacrificesare performed . just so , three to fou r thousand yearsago , Baal was worsh ipped a ll over th e Eryth reanOcean ; and i f we recogn i se Baal i n K aon /n , must wethen not fi nd a rem in i scence of his female partner , th eanc i en t Phoen i c ian Ashera

,i n Qua rra Qn afe. She

wa s formerly the wi fe of K aon /n ; to -day she i s hispri es tess— a s trange m ixi ng up of ve ry anc ien t ideaswi th the modern rel ig ious not ions of the negroes .There fore the “Sons of the Sun s t i l l are wor

sh ippe rs of the sun-god of th e most anc i en t Sem i t i cepoch . Here i n Ma ka la nga la n d alone , the old Baalrel igion has been conse rved wh ich reached thousandsof years ago from Malacca to Cornwal l i s , fromSofala to the Canary I s lands . How these ideasorigi nal l y came he re we are i n formed by the Phal l iwh i ch we found among the a

’eor is near I nj a-ka—Fura .

By the Zambes i R i ve r the South Arabian con

quis ta dores advanced , and they brough t wi th them ,

bes ides the art of metal work ing,the i r customs and

rel ig ion . I suppose that there never was a real South1 2 8


Arab ian set tl emen t he re , bu t the Pun i c rul e rs ofSabaean nat ional i ty had here the i r garr i sons

,the i r

commanders , the i r t rad ing stat ions , and the i r m i nes ,from wh ich the i r rel ig i o n and worsh ip were brough tdown to the presen t t ime .

The great venerat ion i n wh ich the house ofMacombe i s to -day held from Bulawayo to Tete ,from Victoria to Goro ngo z a

— a venerat ion wh ich i si s absol u tely of re l igiou s and not o f pol i t i cal characte r ,and wh ich has not been dest royed by the B r i t i shoccupat ion of Rhodes ia

,makes me th i nk that we have

i n th i s house an anc ien t Pun i c fam i ly , wh i ch has h eldfrom generat ion to generat ion pri es tl y rank , al thoughi t i s much impregnated wi th negro blood to -day .

We shal l see l ater on i n what h i s to ri c connec t ionth i s s i ng l e b ranch of the great Phoen i c ian wave s tands .Suffice i t here to say that i n the south of the Zambes i ,i n the c lan of the Makalanga , the anc ien t venerat ionof h i l l s and stones

,the pr imeval worsh ip of everlas t i ng

fi re , and al l the symbol s of the origi nal Sem i t i c Baalcul t su rv i ve

,and that Baal here i s to th i s day adored

unde r the name of the G reat Bul u .

When i n ju ly , 1 899 , I came upon the scene , I wasdeeply pene trated by the con sc iousness that I wa ss tand ing upon anc ient h isto ri c ground , al though Iwa s not then aware of the connect ion of the c i v i l i sat ion of th i s coun t ry w i th a whole prim i t i ve sys tem .

Everyth ing seemed we i rd and was los t i n myst i calsec recy . I was to unders tand these anc ien t re lat ion sbe tte r soon . The furthe r I advanced i n the terr i to rybe tween the Zambes i and Sab i , the clearer d id i tbecome that I wa s t read i ng the ground of an anc ien tSouth Arab ian colony

,and that the rema i ns o f the

c iv i l i sat ion of th i s h i s tor i cal epoch are , i n fact , not1 2 9 K


st range r than the Limes Romanus on the Danube ,or the anc i en t Roman mosa i cs i n Le ices te r.The real h i stor i c t rad i t i on s of the Makalanga do

n o t go back to these anc i en t t imes ; we have on lyreco rds o f the nat i on s ince the Portuguese came i n totouch wi th them . When these fi rs t Eu ropean d i scove rers o f South Afri ca arr i ved on the Zambes i , th eMakalanga were w i thou t r i val s as the predom inan tnat ion on the south of th i s r ive r . They cal l ed th i srace the M oé a ra nga (

“l” and “r are convert i bl e

consonan ts i n al l Ban tu languages), and they namedi ts rule r th e M on omofapa . Mono ”

is a prefix wh ichi s pronounced i n the K i swah i l i o f Cen tral Afr i ca ,Muen i

, and on the Congo , Mana : i t means “ l o rd” o r

“rul e r . What Mo tapa” may be i s no t qu i te cl ear ;

th e th ree consonan ts,

“m t p,

” i nd icate Sem i t i c root .Theal (p . 1 2 3)th i nks that Mo tapa means moun ta in ,and Mo n omo tapa i s the re fore Lord of the Moun t ,

”

deri ved from Moun t Fura,i n th e ne ighbourhood of

wh i ch h i s res idence wa s s i tuated .

“But,

” says he ,“the name had perhaps a more roman tic deri vat ion .

‘Mo tap’ i s i n certa i n Ban tu d ialec ts ‘ to d ig,

’

andMo tapa

’ hole or m ine ; Mo n omo tapa’ would the re

fore mean Lord of the M ine ’ or Lord of the M i n i ngCoun t ry . I take th i s explanat ion to be the morel ikely one

,fo r i t i s iden t i cal w i th the e tymology of th e

word “Fura . Wha t “Ma tap”

is i n Z u l u d ialec ts ,Kufura i s i n the genu i ne Kalanga language to -day .

What Mo tapa i s the re,Fura ” is here : “M ine .

”

We have he re an an al ogy to the word Kalanga i tse l f ;Makalanga means

,as has been sa id

,

“Sons of theS un

,de ri ved from the Z ul u word i/a nga ,

“sun .

”

Bes ides th i s Z ul u name,whi ch they know and usual l y

use , th e Makalanga have the i r own wo rd , S n a , fo r1 30

THE K INGD OM OF MACOMBE

Macombe i s a t i t l e as well '

a s Mon omo tapa ,we have

here , undoubted ly , a con fus ion of the Portuguesebefore u s , as I have remarked above : th ey used thefore ign t i t l e Mo n omo tapa

” i n place of the nat ionalMacombe , j us t as a German t ravel l e r m igh t speakof the “Ka ise r of Ch ina ” or migh t cal l the Czar ofal l the Russ ias “Kaiser . The t i t l e Mon omo tapa i sabsolu te ly unknown among the Makalanga of to-day .

That the Portuguese i n speak ing of Mo n omo ta pa

mean t the k ing of the Makalanga k ingdom,and that

ou r Macombe coun try wa s th e a im of the i r goldseek i ng exped i t ion s

,is absol u te ly cl ear from al l the i r

reports .K i ng Sebas t ian sen t , i n 1 5 69 , Franc i sco Barreto , at

the head of a large exped i t ion,to Eas t Afri ca

,i n

o rde r to cla im the gold -mines of the K alanga countryfo r the crown of Portugal. Barre to wen t up th eZambes i as far as Sena , and from there he sen t anembassy to the ch i ef of the Makalanga i n order tonegot iate a treaty . I f a d i s t r i c t i n Mashonaland nearthe Mazoe had been i n ques t i on , Barre to would nothave p i tched h i s camp at Sena

,but he would have

proceeded as far as Tete,wh i ch al so wa s i n ex i s tence

i n the year 1 5 69 . S ena at that t ime wa s s i tuated onthe easte rn fron t i e r of Mo n omo tapa

’

s coun t ry , as i t i sto -day on the eastern fron t ier of Ma combe

’

s coun try .

The Portuguese then con cl uded a treaty w i th theMakalanga i n o rde r to subj ugate the Mo nga s i (alsospel t Om igos , Monga s , a n d Monge), a clan wh ichdwel t north of the K alanga people on the right bankof th e Zambes i , be tween Tete and Sena . Withou tany doub t the name of th i s t r i be i s prese rved i n I nj aMengal e o f to-day , where my Tenj e stat ion wasbu i l t . Mengale or Mengare is an adj ect i ve form of

1 32

THE K INGDOM OF MACOMBE

Monga,j us t as Damba ra re i s an adject i ve form of

Dambara . We there fore see that th e s i tuat i on i n1 596 was not so absol u tel y d i ffe ren t from that ofto-day .

The burn ing down of Tela i n the summer of 1 899by Ma combe

’

s peopl e was an ep i sode i n the t r ibalfigh ts o f th i s d i st ri c t

,wh ich go back to the s i xteen th

cen tury. The on ly d i ffe rence i s that the Portuguesei n the mean t ime have taken the bord e r o f the ri ve rfrom the coun try of the Monge

,and al so the d i st r i cts

wes t of the Luenje R ive r . But the real I nja-Mengal ei s to -day s t i l l i ndependen t . As the Makalanga ch ie fi n 1 5 69 al l i ed h imsel f w i th Barre to i n orde r to subj ugate the Mo nga si, so Macombe i n 1 899 would havebeen del ighted to al l y h imsel f wi th me i n order to ge tI nja—Mengale under h i s thumb .

Barre to ’s exped i t ion the n proceeded up- r ive r fromSena . Theal says (page

“When he came tothe po i n t from where he had to dev iate to themountai n of the Mo n omo tapa ,

he was compelled'

to

pi tch a camp on an i sland i n the ri ve r i n o rder tol eave the re al l h i s s i ck

,as wel l as h i s superfluous

luggage , fo r the re was no chance of march i ng on wi ththe heav i l y l oaded exped i t i on .

”

The i sland wh ich i s here ment i oned i s probablya large Zambes i i s land between M i tonda and thePortuguese fort of Tambara

,on wh ich Mr . Puz ey

used to keep h i s goats formerl y . Barreto,i t seems

,

took the Muira route to I nj a-ka -Fura . I recogn ise al lthese local i t i es from the ol d report . On the el even thday they camped i n s igh t of Monga si

’

s army . Ap

pa re n tly they marched very sl owly down the ri verthen , wi th the i r s ix c annons

, 5 60 foo t and 2 3 horse .

The way from Tambara to the presen t res idence ofIS3


I nja -Mengal e via I nja -ka -Fura i s abou t seven ty m i l es .Barre to would have had a more conven ien t access i fhe had s tuck to the ri ve r, but probably the Lupatarap ids preven ted navigat i on i n those days . Thefu rthe r progress of Barreto ’s exped i t ion i s o f noi n teres t for ou r pu rpose ; i t fa i led , owing to d i seaseand wan t of food

,and Barre to h imsel f d i ed .

I n the fol low ing year Vasco Fernandez Homem,

h i s successor , t r i ed to reach the gold -mines of theKalanga coun try from Sofala . Can i t be supposedthat he made such an at tempt from Sofala i f a d i s tri c ton the Mazoe' wa s in ques t ion ? I mus t ask myreaders to look ove r th e map of South Afri ca i no rde r to dec ide th i s quest i on for themsel ves . Homemmarched th rough K i teve to Man icaland

,and from

that d i s t r i c t th i s exped i t ion re turned wi thou t success .The Portuguese renewed the i r at tempts upon the

cove ted gold -mines at the beginn ing of the seven teen thcen tu ry . I n 1 6 10 an exped i t i on of two hundred menwas sen t from L isbon

,wh ich succeeded i n establ i sh i ng

fri endsh ip w i th Mo n omo ta pa . I n al l th e succeed ingen terpr i ses Dom in ican monks had a hand . They converted pri nces o f the re ign ing house ; nay , they evense t one o f them

,Mavura who as a Chri st ian adopted

the name of F i l ippe— o n the th rone . Th is k ing placedh imsel f and h i s coun try , on May 24 ,

1 6 2 9 , under the

protec t ion of the Portuguese crown . These successes,

however,only plunged the coun t ry i n to new c i v i l wars

,

and the successor of Mavu ra retu rned to the old c reedof h i s forefathers .The h is tory of the Makalanga i n the seven teen th

cen tu ry i s one of con t i n ued vac i l lat i on be tween Chr i stia n ity and Pagan i sm . I n 1 6 5 2 the Mo n omo ta pa ,

wi th al l h i s fam i ly and thousands of adheren ts , was1 3+


they have never had any real i nfluence i n Ma combe’

s

coun try , al though they have at tempted to gai n afoot i ng repeated ly duri ng the las t decades . Macombe ’s peopl e have always repul sed these attacks ,and the hat red— accumulated th rough cen tu r i es— doesnot , unfortunatel y , give much hope that i t w i l l beposs ibl e to sett l e th i s ques t ion i n a peacefu l manner

,

i n wh i ch I should be pl eased to help .

I n the old reports one l i t tl e c i rcumstance appears tome part i cularl y appl i cabl e to Ma combe

’

s coun try ofto -day : th e fact that the Portuguese so far back asth ree hundred years ago

,were forbidd en to cl imb up

the Fura Moun ta i ns,part l y , as Theal th i nks , from

certa i n supers t i t i ous fears,partl y in orde r to preven t

them obta i n i ng a good v i ew over the whol e coun t ry .

j ust so they t ri ed , a s I have told , to deal w i th us . Ihope I have con vi nced my readers , by these shortextracts from the pas t of th e Makalanga

,that th e

h i s tor i c reco rds of the Portuguese fa i rl y i nd i cate th epresen t Macombe coun t ry as the field of the i r en te rp ri ses in the s i x teen th and seven teen th cen tu ri es , andthat Mo n omo tapa wa s no o ther

'

tha n the Macombeh imsel f. To any one who

,l i ke mysel f, l i ved for more

than hal f a year i n th i s coun t ry , occupi ed wi th expl orat i ons

,no doubt of th i s fact would remai n .

The old empi re of Mo n omo ta pa wh ich the fi rs tconqu i stadores found here

,has dwindled down i n the

cou rse of the las t cen tur i es the rema in de r is prese rvedi n Ma comb e

’

s coun try , and the Makalanga of tod ayare the genu ine descendan ts o f the fo rmer Ch i ld renof the S un

,wi th whom Franc i sco Barre to and

H omem had to deal .I n h igh sp i ri ts we departed on the morn i ng of ju ly

2 3rd from the S imbabwe of Macombe . I had the1 36


happy consc iousness that we had a bsol u tely fulfi l l edou r task . I t i s easy to en te r the res idence of such anAfri can d espot , bu t ve ry d i fficul t , as a rul e , to leave i tagai n . Mr . Puz ey had prepared me for a delay of sixweeks ; we had been delayed five days on ly , andcarr ied a much large r amoun t of prov i s ions out o fMiso ngwe than I had dared to hope .

The day wa s sunny and fresh the road good andso we marched on merr i l y . ju ly , as I have al readysaid , i s i n th i s d i st r i c t the cool es t mon th . The heat ,even in dayt ime

,i s scarcel y depress i ng ; the n igh ts are

fresh and cold,as the the rmomete r fal l s regularl y down

to about 3 8 degrees .The country became very d ry the harves t had been

most ly gathered i n from the fie lds , and they had begunto burn down the grass . Thi s i s the best season fort ravel l i ng and prospect ing . At th i s t ime sun r i se i sabou t A t dawn we rose , and took a l i t tl eb reakfast

,cons i s t i ng of tea or coffee

,bread wi th butte r

or la rd,eggs and cold meat . Then we marched , and

made a stoppage afte r two or th ree hours , duri ng wh ichwe smoked a c igar

,or p ipe of tobacco . Then we

marched to the camping-place , or I had a l uncheons top i f we had to march on i n the afte rnoon . For th i smeal regularly tea wa s made . D inner we took at s ixo ’clock

,and

,acco rd ing to my old Afr i can custom , I

l ooked afte r the cooki ng mysel f,i n order to have cl ean

and wel l - cooked food . General ly we had plen ty o feggs

,wh i le gu inea- fowl s and w i ld ducks were nearl y

always to be obta ined . Bes ides these we general l yhad a supply of fowl s

,sheep , and goats . For m i l k we

had two m i l ch goats,wh ich were d r i ven wi th the

exped i t i on .

For potatoes we subst i tu ted rice , and when th i s ranI 37


out (a s i t occas ional l y d id)we had porridge , beans , sweetpotatoes , o r ma njok . Afte r d in ne r we took a glass ofwh isky , or brandy and wate r, smoked a p ipe , had conversat ion , o r played a game o f pique t , and by n i neo

’

clock at lates t we were i n bed,l u l l ed to sleep by the

vo i ces of the w i lderness .Thi s mode of l i v i ng was almost the same at the

s tat ions or on the march . I n fact , ou r Tenj e stat ion ,as l ong as I was there , cons i s ted only of ou r ten t camp ,and our dai l y occupat ion duri ng the summer was ma in lyexcu rs ions fo r the explorat ion of the coun try .

On ju ly 2 3rd we l unched at ten o’

clock n ea r a waterpool i n the fores t

,afte r wh ich we marched t i l l two

o ’clock,when we camped i n th e smal l r i ver-b ed of the

Inja ngon a ,oppos i te th e Nyama ka Moun tai ns . The

d i rec t ion of our march on th i s day had been al te rnatel ysou th - south-east

,sou th—sou th -west , sou th -west , and

then agai n south -south -west , the refore prevai l i nglysou th .

Our camping-place wa s feet above sea- l evel .I n the afte rnoon we marched th rough a genu in eAfri can thorn bush

,wh ich made our advance dec idedly

unpl easan t . Part i cu la rl y nasty i s the thorn bush,

VVa cht e hi t sche,or , as the Engl i sh cal l i t ,

wai t a b i t , because i t l ooks ve ry harmless,and

does not show i ts sharp thorns un t i l you have themi n your sk i n .

The fo rmat ion he re i s al together gran i te . TheInja ngo n a run s i n to the Mukas i R i ve r , wh ich i s oneof the sou rces of the Pompue. We therefore hadle ft the Muira d is t r i c t . The Muira soon afte r l eav ingM iso ngwe tu rns towards th e wes t ; its sou rces are i nthe escarpmen t of the h igh plateau o f Mashonaland .

I n the ri ver bas i n of the Pompue we remained the1 3 8

THE K I NGDOM OF MACOMBE

whole of the fol lowi ng day . The gran i te remai nedunbroken

,formi ng pic tu resque rocks .

At ten o ’clock we passed the easte rn borde r of theChisue Chai n , wh i ch i s formed of a se ri es of gran i tepeaks

,the easte rn excrescence of the Ma njorilike

Mounta i ns wh i ch we saw to the west i n fron t of uss t r iki ng i n a north - sou therly d i rec t ion .

The ground wa s rathe r flat , and I observed a ser i e so f swamps w i th the characte r i s t i c papyrus reed . Plentyof b i rds l i ved here vul tu res and eagl es we re fly i ng tothe south -west . A l ion has probabl y knocked downsome b ig game i n that d i rect i on du ri ng las t n ight

,said

Cun te te . I n the water-pool s I saw numberl ess w i l dducks and geese , and an i b i s i n h i s solemn at t i tude .

Whi le we were march i ng on,th e “get away bi rd

wi th h i s dole ful ly long-drawn cry accompan i ed u s ;i t gave us a very we i rd impress ion

,so d is t i nct l y was

the “ge t way -ay pronounced . Duri ng the n igh t i nthe fores t th e francol in

,or South Afri can partr idge

,

t rumpets , the monkey cr i es , and the hyena laughs .On another n igh t we hear th e cry of the l eopard

,or

the roar of the l ion,cl ose to ou r ten ts

,and day by day

we find t races o f o the r game wh ich we are abl e torecogn i se by the spoor and dung . Here an telopeshave passed by the re we recogn i se the cl umsy spoorof the buffalo . Apparentl y we are neari ng a realA fr i can wi lde rness .

About el even o ’clock I camped near the swamp,and

ordered the men to cook the i r food i n orde r to re

col lec t my wid ely~ sprea d caravan , and at one o’clock

we marched on towards S en la ngombia .

Abou t fou r o’

c lock we reached a water-pool i n theri ve r-bed of the Injamba n d a ,

a tr ibutary o f the Mkas i,

and here I p i tched my camp for the n igh t . I t was a1 40


lovely b i t of natu re around us : genu i ne primeval fores talong the r ive r-bank

,w i th coun tl ess numbers of

creepers,of wh i ch one ki nd had mos t charm ing red

blossoms,and i t formed a lovel y v i ew i n the bold

gran i te landscape . Th i s even ing we camped th i rtytwo Engl ish m i les from Misongwe .

Next morn ing wi th the dawn we marched on wes tward towards the Majo rilike Moun ta i n s , wh i ch wepassed round the i r northern slope . Then we marchedon the western s ide towards the sou th . At ten o ’clockwe arrived near the mai n kraal of S en la ngomb ie , orS en a ngomb ie ,

where I p i tched my camp at the bottomof a gigant i c s teep gran i te block . Our camp wa s

fee t above the l evel o f the sea,but the gran i te

blocks wh ich surround the wide wel l -cul t i vated val l eyr i se from to fee t more .

The nat i ves , of course , rece i ved us i n a fr iendlymanner , as we were accompan ied by the brothe rof the Macombe , and brough t us fl ou r, eggs , andsweet potatoes for sal e . I dec ided to remai n hereone day i n orde r to explore the d is tr i c t geolog i cal ly

,

and to wai t for Tom wi th ou r l oads and flou r fromMisongwe .

The geological analys i s of the S en la ngombie d i st ri c twa s very s imple . Gran i te below our feet , and gran i tearound us a s far a s the eye cou ld reach ; the wholelandscape i n the sou th -eas t i s overspread wi th gran i tekopj es

,wh ich stand out

,h igh ly pi c tu resque , from the

hor i zon,and wi l l make very good landmarks for the

su rvey i ng of the coun t ry . But noth i ng can be ex

pected here fo r the prospe c tor . Or iginal ly I had thei n ten t ion to cross the s teppe i n the sou th as far as thePungwe

,and then to march up the Pungwe to Um ta ssa ,

about six mi les north of Umtal i , to commence from1 4 1

TIIE KINGDOM OF MACOMBE

there my explorat ion of the Man ica coun t ry . Froman el evated po i n t the borde r of Man icaland far i n thesou th -wes t was shown me .

I cou ld not , howeve r , carry ou t my plan , because i twould have been necessary to carry prov i s ion s for e igh tdays , wh ich mean t fi fteen loads of flou r , and that Icou ld not do w i th the carr i e rs at my d isposal . So Idec ided to march fo r the Upper Inja sonja r iv e r bas i n ,i n orde r to tu rn from there to Ka terere . For th i spu rpose I had to take ten loads of flou r

,wh i ch my

col umn could manage . I t i s t rue,i n the d is t r i c t before

us game wa s plen t i ful , but you can never reckon wi thcerta i n ty upon hun t i ng fo r keep i ng you r men i n food

,

and I d id no t w i sh to ri sk any exper imen ts i n th isd i rec t ion w i th an absolu te ly un re l iabl e col umn of Tetecarri e rs , who had no t ye t recove red from thei r su rpri sea t hav ing managed to cross al ive the coun t ry of thedreaded Macombe , and were not at al l i n c l i ned to gowi th me fu rthe r on to the bush s teppes whe re the l i onwa s master . A dese rt ion o f my men i n such a bushwas a quest ion of l i fe and death for us , as we weredepend ing upon ou r ten ts and our prov i s i ons

,and for

these we rel i ed upon ou r porte rs .Ifl had been i n a pos i t i on to pun ish my men as befi ts

the commander of an exped i t ion,I would soon have

knocked the i r moods out o f them , and have got themfi rmly i n hand

,but my con tract w i th S enhor Mart i ns

d id not pe rm i t me to do th i s,al though i t d id not

preven t i t direc t ly . So I had to l eave them to the i rmoods , and march w i th them a s a sort of goodbenevolen t old gen tleman . I was

,of course , every

momen t exposed to the r i sk that they wou ld s implybol t

,and I always reckoned w i th th i s fact .

Meanwh i le,on ju ly 2 8th, I had the loads rev i sed by

1 42


On the even i ng o f jul y 2 5 th I v i s i ted seve ral o fthe su rround in g v i l lages i n h i s and Cun te te

’

s company ,

and wa s shown , among o thers , the house of Qua r ra

Qn a fe . Unfortunatel y , th i s old lady herse l f wa s notv i s ible .

The next morn i ng , when I wan ted to start , th ecarr i ers whom I had engaged i n S en la ngomb ie werenot to be found

,a n d I had to make a ra id i n to th e

ne ighbouri ng v i l lages in orde r to get hold of them .

So i t was hal f-pas t seven before we could depart . Aterri bl e s to rm had been raging duri ng the n igh t andnow the dark clouds were col l ect i ng , and soon a heavyra i n pel ted down upon us . I s topped the col umn andchanged my clo thes , th i s t ime put t i ng on mymacki n tosh .

I t wa s bi t terly cold and d i fficul t to push the carr i ersalong ; they sa t down , l ighted fi res , and decl i n ed tori se . I had to use my walk i ng- s t i ck i n orde r to inducethem to move on .

At e igh t o ’clock we had crossed the Pompu'

e’

,and

then wen t on i n to the we t bush but the ra i n was n owovenWithou t gu ides who know the d i s t r i c t wel l an

exped i t i on here IS S imply imposs ibl e , for there i s nofootpath

,and wate r

,at leas t a t the begin n i ng , is to be

found i n hol es only . Soon the bush changes i n toh igh fores t

,wi th an immense number of game spoor of

al l k inds . Once we put up a n antelope , wh ich , however

,I d id not ge t i n to shoot ing l in e .

Towards noon we reached a swamp about an hour’s

march eas t of the Inja so nja R i ver . I had the campp i tched here i n orde r to give my men t ime to preparefor the n igh t

,and to col lec t d ry fuel . I t ra ined al l

th e afte rnoon . Our camp ing—place was at an al t i tude1 44


of feet ; the d i rec t ion of our march had beenprevalen tly wes t .The fol lowi ng morn i ng we wen t back in to the south

west d i rec t i on , always th rough forest and bush wh ichwetted our t rouse rs

,and thorn s wh ich tore us p i t i l essl y

,

fo r there wa s no road . The'

l andscape ga ined acertai n roman t i c charm from the many gran i te kopj eswh ich are scat te red over th e coun t ry .

Towards e igh t o’

clock we c rossed the merri lyflowing Inja so nja , one of the t ribu taries of the Pungwe .

Then on agai n th rough fo res t and bush,t i l l abou t

el even o ’clock we were abl e to s top and take l unch inbrigh t sunsh i ne on the Injapa n d ira ,

a lovely t r ibutaryof the Inja so nja . North -west we saw the mountai nousd i s t r ic t of Chipa tula ,

in wh ich coun t ry Fu-Fura waspo in ted out to us . Th i s moun ta i n d i st ri c t i s thenorthern con t inuat ion of the Man ica escarpment

,and

forms , i n fact , th e fi rs t s tep fo r the ascen t o f theMashonaland Plateau . Th i s mounta i n range i n i tswhole exten t

,wh ich we were the fi rst to d i scover and

to c ross,i s cal l ed Bara -U ro

,and forms the western

fron t i e r of the d i st r ic t Barge , as the nat i ves cal lMa combe

’

s coun try . Bara-Uro means “goldcoun try the name “ F u-Fura has here al so amyster ious rel ig ious mean ing, as the Makalanga toldme

,i t means the same as Tenj e , and Sherele has

therefore a ce rtai n re lat ionsh ip to a bur ial -place . Wecamped th i s day on the I nja-Cheche

,wh ich belongs to

the system of the Inja sonja . Al l th e r i ve rs he re havewater .The next morn i ng we had to pass a whole ser i es of

such flowing ri vul e ts , Ma nja te , Muse , ja n sa ro ,I ndue

'

,

al l t r i bu tari es o f the Inja so nja . About ten o ’clock wehad a spl end id v i ew of Man ica i n the sou th -west , the

1 45 L


margi n of wh i ch s tood ou t darkly on the hor i zon,l i ke

a s teep, h igh , rocky wal l . On th i s day we had towal k th rough a great deal Of h igh reed grass

,wh ich

was ve ry tryi ng i n the path l ess coun t ry .

We took our l unch on the borde r Ofa green grassswamp

,where we found a great many game spoors .

From th i s spot I changed our course from the sou thwes t i n to the north -westerl y d i rec t ion towards theBara-U ro Mounta i ns

,wh ich are formed of gran i te w i th

a great deal of m i ca . Soon we en tered a bea ut i fu lopen forest i n wh i ch I p i tched our camp at hal f-pas ttWO.

ju ly 3o th was a Sunday . To ou r pl easan t su rpri sesoon afte r ou r departu re we came once more upon apath

,wh i ch led u s , afte r abou t an hour

’

s march,to the

v i l lage of Ch ipanga,wh ich l ies at the bot tom of a pass

ove r the Bara—U ro i n a fert i l e moun tai n val l ey . Wepaused he re fo r a short t ime and then commenced theascen t

,wh ich fi rs t b rough t us to a h igher mounta i n

val ley i n wh ich the v i l lage of Sha njave l i e s . Thesev i l lages are s i tuated on the easte rn s lope of the BaraU ro

,from wh i ch al so Fu-Fu ra , now d i s t inctly v i s ibl e

w i th i t s gardens , r i ses .The Bara -U ro ‘ Mounta ins s t ri ke from north

north -east to sou th - sou th -west , and are con t inuedi n the sou th i n Man i ca , and i t s r ivule ts flow tothe Pungwe . The m ica i n the gran i te was evenmore d i st i nc t than th e day be fo re . The crate rfo rm of the moun ta i n s made H err Grama n n conclud e that we have he re to deal w i th volcan i c andnot wi th sed imen tary gran i te . The he igh t Of the pass

,

wh ich we reached i n two stages , was feet . Abeaut i fu l v i ew over the Pungwe Pla i n , wi th i ts manygran i t e h i l l s

,rewarded us fo r th e ascen t . Real dark

1 46

THE K I NGD OM OF MACOMBE

I t d id one good to march once more i n fields ofbarl ey ; the Ga va res i held cl ear , cold wate r, wh ichrose to the armpi ts of the men . The ri ve r ma v be80 feet w ide . I was s t re tched l i ke a packe t over theheads of th ree of my men

,and was t ransported across

the r i ve r i n th i s fash ion . Anothe r short march downri ve r , and towards ten O

’c lock we passed the v i l lage ofCh i tavo

,on th e northern s ide of wh i ch

,above the

rush i ng Ga va res i, we p i tched ou r camp , welcomedmost heart i ly by the Barid i

,a brothe r of Cun tete ,

whowa s here the represen tat i ve of Macombe . Here th emarch th rough the real Macombe count ry was com

pleted . Our camp was 7 50 yards i n al t i t ude .

The nat i ves were ex tremely fr iendly no t only hadwe enough to eat fo r our men

,bu t we cou ld oursel ves

feas t to the ful l on tomatoes , nay , even enj oy oncemore European potatoes

,wh ich Cun tete brough t me

as a presen t . Barid i was an am iabl e and modes tyoung fel low , ful l of tac t , l ike al l th e members ofMa combe

’

s fami l y that I have known . H e brough tme a fine rh ino-horn as a presen t .The afternoon wa s spen t by H err Grama n n and

mysel f ove r ou r maps,arrangi ng futu re plans . I

resol ved to pay a v i s i t to Ka i se r-Wilhelm - land,then to

march to I nyanga , and spend the res t of the summeri n explori ng Man icaland and the Uppe r Pungwe .

At sun set I took a bath i n the cool r i ve r , and thena happy d i nner un i ted us

,at

"

wh ich fi sh,European

potatoes , and bo i l ed tomatoes were a pl easan t change .

I t was a beau t i fu l day . The body enj oyed theunaccustomed del igh ts

,and the m i nd had rest fo r qu ie t

con templat ion .

The march on the fol lowi ng day should ge t u s ou tof the Portuguese sphere of i n te res t i n to the B ri t i sh .

1 48

THE K I NGDOM OF MACOMBE

We started i n beau t i fu l , cool weathe r, and soonen te red l ight , h igh fores t . I ts format ion wa s agai nr i ch i n ch lori te sch i s ts and wh i te quartz

,as on the day

before . Soon , howeve r, we en tered a very strangelandscape ofqua rtz itic sandstone , the cu r ious format ionsof wh ich were ext remely attract ive . I fanc i ed i n thed i stance whole townsh ips w i th fla t roofs ; i n the foreground palaces wi th wi ndows and col umns seemedto stand . At one t ime the i l l us ion , at c lose quarters ,wa s so remarkable that Herr Grama n n

—

and I pausedi n order to explore the matter careful ly .

Towards ten o’

clock we again came in to gran i te ,and then we c rossed the ridge , to re - en te r the d rybush

,wi th mass i ve gran i te on the right . We con

tinued march i ng towards the north -west . On thehori zon i n the north now stood the Rupire Plateau ,north -north -west . The moun ta i ns of K a terere wereshown us , and on the le ft i n the wes t rose the h ighplateau of I nyanga . The march through the dustypla i n wa s very fat igu i ng , and the re fo re I p i tched thecamp abou t noon near a few wat er-pool s c lose to theroad

,at an al t i tude of feet .

I n the afte rnoon several nat i ves from the ne ighbourhood appeared , br i nging wi th them a l i t tl e flourfor sal e . Unfortunately Herr Grama n n wa s s tr i ckenwi th another at tack of fever, wh ich he had escapeds i nce we l e ft Imbebwe .

The next day we marched th rough gran i te wh ichshowed d i s t i nc t traces of volcan i c origi n towardsK a terere . Ka terere was marked large on the map , asthough al l the world knew the place ; the “Cape toCai ro tel egraph l i ne passes here , so that I though twe should find a very large kraal w i th an abundanceof food . Gai l y

,therefore , we marched on , always i n

1 49

THE K I NG DOM OF MACOM BE

a north - north -wes t d i rec t i on . Along the road I wa ss t ruck by a great n umbe r o f s tone heaps w i th quartza’eor is , wh ich we re scatte red un interrupted ly i n large ro r smal le r groups

,and apparent l y were spread ove r

the whol e d is t ri c t . They could not be work ings forgold , because the geological fo rmat ion he re excl uded thepresen ce of that metal . Herr Grama n n though t wehad i ronworks before us . They were the commencemen t o f those s tone heaps wh i ch we late r on foundover the whole of Ka i se r-Wilhelm ~ la n d and I nyanga .

An hour afte r ou r d epartu re we c rossed thesplend id rush i ng t r i butary of the Ga va res i. Aboutel even o ’clock the tel egraph l i ne was v i s ibl e , a gree ti ng wh i ch Eu ropean c i v i l i sat i on sends i n to the w i l de rness . Presen t ly we had before us K a terere

,a smal l

,

shadeless,d i rty v i l lage . We marched hal f round i t

and took our camp i n the wes t,also wi thout shade

,as

t rees d id not exi s t . For the fi rs t t ime we camped i nth e te rri tory of the B r i t i sh South Afri ca Company

,

and unde r the protec t io n of th e B r i t i sh flag .

ISO


be able to make my Tete carr i e rs go ve ry far . Withd i fficul ty I procured , at heavy cos t , a smal l sack offlour by the even i ng

,and had i t d i v ided . Accord ing

to the i r con t rac t my peopl e we re each to rece ive adai l y rat ion of a k i logramme of flour and a handful ofbeans or peanu ts

,bu t th is wa s imposs ibl e here . Next

morn ing one saw the resu l t . Not one of them tu rnedup as usual at s un ri se to take up the loads . When Ihad them cal l ed they answered me

,howl i ng

,Ndara

,

ndara ! Hunger,hunger ! I now took up a s t i ck

,

bu t the whole company had d isappeared i n the fieldsl i ke spray before the wind . Then I called out tothem ° “You run , j us t you run ! When you ge t toTete you wi l l find that my telegram

,wh ich wi l l clap

you al l i n j a i l,has got there before you. I ’l l get

pl en ty of peopl e here w i thou t you .

”

Thereupon th e sen io r beare rs came to me and sa idthey had no though t of desert ing ; the peopl e hadonly been frightened . They would now go back towork . I spoke calmly to the th ree men , expla i n i ngour pos i t i on .

You know very wel l,I sa id

,

“that I wou ld buygrai n i f there were any to be bought here . But l e t usmarch to the o ther . s id e of the Ruenje . There wewi l l find food .

We b roke camp,se t t i ng ou t towards the west ,

tak i ng the road that l eads to Ma toko’

s coun try .

Soon we came to a waggon - t rack , wh ich l ed at fi rs tth rough bush , then th rough swamp , and then agai nover huge blocks of rock . The occupants mus t havehad a pl easan t j ou rney . Before long the road tookus i n to a wonderful mounta i n - coun t ry . Wherever wel ooked we saw gran i te i n al l its rugged beauty ,cove red tu rn by tu rn wi th bush or fores t . Towards

1 5 2

ANCIENT RU INS IN INYANGA

eleven o ’clock we reached the Ruenje ,which

,some

1 50 fee t w ide , flowed rap idly be tween sheer wal l s ofrock . We found a boat on the bank , bu t i t wa s sosmal l that I would not en t rus t ou r l oads to i t .Luck i ly one of my people d i scovered a prim i t i vebr idge a few hundred yards fu rthe r up- s t ream

,upon

wh i ch we cou ld c ross the r i ve r . Here d ior i te wa sl odged i n the gran i te

,and we al so found i t agai n i n

s tr ips on the right bank , together wi th occas ionalquartz reefs but the prevai l i ng fo rmat ion was gran i te .wh i ch seems to fi l l the whole Of the south of the so

cal led -Ka ise r-Wilhelm - l and . The v iew from everyh i l l d i sc loses noth i ng bu t gran i te peaks i n a ll d i rec t ions .We marched forwards toward the west i n the heat

of the afte rnoon . About two o ’c lock we reachedS imbuyi, a smal l Makalanga se ttlemen t , where wewere wel l rece i ved by Ta tika the ch i ef, and whe re , asI l earn t a t once

,grai n was procu rable . So that my

hungry beare rs should wa i t no l onger than was n eces

sary , the ch i e f gave them a heap of peanuts andtomatoes , on wh i ch they d id very wel l .I resol ved to remai n here over the next day , so as

to take i n plen ty of prov i s ions for the march to Nha n i,and i n order to have a look round the coun try . I nthe morn ing we had c rossed the so -cal led Lawley

’

sConcess ion

,and we were now on ly some hours

d istan t from the stat ion wh ich D r . S chl i ch te r had la iddown i n Ka ise r-Wilhelm- land . Our camp ing-placewas fee t above the sea - l evel .Shortly after ou r arr i val I heard a loud no i se i n the

v i l lage as i f somebody were sneez i ng hard . Thissneez i ng con t i nued . I t was the ch ie f, who was cry i ngou t from a h igh wooden scaffold i ng across the coun try ,Skoff

,skoff! F ood , food by wh ich he gave h is

1 5 3

ANC I ENT RU INS IN I NYANGA

peopl e to unders tand that they should pound flourand bri ng i t fo r sal e . By the even i ng , to my greatdel igh t

,I saw t roops of women coming i n wi th the

customary flour-baskets on the i r heads . To put morecn ergyjn to th i s bus i ness , I gave orders that Tom andP i so shou ld se t out early i n the morn ing wi th ten ofou r bearers to make pu rchases i n the su rround ingv i l lages . We were actual ly abl e to ge t enough foodhere to las t us fo r s ix days ahead , wh ich guaran teedour march to the I nyanga Plateau .

On the afte rnoon of Augus t 4th I made anexcu rs ion to the north i n the d i rect ion of the RupirePlateau . The path led i n to a rugged and rockyregion en t i re ly formed ' of vol can i c gran i te . I f th eKai se r-VVilliam “gold—field ” real ly ex i s ts i t mos tcerta i n l y does not l i e on th i s s ide of the coun t ry .

Where al l uv ial gold was to come from here I wa s at aloss to d iscove r , as gold format i on wa s nowhere to beseen . True the pecul iar pi l es o f bou lde rs wh ich wehad al ready not i ced two days ago we re eve rywherev i s ibl e . Bu t i f these had anyth i ng to do wi th mi n i ngi t could on l y be w i th i ron m i n i ng . Th is wasGrama n n

’

s opi n ion and al so my own . A few ofthe ne ighbou ri ng r ive rs hold gold , wh ich i s washed bythe Ma ka la nga s , but whose mat ri x i s unques t ionablyh igher up . From a m ine ralogical poi n t of V i ew wewere ve ry d isappo in ted wi th th i s Ka iser-Wilhelmland

,wh ich Mauch had passed th rough

,and i n

wh ich we had expec ted to find qu i te a d i ffe ren tformati on .

I n the early morn i ng of Augus t 5 th we re tu rned tothe Ruenje , wh ich we crossed at a fo rd above ou rbridge of the day before yes te rday

,to march through

a fan tast i c gran i te coun t ry to Nha n i. Herr Grama n n ,

IS4


l igh t i s l i ke that o f a sunny September day i nEngland , bu t much more i ntense ; l igh t and shadeare sharply con t rasted . The eye pene trates for animmense d i stance

,and

,above al l

,th i s spl end id

man i fes tat ion Of D ivi ne greatness the dome of thesky is extended deep and w ide , wi th a beau ty wh i chthe poor i nhab i tan t of the North has no chance Of

see i ng at home The I tal i an blue sky i s d imcompared wi th th i s rad ian t bri l l iancy ; dewdropssparkl e on grass and t rees l i ke m i l l i on s of pearl sand d iamonds

,for a l igh t hoar- frost i s spread over

the landscape . Towards seven o ’clock the bu rn i ngsun -bal l r i ses h igher

,and absorbs al l these j ewel s

w i th wh ich Queen N igh t ha s decked the earth . Amarch am ids t such surround ings is bette r than al lthe l uxur i es o f Europe

,and ful l y repays al l the

worries and exert ion s of A fr i can travel . I t wasgi ven to us now to enj oy such beau t i es fo r weeksto come .

The glen of Nha n i opened towards the sou th ;th e chai n of h i l l s w i thd rew to the east and wes ti n to paral l e l escarpments . We marched fi rs t alongthe weste rn r idge

,at the bottom of wh ich the

footpath runs . Towards hal f-pas t e ight we had tol eave th i s path i n order to approach th rough grassand bush the eastern escarpmen t . At hal f—pas t sevenI had seen a c i rcular s tone wal l , wh ich H err Grama n n

took to be an enclosu re for cattl e ; i t was bui l t wi thcyclopean rocks , probab ly owing to the scarc i ty o ft imbe r . Now we found more of such enclosu res

,

some of them quadrangular . At ten O’clock , after a

very t i r i ng march,part ly ove r swampy ground

,we sa t

down i n the cen tre of a whole sys tem of such pens,

wh ich formed a big rectangular enclosure,surrounded

1 5 6

CARL PETERS .

ANC I ENT RU I NS I N I NYANGA

by a seri es o f smal l e r c i rcular wal l s . The wal l s wereo f s tone that showed no t race of be i ng worked

,and

from two to fou r fee t h igh ; Often you cou ld on l y see

th e t races of fo rmer wal l s on the ground .

We soon reached the foot of the eastern h i l l , alongwh ich a sparkl ing brook wa s runn ing, and here theru i n s . of stone wal l s became more bew i l der i ng .

Terraces ran round the h i l l , one wal l above theo the r . On what were apparen t ly art ific ial squaresthese quadrangular wal l s were stand i ng

,g iv i ng one

a v i v id impress i on that they were th e rema ins ofanc i en t dwel l i ngs . The brook wh i ch ran along th i sse t tl emen t was art ific ial ly bordered , and had appare n tly been d i ve rted to su i t th e needs of fo rmeri nhab i tan ts .Below these bu i ld i ngs we re dozens , nay , hund reds ,

of those heaps of s tones wh ich we had seen s i nce wele ft K a tere re ,

art ific ial ly fi l l ed w i th a’e’

or is of quartz .I t was clear that we stood here on the fiel d of formerhuman act iv i ty

,but now the s i l en ce of death lay ove r

th e landscape . The scene reminded one somewhat ofthe Castl e o f the “S leep ingBeau ty I f those heapsof quartz had been connected wi th m in ing en terpri se

,

th ey had ce rta i n ly been sudden ly deserted ; the workmust have ended i n a catast rophe . But i f they had noconnect ion w i th m i n ing

,what then could the i r mean in g

be ? Bew i ldered , and brood i ng ove r the myste ri es ofou r su rround i ngs , we wen t on , c ross i ng th e easte rnescarpmen t by a pass . Over a n d over aga in mysterious groups of s tones were met . Here i t appearedas i f the road was la id down between two chains o fs tones i n cu riou s serpen t ine wi nd ings . There

,on

bulky gran i te boulde rs,s tones were la id toge ther i n

the form of s t range sc rol l s : th e impress ion became1 5 8


had crossed wen t i n a sou therl y d i rec t ion,

-and paral l e lto wh ich ran the waggon road .

Ndj i l a ja Wa sungu”

(“th e road of the wh i tes

That was the pul se o f modern l i fe wh ich grew outo f the ru i ns , and fi l l ed us wi th a feel i ng of happycon ten tmen t .I t is t rue that th i s road al so was deserted

,l i ke the

wide val ley and the h i l l s on both s ides,but the

charac te r o f ou r race wa s s tamped upon the landscape , and more than al l sen t imen tal cons ide rat ionswas the sat i sfac t i on of t read i ng a decen t road oncemore .

We marched a m i le and a hal f further towards thesou th ; then I had the camp p i tched on the banksof a brook wh ich ran from the eastern to the westernescarpmen t i n th e m idst Ofa n Old cycl opean se tt l emen t .Th is was abou t noon . We were here feet abovethe l eve l o f the sea ; and a cold wi nd , wh ich i nc reasedduri ng the n igh t i n to a gale

,blew ove r the val ley of

I nyanga .

During the afte rnoon I explored the se tt l emen t morecareful l y , and d iscove red the fol low i ng factsI n the cen t re s tood a large quadrangular bu i ld i ng ,

twen ty- fou r fee t l ong and seven fee t w ide ; on thele ft-hand s ide , i n fron t , were five c i rcu lar wal ls ; tothe right o f these , d i rect l y i n fron t of the house , werea number of the characte ri s t i c s tone heaps of quartz

,

as we had seen them th roughou t the morn i ng. I hadtwo of these opened , a s the though t had s t ruckme they m igh t be perhaps anc i en t bu rial -places .Grama n n

,who contro l led th i s excavat ion

,s tated

that the quartz at the bot tom had been subjectedto great heat , and he took the holes i n wh ich thea'eor is was ly i ng to be a k ind of stove , wh ich m ight

160

ANC I ENT RU I NS IN INYANGA

have served to prepare the quartz for crush ing . H istheory seemed to obta i n a certa i n confi rmat ion by thefac t that we found beh i nd the mai n house th reewash i ng d ishes , cu t i n to the rock , incl ined to the ones ide

,and w i th a smal l margi n on the lower s ide

,wh ich

migh t have been used to wash the c rushed quartz . Astrong , round house , i n to wh ich wound a spi ral pathpro tected on both s ides by a wal l

,was the st rangest of

these ru i ns . Th i s house,we thought

,m igh t ha ve

been the t reasu re-house . We had then , here thedwel l i ng of the “min i ng engi nee r

,wi th houses fo r

th e “boys,d i s t i nc t t races of quartz that had been

worked by fi re,d ishes for wash ing the c rushed quartz ,

and a t reasure -house on the bank of a runn ing watercou rse . The au r i fe rous ree fs m igh t have been i n theeaste rn escarpmen t of the val l ey .

But,I asked H err Grama n n ,

“do you th i nk theold m iners have done wel l to d ig holes i n o rde r tomake fi res

,and fi l l them up wi th a

’eor is of quartz ?

Don ’t you th in k the fi res m ight have been extin

guished by such t reatmen t ? and would not themanager have done bette r to make the fi res onel evat ions of the ground where the atmosphere hadaccess from al l s ides ; and i f your theory i s correc t ,i s i t no t s t range that we find so many heaps of stonesfrom wh ich the heated s tones have never been takenout i n o rder to be washed and c rushed ; and las t , bu tno t l eas t

,does th i s quartz give you the impress ion of

be i ng aur i fe rousTh is remai ned the drawback to Grama n n

’

s th eory ,bu t though

,on Sunday Augus t 6 th, I could not rej ec t

i t al togethe r,I was not i ncl i n ed to cons ider the

probl em sol ved by i t . What i n terested me pa rticula rly in exam in i ng the a

’e‘or is , was th e fact that we1 6 1 1 1


found here ce rta i n s tones wh ich we re exact l y l i kethose we had d iscove red i n I nja-ka -Fura ; apparen tlythe re wa s a connec t i on be tween the ru i ns of Fura andthose wh i ch we had here before us .We started the fol l ow i ng morn i ng i n beaut i fu l

weathe r on the Engl i sh waggon road . Afte r anhour ’s march we d iscovered , near the watercourse onthe righ t o f the road

,some poor- l ook i ng quartz reefs ,

and soon afte rwards en tered a whole labyri n th of s tonebu i ld ings . The easte rn escarpmen t he re dev iates i na mounta i n chai n towards the wes t to the cen t re ofthe val l ey . Th i s proj ec t i on

,wh i ch r i ses abou t

to fee t above th e val l ey , l ooked from ad i stance l ike a s t riped zebra . When we came nearer ,we d iscovered that th i s s t range appearan ce had itscause i n a gigant i c art ific ial sys tem of terraces , andthat we were he re fac i ng e i ther an impos i ng anc ien tfort ificat ion or a grand arrangemen t for get t i ng holdof the rai n runn i ng from the top . Of these te rraces ,along whol e mounta i ns

,we now found a great

number . I,i ndeed , for some t ime though t they had

been bu i l t by a dense agri cu l tu ral populat ion , wh ichhad made use of mounta i ns and h i l l s i n th i s mannerj us t as now i n certai n parts o f Ch ina each square footof so i l is cul t i vated . But when I saw i n d i fferen tplaces that the te rraces cons i s ted of real cyc lopeanwal l s , wh ich cou ld not be used by any means foragri cu l tu re

,I was obl iged to mod i fy th i s theory , and

to i n cl i n e to the op i n ion that such moun ta i n te rraceshad served e i ther defens i ve o r rel igi ous pu rposes .Others may have been connected wi th th e sys tem ofaqueduc ts . I do not th i nk that a s i ngl e theo ry cancover al l the fac ts we have before us ,Underneath th i s te rraced moun tai n , wh i ch we

1 62

ANC I ENT RU INS I N INYANGA

for anothe r hou r’

s march was st rewn wi th s tone wal l sand stone heaps , so tha t the d iamete r of th i s whol ese ttl emen t , from north to sou th , must be es t imated atabou t s i x Engl i sh m i l es . H ere

,ages ago

,hund reds

o f thousands o f people mus t have dwel t togethe r .On the sou the rn l im i t o f these un i forml i nes o f ru in sI s topped for l unch abou t twel ve o

’

c lock,and then

marched southward i n the afte rnoon . The coun trynow became extraord inari ly r ich i n wate r ; r i vule tafte r r ivul e t runs from the easte rn margin s tra igh tth rough the val l ey towards the Ruenje . A sch i stma ssioe rose on the eas te rn s ide ; the wes t was st i l lgran i te in fan tast i c shapes and forms . The art ific ials tone wal l s , i t i s t rue , d id not qu i te cease here , bu tdec ided ly decreased i n n umber

,l i ke v i l lages wh ich l i e

c lose to a large town . We could tu rn agai n to contempla tion of the landscape

,wh ich had become

,

part icularl y on the weste rn s ide , mos t charm ing ,and where the gran i te s t i l l con t i n ued to cheat one

’

sfancy .

There , b ig and d is t i nc t , r i s i ng from th e rock , thefigu re of a kn igh t wi th man tl e and sword stood

,hand

on h i l t,gaz i ng ove r the w ide val ley at h i s feet . When

we approached n eare r , th i s s tony head was as thehead of a skel e ton . I t was Death h imsel f

,who

seemed to keep watch over th i s h i s own domin ion .

The l i keness wa s so decept ive that H err Grama n n

and I s topped for a momen t , not knowing whether wehad a t r i ck o f Natu re o r a work of art before us .

Around h im the usual car icatures and fo rms offan tast i c pi n nacles and rocky castl es fron ted us .Towards th ree o ’clock we camped near the rush i ng

r i vul e t flow ing from the eastern margi n , wh ich herefal l s rugged and s teep

,wi th c loven bou lders of s late1 64

ANCIENT RU INS I N I NYANGA

fal l i ng i n to the val l ey . On on e spo t we obse rved aredd i sh dyke , wh ich from below looked l i ke quartz .I sen t a bearer up to get samples

,but i t wa s slate ,

wh ich here , as at Moun t M sus i,wa s ferrug i nous .

Thi s even ing i t t urned so cold that I wen t to bedbefore s i x o

’

clock ; our camp wa s fee t abovesea - le vel .So far the d i rec t ion of ou r march i n I nyanga had

been , broadly speaki ng ,sou th - south - eas t to south .

From the nex t morn ing we kept s tr i c tl y i n a southerl yd i rect i on . The whol e morn i ng the slate decl i v i ty wa sto ou r l eft , wh i le the weste rn edge st i l l remainedgran i te . A great numbe r of foam ing moun ta instreams , al l flowing from eas t to wes t

,had to be

crossed , and the w ide val l ey grew more fru i t ful unde rou r eyes . Here i s pas tu re for catt l e

,sheep

,and

Angora goats of the mos t nouri sh i ng desc ri pt ion °

the so - cal l ed “bl ue grass . Ostr iches,horses

,and

donkeys could ce rta in l y be bred he re as wel l .Towards noon the anc i en t bu i ld ings grew fewer and

fewe r,al though the mounta i n te rraces kept us com

pany t i l l ten o ’clock . F rom here,however

, we saw i nthe d is tance , unde r the eastern escarpment , thedwel l i ngs of wh i te men . We had reached the mostnorthern confines of the resett l emen t of the coun tryfrom Umtal i . The houses i n the east belonged toBoers whom Mr . Rhodes had set tl ed here . Mr .Rhodes

,as i s wel l known

,had a pred i l ec t ion for Boers ,

even preferri ng them to the Engl i sh ; al though , as arul e

,i t ha s been shown that they are of not much use

i n open ing up a new count ry , owing to the i r lack ofi nd iv idual en terpri se . Consequen tly noth i ng has ye tbeen done i n I nyanga for the agri cu l tu ral cul t ivat ionof the so i l . The Boers l i ve by hun t ing and Lord

1 65

ANC I ENT RUINS IN INYANGA

knows on what e l se . F ields o r even l i ve s tock Icould not d iscove r on the i r farms .

At eleven o’

c lock we arr i ved at a store on whoseveranda we saw three wh i tes s i t t ing. They were

,as

I asce rta i ned late r,Mr . Mo cfurt and M r . Smythe

,th e

owne rs of the s tore,and M r . S tev ens who had arr i ved

from B r i t i sh Cen tral Afr i ca a short t ime ago wi th aherd o f cattl e and a large flock of sheep and goats

,

wh i ch he wi shed to sel l i n Umtal i . I p i tched ou rcamp some five m inutes

’

walk from the sto re,and

resol ved to remai n here on the foll owi ng morn ing asthe prov i s ion for the beare rs wa s gett i ng low .

Mr . S tevens paid us a v is i t i n the afte rnoon,br i ng

i ng a la rge j ug of m i l k w i th h im as a presen t— a

del i c ious g i ft ! I d id not,however

,buy any an imal s

from h im,as he wanted a sovere ign for a goat , and a s

much as th i r ty sh i l l i ngs for a sheep , the pr i ce curren ti n Umtal i . I n o the r respects al so th is was a m ise rabl eplace to buy eatabl es i n . At the s tore I coul d on lyge t abou t 2 5 l bs . of r i ce , wh ich w a s d i v ided be tweenthe Somal i s and ou r personal se rvan ts . To get foodfor the beare rs

,early next morn i ng I sen t Tom and

P i so to seve ral v i l lages i n the wes t , wh i l e M r . Smythewen t off to the moun tai n s i n the east .On the even ing of Augus t 8 th Mr . S tevens supped

w i th us i n ou r ten t . I t was b i tte rl y cold . We werenow fee t above sea - l evel , and a cold wmd

wh ist l ed down the val ley . Augus t i s a cruel ly col dmon th i n I nyanga . I n the n igh t of August 8 th and

9th the wate r ou t of doors froze fo r the fi rs t t ime .

Then fi rewood began to ge t scarce , for the coun trygrows more and more bare and bl eak the furthe r onegoes sou th . I began to fee l very sorry for the poorfel l ows who were w i th us .

1 66

ANC I ENT RU INS IN I NYANGA

On August 9 1h,however

,I could at l eas t gi ve

them a good meal,as Tom came i n du ri ng the

afternoon wi th seve ral sacks of flou r . On themorn i ng of th i s day , I mysel f, wi th M r . S tevens andH err Grama n n

,v i s i ted the farm of one of the Boers

at the foo t o f the escarpmen t of the I nyanga Val l ey .

The Boer wa s ou t , bu t the “Tan te was at home,

i n the m idst of a dozen ch i l dren,who s tood round u s

l i ke organ -pipes . Coffee was made and handed roundwh i l e I was be ing asked where I came from

,&c .

Then the “ farm,

” al though i n real i ty there was nosuch th i ng, was shown to me . I t seemed to give thepeople great pl easu re when I asce rta ined the exac the igh t of the i r house . I n the yard I was i n teres tedi n an old s tone condu i t , wh ich , through be i ng conn ected wi th a brook above , was aga in rendered useful .For lunch we wen t back to ou r camp again . I n theeven i ng we d ined heart i ly i n M r

’

. Mocfurt’s s tore,wi th

a crackl i ng fi re i n the enormous oven .

The coun try th rough wh ich we marched on thefol low i ng day re tai ned i ts wel l-watered and fert i l echaracte r ; on ly by and by we en tered quartz i t i c sands tone . The amoun t of t imber was decreas ing continua lly,

and we Were s lowly bu t un i n te rrupted lymoun t i ng uph i l l . About hal f-pas t el even I had ourl unch cooked i n the short scrub near a gurgl ings t ream . Then the las t ascen t was made

,wh ich took

us to the pol i ce camp of I nyanga .

We now d iscovered the fi rs t example of a new classof anc i en t s tone bu i l d i ngs

,wh ich we came across very

frequen tly i n th e d i s t r i c t now before us . These werep i ts

,after th e s tyl e of wel l s , wi th a d iamete r of from

ten to fi fteen fee t , wal l ed i n w i th carefu l ly bu i l t cyclopean wal l s . The pi t s we saw were twel ve to fi fteen

1 68

PIT-RU I NS IN I NYANGA .

ANCIENT RU INS IN I NYANGA

fee t deep , bu t may have been fi l l ed up i n th e course ofcentu ri es . Others wh ich we saw late r on we re up totwenty fee t deep . Often , nay , almos t i n every case ,old t rees were growi ng ou t of these p i ts .The curi ous featu re of these bu i ld i ngs i s that the

en trance i s formed by a subte rran ean passage,at the

mos t th ree fee t h igh , wh i ch may be s ix teen fee t l ong ,

dug in to the ground , and al so wal led w i th rockWhat does al l th i s mean ? ” we asked . Apparen tly

,

so we though t that afte rnoon,

“th e i r obj ec t wa s t ol ock up someth i ng ; an imals o r slaves ; or to pro tec tsometh ing agains t the cut t i ng sou th—eas t w i nd . Th islat te r idea s t ruck me when I saw wi th what del ight mymen jumped i ns ide , and how warm i t wa s below . Iwa s told on th e same day that M r . Rhodes took themto be slave -p i ts

,a n d ,

fo r the t ime,I adopted th i s

explanat ion,unt i l n ew facts

,wh ich I d iscovered late r

on , changed my op i n ion .

Between these p i ts and the pol i ce camp,about a

m i l e and a hal f from the lat te r, to the l eft of the mai nroad

,I d i scove red between sands tone and slate a

m igh ty quartz reef wh ich showed t races of old workings , and whose qual i ty H err Grama n n pronounced tobe very prom is ing .

Consequen tl y,i t wa s here fo r the fi rs t t ime that we

n a i l ed up our d iscove ry not i ce i n the te rr i to ry of theB r i t i sh South Afri ca Company , wi th the i n ten t ion o fcom ing back agai n fo r fu rther explorat ions .An ascen t of hal f an hou r brough t us to the I nyanga

pol ice camp,a number of red bu i ld ings , round i n shape

and covered wi th a po i n ted thatch . To the le ft , andseparated from the huts of the t roope rs , lay theres idence of the command ing o ffi ce r . I t l ooked l ikea farmhouse on Laneberg H eath . As we approached

1 70

ANCIENT R U INS IN INYANGA

wel l . I t wa s a wre tched n igh t that we a ll passed herea t an al t i tude of fee t .Next morn i ng I fi rs t o f al l d i sm issed twen ty of the

bearers who came from Tete . They i ns i s ted thatS enhor Mart i n s had only engaged them for us fo r twoand not for th ree months . I y i elded to them becausethe quest ion of feed ing them was a constan t anx ie ty ,and because I could now leave a part o f ou r loads i nth e pol i ce camp . Th i s I depos i ted the re early nex tmorn ing , and then sen t H err Grama n n wi th the bul kof the loads to the F ruitfield S tore

,el even m i les to the

south , where I u nders tood flour was to be obta i ned .

I onl y retai ned my pr ivate “boys,for whom I was

able to buy a smal l parcel of grai n at the pol i ce camp .

I i n tended l unch i ng w i th the o ffice r i n charge of thes tat ion

,Capta i n Wi l l iams , and then catch i ng up

Grama n n . When at one o ’clock I wen t ove r to thehouse

,I had the pl easu re of meet i ng a charm ing young

lady i n the person of my hos tess . I t was an unexpectedt reat suddenl y to find mysel f a t a decen tl y la id tabl eand i n the soc i e ty of a lady .

Afte r breakfast I made haste to rej o i n my exped i t i on .

The format ion was now en t i rely one ofqua rtz itic sands tone s treaked w i th slate . To the eas t the escarpmen t reaches , i n the rugged and bold outl i nes ofMoun t Inya nga d z e , a he igh t of fee t . Notfar beh in d the s tat ion , i n the val ley , we had to crossa foaming brook . Afte r tha t the road wound roundthe foot o f the western slope . The wide val l ey i salmost w i thout a tree ; only he re and the re does onesee a gnarl ed t runk o r some sparse brushwood . Soonon the l eft there r i ses a Eu ropean se tt lemen t cons i s ti ng of a b road dwel l i ng—house

,s tables , and an enclosed

garden . I t i s Rhod es ’s , or, as i t i s cal l ed on the map ,1 7 2

ANC I EN" RU INS IN INYANGA

after the fo rmer propr ie tor, Grimmer

’

s Farm . At theback , towards Mount Inya nga d z e and fac ing i t , are twob ills occup ied by a coupl e of Old forts . Before theweste rn fort I d i scove red a prom i s i ng quartz reef i nwh ich I found Old work i ngs .The sun sank l owe r

,and the wide green val l ey lay

befo re me bath ed i n its golden l igh t . Every po i n t ,every shadow wa s cu t sharp and clear , and stood ou ti n that golden atmosphere that ye t wa s so t ransparen t .The ai r grew n ipp i ng and eager as on a December dayi n S co t land . We leave Rhodes

’

s farm on ou r left . We

THE OLD FORT AT I NYANGA .

c ross the cold wate rs of the Inja ngomb ie , the upperarm of the Ruenje Rive r , eddy ing ove r i ts rocks andboulders

,and are glad , j us t as the sun i s d isappeari ng ,

to reach the F ruitfield S to re , wh i ch l i es aboutfeet above sea - l evel .At th e door M r . j ames , the propr i e tor , welcomed me .

I asked h im abou t my camp , o f wh ich , to my surpr i se ,I saw no s ign . H e told me that H err Grama n n hadmade h imsel f comfortabl e i n a deep chasm at the backof the s to re .

To my del igh t I a t once asce rta i ned that there wa splen ty of flour to be bough t here , al though at an

I 7 3

ANCIENT RU INS I N INYANGA

extravagan t pri ce (3 5 5 . for 1 80 I found mycol umn a t the bot tom of a yawn ing gul f, where thesandstone had been torn apart to the depth of over 200fee t . The descen t was somewhat d iffi cul t , but , anyhow ,

down the re one wa s compl ete ly pro tected agai ns t th ecu tt i ng south wi nd

,wh i ch

,I mus t rem i nd my readers ,

is the equ ival en t of ou r north wi nd . I d i ned thateven ing

,as Grama n n wa s al ready i n bed , wi th M r .

james i n the s tore , where I al so ordered a bed so asto get a ful l n igh t’s res t for once . But the house wasof gal van ised i ron

,and the w ind wh i s tl ed th rough

eve ry crev i ce . Al though we had a big fi re go ing i nthe i ron stove of the d in i ng- room the whole even ing ,

and were wrapped up i n our ove rcoats,i t remai ned as

u npleasan tl y cold as though ou rs was a Polar ex

ped ition i n s tead of an Afr i can .

When I awoke next morn i ng i n my room the sunwas al ready h igh i n the heaven s . A smal l showe r wa sfal l i ng on to my bed . At fi rs t I though t i t was ra i n ingou ts ide , but I soon saw that i t wa s a greet ing from thethawing i c i c l es wh i ch h ung down from the ce i l i ng andwere be i ng mel ted by the sun . Our thermometer hadregi s te red a m in imum read ing of 2 5 ° Fahrenhe i t .Afte r a consul tat i on w i th H err Grama n n , I reso l ved

to delay our march to the sou th,and fi rs t of al l to

search the coun try we had j us t crossed very thoroughlyfo r gold reefs and old work i ngs . We were s t i l l

5 5 m i l es north of Umtal i . That there must be goldhere on the I nyanga P lateau Maj or Robertson hadal ready concl uded from the fac t that many of theri ve rs that flow down from there carry gold-dust , theRuenje and Ga va res i as wel l as the Odz i . Also amore exact explo rat ion of the o ld work i ngs was worthwh i l e from the pu re l y sc i en t ific as wel l as from ou r

1 74

ANC I ENT RU INS I N INYANGA

t ropical sun i n the dayt ime and the sharp frost atn igh t are i n too great a con t ras t w i th the i r natu ralcond i t i ons to render the d i s t ri c t favou rabl e to th i sk ind o f cul t i vat ion . I th ink that the north of I nyangai s be tte r adapted for th i s en terpri se ; such plan tat ion ssouth of the Zambes i should not be s tarted above anal t i tude of fee t .I wa s more i n te res ted by what M r . Norr i s showed me

on Rhodes ’s farm of anc ien t work ings than by thesecrops . An old stone condu i t com ing from the Injaga tz ehad been repai red by h im , and he made use of i t forthe pract i cal wants of the s tat ion . Mr . Norri s drewmy atten t ion to the fac t that al l these condu i ts of theanc i en ts had not been made on fe rt i l e so i l , but onrocky ground . H e concl uded from th is that they werenot mean t for agr i cul tu ral , bu t for m i n i ng en te rpr i se .

He though t the old se t tl e rs had not had the means oft ransport necessary to carry the i r quartz to the r i vule tsfo r wash i ng

,and that therefore they had laid on the

wate r d i rec tly into the i r m in i ng ground . H e alsopo i n ted out another most i n te res t i ng fac t connectedw i th the p i ts or underground bu i ld i ngs . He sa id thathe had turned h i s cha nnel i n to one of these bu i ld i ngs ,and had been very

.

much s truck by the fac t that theyhad not fi l l ed up , bu t that the wate r had d isap

pea red wi thou t l eav ing any t race . On examining th i ss trange symptom

,he had found Oppos i te the covered

en t rance passage an ape rtu re i n to the p i t wh i ch wasclosed w i th s tones . Th i s proves , he sa id , “that th esep i ts cannot have been mean t for the dwel l ings o f men .

B ut,

” sa id I,

“where does th i s aperture l ead ;perhaps i n to a tun nel ?

H e sa id,

“ I have not had t ime to i nqu i re i n toth i s yet .

1 76

ANCIENT RU INS I N INYANGA

I examined th ese unde rground bu i ld ings during thenext few weeks , fol l ow ing up the observat ions of M r .Norri s

,and have d iscove red i n al l o f them that the

covered en t rance passage was cons truc ted uph i l l . I nsome of them I even found connec ted the rema ins oflow s tone wal l s , extend ing from the en t rance to boths ides l i ke two wi ngs , so as to catch the wate r thatm igh t run down i n great quant i t i es

,and lead i t th rough

the passage i n to the p i t . On several p i ts th is en t ranceseemed to have been connected wi th anc ien t aqueducts

,

wh ich al l came from the easte rn escarpmen t . An oldfarmer of I nyanga i nformed me he had found ou t thatal l these en trance passages i n to the pi ts were tu rnedagains t the east . This , howeve r, i s a m i stake I haveseen some wh i ch are turned to o ther d i rec t ions of thecompass

,bu t a s the wate rs o f th i s coun t ry main ly

run from the east to the wes t o f the Ruenje River , h i sObse rvat ion was eas i ly expla ined , combined wi th th i stheory of the aqueducts , for i t i s c l ear, i f the p i ts havebeen cons tructed for get t i ng water , that wi th thepredominan t i n cl i nat ion of the I nyanga Val l ey , theen t rances woul d be turned mai n l y towards the eas t .Here

,the refore

,we have a geograph i cal and not a

rel ig ious cause at the bot tom . I f th i s explanat ion i scorrec t , we can take i t fo r gran ted that these wel l swere no t mean t to se rve fo r d r inki ng-water, for theland is ful l o f cl ear s t reams , the wate r of wh ich i smuch bette r adapted for d ri nk ing pu rposes . No mani n a coun try l ike I nyanga would d ream of makingtanks

,as the re i s no need for them at al l ; and th is

be ing the case,m in ing purposes on l y remain to expla in

the fac t ; th i s agrees wi th what I have found on ree fs ,wh ich were worked by such “wel l s , sunk stra igh tth rough the quartz i n to the d epths . Th is makes me

1 77 N


incl i ned to accept the ve ry probable hypothes i s thatwe possess i n these p i ts ce rta i n o r igi nal provi s i on forwash i ng quartz . I should suppose that the c rushedquartz was heaped up i n the en t ran ce tunnel

,and al so

at the bot tom , and that water was then poured ove r i t ,wh ich carr i ed away the dus t and l e ft the gold beh ind .

Unde r th i s theory al l pecul iar i t i es o f these s t rangebu i ld i ngs wh ich have been d iscove red h i therto can beaccoun ted for . They cannot have se rved as dwel l i ngs

,

because i n the rai ny season they would al l be damp,i f

not flooded . I gran t my explanat ion req u i res fu rtherev idence meanwh i l e , unt i l fu rthe r p roofs come forwardwh ich may con trad ic t my theory , I adopt i t as th e mos tl i ke ly . Mr . Norr i s

,to whom I expla i ned i t a fo rtn igh t

l ate r i n deta i l , agreed wi th me on the whole .

After spend ing seve ral i n te rest i ng hours,I took

l eave of the farm and re turned to the sto re , where Ifound H err Grama n n

, Mr . james , and two pol i cemenst i l l l un ch i ng “

, and i n a somewhat el evated frame ofm ind . My last n igh t ’s exper ie nces i nduced me to goback agai n to my ten t at bedt ime . Our meal s ,however

,we took regularly at the store du ri ng the

fol l ow ing days .On the morn ing ofAugus t 14 th we se t ou t at sun ri se

towards the west , mak ing for the d i s t ri c t watered bythe Ruenje River. We marched ove r a rol l i ng coun t ryi n wh ich quartz i t i c sandstone gradual l y gives way togran i te . Toward s e igh t o ’c l ock I d i scove red a quartzreeftha t l ay i n slate , and showed t races of ol d work ings .Soon afte rwards we had to cross a t remendous escarpmen t wh ich must be regarded as the western boundaryof the I nyanga V al l ey proper

,and then we descended

to an al t i tude of some feet . After we.

hadc rossed a rush i ng brook whose wate rs were clear as

1 78

ANC I ENT R U INS IN I NYANGA

Wil l iams and i n t roduced H err Grama n n to th i spleasan t household . Round the quartz reef I had al lthe grass set on fi re so as to cl ear a passage fo r ou rOperat ion s . On al l s ides we recogn i sed t races of oldwork i ngs .On Augus t 1 7 th I prospected the northern s ide of the

ree f w i th H err Grama n n . We fol lowed up the “ou tc rop over an en t i re h i l l , and not onl y found a quan t i tyo f su rface work i ngs

,bu t al so two shaft - l i ke wal l ed -in

p i ts,sunk straigh t th rough the quartz

,wi th covered

tunnel s,j us t a s I have descr i bed them before . Here

one could see perfect l y pla i n ly that these works werenot i n tended for dwel l i ng-places . For the peoplewou ld hardly have taken th e troubl e to burrow i n thehard quartz for a lodgi ng when softe r k i nds of s tonewere to hand on both s ides . I n add i t i on the wholeb ill was covered wi th quartz - rubbl e

,broken up i n to

smal l p ieces , wh ich we could t race for 650 fee t onboth s ides . Mr . Norri s al so cal led my atten t ion to th eun ion between these shafts and an old condu i t thatcarr i ed wate r from the east

,when I saw h im again .

So the connect ion be tween the shafts and old m in i ngoperat ions seems to be establ i shed here .

Round th i s reef we found the ru ins of many s tonewal l s tha t may have shel te red the m i ners . I n seve ralheaps of a’eor is I found s tones w i th cu r ious l i nes cu ti n to them , wh ich may have represen ted some prim i t i veform of reckon i ng. The wh i tes i n I nyanga told methat there are many such stones i n the v i c in i ty .

We also found a number of phal l i , symbols of th eanc i en t S emi t i c worsh ip of the sun . Al l these factsprove to me that we are here face to face wi th ananc ien t m ine

,and

,from the characte r of the carved

s tones wh ich I found , I am conv i nced that the same1 80

ANCIENT RUINS IN INYANGA

race l i ved he re whose traces we d iscove red in theFu ra d i s t ri c t .We therefore resol ved to i nvest igate th i s reef more

close ly , and , on the same afternoon , Herr Grama n n

dug the fi rs t t rench nex t to ou r camp .

Al though we had descended to fee t , andAugus t was neari ng i ts end

,i t wa s s t i l l b i t terl y cold ,

and l i v i ng i n the ten t wa s as unpleasan t as i t could be .

A wind that bl ew i n sudden gus ts and always ragedat n ights , th rowing up the wal l s of the tent , depri vedus of al l regu lar sl eep . Consequen tly on the morn ingof Augus t 1 8 th I had the camp removed from the reef

OUR STATION AT I N YANGA .

to a narrow hol l ow that offered more protec t ion .

Here towards noon Captai n Wi l l iams came ove r fo rl unch, and d isplayed a most l i vely i n te res t when weshowed h im rou nd the ree f. I n the even ing there wasa thunders torm towards the sou th—eas t , and at n igh ta l igh t spri ng ra i n wa s a wel come s ign that the win te rwa s nearl y ove r .Here i s an ext rac t from my d iary showing the work

undertaken dur i ng the fol low i ng days1 9 A nga si .

— Went ou t prospect ing wi th Cun teteand Osman towards the east . D iscover a paral l e lree f. Grama n n d igs two more t renches . The quartz

1 8 1

ANC I ENT R U INS IN INYANGA

looks wel l . Norri s sends potatoes . I n the afte rnoonGrama n n and I fee l very run down from wan t ofs l eep . Early to bed .

20 A ng a si‘.

— Bearers declare that the two month sfo r wh ich they were engaged have expi red . Theygo off to Tete

,al though I expla i n to them that

they were engaged and paid for th ree months ’ serv i ce .

I keep th e captai n here,have h im bound , and hand

h im ove r to the pol i ce camp for pun i shmen t .Spend the even i ng at Capta i n Williams

’

s,where I

s l eep .

2 1 A ngn sf.

— In th e morn i ng wri te to Norr i s ask ingwhethe r any chance of get t ing new beare rs fromUmtal i . Then go to camp wi th Capta in Wi l l iams .On the way meet 1 3 men from B lan ty re whom Ioffe r an engagemen t . After th i s we arres t a gangwho have s tol en fi ve goats from a se ttl e r cal l edRa chetti. One i s brough t i n . W i l l iams l unches w i thme . I n the afte rnoon measu re ou t twe l ve cla ims onthe reef. I n the even i ng I rece i ve a l e t te r from theCharte red Company g iv i ng me the m in i ng r igh ts ove r1 00 al l uv ial cla ims .

2 2 A ng in a— In the morn ing the 1 3 B lan tyre boys

arr i ve , who are for' the presen t engaged by me for

a month , and at once set to work . Trench I I . showsthat the ree f i s good . S end Bullha n

’

and Merkambus ito the pol i ce camp to fetch 5 sheep and 5 goatsW i l l iams has bough t for me from Ra chetti. I n theafte rnoon I find that the ree f i s con t i nued towards thenorth .

I w i l l no t go on wi th th is d iary w i th i ts deta i l edenumerat ion of ou r labours , as i t can hard ly possessany general i n te res t . The profess i onal reader wi l lsee from the passages quoted that we had begun the

1 82


We w i l l now go on to Man i caland.

prope r.On Satu rday

,September 2 n d

,I s tarted earl y i n the

morn i ng and i n bi t te rl y cold weathe r fo r Umtal i ,seated i n the ambulance of the I nyanga Pol i ce S tat i on .

Herr Grama n n kept me company as far as F ruitfieldS tore . The cold wa s so seve re that the re was i ceregularl y eve ry morn ing , even on the brooks . Thesedays I s uffered from a ch ron ic cold i n th e head .

I t was even ing and qu i te dark when we reachedthe so - cal l ed Forty M i l e S to re

,th e h ighes t po in t on

the I nyanga-Umtal i road . I t wa s snowi ng , and Ia t once wen t to bed

,where I o rde red hot tea and

clare t . The sto re i s fee t h igh,and the ne igh

bourhood qu i te dest i tute o f fuel the place , the refore ,i s ve ry much dreaded by beare r col umns . I t happensrepeated ly tha t blacks actual l y freeze to death i n th ecold weathe r he re . I f one imagi nes Europeans sl eepi ng i n the open i n th e H ighlands of S cotland , hal fnaked , wi thou t fi re and shel te r

,the the rmometer ten

degrees below ze ro,one will have a p i c tu re of the

pl igh t wh i ch the nat i ves are exposed to he re . Thecuriou s part Of i t is that i f one march es one or twom i les to the eas t

,where the plateau slopes sharpl y

downwards,one i s agai n i n a t rop i cal c l imate . S O near

to one anoth e r are he re the extremes of temperature .

The whol e of that S unday I s tayed i n bed unde rfou r warm b lanke ts

,wh ich I supplemen ted wi th hot

d ri nks .Not t i l l M onday d id we con t i nue ou r j ourney and

begi n to descend . Our ambulance was d rawn by tens t rong oxen

,and a corporal l ooked afte r the whol e

tu rnout . We travel l ed from earl y morn i ng t i l l n i n eo ’clock

,and then the cattl e were tu rned ou t to grass

wh i l e we had breakfast . Towards th ree o’

clock the1 84

ANCIENT RU I NS IN I NYANGA

trek began agai n,las t ing t i l l even i ng . Bes ides the

ambulance , we were accompan ied by a rea l o x-waggon,

wh ich was to bri ng food from Umtal i to the stat i on .

Travel l i ng wa s very pl easan t , espec ial l y as the

the rmomete r n ow rose w i th every hour .On Tuesday even ing we arr i ved at Old Umtal i ,

where B i shop Hartze l l and h i s w i fe were k i nd enoughto i nv i te me to descend at the Ameri can M i ss ion .

Th is i s a m iss ion of the Wesleyan Epi scopal Church .

B ishop Hartzel l is th e b ishop of th i s Chu rch for thewhole xofAfri ca . H is i s a very remarkable personal i ty ,

OLD U M TALI .

wi th great i n tel l ec tual keenness,comb ined w i th won

d erful act iv i ty and energy .

Old Umtal i wa s or ig inal l y Umtal i i tsel f. Cec i lRhodes

,on accoun t of the Mashonaland Rai lway ,

t ransfe rred the town across the Chr i s tmas Pass , th usfound ing the Umtal i of to -day . He presented theempty bu i ld i ngs to the Ameri can M i ss ion , wh ich maybecome a great bless ing to the su rround ing coun try ,for the cen t ral po i n t of its miss ion work i s the pract icalt ra i n i ng of the negro .

“ Large gardens have been la iddown

,i n wh ich the ch i ld ren work , and bes ides these

1 85

ANC IENT R U INS IN INYANGA

a ll k i nds of workshops i n wh i ch European t rades ,espec ial ly blacksm i th ’s work and carpen tering , aretaught . The nex t morn i ng the B i shop took me ove rthe whol e sett l emen t

,wh i ch l ies scatte red i n the

Umtal i Val l ey at the foo t of a m igh ty moun ta i ns l ope .

B ishop Hartzel l d i splayed a l i ve ly i n te res t i n myMacombe exped i t i on

,and d i scussed w i th me the

proj ec t o f e rec t i ng a branch of h i s m i ss ion i n thatcoun try . I s tayed w i th h im t i l l noon

,and abou t one

o’

clock on Wednesday I con t i n ued my j ourney towardsthe real Umtal i

,wh ich on ly lay abou t five m i l es

d i s tan t . Here I arr ived abou t fou r O’clock

,and

descended at the H otel Cec i l .I f I may be perm i tted to s top here fo r a resume

of my impress ion s i n I nyanga,there can , fi rs t of al l ,

be no ques t ion of the anc i en t S em i t i c i nfluences thatwere at work there . The cul t o f the phal l us i s p rovedby the re l i cs d i scovered among the ru i ns . Fu rthe r ,I cons ide r i t proved that th i s plateau was once thescene of anc i en t m i n i ng operat i on s . Some of thebu i ld i ngs certa in ly date from no very great an t iqu i ty ,bu t the re are o the rs that go back to the remotes tt imes . I br i ng back w i th me th i r ty- fou r co i n s thatwere found i n I nyanga

,wh i ch M r . B i rch , ch i e f o f the

pol i ce i n Umtal i,handed to me Among them is

a gold Dutch co i n dat i ng from the year 1 598 . Thereare i n general many ex i s t i ng memorial s Of th ePortuguese e ra (see Append ix).I n our tongue the word I nyanga means moon , and

from th i s plateau fou r r i ve rs ari se,s t ream ing Offto the

fou r po i n ts of the compass, a n d whose sources are a ll

con ta i ned wi th i n a rad ius o f about th ree m i les . Tothe north i s the Ga va res i, to the north -west the

1 86


Ruenje , to the sou th - east the Pungwe,and to the

sou th -wes t the Od si,wh i ch en ters the Sab i .

The nat i ves are genu in e Ma ka la nga s , who , however ,are cal l ed Masuna (Mashona P igs), a term of abusebestowed on them by the conqueri ng race , theMatabel e . They recogn i se Macombe as the supremech i ef of th e i r t r ibe . The m igh t i es t ch ie f i n th e sou thi s Um ta ssa , some m i l es to the north of Old Umtal i ,who has g iven the Engl i sh admin i st rat ion manysl eepless n ights

,and rece i ves a regular annual t r i bute .

The nat i ves are not much good as workmen . I nthe i r v i l lages they ra i se s tock and do a l i t tl e farm ing ,

combin i ng wi th th i s th e u sual Makalanga crafts ,espec ial ly sm i th ’s work . As I hear

,Um ta ssa s t i l l

pays a yearl y t ri bute o f five young gi rl s to Macombeof M iso ngwe bu t I could not veri fy th i s .The ru i n s of I nyanga form an importan t l i nk i n the

cha i n of South Afri can mon uments,to wh ich I w i l l

re tu rn agai n late r on . When I arr i ved at Umtal i onS eptember 6 , 1 900 , fresh from my jou rney th roughth i s region

,I fel t as though I had l eft one of th e

most uncommon and most puzz l in g countr i es i n theworl d beh i nd me .

CHAPTER V I I

IN THE H EART OF MAN ICALAND

IEWED as landscape Umtal i makes an ext remely pleas i ng impress ion . It i s s i tuated i n

a wide mountai n val l ey,as though a t the bottom of

an enormous crate r, and i s su rrounded by a wreathof rugged summ i ts . The geological format i on i smostly gran i te , i n te rrupted by sch i s t and d iori te . Ical culated that the place l i es fee t above thel evel of the sea , and , as the sou th - eas t w ind almos ti nvariabl y blows there , i t i s pleasan tly cool by day ,and at n igh ts almos t ch i l l y .

New Umtal i is charm ingly spread i n i ts val l ey .

The pretty houses lay on the slopes l ike v i l las.and

are d i v ided by broad,cl ean roads . As a matter o f

fac t , the tra n sfermen t of the town was a m is take ; onthe con trary

,the ra i lway should have been la id five

m i les north of Old Umtal i and Old Macequece,for i t

i s there that the rea l gold -bel t is s i tuated . Espec ial lylamen tabl e does th i s m is take appear at Macequece ,where the south gi ves up al l cla ims to be gold -bear ingcoun try ;

'

but Rhodes and h is fr iends were i n searchof a connect ion be tween Sal i sbu ry , the cap i tal o fRhodes ia

,and the coas t that shou ld be as short as

poss ibl e,and al l o the r cons iderat ions had to g i ve way.

Al l these towns i n the new colony make , external ly ,1 89

IN THE HEART OF MANICA LAND

the same s tate ly impress ion— Bulawayo,Sal i sbu ry

,

and Umtal i . Al l are la id down on the wholesomepri nc ipl e o f admi n i s t rat i on by th e actual c i t i zens

,and

the free co -operat ion o f the col on i sts,and spl end id i s

the speedy open ing up of the coun try wh i ch cap i tal i smhas wrought he re .

Rhodes ia is the ou tcome of a bold and i ngen iou sspeculat ion , and , for a long t ime , i t remai ned moretha n a ny th i ng el se an obj ec t of cap i tal i s t i c en terpr i se ,wh ich , as i f by magi c , made rai lways and roads

,

towns and telegraph - l i nes r i se up from nowhere ; bu twh ich , on the othe r hand , negl ec ted th e natu ral andeconom ic pri nc ipl es on wh i ch the heal thy progress o fa n ew commun i ty i s dependen t— namely

,the produc

t ion of the requ is i te agri cu l tu ral n ecessari es .

To Rhodes ia s t reamed speculato rs from everyquarte r of the globe who wanted to grow ri ch atexpress speed ; or e ls e a m in i ng populat ion came i n ,wh ich must d i sappear j us t as rap id ly should the m inesre fuse to y i eld . Bu t the farmer , who speculated i nmeat and flou r

,eggs a n d but te r , fru i t and vegetabl es ,

rema ined . The typ ical Rhodes ian,however

,i s no t

con ten t w i th such a sol id but moderate re tu rn for h i st roubl e . The conse quence of th i s i s a s tagger i ngi nflat ion of pr i ces . The t imes are not so far d is tan twhen an egg cos t a sh i l l i ng at Umtal i , and a bo tt l e o fm i l k 3 5 . 6d . Now the ra i lway bri ngs i n r ice fromI nd ia and meat from Austral ia , and consequen t lypr i ces have grown a l i t t l e more normal

,bu t even

to -day Rhodes ia is ce rta i n l y by far the dearestcoun t ry i n th e world . From th i s i t fol l ows d i rect l ytha t al l wages are enormousl y h igh , wh ich affects th ework ing of the m ines at i ts mos t vu l nerabl e po i n t .The black m i ner earn s 40 5 . to 5o s . a week in add i t i on

1 90

I N THE HEART OF MAN ICA LAND

i s s i t t i ng t igh t and no one is working to start i t ? Theland and so i l become

,for al l pract i cal pu rposes

,non

ex i s ten t , and the i ndus tri ous classes , who migh t dosometh i ng

,are ac tual l y kept away by th i s pol i cy .

What,then , must happen to improve th i s s tate of

affa i rs ? S teady-go i ng farmers must be at trac ted tothe coun try so as to lay the foundat ions of c i v i c l i fehe re as wel l as i n the south people who do no t comei n to the place to get r i ch al l a t on ce , but who wan t tomake a l i v i ng, and i n cou rse of t ime a modes t com

peten ce ,by hones t work . Th is would change al l the

presen t cond i t i on s at a blow , and reduce the hothousetemperatu re caused by art ific ial speculat ion . Thi swould prov ide the necessari e s of l i fe at normal p ri ces

,

a sol ven t and s teady custom for the s tores , and i ncourse of t ime a proper bas i s for the taxat ion of th ecoun try . Then al so th e m in i ng i ndust ry would bepl aced 0 11 a sol i d foot i ng ; i t woul d no t be necessaryto speculate fo r weal th , for one could then grow ri chby steady and produc t i ve work . Towns now ful l o fpeople wi thou t work , who have been drawn here bythe gold - feve r , would be i n a fa i r way of shel te ring acon ten ted

,permanen t popu lat ion . Such a develop

men t I w i sh Rhodes ia from the bot tom of my heart .I t i s a perfectl y poss ibl e one , for Nature ha s l ibe ral lyendowed the coun try wi th a most splend id so i l .I had a good many bus i ness matte rs to set tl e . i n

Umtal i,and was glad when they were over and when

,

on September 2 Is t , I cou ld tu rn my back on the townand re tu rn once more , before the ra i ny season , to mybeloved wi lde rn ess . The ten t i n the green fores tcon trasted very pl easan tl y wi th the Cec i l H ote l i nUmtal i . The meals one cooked onesel f out o f doorstasted doubly good afte r the del ights of the hote l

1 92

A V I LLAGE IN MAN ICALAND .

IN THE HEART OF MANICALAND

rn isin e, al though that of th e “Cec i l”

wa s except ional l ygood . Th is t ime al so my travel l i ng compan ion wa sH err Erns t Grama n n

,who

,meanwh i l e , had j o ined me

from I nyanga , wh i l e H err B locker had returned to theZambes i .Ligh theartedly we se t ou t ove r Macequece , east

north -eas t towards the Pungwe R ive r,wh ich I w i shed

to rea ch a t i ts j u nc t ion w i th the Inja so nja .

I had taken two Somal i s and abou t th i rty carr i e rsw i th me . I was al so accompan ied by Cun te te, thebro the r of Macombe

,whose te rr i to ry we had to

recross north of the Pungwe . I coul d not rest rai n asm i le when the Government peopl e at Macequecewarned me i n a fr i endly way agains t v i s i t ing th isd i s t ri c t . As a mat te r of fac t

,i t wa s d i fficul t to find

peopl e i n Macequece who would accompany me

th i ther , so unat tract ive was Ma comb e’

s name toeve rybody .

The road to Domb age ra ,as the place near the

j u nct ion of the Pungwe and the Inja so nga i s cal l ed ,i s

,general l y speak ing

,i n a north—eas te rly d i rec t ion

from Macequece . I,however

,wished fi rs t of al l to

s top at d’

An d ra d e , near Old Macequece , on thei nv i tat i on o f M r . ‘ Raw

,the then propri e tor of the

B raganza and R i chmond M ine . At h i s house I metM r . Sawyer , who wa s j us t d raw ing up a geolog icalmap of the whol e d ’

An d ra de d is t ri c t that interestedme very much . Near by l i es the wel l -known GuyFawkes M i ne of M r . Pardy , wh ich I v i s i ted .

Soon , north o f M r . Raw’

s house , th e road leaves theh ighlands of Macequece to bend eastwards i n to theactual s teppe . We leave the waggon - road lead ing tothe northern m ines to en te r on a fine

,broad K affi r

t ra i l , wh ich henceforward we fol low . I t i s the path1 94

IN THE HEART OF M AN ICALAND

pu t up . I n vai n I wai ted fo r the appearance of thev i l lage rs . I have the h uts searched , and find thatthere are no t races o f fi re or any recen t occupat ion .

At length peopl e come from the ne ighbou ri ng v i l lage ,who te l l me that the place where I am has beendeserted fo r ove r a year

,and who i nv i te us to come

ove r to them .

I the re fo re had the camp taken down agai n , anda fte r advanc ing anothe r quarte r o f an hou r towardsthe north -east had i t set up close to a brook . HereI rema ined 0 11 September 2 8 th

,and purchased e igh t

l oads of gra i n to take wi th me over the Pungwe .

On th i s day I al so sen t e igh t men back to Macequeceto fe tch more r i ce

,goats

,and sheep . I made fri ends

w i th the people o f Kwa Mura because the place isi nd i spensabl e to my commissariat . For now thedeserted Pungwe S teppes l i e before us . Only Dombagera , a smal l place on the Pungwe ford i n thenorth , has a few i nhab i tan ts , but there is no foodsold there . I had to l eave some of my baggagebeh i nd me at Kwa Mura .

On Friday , September 2 9 th, at e leven i n th emorn ing

,we reached the beaut i ful Pungwe R ive r,

wh ich at Dombagera ,flows rap idly to the south -eas t

ove r enormous boulde rs ofd iori te . I n c ross i ng i t I wasnearly d rowned , as I had mysel f carr ied by a n iggerwhom the st ream bowled ove r , so that we both fe l l i n .

H e though t i t was necessary to hold me t igh t unde rthe water as wel l , so that i t wa s wi th d i ffi cu l ty Icould get loose and by swimming reach a rock thats tood out i n the m iddl e o f the s tream .

A short march up - r i ve r then took us,on the le ft

bank,to one o f the mos t beau t i ful camp ing-places

of my whol e Afr ican experience. I t was about1 96


fi fty fee t above the ri ve r,wh ich here rushes melo

d ious ly ove r rap ids , w iden ing out late r l ike a lake .

The charm ing scene is framed in l igh t green ,beh ind

wh ich rugged and nobly formed ranges of mounta insseve r themsel ves from the bl ue sky . Real ly th is partof the r ive r can match any German ri ve r scene on theNeckar o r even on the Rh i ne ! Liv ingstone oncesa id that the African feathered world d id not s ing

ANCI ENT M I N I NG ”WORKS IN PENHALONGA VALLEY, M AN ICALAND .

l ess beaut i fu l ly than that of Europe , bu t that poetshad sung about them less . I t i s exactl y the samew i th Afri can landscapes . When I lay down i n myten t i n the even i ng the Pungwe wh ispered and bubbledi ts s t range and sec re t melody

,always , always , to the

sea . The whol e pass ionate l i fe of the t rop ical n igh tmurmured w i th i t , c ri ckets , bi rds , and cats . L ike thepul sat i ng blood of old Mother Nature he rsel f i t ebbs

I97


and flows ! I t i s wonderful to l e t one ’s soul su rrende ru tte rl y to the great myste ry of the e te rnal oneness o fth i ngs amid such su rround i ngs . And for the restGrama n n and I are agreed that the P ungwe wouldnot be i n such a hu rry to go fo rward i f i t knew thati t mus t come to an end at Bei ra . L ike so many sem igen iuses i ts cou rse i s a flash i ng and dash i ng you th

,a

steady prime and a ph i l i st i ne end i ng i n the s tal e andthe musty .

Afte r th ree days I se t ou t w i th my exped i t i on for th eInja so nga . Some six mi les above i ts j unct ion wi thth e Pungwe

,and south -eas t of ou r camp

,towered the

rugged ou tl i nes o f the S erra da H umbe . The angl ebetween th e Pungwe and the Inja so nja i s ext raord i nari l y r i ch in wi ld an imal s ; bu ck , an telopes ,zebras

,buffalo

,and the rhi noceros as wel l

,j udging

by i ts t races,swarm there ; i n th e r i ver romp whol e

school s of h ippopotam i .I n the word P a n -

gwe I recogn i se one of the ph i l olog ical ev idences that th i s region once belonged to theCarthagi n ian domin ion s on the I nd ian Ocean spec ial l yi nd icated by D r . Glase r , and cal l ed by the Egypt iansPoen a t o r Punt .D iori te preponde rates i n the geologi cal forma

t ion of th i s v i c i n i ty wi th gra n itin e in te rs ect ions .

Towards the north—east,i n th e d i rec t ion of Goro ngo z a ,

slate agai n appears . After we had made a prettygeneral su rvey of th i s d i st r i c t we retu rn ed

,fi rs t

mysel f,then M r . Grama n n a fo rtn igh t late r

,to

Macequece and Umtal i .My conve rsat ions wi th M r . Sawyer made me con

s ide r i t adv isabl e for the presen t to concen t rate ou rspec ial explorat ion s afte r gold -mines in th i s ne ighbourhood on the actual Man ica d i s t ri c t round O l d

1 98

IN THE HEA RT OF MANICAL AND

Macequece . Sawye r i s regarded i n Sou th Afri ca asone of the most thorough and cau t ious m i n i ng expe rts ,and he had care ful l y s tud ied the Man i ca d i s t r ic t forseveral mon th s w i th h i s brothe r-in - law , Mr . Durel l .With his map , wh ich he was then mak ing , before

h im , he expla i ned the geol ogi cal format i on of thed i s t ri c t to us i n deta i l . Essen t ial l y i t cons i st s ofphyl l i t i c and tal c - slate

,as wel l a s of d ior i t i c d iabases ,

and toward s the east,fac i ng th e Revue Plai n , i t i s

bound by an immense gran i te cut t i ng . I t appearsthat th ree great go ld -bel t s run th rough the primaryslate , th e one i n the con t i nuat ion of the Penhalongaand Rezende m in es from the wes t fol lows the UpperRevue, and i s spec ial ly approached i n the GuyFawkes M i ne . Anothe r runs th rough the ChimeS I

and Injamka ra ra V al l ey,and so far ha s been most

thorough ly worked i n the B ragan za and R ichmondM i nes from th e Chimesi, and i n ou r own Mol tke M inefrom the In jamka ra ra . These two gold -bel ts l i e i nquart z reefs . I ndependen t of them i s the gold of theMud z a Val ley , wh ich seems to be the most plen t i fu lo f al l . Here , i n a format i on of tal c - slate , th e gold i sfound i n wel l—d efin ed sch i s t ree fs , and that , too , i next raord i nary quant i t i es . Here , so far, we haveobtai ned th e best resu l ts i n ou r Win dahgil M ine .

The format i on of the Mud z a Val ley i s s im i lar tothat o f the G reat Boulde r Group i n Aus tral ia .

Fol lowing up the general knowledge o f the d i s t ri c t,

a s Sawyer had p ieced i t togethe r , wh ich he had don emore thoroughly than anybody el se , from Novembe r,1 899 ,

onwards , I se t H e rr Grama n n to work on asystemat i c explorat ion of the coun t ry . I n Augus t

,

1 900 ,I sen t M r . Levan up to hel p h im . I mysel f

d id not i n te rfere wi th th i s d i st ri c t agai n t i l l january ,

200

IN THE HEA RT OF MANICA LAND

1 90 1 . The descr ipt ion of my fi rs t tour round thecoun t ry , wh ich was wri tten on the spot , wil l bes t se rveto i l l ust rate i ts gene ral character i s t i cs .I arr ived i n Macequece on january 7 th to take

over the d i rec t i on of the researches i n Man icaland .

Mr . Levan , a m i ne r of twen ty ‘ s ix years ’ expe r ience,

rece i ved me at the stat ion and led me to a roomwh i ch he had h i red fo r me i n the house of M r .Ka tsulis

, a loca l G reek .

M . Pa co tte , the assayer and i n spector of mines ofthe Mozambique Company , whose acquain tance Imade -

o n th e fol l ow ing morn ing , offered i n the mostcharming way to take a week

’

s l eave so as to showme the Man ica m in i ng d i s t r i c t h imsel f. I had al readygot to know the d ’

An d ra d e Val l ey w i th the GuyFawkes M ine under the gu idance of Mr . \Varreu i nSeptember , 1 899 . We there fo re resol ved

,above al l

,

to make a close r i nspec t ion o f the cen tre and northeas t of th e d i s t r i c t .At two o

’

c lock i n the afte rnoon of january 10 ,

1 90 1 , I wa s seated befo re the hotel i n Macequecewai t i ng for M . Pa co tte ,

who wa s going to do thet r ip on horseback

,wh i l e I had on ly been abl e to

obta i n a donkey . I t had been rai n i ng hard the las tfew days , but when we rode up the he igh ts thatseparate Macequece from i ts m ines at th ree o

’

clockthat afte rnoon the grey sky had ceased i ts downpour .I t i s remarkabl e that both New Umtal i as wel l asMacequece are bu i l t south of the gold bel t wh ich theyw ish to serve as ra i lway stat i on s . Macequece shouldbe bu i l t where d

’

An d ra d e l i es , wh i le Umtal i S tat ionbelongs to Old Umtal i .I resembled Sancho Panza rid ing beh ind Don

Qu i xote a s I fol lowed M . Pa co tte on my donkey .

20 1

IN THE HEA RT OF MANICALAND

I had al ready sen t M r . Levan on i n the morn ingwi th my ten t and pri vate' effec ts to th e Injamka ra raVal ley .

I t was a fine and cool afternoon,and charm ing was

the v i ew over the Revue Val l ey wi th the plan tat i onsof d

’

An d ra d e,when we had reached the edge of the

moun tai n and rode downh i l l . A wide roadway crossesthe m in i ng d is t r i c t i n seve ral d i rect i ons . The grassgrows ri ch and green on the broad moun ta in slopes ,and field and fores t are at th i s season of the yearr i chly j ewel led wi th flowers . Conversat ion soonslackens amid such beaut i ful su rround ings , and th esou l holds commune wi th i tsel f.Whil e Macequece on ly l i e s feet h igh , th eRevue

'

Val ley r ises to feet,th e su rround ing

.

escarpmen t,howeve r

,reaches a he igh t of fee t .

One passes M r . Dan ford ’s set t l emen t , where I s tayedi n 1 899 wi th M r . Sawye r . On one ’s r igh t the GuyFawkes M i ne i s l e ft beh i nd

,wh i ch

,under the manage

men t o f M r . Warren,has now been gi ven a fresh

start . Across the Revue“ r i ses the old Portuguese

fort o f O ld Macequece,and oppos i te l i es the young

Portuguese col ony where agri cul tu re,fru i t -growing ,

and s tock - ra i s i ng are pursued . Then our road wi ndsupwards to the northern escarpmen t of the val l ey .

Soon the Revue'

Val l ey,wi th i ts wh i te dwel l i ng -places ,

l i es below us l i ke a pleasan t d ream .

The road now borde rs giddy prec ip i ces , con t i n u i ngto ri se i n m ighty z igzags . Somet imes we r ideth rough tal l grass i n wh ich ou r moun ts d isappear,somet imes th rough th i ck forest . Heavy cloud or l igh tm is t c rown the sharp po i n ts of the mounta i ns . I t i sa genu i ne Alp i ne landscape th rough wh ich we move .

F rom t ime to t ime a l igh t shower descends upon us .202

IN THE HEART OF MAN ICALAND

seven o’

clock , i n the Injamka ra ra Val l ey , we cameacross a smal l se t tl emen t o f M r . Dan ford

’s . Here wewere fo rced to leave ou r moun ts

,who obst i natel y

re fused to c ross a l i t tl e bridge ove r the Injamka ra ra .

We had to off- saddle and house our cattl e i n one o fM r. Danford

’

s h u ts i n charge of one o f ou r servan ts .Then i t was uph i l l agai n i n the p i tch -black n igh t ,th rough fores t and over a rocky pathway to my campon the he igh ts . M . Pa co tte l ed , I fol lowed . Evento th i s day I am su rpri sed that ne i the r of us brokeh i s neck .

Mr . Levan and M r . Massi e had long ago gi ven u sup for the even i ng , when about hal f-pas t e ight myHal lo ! su rpri sed them . we were soon s i t t ing bylampl igh t round a frugal meal i n my “d in ner but

,

and not l ong afte rwards I wa s at res t i n my ten t ,be i ng l ul l ed to sl eep by the wh i sper i ng of the Injamkarara down bel ow i n the val l ey .

Next morn i ng at sun ri se I s tepped out of my ten t ,and del igh t se i zed upon me at the s igh t of th e landscape . Peters

’

Camp ” l ies on a h i l l i n th e m iddl eo f a c i rcula r fri nge of po in ted mounta i n -peaks , asthough se t i n some wide c rate r . Our camp i s

fee t h igh ; bu t the moun ta i n chai n around i tr i ses to feet

,and heavy clouds st i l l hung

abou t i t . On the green meadows wh ich s lope awayi n broad reaches at ou r fee t the ray s of the ri s i ng sunare al ready rest i ng . I n the west the Injamka ra rarushes from the mounta i n s wh i ch mark the front i e rsof Mashonaland

,breaking i n to a serie s of cataracts .

To the he igh t o f fee t i t i s ou rs , and then the recomes a d rop o f abou t feet , to the base of theh i l l on wh ich we are encamped . The whole of th enorth a n d no rth-eas t of ou r estate (some 1 20 acres), i s

2 04


covered wi th fores t , from wh ich we obtai n splend idt imbe r fo r ou r m i nes S traigh t oppos i te to us

,on the

o the r s ide of the Injamka ra ra , I d i scove r the camp o fthe Wel come M ine , and over the h i l l on wh ich i t l ies ,so M . Pa co tte te l l s me , i s the val ley o f the Chimesi,

i n wh ich the B raganza and Ri chmond M ine of M .

Ba rtisol i s be i ng worked . I t i s a heart -qu icken ingspec tacl e that l i es before me i n every d i rec t ion . The

ON THE M OLTKE M I NE .

morn ing i s fresh and cool l i ke a September morn ingi n Europe . What I see i s a genui ne Swiss Alpi nelandscape

,offer i ng nouri shmen t for thousands of sheep

and oxen .

The Injamka ra ra empt i es i tsel f towards the northi n to the H onde

,and th rough th i s i n to the Pungwe ;

the Chimes i, towards the south , i n to the Revue andBus i . At Be i ra they meet agai n . Throughou t th i s

2 05


d is t r i c t the format ion i s tal c-slate and d ior i te . Thevert i cal i s tal c , the hor i zon tal d io r i te , j us t a s i n theB raganza and Richmond M i ne . Between both , quartzree fs run from eas t to wes t I n the RevueVal l ey the ree fs l i e be tween phyl l i t i c and tal c—slate .

So far we have found twel ve paral l e l gold - reefs on oures tate , and examined i t to a depth of 1 80 feet. Theyal l con ta i n free gold that is worth the cos t o f w i nn in g .

The m a in ree f i s abou t 2 fee t broad on the surface .

At a depth of 2 5 fee t i t i s 6 fee t w ide , and the qual i tyimproves as yougo deepe r . As the cos t of work ingon ly amoun ts to 5 dwts . one can cal cu late the res t .But what d i s t i ngu i shes the es tate more than any th i ngelse i s the quant i ty o f old al lu v ial work i ngs that runalong both banks of the Injamka ra ra ,

and reach hereand there to a depth of 1 00 feet . The whole so i l h ere'

i s satu rated w i th gold . We pan here wi thou t ceas i ng ,

and no pan is qui te empty . As t imber,wate r, and

water-power,as wel l as fodder , are here i n pl en ty , the

work ing of the m i nes wi l l be comparat i vel y in

expens i ve,and the i r developmen t should be

rap id . I do no t th i nk that anothe r m in i ng-place i nMan i caland has mo re i n i ts favou r than ou rs , wh ichl i es fourteen m i l es

‘

from Macequece .

The whole of F r iday,accompan i ed by M . Pa cotte ,

I had the pleasure of l i s ten i ng to M r . Levan’

sexpos i t i on of these se ve ral advan tages of ourm ine , wh ich I cal l the “G raf Mol tke ” ; al so ofi n spec t i ng the tunnel s and othe r works wh ich hadbeen carr i ed ou t and wh i ch made the assessmen t o fthe estate poss ibl e . Towards even ing ra i n -cloudsgathered and th rew a cons ide rabl e mass of wate ron to us

,so that M . Pa co tte and I , who had planned

a v is i t to M . Pouhin ,th e sub -d i rec to r o f the B raganza

2 06


west , the Welcome i n the south , the Ge rmai ne i n thenorth .

Our road lay towards the eas t,M . Pa co tte r id i ng

proudly on his horse,I fol lowi ng upon my donkey .

At the Welcome M ine M r. Evere t t greeted us— hed i rec ts operat ions the re— and i n v i ted us to d i smoun t .Bu t we prom ised to v is i t h im the fol low i ng morn i ng

,

and , on good paths , crossed the moun ta i n r idge wh ichseparated us from the Chimes i. Soon the broadval ley opened to ou r l eft

,reach i ng far away towards

the eas t . Deep bel ow us lay the camp of a Portu

guese who was super i n tend i ng the maki ng of theroad . Before us and hal f—way to ou r l e ft we l ookeddown on the roofs of M . Pouhin

’

s s tat ion and on thehuts o f the B raganza and R ichmond M ines . Only ashort hour

’

s r ide separates our estate from th is goldm ine of M . Ba rtiso l.

We were warmly rece ived by M . Pouhin and h i scharm ing daughte r

,Mademoi se l l e Pouhin . An olde r

lady , fo rmerl y mademo isel l e’

s governess , is i n chargeof the household . The young lady had l i ved i n Pari sup to now

,and had accompan ied her father to South

Afri ca for the fi rs t t ime the summer of the prev iousyear .Afte r breakfas t we moun t our an imals to v i s i t theRi chmond and B ragan za M ines . The road led uph i l l th rough th i ck unde rgrowth . The works herehave been go i ng for more than th ree years , and the refore have arr i ved at defin i te resu l ts . A tunnel 300to 400 fee t l ong has been bored at a depth of about80 feet in to the ree f, and from above a shaft has beensunk i n to th i s tunnel

,and at the foo t of th i s shaft a

second tunnel has been bored i n to the quartz -ve inspo i n t i ng south

,by wh ich means a great quan t i ty of

j

2 0 8

IN THE HEART OF MANICA LAND

quartz i s brough t up to the su rface . The ore y ieldsmore than one ounce pe r ton , and ,

as wi th us,the

s tone improves furthe r down . They have begun tobore a second tunnel at a depth of 200 feet , bu t at th isdepth the reef is not ye t reached . The formati on

,as

I have sa id , i s exactl y the same as ours : the hori zontali s d io ri te , the ve rt i cal tal c -slate ; i n fact , the two estatesbel ong to the same gold -ve in .

The surround ings o f the Richmond M ine make an ice impress ion

,and when

,afte r ou r v i s i t to the tunnel

,

we stood above the shaft and le t ou r eyes roam overthe laugh ing lands cape , at once cool and sunny , al lth ree of us were conv inced that Man icaland has afuture . Then we rode to the B raganza M ine , wheremore work has been done than at the R ichmond .

Here the ore i s not so r i ch as i n the s i ste r m ine , butthe ree fs are th icke r . Here al so we were ve ry favou rably impressed . There can be no quest ion that i nconnect ion wi th the work i ng of the m ines a flourishi ng agri cul tural l i fe wi l l soon devel op i n the Chimes i

Val l ey . Towards sunse t we re tu rned to M . Pouhin’

s

house,before wh i ch I had meanwh i l e had my ten t pu t

up so as to have al l i n o rde r fo r the n igh t .At a quarte r pas t se ven a cheerful suppe r party , to

wh ich anothe r F renchman,M . Bernard , wa s i nv i ted ,

un i ted us al l . I n the year 1 89 5—96 M . Pouhin had

l ed an exped i t i on of the Mozamb ique Company , w i ththe obj ect o f attempt i ng to en te r Ma combe

’

s coun try .

He had,howeve r

,not been abl e to complete th i s plan ,

as h i s people feared to fol low h im . As I had carr iedout th i s ve ry exped i t i on las t summer , we had manycommon po ints o f i n te res t . M . Pouhin i s a gen tl emanof abou t s i x ty years , and he wa s the fi rs t to map ou tthe Be i ra-Ma cequege rai lway . He i s a great fr iend

2 09P


to th e Germans , and duri ng the even ing he toasted“ the al l i ance of the future

,the al l iance be tween

Germany and France .

Early next morn i ng M . Pa co tte and I re tu rned tomy camp .

We wished to v i s i t the old al l uv ial work i ngs wh ichrun along the banks o f the Injamka ra ra . Mr. Levanand M r . Mass i e acted as gu ides , and short l y we cameto a s tr ip o f coun t ry where we had to s tep out ve rycareful l y , for there was pit on p i t , often grown over byth ick brushwood . These p i ts are often 1 00 fee t deep

,

and some of them are connected by undergroundtunnel s . There are between two and th ree hundredof them on our es tate . Mr . Levan had several o fthem dug open and d iscove red qu i te profi tabl e goldi n them . The old m iners have nowhe re reached theactual bed - rock

,as i t l i es below wate r- l eve l . The

ch ie f gold -depos i ts are,the refore

,qu i te u n touched . I

o rdered ou r dredgi ng—mach i ne the re from the Zambes i,

i n o rder to conduc t th ese works i n a rat i onal manner .I not i ced that close to al l Old min i ng-bu i ld i ngs i n

these d is tr i c ts there are l i t tl e c l umps of Mahoba-Hobat rees wh i ch bear a ve ry del i c i ous fig-l i ke fru i t . TheMahoba-Hoba t ree i s almos t a s ign -pos t to old m ines .I suspec t that i t represen ted the fru i t t ree of th e oldconquerors . I do not even now know where i tsactual home i s

,bu t I th i nk that from i t one may

arr i ve at th e home of the old m i ne rs themsel ves .The Mahoba-Hoba plan tat i ons were apparen tly thegardens of the old m i ners . We have a whol e fo res to f them on our es tate .

On Sunday afte rnoon we set abou t the explo rat ionof th e west s ide of ou r estate , and late r on col l ec ted anumber of sampl es of ore that , when crushed , were

2 1 0


pleasan tly cool,broke ove r Man i ca when

,on january

1 5 th , we se t ou t from Pouhin ’

s house . The whol ecoun try i s cove red wi th fresh

,j u i cy green , and a

golden glow rests on the slopes and moun tai n s andover the wide Chimes i V al l ey . Here and there th egrass coun t ry i s i n te rrupted by woodland

,t i l l a t las t ,

th ree m i l e s east,we en te r a regu lar fo res t . The

bridges wh ich we have to cross are rathe r shakys tructu res , wi th hol es and gaps i n the i r woodwork ,and we d ismoun t con t i n ual ly , as rid i ng ove r them i sdange rous for man and beas t . On every slope onesees the l i t t l e wh i te flag and s ignal posts of regi s te redm in i ng estates . The whole val l ey has

,to a ll i n ten ts

and pu rposes , been appropri ated . Thus we move th ewhol e morn i ng eastwards . Before us th e two peakso f a gran i te mountai n show us the goal of ou r j ou rn ey .

About n i ne o ’clock we c ross the l i t t l e brook,Doro ro

,

and now the road goes uph i l l over green fieldstowards th e eas te rn escarpmen t of the Man ica h ighlands . We moun t to about feet , and thensuddenl y we see the Mud z a Val l ey at our fee t . Tothe righ t l i e the houses of a Portuguese sett l emen t ,where th e al l uv i um of the Mud z a i s worked . M .

Pa co tte te l l s me that th e"

l as t y i e ld was 6 lbs . of puregold . We cross the Mud z a , rush ing on to i ts j unct i onw i th the Chimes i, and reach M r . Bul l

’s abou t eleveno ’clock , whose property , th e Win dahgil M ine , we

wished to i nspect .I n Macequece al ready I had heard a great deal

abou t th i s es tate,whose y i el d was sa id to reach 30

o z s . and more . The format ion i s tal c -s late,and the

gold i s obta ined stra igh t from . the s late . The gold ,however

,i s confined to cl early marked reefs and i s

obta ined by means of a shaft 90 fee t deep , as wel l a s2 1 2

IN THE HEART OF M AN I CALAND

through a tunne l and su rface -work i ngs . The o ffic ialanalyses show an even resul t th roughou t of 1 oz .

7 dwts . to 4 oz . 1 1 dwts . We saw ,bes ides , a good

deal of gold late r on i n coarse part i cl es,d iscove ri ng i t

by wash ing the s late and even i n the bare rubble .

With M r . Bul l’

s pe rm iss ion I s en t M r . Levan to th isproperty to exam ine more closely i n to a matte r i nwh i ch I had a l i vely i n teres t .Afte r Mr . Bul l had showed me over h i s whole

es tate we enj oyed a fine roas t of an telope,and at 2 . 45

rode back to the Chimesi Val l ey . The afte rnoon wa swarmer than the morn i ng, but no t exactly Oppress ive .

To the sou th -west a s torm wa s i n the sky, whoseth under we heard con t i nual l y . Abou t s i x o

’

clock wewere back at M . Pouhin ’

s .

Nex t morn i ng I rode back to ou r stat ion . I n theafternoon M . Pa co tte came to fetch quartz samplesfrom our reefs . Towards even ing , however , here turned to M . Pouhin and wished to get back toMacequece the n ex t day .

During the fol l owing days our s tat ion con t i nual l ywashed and crushed quartz , wi th eve r favou rabl eresu l ts . At the same t ime the bori ng of the lowertunnel was con t i nued . On Friday , january 1 8 th, I hadconcluded my prel im i nary exam inat ion here and Idete rm ined to ride away nex t morn ing wi th my twom iners to the Chua Val ley

,whe re there wa s open

ground to prospec t i n . We took ou r l unch w i th us .

I n the afte rn oon I wished to re tu rn to Macequece wi thM r . Levan . We had a ve ry i n te res t i ng l ook roundove r the northe rn Chua Val l ey , and I gave M r . Mass iei nst ruc t ions to fol low up the resu l ts of our observat ionswi th furthe r prospec t i ng . The Chua i s some five to

six mi l es from ou r camp . I then wen t to Macequece2 1 3

IN THE HEART OF M AN ICALAND

th rough the d’

An d ra d e Val l ey and pas t O ld Macequece .

Abou t five o’

clock,somewhat fat igued , we were back

aga in i n Macequece,where l l egal l y es tabl i shed some

of the resu l ts of my tou r of observat ion— as , fori n s tance , the regi st rat i on o f th e las t ten cla ims .My ride th rough Man icaland had no t onl y made me

acquain ted w i th a fine piece of country,where rock

and fores t al te rnated,and wate r runs from every

he igh t , but had al so proved to me that we have he rea m in i ng region of the fi rs t o rde r . A compari son w i ththe Rand M ines proves that th i s gold d ist ri c t i ssupe rio r as regards qual i ty

,and I th i nk that w i th

regard to the qual i ty of ou r own quartz i n wh i ch thegold i s d i s t r ibu ted finely and qu i te even l y

,th e con t i nu i ty

downwards wi l l al so show i tse l f to be thorough lyrel iabl e .

The cl imate vari es cons iderably accord ing to theseason of the year , bu t at a he igh t of fee t I havenever found i t oppress i ve even i n the hot mon th of

january . I n june and july the n igh ts grow sens i bl ycold , and the days remai n cool th roughou t . Feverat tacks

,i t i s t rue

,occu r here but th i s is rathe r to be

ascri bed to the abnormal cond i t ions o f the l i fe of thep ioneers than to the general c l imat i c i nfluences .Actual ly u nheal thy the coun t ry on ly seems to be

immed iate ly afte r the great ra i ny season , wh i chreaches its l im i ts dur i ng February and March . Thenal l the cond i t ion s become abnormal . At the samet ime

,i t i s c l ear that heal thy s tone dwel l i ng-places

would great l y help to al l ev iate the d iscomforts causedby these annual d i s turbances . So that the reader canform a pic ture of Man icaland at th i s t ime of the year ,I append a descr ip t ion of the ra i ny season , wh ich Iwro te dur i ng March , 1 90 1 , i n the Mud z a Val ley .

2 1 4

S UNSH INE AND STORM

comfortabl e uneven tful n ess o f an ted i l uv ian t imes , thati s to say, of an te - ra i l road t imes . No mai l comesth ro ugh , no goods are sen t on . The passengers haveto wa i t 111 Be i ra for bet te r t imes . The stores i nMacequece become denuded of eatabl es ; r i ce for the‘boys become scarce and dear i n the camps we haveto be care ful so as not to ge t i n to a fam ine . Las t yearthe ra in s real ly brough t the wh i tes round Ma cequegeto the verge of s tarvat ion

,because al l t raffi c was cu t

off fo r weeks .As i s wel l known , th e t rop i cal rai ns fol low afte r

the sun has reached i ts h ighes t po i n t . The cold , heavyai r then fo rces i ts way i n to the zone o f the layer o fa i r l oosened by the zen i thal sun

,and condenses the

mo i s tu re of i t to ra i n -s torms . I f the sun moves fromsouth to north

,as at presen t

,the ra i ns w i l l come from

the sou th . Th is las ts unt i l we reach the cold a i r bel tsar i s i ng ou t o f the south

,and should

,acco rd i ng to rul e

,

come to an end he re abou t the m iddle of March .

This year the sun seems to have operated mores t rongly

,and even at the en d of March we s t i l l find

oursel ves i n a zone of extreme heat and , th erefo re , ofdownpours of ra i n .

This has a h ighlyunfavourable e ffect on the heal thof th e Europeans . Fever flou ri shes . The campsbecome empty . Oppos i te my own one there i s aPortuguese stat ion where the m in i ng engin ee rs usual lyl ive . To -day a black care taker i s sol e occupan t . Myown compan ion

,Mr . Levan , I had yeste rday to send

to Ma cequege because his l i ver began to swel l up , andnow I am here alone . I n these weeks Macequecechurchyard rece i ves what is essen t ial ly its annualincrease .

And even now th is landscape i s s t i l l a s l ovely a s a2 1 6

SUNSHINE AND STOR M

d ream . I l ook ou t of my ten t ove r the broad RevueChimesi Pla i n and north -eas t to the Pungwe . Thebackground of the landscape i s framed on cl ear eveni ngs by the Serra da H umbe ma ssive. To the righ tr i se the peaks of southe rn Macombe - land . Thethermomete r now seldom reaches 700 Fah r . i n th eshade ; the even i ngs and morn i ngs are cool . I , whosomehow seem to be en t i re l y proof agai ns t fever , askmyse l f how i t comes about that eve rybody i n th isspl end id a i r i s ly i ng i l l ? I cannot unders tand i t

,j us t

as l i t t l e a s I can unders tand why people get sea - s i ck .

At th i s t ime t ravel l i ng i n Man icaland is ratherpecul iar . The format ion i s prac t i cal l y al l ta lc ~ sla te ,

s l ippe ry as frozen snow i n th e ra i n , and s tony fromone end to the other . At the same t ime the grass i sas tal l as a man . The roads

,wh i ch wi nd ove r

mountai n sl opes and ove r s teep decl i v i t i es,are qu i te

grown over . I n parts the coun t ry is s t rewn wi th theholes made by old al l uv ial works . When one hasp ic tu red al l th i s

,and adds the expec tat ion of a down

pour heavy as a thunders torm , one wi l l be abl e tounders tand the charms o f i n te rcou rse i n th i s land atthe p resen t t ime .

I had a del ight ful sample of these cond i t ionson Monday , March 1 1 th. I had spen t two days atd

’

An d ra d e wi th M r . Danford , the Surveyor Gene ral ,wi th whom I had worked up the map of ou r gold -mine ,th e ‘Coun t Mol tke .

’ On Monday morn ing at teno

’

clock I qu i t ted h i s hospi tabl e roof to ride on donkeyback to the Mud z a Val ley , wh ich shou ld be fi fteenm i les d i s tan t . ‘You can ’t m iss th e way

,

’ they sa id ;and so off I s tarted i n to the moun ta i ns .I on l y had my servant

,Fri tz

,wi th me and a boy

who carr i ed my rifle . I m issed the way righ t at the2 1 8

SUNSH INE AND STOR M

o’

clock i n the pouri ng rai n we reach a Man ica v i l lageo f five hu ts .I t i s no t part i cularl y comfortabl e to sl eep i n a

nat i ve hut,on the bed of a black man . But on

March 1 1 th, I wa s very tha nkful to be the re , i n sp i teo f d i r t and mosqu i toes

,and al though there wa s no

supper , I could at l eas t th row off al l my wet clo thes ,wrap mysel f i n my waterproof and s tre tch mysel f onthe K ita n a’a of the old ch ie f. I n th e n igh t I couldmake s tud ies of the l i fe o f the Man i ca nat i ves . I d idno t reach my camp t i l l Tuesday towards noon .

‘Youcan

’

t m iss the way Certa i n ly !The ra iny season i s hard ly more of a h i nd rance to

the work ing of the m ines than ou r European wi n te rwould be . Of cou rse

,prospect i ng is at t imes qu i te

imposs ible , and tunnel s and shafts are i n danger ofcav ing i n . The B ragan za and Richmond M inesu ffe red by such an acciden t

,wh i ch i s sa id to have

cos t seve ral l i ves . At Coun t Mol tke ’ we have beenvery fortu nate . We

’

are n ow work i ng seven tunnel sthe re , one of wh i ch i s 1 50 fee t deep , and have noacc iden t o f any descrip t ion to report . The day beforeyes te rday I v i s i ted a shaft and s ide—tun ne l o f theWin dahgil here i n the Mud z a Val ley , 6 5 fee t deep .

The water came th rough from above , fi l l i ng the tunnelfrom one end to the o the r

,and I must frankly say that

I was glad when I was above ground once more .

My ten t , i n wh ich I wri te , has a damp floor. Nowand agai n th e wate r ove rflows from the d i tch wh i ch Ihave had dug round i t

,and at n igh t I h ear a smal l

r i ve r roari ng bes ide my bed . I f th e su n sh i nes , thefloo r becomes as smooth a s a skat i ng- r i nk . I t makesone melancholy to be ra i ned on thus , and to haveto s it s t i l l fo r days . My dog

, who i s more pat i en t2 2 0

SUNSH INE AND STORM

than I am , l i e s qu ie tl y sl eep ing for hou rs i n h i s box,as

though everyth ing was no bus i ness o f h i s . Luckybe ing ! Unfortu nate ly , th e North -Eu ropean i s ln

capabl e of such res ignat ion to the unal terabl e,and

the commonplace consolat ion that sunsh i ne fol lowsafte r rai n has no effec t afte r one has spen t daysunder the monotonous beat o f th i s downpou r . Onecan get too much of a good th i ng , and I am j ust abouts ick of the h i ss i ng , o r the d rip ,

drip,d r ip of the ra iny

season . I begin to understand how Noah must havefel t when the dove brough t h im the wel l -known ol i vel eaf on Moun t Arara t .

Man icaland is ful l of rel i cs of the anc i en t Sem i t i ce ra . I have al ready ment i oned the quant i t i es o f oldm in ing works . These , of course , go down to modernt imes . The nat i ve washed ri ve r-gold t i l l ou r ownt ime . When the Po rtuguese conqu i s tador Homem

,

the fi rs t Eu ropean , en tered Man icaland i n 1 5 70 ,he

and h i s compan ions we re d i sappo i n ted when they saw

the nat i ves wash a few gra i ns of gold out of a bucketo f r i ve r-mud . They had dreamt of I nca t reasu res

,bu t

fo rgot that al so the gold of the Peruv ian Ch i ld ren ofthe Sun “was obta ined a grai n at a t ime . \/Ve newcomers are not frigh tened by th i s method o f goi ng towork . When we cal l to m ind that the modern m ine rson the Rand fe tch up hard ore from more than athousand fee t

,out of the bowels o f the earth , wh ich

ore mostl y y ie lds no more than 6 to 8 dwts . , or noteven hal f an ounce ; when we cons ider that the com

pa n ies that undertake th i s work s t i l l manage to showlarge profi ts , we shal l be be tte r able to apprec iate ther i ches of Man icaland .

I f the old works go down to mode rn t imes they s t i l l2 2 1

SUNSH INE AND STORM

go back i n parts to t imes preh i stor i c . To the east ofou r Coun t Moltke M ine we found old undergroundbu i ld i ngs j us t l i ke those i n I nyanga . Throughou tMan icaland one finds anc i en t Phoen i c ian gravestones .The re l igious v i ews of the Man icas are those of th eMa ka la nga s . From the Zambes i down to th i s regionof the Upper Pungwe we find one and the samec i v i l i sat i on . And th is rea ches

,as I d i scovered late r

,

unbroken,down to the Sab i and the Lund i .

I n fact,I bel i eve that everywhere where one finds

the negro wash ing gold to -day , one may conclude thath i s fi rs t impul se to do so wa s der i ved from othe r races .

PHCENICIAN GRAVESTONE IN M AN ICALAND .

The negro h imsel f i s much too indol en t and lazy toobta i n any metal gra i n by grai n th rough labou r

,when

the re i s no t the prospec t of rece i v i ng someth i ng for h i sbel ly i n exchange . I t would n eve r occu r to h im towash o r d ig for gold , not even to sat i s fy h i s own des i refor ornamen ts

,i f s t rangers had not come who had

offered h im someth i ng to eat and d ri nk fo r i t . Ifind i t al togethe r superfluou s to fol low here everydeta i l o f th e h i s to ri cal p robl em that faces us wi thexac t ev idences as to wh ich per iod the gold -minesbel ong ; because the mere fact of gold -mines ex i st ingon the I nd ian Ocean po i n ts to the i nfluence of the

2 2 2

SUNSH INE AND STORM

two gold - seek i ng nat i ons of the remotes t t imes , toEgypt ian o r A rab i c i n fluences . For i nstance , th eshafts and tunnel l i ngs of the old works on theInjamka ra ra can under no c i rcumstances be ascr i bedto the negroes . One mus t on ly see the avers ion wi thwh i ch the Man icas descend i n to such pi ts to be conv in ced that the i r race had never made these worksexcept under the gu idance of s t rangers .I w i l l late r on t reat of the quest ion as to who these

old m iners m igh t have been . H ere we are i n teres tedi n the fact that i n Man i caland they actual l y cameacross an E ldorado of the fi rs t o rde r . Al l the r i versbear gold

,and th i s gold comes from the gold ve i ns i n

th e surround ing mounta i ns . The quartz of th e coun t ryi s soft and i ncl i ned to decompose . Softe r s t i l l a re thetal c—s lates i n th e Mud z a Val l ey . The changes fromhot to cold are great i n th i s moun tai n—region , wh ichl eads to the qu i cke r decompos i t i on of the rock ; andon th i s ratt l es e very year the ra i n wh i ch the sou thmonsoon p ours down on the edge of th i s plateau . I ti s no wonder that the gold of the brooks and r i ve rsi s con t i n ual l y renewed . There can

,the re fore

,be no

ques t ion Of th e exhaus t ion o f the al l uv ial depos i ts .The presen t narrat i ve is not i n tended to be a detai l ed

accoun t of the gold -mmes wh i ch we ourse lves obta inedhere . But i t may be men t ioned

,as represen tat ive of

the whole o f th i s te rri to ry , that the Coun t Mol tkeM ine i n the Injamka ra ra Val l ey , and s t ill more theVVin dahgil M ine i n the Mud z a Val l ey , have , afte r careful techn i cal tes ts

,both shown themsel ves to be m ines

that are wel l worth work i ng . The VVin dahgil M ine ,espec ial l y as regards the ri chness of i ts o re

,i s second

to none i n the whole world . The Guy Fawkes , theB raganza and Richmond M ines agai n are al so worthy

2 24

SUNSH I NE AND STOR M

represen tat i ves of the Man ica gold-field s , and can holdthe i r own agai ns t any on earth . \Vha t the countryrequ i res is a greater expend i tu re of capi tal than hash i therto preva i l ed , and for th i s i t w i l l doubtless nothave long to wai t .The cen tre of th i s i n teres t ing coun try i s

,as al ready

men t ion ed , Ma cequege ,200 mi l es from Be i ra , 2 3 m i l es

from Umtal i , on the Be i ra -Mashonaland ra i lway . Theplace ha s a European populat ion of about seven ty

,

and i s very n icel y , even charm ingly , s i tuated at thefoot o f Moun t VVumba . The roads are w ide and

OUR STATI ON AT THE W INDAHGIL .

s t ra igh t ; they l ead to th e Governmen t bu i ld ing ofthe Mozamb ique Company

,to the right of wh ich , i n

the m iddl e of fine gardens,l ie the offices of the

Board of M i nes,whose head

,at presen t , is Capta in

d’

An d ra de .

Macequece,apart from the Portuguese offic ial s , is

i n al l essen t ial s a m in i ng camp,and one i s often

rem inded of B re t H arte ’s s tori es when one movesamong its populat ion . K rige

’

s Hotel , oppos i te thera i lway s tat ion

,i s the ch ie f rendezvous , espec ial ly on

Satu rdays,when the bar i s fi l l ed wi th the prospec to rs

and m iners of the d i s t ri c t . “Absol ute ly No Cred i t ,2 2 5 Q

SUNSH INE AND STORM

or “No C red i t To -day,To -morrow the Same , i s

wri t te n up on al l the wal l s,and yet I suspec t that

many of the guests i n sh i rt-sl eeves could not ra i sethe i r “dr i nks ” except on cred i t . I nd i rec tl y , th eprospec to r depends on th e great money markets .\V hen no cap i tal i s d i sengaged he i s unable to real i seh is d i scove ri es , and i s there fore wi thout money . Th iss tate of affai rs has been th e prevai l i ng one

,I am sorry

to say , i n Macequece these las t few years .But i n coun tr i es such as these hosp i tal i ty is greater

than i n hard -hearted Eu rope,and i n the Macequece

d i s t r i c t there i s a s t rong feel i ng of comradesh ip . Noone who i nv i tes h imsel f to a meal or to a “d ri nk ”

is

t u rned away . Often when I looked on at th i s companyI wa s rem inded of the B ibl i cal remark :

“They sow

not,nei ther do they reap

,and yet your H eavenly

Fathe r feedeth them .

” B ut al l c r i t i c i sm i s s i len twhen one unde rs tands the fee l i ng o f comradesh ipwh ich an imates th is body of men .

The cen tre of the cosmopol i tan soc i e ty of Man icaland i s the hosp i tabl e Mr. George Dan ford , who

always keeps open house at his home on the Reo n e ,

the so - cal l ed “P i rate ’s Ret reat , i n wh i ch I mysel fwa s a frequen t gues t . A typi cal Macequece figure i sM r . C . G . B rown , who has conducted mi n i ng andother en terpri ses there for years . I n such sett lemen tsthe ari s tocracy i s reckoned by the number of yearsthat each i nd iv idual has spen t there . The se ttl e r offive years’ s tand i ng th i nks h imsel f a good cu t abovethe th ree- year-old , and so on .

Al l i n al l,Macequece and i ts ne ighbou rhood are

i nhab i ted by an easy—go i ng and ye t i ndustr iouspopulat i on .

“S aue re VVochen ,frohe F es te ”

I i s the1 “Sour weeks make happy ho l idays .

2 2 6

CHAPTER IX

BY OX-\VAGGON ON T I IE SAB I

ROM the begi nn i ng of my South Afri canen terpri se I had dec ided to extend my explo

rat ions a t l eas t as far as th e Sab i R iv e r . The merename of th i s r i ve r sugges ts th e H ebrew epoch ofSouth Afr i can h i story . Here we actual ly come to theh i n te rland of the anc i en t port o f Sofala , wh ich haslong been regarded as the ch i e f harbour of the Oph i rregion . From the Sab i and Lund i Ri ve rs beckons

'

the chai n of ru ins fi rs t explored by Bent , whose mos tbri l l ian t exampl e i s found to the eas t i n the so -cal ledZ imbabwe

,near V ic toria .

I had al ready sen t H err Grama n n i n to the Sabiregion i n the summer of 1 900 , and there he had lookedfor ev idences i n confi rmat i on of a rumour relat i ng toanc i en t copper-mines . He al so found such anc i en twork i ngs eas twards of the Upper Sabi , not far fromMoun t Sel i nde . Bu t he could only s tay the re fo r afew days

,and was unable to explo i t his d iscove ry

e i the r geological ly o r archaeological l y .

As soon as I had brought my explorat ions i nMan icaland to a defin i te end , abou t the las t days ofMarch , 1 900 ,

I mysel f wen t fu rthe r, so as to get apersonal i n s igh t i n to th i s Sab i region .

On Apr i l 3 , 1 900 ,I arr i ved at Umtal i i n order to

2 2 8

BY OX -VVAGGON ON THE SAB I

prepare for my Sab i exped i t i on . I n Macequece Ihad run up agai ns t H e rr Blocker , who had j us t comefrom ou r s tat ions on the Zambes i . I n Umtal i lengaged M r . De Closs , a Canad ian who had had

HERR BLOCKER.

four years ’ experi ence i n Copper-min ing i n Ar i zona

I reso l ved to do the exped i t ion w i th an ox ~waggo n ,

as at the presen t season no food i s to be bought fora biggi sh carr i er caravan i n the Melse tter d ist ri ct

2 29


through wh i ch one has to t ravel . I therefore arrangedwi th a man i n Umtal i fo r a team of e igh t oxen , aswe had not even a l oad of two tons . Easte r weeki n terfe red wi th ou r work of equ ipment , but onMonday , Apri l t o th,

al l was ready,so that at 3 p m .

I could send off B locke r and De Closs w i th theo x-waggon . I mysel f fol lowed abou t fou r o’c lock ona donkey . For al l that

,about hal f a m i l e beyond

Umtal i , on th e Mel set te r road at a h i l l beh ind th era i lway embankment

,I ove rtook my waggon , wh ich

had s tu ck fas t . The team could not even draw ou rsmal l load . Noth i ng was l eft for me bu t to have acamp p i tched and to r ide back to Umtal i to makeothe r arrangemen ts .Luck i l y the nex t day some Moun t Sel i nde Boers

a rr i ved i n Umtal i from th e Penhalonga Val l ey w i thth ree ox-waggons . With one of them

,Bekker by

name,I came to an agreemen t for a team of s i xteen

t rek -oxen,and wi th the help of Messrs . Ph i l ipp i Co .

I was agai n ready to march on Apri l 1 2 th .

The fol low i ng reco rds of my journey as far a s th eUpper Sab i are from my diary

,wri t ten on the spot

1 3 Apr il — Rise at and cal l my servan tH amad i ; bathe , shave , and pack my portmanteau .

Unfortunatel y the Boers have not come yet wi th the i rwaggon . B uy 1 2 l bs . beef, s ix l oaves of b read , and asack of vegetables wh ich I sen t i n to camp to B locke ron the Mel set te r road . The ox-waggon does notappear t i l l seven o ’cl ock , and I pu t my portmanteaui ns ide i t . I breakfas t i n the Cec i l H otel , and abou tn ine o ’clock r ide at a qu i ck can ter to our camp , wh i chi n the meant ime has been broken up . I fol low thewaggon t ra i l

,and catch s igh t o f th e team at abou t

ten o ’clock . The whol e morn i ng the sky i s c loudy ;2 30

BY OX -VVAGGON ON THE SARI

boulders of gran i te from the mounta i ns appear i nthe val l ey . The road wi nds fo r m i les th rough greenbush . \Ve c ross brook after b rook whose cl ear ,danc i ng wate rs l eap j oyful ly towards the val l ey . At

I ove rtake B locke r,who has seen no gu i nea

fowl , and soon afte r we c ross the spru i t descr i bed tous by the Boers , where we dec ide to camp .

The waggon does not arri ve t i l l and I havethe ten ts pu t up i n the middl e of the road .

An autumnal a i r se t tl es over th e coun t ry . The suns i nks before s i x o ’clock

,and th e even ing grows cool .

Whil e I wri te th e camp -fires glow at d i ffe ren t po in tsround my ten t , and the cook prepares beefs teaks forour suppenWe camp fourteen mi les sou th -wes t of Umtal i .I4 Apr il — Yesterday even ing i t began to rai n hard ,

and I gave my n ine “boys ” my upper ten t- roof forshel te r . The ra i n splashes down t i l l l ate i n to then igh t , and keeps the oxen , th e donkeys , my dogBoxer and mysel f awake for a long t ime .

While I l i e thus I sudden ly hear B locker’

s vo icecal l i ng for h i s boy . When I ask what is the matte r,he answers that h i s t en t has j ust fal l en over . I gi veh im hosp i tal i ty for th e n igh t i n m ine .

I n the morn ing a l igh t ra i n i s s t i l l fal l i ng . I set outi n advance w i th B lo' cke r at seven o ’c lock towards adese rted s to re sa id to l ie th ree m i le s to the sou th . Thea i r has cool ed

,a th i n melancholy fog hangs over the

fores t th rough wh i ch the sandy roadway leads . I t i sj ust l i ke a September day at home i n a beech -wood onbad so i l . When we reach th e s tore th e ra i n fal l s moreheav i l y

,and I resol ve to l unch here and wai t fo r bette r

weathe r . The sky real l y clears towards m idday , andthe mountai n ranges show up sharply . The forma t ion

2 32

BY OX-IVAGGON ON THE SAB I

th roughout seems to be gran i te . Romant i c bouldersand d i so rde red a

’e’

or is are seen on both s ides . I n theafternoon we go another ten m i les . \Vhen at 0 wecome round an impos i ng gran i te kopje

,a laughing

val l ey opens before us , framed in a whol e sea of

l I‘

IVE M I LES SPRUI’I‘ (W I TWATER).

moun ta i n s . The landscape reminds one very muchof I nyanga

,approached from the Nha n i s ide . The

wood becomes more open and park - l ike , and the h ighgrass

,tw i ce the he igh t o f a man

,sways and bends in

the wi nd . One almos t fanc i es that shapes and facesare beckon i ng from i t . A verse , remembered from

2 33

BY OX -V VAGGON ON THE SARI

ch i ldhood , comes back to me . Rough ly tran slated i treads '

Don ’

t p ick the flowers,An d shun the corn ;Mo ther Ba rley lowers,Mo ther Ba rley

’

s there ;Now she bobs up ,Now she bobs down ,Children bewa reShe will ca tch them a ll

,

Who pluck a t the flowers .

Sunday afternoon i s ideal l y beaut i fu l . Ligh t cloudsare scat te red over the bl ue firmamen t. The sun shedsa soft l igh t and m i ld au tumnal warmth . By wehave p i tched ou r camp on cl ean sand at the edge of awood , where I am wri t i ng.

We are a l i t t l e more than fee t above sea - l evel .I 5 Apr il — Overn igh t i t ra i ned again , bu t the morn

i ng i s fine . At I go on alone ahead of th ewaggon . The landscape i s un changed ; i t i s exactlyas though we were march ing th rough a North Germanforest . At n i ne o ’clock I hear the murmur of the r ive rMpusi, wh ich I c ross . I t i s a cl ear s tream , remi nd ingme , wi th i ts frame of rol l i ng h i l l s , a l i t t l e o f the UpperTana . We lunch On its l e ft bank .

At 1 we go on . Th is t ime I l e t the waggon wi ththe other men go ahead

,so as to i ndulge i n my weak

ness fo r sol i tude . Soon,howeve r

,I overtake the

waggon on my donkey and resume the lead . Trave ll i ng wi th ox-waggons i s s low work (abou t twel ve m i lesa day), but i t i s by far the most comfortable of theAfr i can methods o f travel that I know

,su ch as carri e rs ,

donkeys,or camels .

One has n o t roubl e at al l w i th the baggage , and canstop o r go on as one pl eases . The oxen , al so , requ i re

2 34


no atten t ion on arr i val . The lead i ng ox,wi th h i s bel l

round h i s neck , te l l s where they are to be found .

They are s imply dr i ven i n to a meadow and le ft tothemsel ves . Only at n ight

,i f l ion s are close at hand ,

they are somet imes t ied up . Our team i s so wel lt ra ined that eve ry beas t knows i ts place i n the teamand takes i t of i ts own accord . The waggon i s coveredi n beh i nd and affords protect i on agai ns t rai n . Thebaggage i s pro tec ted by a wate rt igh t sa i l clo th . Ove rand above th i s th e two T ransvaal Boers know the i rwork to a T .

A l igh t d r i zz l i ng mist , that. somet imes turns to realra i n , fol lows us the whole afte rnoon . The count ryundergoes no change ; th e road descends con t i nual l yth rough sandy woodland . One sees noth i ng of th emoun tai ns i n th i s fores t . At two o ’clock th e woodsudden ly opens , and we pass th rough fields o f mai ze .

Before us towers the mountai n range that we saw

yeste rday rugged and wonderful groups are out l i n edhere , rem ind i ng one a l i t t l e o f the D rachen fel s , of th eLorel ey . In abou t twel ve m inutes we reach theNymbaya Ri ver , wh i ch flows swi ft l y pas t the mountai ns ove r a rocky bed

,someth ing l ike the Neckar at

Tubi ngen . On theoppos i te bank I find a fine campi ng-place , where I wai t fo r the ox-waggon and haveou r ten ts p i tched . The even ing grows i n to a d i smalNovember ra i n - landscape .

Al l th e r i vers wh ich we pass flow th rough theOd s i i n to the Sabi . We have descended now to

fee t .1 6 Apr il (my mother

’s b i rthday).— A Splend idmorn i ng march . To the le ft an impos i ng moun ta inrange w i th m igh ty gran i te peaks

,to the r igh t the v i ew

ove r a wide plai n s t rewn wi th p ic tu resque gran i te2 36

BY OX-VVAGGON ON THE SARI

kopj es . With th i s , dewdrops on every l eaf, everyflowe r, and every blade o f grass , i n wh ich the sunconj ures forth a m i l l ion l i t tl e ra inbows . At Ic ross a murmuring brook

,and wai t for the waggon

wh ich arr i ves at el even o ’clock . At two o’clock wego on ; the scene , apart from the mounta ins , wh ichhave grown more magn ificen t , does not change ; realfores t t raversed by a forest -path . But the format ionbegins to change . We gradual ly l eave the gran i te forpr imary slate

,and from onwards we move th rough

noth i ng el se . About fou r o ’clock I hear the roar ingof the -Umbvumbvumvu, the larges t t r ibutary of theOdz i -Sab i . I n c ross ing i t , De Closs i s al l but sweptaway i n a waterfal l w i th my one donkey . At the las tmomen t I cal l to h im to moun t , wh ich rescues DeCloss and donkey— a t l eas t from broken bones . TheUmbvumbvumvuwinds th rough a long cross -val l eywh ich remin ds one forc ibl y of the I l feld Val l ey i n theHarz Moun ta i n s . We h ave to cross the r i ve r th reet imes —we have done so twice th i s afte rnoon and I

honest ly admi re th e sk i l l of our Boers . For twelvemonths no waggon has crossed the foam ing d r i ftsw i thou t a doubl e team . Now we are camped hardove r the roari ng waters

.and find i t d i fficul t to make

ou r voi ces heard even at a Short d i stance .

The march towards the south becomes grander wi thevery day ; and to -day we have al ready come to thereal gold formation

,wh i ch wi l l , no doubt , accompany

us to the romant i c Sab i R iver (the ri ver of theSabaeans). On th i s sunny day I have had memor iesof many of my dead mothe r

’

s b i rthdays , and I tha nkthe P rov idence that grac iously l ed my footsteps towardssuch wonderfu l impress ions as th i s day , as wel l as on

many othe rs have been my lot .2 37

BY OX-WAGGON ON THE SABI

We are n ow fifty- two mi les d is tan t from Umtal i,and

a re campi ng hal f-wayup the Mel set te r Road .

1 7 Apr il — The name Umbvumbvumvui s apparen tly onomatopoet i c , ari s i ng ou t of the deep roar ofthe r i ve r . Las t n igh t i t sang me a proud lul laby ,wh ich my soul answe red wi th fan tast i c dreams .At B locke r and I cl imbed the mounta i n barri e r .I n Europe the landscape wou ld be reckoned amongthe s ights and at trac t tou r i s ts . Palms and euphorbiagive the flora a tropi cal touch ; th e breath of autumnl i es ove r al l . On al l s ides the moun tai ns r i se impress ively, below foams the Umbvumbvumvu. Atwe agai n cross its tu rbul en t wate rs , i n wh ich processthe oxen b reak a yoke . Then the road c rosses a farreach ing pla i n cove red wi th short grass ; before usr ises a S i ckl e - shaped moun ta i n r i dge

,apparen tly o f

slate,wh i l s t the format ion below us i s d ior i te . S urely

a region for th e prospec tor .I wonder when Germany wi l l a t las t

“

obta i n acolon ial m i n i ng law . I mean a m in i ng law wh i chopens i ts colon ies to the prospec tors o f al l nat ions ,and thu s real ly gi ves th em a chance . We apparen tlypossess two m in i ng colomes In New Gu i nea and i nSouth -wes t Afri ca . Why do ou r people on ly suppor tthe pol i cy of the Open doo r when i t appl i es to othernat ion s , and not concede i t themselves ? Our m in i nglaw Shou ld be as l i beral as poss ib le . For a smal l sum ,

l e t t1s say ten sh i l l i ngs , one ought to sel l prospect i ngl i censes to eve ry one who wan ts them , and the S tateshould con ten t i tse l f w i th 1 5 per cen t . of the ne tprofi ts o f the m ines worked . The old Transvaalm i n i ng law furn i shes Germany wi th a good example .

Only we ough t to make ours more l i beral s t i l l . Iwould give the owner the righ t to the ful l explo i tat io n

2 38

BY OX-\VAGGON ON THE SABI

At el even o’

clock , afte r a n i ne -mi l e march ,B locker

and I c ross the foam ing Nyamya swi River , andimmediately afte rwards we are at Mr. B radl ey

’ss tore , where we are heart i l y welcomed . The waggondoes not arri ve t i l l afte r twel ve ; l uncheon , there fore ,is eaten towards two o ’clock .

At the waggon s tarts aga i n . I do no t fol lowfor hal f an hou r , as we are on ly go ing anothe r fourm i les . The road wi nds bes ide the sparkl i ng Nyam

ya swi, and is uph i l l the whole way . I recal l the

poefis

Ge l b ro l lt mir zuFussen d er brausen de KurIm ta n zen den Wellengetriebe .

Es leuchtet d ie Son n e, d a s Herz un d d ie F l ur !Ach , wen n es doch immer so bl iebe ! ” I

The way the road winds th rough the val l eys may bei l l us t rated by the fact that i n th e afte rnoon we marchednorthwards (the refo re , apparen tly , back to Umtal i),and that we shal l have to cross the Nyamya swi nol ess than e igh tee n t imes . Th is afte rnoon we madeou r second cross i ng my dog celebrated the even t byd isappear ing down a waterfal l

,wh i ch , howeve r, d id

h im no harm .

Half to th e righ t i n fron t of us we have a jaggedslate moun ta i n

,whose s ides have a red glow , an d

wh i ch commands the landscape menac i ngly .

Magn ificen t sunse t w i th the whole rad ian t pal e tte ofthe trop i cs . Then n igh t ri ses sparkl i ng and gl i t te r ing ,wi th i ts d iadem of stars ove r the res t i ng earth . A

1 “The gl itterin g wa ters ro l l yel low be lowIn da n cin g win d-blown waves .

The sun sh in es,sh in es the heart a n d the m eadow !

Ah , would it were ever so

2 40

A \VATERFAL L NEAR LONGDEN ’S FAR M .

RY OX -VVAGGON ON THE SAB I

gusty w i nd blows from the moun ta i ns,and sets ou r

ten ts rocki ng u ncomfo rtably .

We have done a good deal o f cl imbi ng and descendi ng to -day , and our camp i s th i r ty -five fee t h igher thani t wa s yes te rday , o r some feet above sea - l evel .

1 9 Apr il — Splend id march th rough moun tai n s . I na l ight ra i n we con t i n ue march i ng up - r i ve r

,c ross i ng

th e Nyamya swi s i x teen t imes by d ri fts , some of wh i chwere dec idedly unpl easan t . The ascen t remi nds onei n places of th e I tal ian s ide of the B renner ra i l road .

The moun ta i n -s ides r i se ruggedly,often w i th fine

effect,on both S ides o f the roari ng r i ve r . The brigh t

colours of sycamores and o the r t rees glow on themoun tai ns . Then come whol e s t rips ful l o f euphorb ia

,

palms,and bananas . The mountai n - chai ns are spl i t

up i n places i n to p i c tu resque cones and domes tofee t high . Then agai n the glowi ng red slate

.

forms whol e for t resses w i th tu rre ts and platforms .Fancy grows al i ve . One imagines one has en teredth e k i ngdom of l egend and passed i n to the fa i ry worldi tsel f. I t i s imposs i bl e to descri be what. passed myeye to—day . Words are much too poo r .At eleven o ’clock we l eave the rush i ng Nyamya swi

below us to our l eft,and cl imb upwards . At noon

B locker and I wai t vai n ly for the waggon . As i t i ss t i l l i nv i s ibl e at one o

’

c lock , I send two se rvan ts backto bri ng l unch up to us . The sun has been sh i n i ngfo r the las t two hours , bu t on the he igh ts bl ows ad i st i nc tly cool w i nd , wh ich i nduces us to pu t on ourw i nte r ove rcoats a t m idday . Afte r l unch we goanothe r hal f-mi le , as far as M r . Longden

’s farm,

wh i ch i s empty , and where we wai t fo r the waggonwh ich at las t tu rns up about 5 p m .

The sunse t i s so ri ch i n colou r and fine i n tones and2 42

BY OX -VVAGGON ON THE SABI

l evel o f the sea,and i s sai d to possess forty in

habi tan ts .I n the even i ng a pleasan t su rpri se awai ts me . I

had several t imes told my “boys that my pi l l ow lay toolow . Th is even ing I find i t beau t i ful l y ra ised . WhenI turn to look how th i s has been done

,I d i scove r

that my del igh tfu l servan ts have placed our box ofdynam i te under my head No , my dear boys , th i swon ’t do . I must fi rs t exam i ne the copper-mines onthe Sab i befo re I am ready to start heavenward

2 1 Apr il — The road n ow tu rns to the south -west ,and I r ide the whole Splend id sunl i t morn ing th roughfar- reach ing val l eys ru nn i ng l engthways to the woodedmoun tai n slope , wi th splash i ng brooks to my righ t . At1 1 a .m . I c ross a bigg i sh r i ve r

,th e Injahori, and then

awai t th e waggon . I n the morn i ng the road passesbytwo Boer farms , and i n the afte rnoon we pass twomore . What Melset te r requ i res i s a coupl e ofthousand s tt

'

Irdy European peasan ts . The grass i sfi rs t- rate for catt l e and sheep

,th e so i l can grow

‘

a ny

th i ng, and there i s a weal th of wate r, which comesdown splash i ng and sparkl i ng from every h i l l .The cl imate is

'

be tter than that of the Transvaal .There is on l y a sho rt win te r w i th l igh t fros ts

,and the

l i ve s tock can be kept i n the meadows the whole yearround , wh ich is imposs ibl e i n the T ransvaal . Thecoun try i s

,bes ides

,free from feve r . Melset te r , by the

by,i s cal led Umsapa ,

or Massapa,by the su rround i ng

t ri bes— a su rv i val from the Sahman epoch . The nat i vesof the count ry i tsel f cal l i t Shema n o -man i . I t wasch ri s tened Melset te r by the Boers . At the t ime ofwri t i ng one cou ld not grow ri ch here . But ani ndustr i ou s fam i l y cou ld eas i ly make a good l i v i ng .

And wi th i t the fi nes t c l imate i n the wo rld ! I t is244

BY OX-VVAGGON ON THE SAB I

imposs ibl e to imagi ne anyth i ng l i ke i t i n Europe .

I can only recal l ce rta i n S eptember days i n NorthGe rmany , and noth i ng e lse . But how much morei n tense is every th i ng here

,l igh t

,colou r

,even the ai r !

One cannot wel l descr i be i t .We lunched by the Injahori, and then made a short

afte rnoon march i n search of good camp ing ground .

Thi s I found towards fou r o’clock on the grassy

A V I E\Y OF MELSETTER

shoulde r of a mounta i n sl ope below a farm , and ata he igh t o f fee t .

2 2 Apr il — The road agai n r ises , runn i ng past fars t re tch i ng moun tai n -r idges . From Melset te r onwardsthe format ion is d iori te . The temperature , wh ich wasabsol u tel y cold i n the n igh t , qu i ckl y ri ses i n therad ian t s unsh ine wh ich glorifies the coun try . I r ideon far i n advance

,and enj oy the lovely scene wi thout

rese rve . About the woods cease , the moun ta i n245

BY OX -IVAGGON ON THE SAB I

s l opes are bare and grassy,remi nd ing me of parts

o f Ma ssa ila n d,and of Beachy H ead near Eastbourne ,

ove r wh i ch I have gal loped so often . At I reachthe cres t , and descend once more i n to a val ley th roughwh ich the cl ear Lus i t i R i ver flows

,reach ing up to the

saddle o f my donkey as I c ross i ts c rys tal waters .

H ere we wi l l s tay fo r the day,because the oxen

requ i re a res t , and al l ou r l i n en needs a wash . Wecamp at a he igh t of feet .I n the afternoon there is a great wash ing , the loads

are repacked , the sal t and r i ce bags are dri ed , &c .

Whi le I wr i te th i s I can see our oxen and donkeytak i ng i t easy on the ri ve r-bank

,B locke r ly i ng on the

ground i n h i s ten t , and De Closs do ing d i t to underth e waggon . Everybody is enj oy i ng a wel l -earnedrest .

2 3 Apr il — The format ion and the coun t ry change .

We come ou t Of th e pr imary slate format ion i n to sands tone , and i n the afternoon we reach a pronouncedcoal format ion . The landscape changes from woodedmountai ns pl en t i ful l y i n te rsec ted w i th gorges

,to l ong

ranges of bald,grass - cove red he igh ts . As though the

heavens w ish ed to emphas i se th i s change properly ,the sunsh i ne has disappeared

,and grey l i es the land

before our eyes . I am far i n advance of the col umn ,and find mysel f alone i n th i s Rembrandtesque landscape

,wh i ch has an oppress i ve and dreary effect on

th e human soul . And ye t an upl i ft i ng one ; for i tappears to demons trate the in fin itud e of ou r sp i r i tualand bod i ly v i s ion . As in Ma ssa ila n d ,

these w ide ,grass - covered he igh ts , s tand ing one beh i nd the other ,d raw ou r soul i n to the d i s tances . I am very sens i t i veto scen i c d i ffe rences , and effects of l igh t a n d shadow .

Th i s i s the only art i s t i c qual i ty I have to boas t about .246

BY OX-IVAGGON ON THE SABI

approach the mys te r ious h i n te rland of Sofala , to wh ichthe Sab i ru i n s and al so the much -d i scussed Z imbabwebelong .

24 Apr il . -Yeste rday even ing we camped at ahe igh t o f feet

,and began to -day ’s march wi th

a pret ty s teep descen t o f abou t fee t — a heavytask fo r the oxen . S t i l l th e waggon came morequ i ckly than I had expected . Wi th th i s last descen twe have le ft th e actual Mel set te r tablel and . We seei t s t re tch ing l i ke a m igh ty bulwark from the northeas t towards the sou th -west , s ink ing fri nge- l i ke i n thedeeper- ly i ng l evel a t wh ich we have now arr i ved .

We con t i nue ou r march towards the sou th -wes t ,paral l e l to the tableland , dur i ng the morn i ng . Theformat ion i s sandstone ; here and the re we see patchesdyed green , th e fi rs t S ign o f coppe r.At we hal t , a nd do another fou r m i l es i n the

afternoon,t i l l we are fac i ng the farm of M rs . Dunbar

Mood ie , where we camp at an al t i tude of fee t .The landscape

,wh ich was ve ry monotonous i n the

morn ing, grew somewhat l i vel i e r towards afternoon , assharpe r ou tl i nes of peaks appeared i n the sou th -west .Even i ng i s much pl easan te r

,because i t is warmer .

Unfortunately,as a Consequen ce , mosqu i toes tu rn up

at once . The cold even i ngs of the las t weekshave not been to the i r tas te . For the fi rs t t ime I amagai n wri t i ng th i s out of doors ; whereas i n recen teven ings I was s i t t i ng at th i s t ime (abou t seveno ’cl ock)Sh i ve ri ng i n my closed ten t .

“That noth i ngon th i s earth i s pe rfec t , I now recogn ise , a s one ofour wri te rs pu ts i t ; and that for the several thousand tht ime .

2 5 Afi r iL— Yeste rday even ing afte r d i n ne r Bekke rcomes wi th an i nv i tat ion from Mrs . Mood ie , who

248

BY OX-VVAGGON ON THE SABI

wan ts me to s tay w i th he r for a day,and wa i t for

the Nat i ve Commiss ioner, Mr. Mered i th , whom she

expects to day or to -morrow . As Bekke r added thatM rs . Moodi e i s well i n formed about the copper region

,

and wi l l l end me a boy who can show me the oldworki ngs , I thankful l y accepted the i nv i tat ion , andam mov ing over to Ken i lworth - the name of thefarm— th i s morn ing . Mrs . Moodie i s a young widow ,

who , wi th M rs . Markham ,her younger S is te r

,manages

a farm of ove r acres wi thou t any mascul i n eass i s tance of any ki nd . Both are from the O rangeF ree S tate , and five of the i r brothers are fight i ngagai ns t the B r i t i sh forces .

M E LSETTE R FAR M .

Mrs . Mood ie gives me the explanat ion of the nameMel set te r. H er fami ly wen t from Mels ter i n theO rkney I slands to Sou th Afri ca i n 1 8 20 ; and as herfathe r wa s th e fi rs t to open up the Melse t te r d is t r i c t ,Rhodes gave h im the r igh t to ch ri s ten i t . He cal l edi t Mels ter, wh i ch th rough a corrupt i on becameMelset te r .The two lad ies have la id down some fine gardens ,

where,bes ides al l k i nds of European fru i t and

vegetabl es , they al so grow coffee , tobacco , oranges ,and bananas . Wheat is grown as wel l , and they ra isecatt l e . The blacks on the farm are kept i n good

249

BY OX -‘VAGGON ON THE SAB I

o rder , th e sjambok be i ng appl i ed when necessary .

Somet imes the two lad ies apply the pun ishmen t themsel ves . I n the even i ng M rs . Mood ie tel l s me muchabou t the old work i ngs i n the ne ighbourhood , wh ichare supposed to belong to the Z imbabwe type .

I have sen t my exped i t i on on n i ne m i l es,to Bekker

’

s

Farm , and thus I pass a very qu ie t day . U nfor

tun a tely, howeve r, M r . Mered i th , who i s at th eGungunya n a pol i ce camp , and to whom I wrote i nthe morn ing , does not arr i ve .

2 6 April — I wai t for news . I n the morn ing thepostman comes , bri ngi ng me the fol low ing cur ioustel egram :

“Wai t expl ore r w i th D e l’

Isle’

s chartl eav i ng for Melset te r at sunse t

,Oph i r . Who can

the remarkable sa i n t be ? About m idday M r . Mered i thl e ts me know that he may arr i ve before n ight fal l . SoI must s tay . At hal f-pas t s ix i n the even ing M r .Mered i th a rri ves wi th M r . S win n ington,

and i n themost k i ndly way prom ises me carr i e rs for the fol low i ngmorn ing .

2 7 Apr il — Mr. Mered i th sends a nat i ve pol i cemanout early to enl i s t carr i e rs for me i n the surround ingvi l lages . I therefore send my five pr i vate loads byfiveof M rs . Mood ie’s boys to Bekker

’

s camp . A Capeboy cal l ed K lein boy,

who i s fam i l iar wi th the copperd is t r i ct

,i s i n charge . At I fol low wi th my two

servan ts and my dog. Soon the landscape grows qu i temonotonous . Endless h i l l s id es covered w i th grass ;here and the re a patch of fo res t . At el even o’c lockwe cross the“ B us i

,and sou th o f i t th e landscape grows

l i vel i e r , i nasmuch as to the eas t and south -eas t morepromi nen t moun ta i n - chai n s appear . Among othersMoun t S el i nde comes i n to v i ew . At twelve o ’c lockI reach De Beers Farm

,and learn that Bekker

’

s is s t i l l2 5 0

BY OX-VVAGGON ON THE SABI

compla i ns about the d i fficul ty of ge tt i ng workmen i nMelset te r . Mos t of the Boers

,o f whom the re are

abou t five hund red he re,have made up the i r m i nd to

t rek back to the T ran svaal as soon as the wa r is ove r.The Engl i sh Gove rnmen t pampers the blacks to suchan exten t as to make the coun t ry imposs ibl e fo r thewh i tes . The black man

,under the U n ion J ack ,

becomes lazy,arrogan t , and boo ri sh . Exete r Hal l i s

ru i n i ng Afr i ca . Thus M r . Webster . I w ish that ou rown fr i ends o f th e negro

,wi th Bebel at the i r head ,

had to l i ve among blacks for a year, so as to tes t the i r

v i ews that are founded on ignoran ce . I have al readyexpressed mysel f on the Afr i can labou r ques t ion . Iwou ld , howeve r, l i ke to repeat again , that the Boerlaws on th i s matte r s t r i ke me as exemplary . I n theT ransvaal , at the end of the year, eve ry black had toShow a “t i cke t ” prov i ng that he had worked s ix

month s at a Eu ropean ’s ; i n defau l t o f wh i ch he wassen ten ced to s ix months ’ imp ri sonmen t and thenecessary beat i ngs . A ve ry good rec ipe is al so th edemand of a hu t- tax from every n igge r over the ageof S i x teen— and one of not l ess than £ 5 ; so thatthey are fo rced to work . Otherwi se we Shal l soon berespons ib le for a l o t of lazy ea n a i/Ze from Algoa Bayto the great Syrt i s

,who wi l l force Europe to gi ve up

the open ing up of Afri ca unl ess the colon i s t s fol lowthe exampl e of the Tasman ian p ioneers , and S implyex term inate the use less rabble . The more I th i nk ofi t , the more i t seems to me that Sou th A fr i ca w i l l belost to the B ri t i sh Empi re ove r th i s nat i ve quest ion .

At the nex t r i s i ng,Engl i sh , Dutch , and German

Afri cande rs w i l l uni te aga ins t Eu ropean t u telage ,un less th i s does no t final ly free i tse l f from Exete r H al l .Darwi n ha s demonst ra ted that the st ruggl e of th e

2 5 2

BY OX -VVAGGON ON THE SA B I

races for the su rfaces of ou r plane t wh i ch ends in thed i spossess ion of th e l ess fi t , has been one of the mostessen t ial means of human progress . To -day onew ishes to el iminate th i s s t ruggl e

,i n a morb id des i re

to save al l the s i ckl y and usel ess rubb ish whoseex i s tence leads to the degeneracy of the whole race .

But natu re w i l l not be d i c tated to by man,and i n the

end natu ral l aw wi l l prove v i c tor ious . Thi s law laysdown that the nat i ons who refuse to part i c i pate i n thecommon work of man

,and therewi th i n progress and

c i v i l isat ion , d ie ou t . I f Eu rope w i l l not educate,that

i s to say , wi l l no t fo rce , the negro to j o i n i n th i s work ,the negro wi l l have , for the most part , to su ffe r thefate of the Tasman ian a n d Aust ral ian aborigines .I n the afternoon I once more tu rned to Darwi n ’s

D escen t of M a n a n a” S elerlion in R ela tion to S ex .

I find that Darwi n recogn i sed,wi th the i nsigh t of

gen i u s , th e laws by wh ich nature , o r the d i v i necreat i ve power

,has developed the l i v i ng world . But :

I' cannot unders tand how mate rial i sm hopes to findany support i n Darwi n . Or do these gent lemen th i nkthat they can d i spense w i th the elemen tal forces ofnature when they recogn i se a few of the laws thatgovern these el emental fo rces . These c reat i ve forces ,w i thou t wh ich the processes of natu re remai n unfathomable

,are those wh ich anc i en t ph i losophers

summed up i n the phrase,n a ln ra n a ln ra n s ; wh i ch to

our re l ig ious consc iousness i s the same th ing as theDe i ty— cal l i t jehovah , B rahma , or Al lah— or as what i sfel t as H en kai pan (the One and Al l)of Pan the i sm .

Winte r i s approach i ng ! (20 0 20’ S . la t i tude).

Fol l owi ng on a spl end id,sunny day

,we have a sunse t

so beaut i ful and ri ch i n colou r,as only the land of the

Py ramids commonly shows to the European yel low,

2 53


shades o f o range,to pu rpl e , bl ue , and v i ol e t ! The

twi l igh t las ts l onger than hal f an hou r , and wi th i t , i nth e easte rn heavens

,s tands the growing moon wi th i ts

mysteri ous l ight . Here i s an array of colou rs thatn o t even a Bo

‘ckl i n cou ld reproduce . The moun ta i nr idges i n the wes t

,wh ich d iv ide me from Sabi , s tand

there i n the two l igh ts l i ke the r igid fron t i e rs of goodand ev i l

,hel l and heaven !

I M ay— AS B locke r le t me know yesterday ,

wri t i ng from M rs . Mood ie’

s farm,that the pol i ce-boy

had not t roubl ed to find any carr i e rs,bu t i n stead wa s

s i t t i ng a t h i s ease i n a kraal swi l l i ng beer , I resol vedto t ry and reach th e Sab i V al l ey i n M r . \/Veb s ter

’

s

two -wheeled car . True,there i s no road , bu t there

are frequen t patches o f open grass by wh i ch one canavo id the bush . So th i s morn in g I have my pr i vategoods and chat tel s l oaded on to the car and S i x oxenyoked i n fron t . At n ine o’clock the j ourney beg ins ,and at the outse t al l seems very prom i s in g . We gotowards the sou th -west , th en wes tward .

At el even o ’clock I hu rry on i n advance of the car ,towards Injamba ba ,

where the load i s to be del ivered ,wi th K lein boy our gu ide . At noon we l ie down toawai t th e car . I t does not come , bu t at comesmy cook wi th the message , “Gn a re fi l e , -

“ thecarriage i s b roken . N ice s tate of affai rs We haveto go back m i les , where we find the two youngWebsters wi th the car Whose one wheel has smashedon a s tone . I send the Ol de r Webster to Be z ed enhuyd t, a Boe r o f the ne ighbourhood , to borrowanothe r car fo r to morrow , and a sk th e youngerbrothe r to go on ahead wi th Klein boy and cu t a road .

We are i n the moun ta ins that l ead down to the Sabi ,on a grassy alp wooded i n places , where i t absol u tely

2 54


My posi t ion at the edge of the Injambaba S l opewa s by no means an env iabl e one . I l ay he re w i thsome se rvan ts con templat i ng the task of get t i ng th i rtyloads down i n to the Sab i Val l ey . I hardl y reckonedon the porte rs w i th wh ich the South Afr ican Company were go ing to prov ide me

,so I wa s en t i rely

dependen t on the nat i ves,wi th whom I had so fa r

had no re la t ions whatsoeve r. The pos i t ion wa s th emore unpleasan t , as I cou ld not prolong my stay i nSouth Africa i ndefin i tel y

,and the re fore had to carry

ou t my task on the Sab i R i ve r as qu i ckl y as poss ibl e .

Early on May 3rd I descended ,K lein boy a ccom

pany i ng me , abou t fee t down the val l ey , th rougha fine fo res t a t fi rs t

,and then th rough peaceful maize

and mi l l e t fields . I w i shed to cal l on Shla tin , the oldch ie ftai n of Injamba ba , o f whom I had heard that hewa s the s i ngl e l i v i ng negro who had h imsel f helpedwork th e copper on the Sab i . The old man ’s hai rwas snow -wh i te . H e sat i n the shade on a chai rbe fore a granary , bu t he was so s low-wi tted that i twas d ifficul t to con verse w i th h im . H is so n , a manof about fifty—S i x years , was , on the con trary , h ighl yi n te l l igen t

,and glad ly undertook to i n te rp ret th e

conversat ion to h i s -father . I opened ou r re lat ions bypresen t i ng the old gen tl eman wi th two p i eces of wh i t ecal ico a n d one o f bl ue .

I now learn t that the nat i ves of th e d i st r i c t , whocal l themsel ves Sha nga n s , had worked copper alongboth banks of the Sab i from t ime immemorial

,unt i l ,

about s i x ty years ago,the Z ul us had broken i n under

Gungunja n a and had made themsel ves masters of th ecoun try . Gungunja n a had taken al l the coppe r thatthey possessed away from them

,and s i nce then the

i ndus try had ceased .

2 56


Can you not show me some of you r copper ? Iasked .

H ere— I made th i s arm - r i ng mysel f.“lhere d id you l earn how to work the copper ?

who taugh t you that ?

We learn t that from our fathe rs , and they aga i nl earn t i t from the i r fathers .

Do you know anyth i ng of l igh t - sk i nned peoplewho were here a long , l ong t ime ago and fi rs t workedthe copper ? You cal l th e i r count ry Gaza- land . Doyou know whe re th e Gaza peopl e fi rs t came from ?

BLOCKER H IS BAG.

No,I do not know that . Bu t I do know that the

anc i en t people l i ved i n the stone houses (z imbabwe).of wh ich the re are rema ins not far from here , at M rs .

Webster’s farm .

Th is i n format ion,though i ncomple te , was i n te rest

i ng . I afte rwards paid a fly i ng v i s i t to these ru ins ,and found that

,as M rs . Mood ie had al ready told me ,

they were bu i l t i n exac tl y the same s tyl e as the ru i nsexplo red by Ben t .I now asked :

“Wil l you not l e t your son go wi thme to Show me the places where you once dug copper

2 5 7 s


from the earth ? I w i l l g i ve h im a handsome presen ti n retu rn . I wou ld al so l i ke you r son to show me therocks i n wh i ch no copper ha s yet been worked , bu twhere you could find i t i f you wan ted to“That I w i l l gladly do . My son can Show you

eve ryth i ng , i f you wi l l take h im wi th you to the Sabi .”

With th i s I had secured the obj ec t of my v i s i t , andwe cl imbed up agai n to ou r camp . We now only hadto get about th i rty porte rs to be able to remove mycamp i n to the Sab i Val l ey .

I accompl i shed th i s task next day wi th the help ofK lein boy, and on Sunday , May 5 th,

was able to set

ou t wi th al l my belongi ngs for De Closs ’ camp,d i s tan t

abou t fi fteen m i l es .The descen t i s very steep , and wa s made more

d ifficu l t by the h igh grass th rough wh i ch , from theInjambaba K raal , we had to march fo r abou t th reequarters of an hou r. He re al ready there was achange i n the fo rmat ion , as we left sandstone fo rc rystal l i ne s late . AS soon as the slate s tarted Ifound a lo t of quartz—blocks dyed green , blue , andred , prov i ng the presence of copper .The descen t i s by way of two m igh ty te rraces .

The road p ract i ca l l y fol lows the r i ve r Injambaba ,

wh ich we had to cross several t imes . We are marchi ng th rough a genu i ne “kloof

,that is not wi thou t a

p ic tu resque beau ty . About two o ’clock i n the afternoon we qu i t ted the gorge and en tered the actual Sab iP lai n . Swerv i ng to the r igh t

,we rounded the spu r of

the te rrace -s lope towards the north,and soon found

oursel ves i n the mai ze -field s of Mfun d i, where , abou tI d i scovered De Closs ’ l i t t l e ten t under an

enormous , shade - th row ing tree . De Closs hadp i tched h i s camp at an al t i tude o f about fee t ,an d l i t t l e expected my arr i val .

2 58

C HAPTER X

A M O N G B I G G A M E

HE hun t i ng between the Zambes i and Sab inatu ral ly su ffers from the progress of the wh i te

race . Wherever there are pe rmanen t sett l emen ts ofEu ropeans the b ig game soon wi thdraws and thesmal l game i s qu i ckly dest royed . El ephants a n drh i noce roses do not l ike the n e ighbou rhood of theEuropean , not to Speak o f gi raffes , eland , and large rbucks , and al l d i sappear ve ry soon . The smal lan te lopes and hares frequen t the mai ze and barl eyfields

,a s al so do gu i neafowl and francol i n s and

p igeons ; bu t , as I have said , the hungry s tomachof the wh i te soon settl es them . I am afra id that eventhe ve ry w ise game laws of the B ri t i sh South Afri caCompany wi l l n o t be suffic i en t to preven t th i s decl i neof the h un t i ng , fo r “The Sky i s h igh and the Czar isd is tan t

,

” and i n the w i lde rness hunger ru l es and notE uropean law.

I n spi te of th i s general charac te r of sport betweenth e Zambes i and Sab i

,i n some parts o f th i s te rr i tory

hun t in g i s s t i l l i n th e he igh t o f i ts former spl endou r ;s t i l l i s th e Zambes i c rowded wi th rh i noce roses andcrocod i l es ; s t i l l the eland , the water-buck and spri ngbuck

,koodoo and hartebees t range over the Mu1ra ,

and s t i l l i n more d i stan t places on the Zambes i Val l ey2 60

AMONG B IG GAME

herds of e lephan ts , bu ffaloes , and rh i noce roses may bet raced . Everywhere you see th e spoor of zebras o rquaggas . The amoun t o f b i rd -game on the Zambesi

,

part i cularl y on Lake Rufumbo ,oppos i te ou r s tat ion of

M i tonda , i s s impl y colossal . Gu inea- fowl,p igeons

,

francol i n s (cal l ed part r idges o r pheasan ts), ducks ,geese , wate r- fowl , sn ipe , c ranes , herons , s torks ,flamingoes , and pel i cans swarm i n coun tl ess thousandson the banks and on the i s lands of the gigant i c r i ve r.Here , therefore , the re i s s t i l l an i nexhaus t ible groundfo r hun t i ng . The same i s the case i n the fores td is t ri c t o f southe rn Macombe count ry , and on thePungwe . H ere al so s t i l l ex i s ts a h igh Afri can hun ti ng field and i n the Revue Flats

,east of Man icaland ,

the hu nte r fi nds b ig game and grand sport .The great cats

,l i ons and l eopards

,as wel l as

hyenas and jackal s,are mos t n umerous al l ove r th i s

whole d i s tr i c t,and as the i r own game i s d im i n i sh ing

so rap id ly,they th row themsel ves upon the cattl e

he rds and sheep flocks o f the wh i te— nay , d i rec tl y onthe t rack of men . They are becom ing man - eaters , andchange in connect ion wi th these new cond i t i ons of l i fefrom n igh t i n to day an imals . This makes t ravel l i ngi n th i s d i s tr i c t a good deal l ess pleasan t . I n thesummer of 1 899 two offic ial s o f the MashonalandRai lway were taken i n broad dayl igh t ou t o f the i roffices by l ions . Mr . B rowne , a prospecto r who hadworked on the Sabi

,was i n 1 89 5 , al so i n broad day

l igh t,caught by a l ion i n his ten t on the h igh plateau

o f Melse t te r . I had an adven ture on September 1 8 ,1 900 ,

wh ich may i n th i s connec t i on be of somei n terest .I was s i t t i ng abou t s i x o ’clock i n the morn i ng i n

ou r camp near the Lupata w i th B locke r and M r .2 6 1

AMONG B IG GAME

Thomson and some oth er gen tl emen at breakfastwhen sudden ly

,breath l ess

,some n igge rs from the

ne ighbouri ng kraal o f Meru la appeared,i n fo rm i ng me

that th ree l ions had pene t rated duri ng the n igh t i n toth e i r kraal , and had knocked down one nat i ve and ,even worse

,seve ral p igs : “Come at once ; the l ions

are s i t t i ng now i n a b ig bush between our v i l lage andthe ri ve r . B lo' cker and I took ou r r ifles

,and

,a ccom

pa n ied by two o the r gen tl emen who had no arms , oneof whom was carry i ng my cartridges

,we at once

s tarted fo r the k raal , wh i ch was abou t a m i l e and ahal f from ou r camp . There was great exc i temen t ,the nat i ves ran abou t l oudly tal k i ng and ges t i cu lat i ng ;the bush was shown to us i n wh ich the beasts weresupposed to be h id i ng . Th i s bush commenced abou tth i r ty s teps from the v i l lage

,wh i ch was S i tuated on

a l i t tl e’

el evat ion and reach ed as far a s th e Zambes i .I t was abou t twen ty-five yards w ide . The d is tancefrom ou r place to the r i ve r was about one hundredand twen ty yards . On the l eft -hand S i de from thebush up - r i ve r wa s a b ig t ree . I took up my pos i t ionbes ide th i s t ree up—r i ve r on the r igh t -hand s ide fromthe bush B locke r

,

took a s tand,so that we cou ld not

see o r help each other .Now the nat i ves

,wi th shouts and no i se , pass from

the s ide oppos i te to me upon the bush .

S uddenly i t becomes l i v ely i ns ide an angry roar i sheard ; i n a momen t appears , no t

“ th ree ” bu t onl yone magn ificen t l i on on my s ide

,who , i n a qu i ck

can te r,S t r i ves to pass to the r igh t o f the t ree bes ide

wh ich I s tand . I fi re and m iss . I i n tend to gi veh im a second Shot from my doubl e express when hehas passed my tree

,bu t h e does not ' pass i t . As

soon as I fi re he changes h i s d i rec t ion and advances2 62

AMONG BIG GAME

wi th the vel oc i ty of an express t ra i n s t ra igh t downupon me . I n a momen t he reaches the tree

,fou r

nat i ves are knocked down wi th a blow of his paw,

then he j umps upon the man who s tands d i rec tlybes ide me , whom he tears down , and i n to whoses tomach he th rusts h i s paws

,whi l e he grips h i s

shoulde r wi th h i s teeth , shak ing h im wi th an angryroar. I j ump two s teps s ideways

,and am now th ree

s teps from the l ion . From th i s d i s tance I send mysecond bul l e t th rough h i s r i bs ; a l i t t l e too h igh , i norde r no t to touch the man beneath h im

,bu t no t h igh

enough to smash h i s sp i ne . At once the l ion d ropsh i s v i c t im , and for a momen t we s tand eye to eye .

I n th i s i ns tan t I not i ce the man wi th my cartridgesbol t i ng i n the d i rec t ion of the v i l lage , and I tu rn myrifle in orde r to figh t wi th the butt end of i t fo r myl i fe . Then the l i on breaks down

,and crawls i n to the

grass , wh ich is more than twel ve fee t long, and wh i l edo ing SO gi ves Cun tete a blow wi th his paw wh ichtakes ou t the upper part of his l e ft th igh . H is

carcase was found i n the afte rnoon at the foo t of themoun ta i ns

,wh ich he had t ri ed to reach .

I had al l ou r wounded carr i ed to camp,and by

us ing up a large part of ou r supply of bandages v'

ve

saved them al l .Let somebody el se come and tel l me that l i on

hun t ing is not dangerous ! When I was back i ncamp I found a tumbler of clare t by no meansunwel come to soothe my s t imulated ne rves .B locke r and I had anothe r s im i lar hun t i ng a d ven

t u re about a month late r on the M u'

i'

ra R ive r. Wewere s i t t i ng i n our camp at a temperature of aboutI 1 30 Fah r about one afte rnoon , when ou r boyscame run n in from the water-hole i n the archedg P

2 64

AMONG B IG GAME

Mu'

i’

ra Val l ey and announced that an [nj a r n é n a (aleopard)was watch ing them . B locke r had h i s r ifleready . I cal l ed to my se rvan t to bri ng m ine

,and we

ran to the hol e i n quest io n , d i s tan t some th reem inu tes from our camp .

“There he i s,says

B locke r, and i n the same momen t I hear the reporto f h i s r ifle . I had not even seen the an imal .We came close r and found a t ra i l o f blood l ead i ng

i n to the long grass . I t i s ex tremely dange rous tofol low a newly—shot l eopard i n to cove r of th i s sort

,

and as i t was close on sunse t I pos tponed pu rsu i t t i l lthe morn i ng . Next day , shortl y afte r 6 a .m .

,we

found the l eopard dead some th i rty paces from thewater-hol e . B locke r

’

s explos i ve bul l e t had torn awayh is whole i n s ide .

I find that the c rocod i l es and h ippopotam i of theZambes i al so grow more fam il iar eve ry year . I n thesummer o f 1 90 1 we los t two

“boys who were wash ingthemsel ves

,th rough c rocod i l es . A crocod i le knocked

them off th e bank i n to the wate r at a blow , se i zedthem , and went off wi th h i s booty to a ne ighbouri ngis land on the Sabi

,where they were eaten . Thomson ,

who was s tand ing on the bank,cou ld fol low th e

bod ies closel y below the surface of the water .The crocod i l e also comes on land , l i es as though

dead i n the shadow of a bush,and sudden ly , when a

v i c t im comes close enough,rus tl es forwards and tri es

to d rag h im by the leg i n to the r iver . -I saw such abeas t i n November

,1 900 ,

as I was tak ing a sol i ta ryS unday morn i ng walk

,abou t ten m inutes below

M i tonda , where the path , owing to the spur of a h i l l ,i s pressed c lose to the ri ver-bank . To al l appeara n ces my crocod i l e S l ept . As I had unl uck i ly le ft myr i fle at home I preferred

,i n sp i te of these s l umbers ,

2 65

AMONG B IG GAME

not to c ross the narrow path,bu t tu rned back as

qui ckly as poss i ble to fe tch my gun . When I re

tu rned the good crocod i l e had al so preferred prudenceto valou r, and gone back to its nat i ve Zambes i ; th usour acquain tancesh ip remained purely platon ic .

The h ippopotam i i n the Zambes i have late ly a c

qu i red an unpleasan t fancy fo r at tack ing and upsett i ngharmless canoes . Apparen tly they have arr i ved at aconnect ion be tween boats and explos i ve bul l e ts , andthey now regard boats as the “hered i tary foeman .

Last year the re were repeated encoun ters of th i s sortbetween h ippopotam i and canoes . Personal ly I amnot fond o f shoot i ng at h ippopotam i from unsteadycanoes , but s t i l l I ex te rm inate the Zambes i h ippo

po tamus systemat i cal ly , because i t does so much harmto the plan tat ions along the r i ver -banks . A s imi larcons ide rat ion also governs my relat ion s w i th themonkeys wh ich swarm i n the old rocks on theZambes i , and general ly th roughou t the whole region .

The monkeys are part i cu larly wel l represen ted abou tthe Lupata Gorge

,as wel l as at I nj a-ka -Fura , i n

Nha n i,i n I nyanga

,on the Mud z a ,

as wel l as on theSab i . Everywhere one finds them in great quan t i t i esdog-headed apes as wel l as baboons .On the Sab i

, so we were told , one can smel l the l ion sand leopards . I was warned not to take my dogwi th me

,who would su re ly be got hold o f. We saw

noth i ng at a ll of l i ons,of l eopards onl y a few t races .

As makewe igh t,howeve r

,a hyena one n igh t paid me

a v i s i t i n the m idd l e o f my ten t , at t rac ted by the smel lo f the roast we had had fo r d i nner . When I ra i sed analarm i t took to its heel s at once .

There i s fine b i rd - Shoot i ng on the Sab i : gu i neafowl

,pigeons

,and part ridge ; B locker al so bagged

2 66

AMONG BIG GAME

wi th sulphur . We have d i scove red a hot su l phurspri ng . The nat ives tel l me that when a ch i cken fal l si n , i t i s boi led . I can furthe r add that al l the wate r i nth i s val l ey of the Upper Sab i i s more o r l ess ful l ofsulphur, so that I wou ld recommend exped i t i ons o rfam i l i es to take a d is t i l l i ng apparatus w i th them

,unl ess

they are go i ng to se t t l e s t ra ight on th e banks o fthe S a bLRound th i s sp ri ng, as el sewhe re on the pla i n , we

found a quant i ty of s tones dyed green or l i lac , showingtraces o f coppe r. I conc luded that i t was here a caseof coppe r o re combined w i th sulphur— a concl us ionwh i ch we confi rmed late r on .

We n ow moun ted uph i l l,and afte r march i nganothe r

m i l e l ighted on a chai n of Old work i ngs , wh ich , l i kethose we

'

v is ited yes te rday,gene ral ly ran from north

to sou th along the h i l l s ide . Apparen t ly we were faceto face w i th the con t i nuat ion of the upper work i ngs .We were i n te res ted to find t races o f mode rn pros

pecting works here as wel l , and even to d i scove rEuropean tool s i n a hol e . The ridd le was expla i nedwhen hal f an hour late r we found the southernboundary s take of the M r. B rowne who has been mention ed . We we re there fore on ground wh ich he hadprospected , wh i ch late r on , as i t had been abandonedfor years , I regis te red i n my own name . AS myreaders w i l l remember, poo r Mr . B rowne was k i l l edat Mel se t te r by a l ion

,when on h is way to the Board

o f M ines i n Umtal i to regi s te r th i s very cla im ; andwi th that the matte r wa s dropped . As Mrs . Mood iehad told me that he r late husband

,an expert i n copper ,

had seen B rowne ’s sampl es,and found them wel l

worth m in i ng operat i ons,a good st roke of prospect

i ng work had to a certa i n exten t d ropped i n to our lap .

2 68

AMONG B IG GAME

After we had asce rtai ned the probable exten t o fB rowne

’

s cla im , whose more care ful explorat ion we

rese rved fo r anothe r t ime,B locker and I , w i th ou r

black attendants , once more descended i n to the pla i n ,and marched anothe r S ix mi les i n a southerly d i rec t ion .

Everywhere we met the green boulde rs,whose

presence denoted copper . Towards noon we crossedthe dry r i ve r-bed of th e Injamba ba ,

and aga in ascendedthe h i l l s ide . Here

,t rue enough

,we found no old

work ings , but exactl y the same quartz i t i c ree fs i nthe slate a s those wh ich enclosed the old copperm i nes h ighe r up , and from wh i ch , as Shla tin

’

s son

told me , we could obta i n coppe r by s ink ing a shaft .More to the south

,he sa id

,were othe r old work i ngs .

With th i s we had defined the range of the old work ingsby at l eas t twen ty m i l es . But i t i s ce rta i n that i treaches , north a s wel l as south , fa r beyond th i s zone .

Sat isfied wi th the resul ts o f our work , we l unchedunder a m igh ty baobab t ree

,from whence we had a

Splend id v i ew ove r to the s i l ve r th read of the Sabi ,wh ich ran from north to sou th

,to turn in a wide bend at

the sou the rn end of ou r slate- i ncl ine towards the east .Afte r we had col l ec ted a number of spec imens were turned to ou r camp

,wh ich we reached t i red out bu t

ve ry cheerfu l towards sundown .

Li fe on the Sab i was part i cularly pleasan t , for wecould once more s it ou t of d oo rs of an even ing, adoubl e del igh t afte r th e cold even ings on the Mel se tte rPlateau . Our tabl e was excel l en t

,as we always had

game and eggs, an d the re wa s flou r and potatoes in

plen ty . Bes ides these del i cac i es , Mrs . Mood ie sen t usfresh butte r regularl y . The nat i ves sold us ch ickens ,honey

,and refresh i ng

,th i rs t -quench ing beer. We

carried a smal l supply of wh i sky . What more could2 69

AMONG B IG GAME

we wan t ? AS on al l my Afr i can exped i t i ons , I alwayskept a personal check on our cook , so as to make sureof a palatabl e and clean ly en is in e.

On May 7 th B locke r and I commenced a closerexami nat ion of the old works above ou r camp , andthe i r seve ral paral l e l con t i n uous chai ns of old p i ts runn i ng north to sou th

,part ly fal l e n i n to decay

,partl y

ve ry wel l prese rved . He re and the re we not i ce thatthe ol d m iners have dug a k ind of s ide - t unnel lead i ngou t o f the pi t . I n other spots the o re below thequartz i t i c reefs and always fol low i ng these was removedfrom the surface .

The nat i ves cal l copper ma sn é , and d i s t i ngu ish i tfrom gold

, a’elama or a

’erama . I wa s part i cularly

anx ious to asce rtai n from what mate rial the Sha nga n sthemsel ves had smel ted the i r copper . Accord i ngly

,we

began to widen and to deepen one of the ex i st i ngtunnel s w i th dynam i te , so a s to reach the actual copperve i n .

I need not descr ibe these labours he re i n deta i l,as

they can hard ly be of i n teres t to th e non -professionalreader . What we establ i shed wa s essen t ial ly a s

fol lows : The quartz i t i c ree f ly i ng i n the s late c rossed2 0

° E . of N . above our camp , bu t at B rowne’s

fo rme r claims i t lay 70° E . of N . The i ncl i ne i s

36° towards the east . The hanging s ide i s quartz i te

m ixed w i th S l ate and ful l o f i ron (hemat i te). The wal li s al so a quartz i te s t rongly colou red w i th blue andgreen . Amid th i s l i es a dark bl ue

,opalescen t ve i n ,

s t reaked w i th slate on the su rface,and from wh ich the

nat i ves obta i ned the i r copper,wh i ch

,apparent l y , i s

copper-glance . The quartz i te con tai ns free gold i nsmal l quan t i t i es . The i ron that l i es on top of i t almos tappears i n some places as pure metal . This whole

2 70

AMONG BIG GAME

luxurian t mai z e and m i l l e t fields . We repea ted lv

found cotton growi n g wi ld , and the so i l producesexcel l en t coffee . H ere surely Europeans could growal l the cu l t i vable products of the t rop i cs

,as the

d i ffe ren t al t i tudes fol low one anothe r from fee tupwards . Here sugar , coffee , tea , cocoa , and van i l lagrow . The farmers would only have to keep to thewate rsheds . The cl imate would , i t i s t rue , be veryho t i n the summer , bu t i t i s always tempered . TheSabi , wi th a few i n te rrupt ions , i s nav igabl e as far asthe coas t— about 1 7 5 mi les . H ere we find oursel veson the h igh - road ove r wh i ch the Sabaean s marched tothe plateaux of Mashonaland , wh i ch epoch is s t i l lrecorded i n the cha i n of ru i n s on the Sab i and Lund ias far as Z imbabwe i n V i c to ria .

Even to -day th i s whole region i s cal l ed Gha z a la n d,

equal ly a souven i r of the S em i t i c e ra of Sou th Afri canh is to ry . The nat i ves cal l th emsel ves Sha nga n s , andlook someth i ng l i ke H i ndoos . They are recogn isedas good m ine rs , and belong to an anc i en t m in i ngpeople . They are al so qu ick and sk i l ful

,bu t no t

eas i l y pe rsuaded to work i n the i r own country .

When they l iv ed under the terri bl e rule of Gungun ~

j ana th i ngs were d i ffe ren t . The negro w i l l not workwi thou t compuls ion . Gungunja n a was a born ru le r o fblacks

,whom he chas t i sed , not w i th rods o r scorpion s

bu t w i th fi re and sword . For th i s h i s subj ects pa idh im an almost idolat rous reve rence ; a n d , what i smore

,they became the bes t labour -mater ial wh ich

one can find i n Sou th Afri ca . Then Gungunja n a wastaken pri soner and sen t to L isbon . That pu t an endto the glo ry o f the negro . To—day , under E uropeanrul e

,when every black i s equal befo re the law, the

nat i ve ch iefs have los t al l i nfluence ove r the i r people .

2 7 2

AMONG BIG GAME

But they are cl ever enough to laugh at the wh i tese t tl e r, who i s subj ec t to the same law as themsel ves .I n Melse tte r a black has a wh i te ent i re ly u nder h i sthumb , as long as i t i s no t a wh i te offi c ial . H e canl i e to h im , i n su l t h im ,

and even rob h im . The wh i tehas onl y the righ t to a j ud i c ial compla i n t . For th i spu rpose he must go to Mel set te r and give pe rsonaltes t imony , wh ich o f cou rse means a l oss of seve raldays

’

work . I f he chast i ses one of h i s men personal l yhe i s pun i shed , at fi rs t wi th fines

,then w i th impr i son

men t,

The black knows al l th i s,and behaves a c

cord ingly . So have the Mel se tte r farmers been gi venover to i n sol vency . Ei ther they ge t no workmen atal l , or el se these run away j us t when they are mostrequ i red , i n the momen t before a harvest . Europeanlaw, bes ides , hardly knows a pun ishmen t that real lyaffects a black . So that even when the farmer makesthe great sacr ifice of go i ng to far Mel se tte r o r even toUmtal i to bri ng a black to book , he cannot even thenobta i n a sen tence that wi l l make any impress ion onthe negro . Gungunja n a had the i r heads , o r at l eas tthe i r hands and fee t o r o ther parts of the body

,cu t off.

That was brutal , and qu i te opposed to our fee l i ngs .But howeve r much i t was righ tl y repugnan t toEuropean sen t imen t

,i t had the one good qual i ty of

mak ing these t ri bes i ndus trious and obed ien t . Today we pun ish by impri sonment . The pri soners areregularl y fed , they ge t meat once a week , they arewel l c lo thed and shel te red . I n pri son they l i ve farbeyond the measu re of the i r ord i nary mode of l i fe ,and are i n c lover.The negro v i ew of impr i sonmen t may be i l l ust rated

by the fol low ing occurrence wh ich happened i nUmtal i i n the spr ing of 1 90 1 . A black had been i n

2 73 T

AMONG B IG GAME

pri son for S i x months . When he was about to bed i sm issed at the end of h i s te rm he fel l on h is kneesbefore the warder, a n d began to howl and c ry , ask ingwhat h e had done to be tu rn ed ou t o f doors l i ke that .The man regarded pri son as a sort of hol iday

resort,and hoped to be supported there for the res t

of h i s l i fe . The majori ty of h is coun t rymen are ofthe same opin ion .

This occu rrence speaks vol umes a propos of theEuropean t reatmen t of the negro quest ion

,abou t

wh ich those only should be l i s tened to who knowAfri ca and i ts requi rements th rough actual experi en ce .

When one reads the twaddle that i s wri t ten i n Europeabout the African labou r quest ion , one cannot re frai nfrom a certa i n fee l i ng of con tempt . I t i s uncommonlycheap to wri te l ead ing art i c l es i n Berl i n or i n Londonon the i nhuman or bru tal t reatmen t of the negro , andto gather together al l so rts o f theore t i cal catch-wordsborrowed from Un cle Tom

’

s Caoin . One does notknowthe negro from personal observat ion one i s no td i rectl y affected by the whole matte r . So on one goesw i th these borrowed ph rases ! The mat te r l ooks qu i ted i ffe ren t when one has to l ead an exped i t i on i n Afri cai tse l f

,or has to rear a fam i l y by hoe ing and t i l l i ng , or

to make a m ine pay i ts way wi th black labour . Thenthe matte r at once becomes one of very seri ous 1m

portance,even , i n many cases , of l i fe and death .

Only such peopl e can take a prac t i cal part i n th i sd i scuss ion .

The black has ga i ned two th ings th rough Europeanannexat ion wh ich he d id not possess before : secu ri tyo f l i fe and property . I t i s r ight and proper that hepay for these . I n Ge rmany we pay for the protec t ionextended to us by the S tate wi th taxes and compul sory

2 74

AMONG BIG GAME

mi l i tary serv ice . None of us cal l s th i s i nhuman andbrutal .The negro accepts these pri v i l eges

,but i t never

occurs to h im to make a vol un tary retu rn of any ki ndfo r them .

The wh i te gi ves h im l egal protec t i on ; the wh i tebu i lds roads and rai lways wh ich the black shares . Mr .N igger i n Rhodes ia

,as i n Portuguese Man ica , S i ts s t i l l

and looks on . When one knows how capabl e he is

when forced to work,wi l l on e find , i n these en t i rely

unj ust ifiable theoret i cal cons ide rat ion s of the world ofChri st ian cul ture

,any j ust ificat ion for l e t t i ng h im s ink

to the l evel of a lazy and arrogan t boor, from AlgoaBay to the grea t Syrte ? I f Eu rope wishes th i s , i twould have been bet te r for the negro world i f one hadle ft i t to i ts Gungunja n a s , Mirambos , Mtesa s , and Abdullahs

,who at l eas t ex tracted a quan t i ty of economic

al l y u sefu l work from i t . As far a s th e wh i te settle r isconce rn ed , howeve r, I can on ly adv i se h im to exchangethe black con t i nen t as soon as poss ibl e fo r some othe rport ion of our plane t

,as long a s the ex is t i ng v iews and

laws i n regard to the t reatmen t of the negro world arei n force . The farmer can certa i n ly earn no money i nAfr i ca he i s no t even su re of h is l i fe , as long as th elaw recogn ises th e negro a s a c i t i zen wi th equal r igh ts .This is perhaps poss i bl e i n Ameri ca

,where the wh i te

forms the bas is o f the populat ion . Bu t i t is fatal i nAfri ca , where the negro not onl y fo rms the absol utemaj or i ty , but where the natural cond i t i on s and alsothe i ncrease of popula t i on ari s i ng from the adopt ion OfEuropean cond i t ions of l i fe assu re his cont i n uance .

When I see that the farmer i n Melsette r,the coffee

plan te r i n B lan tyre,the m ine-owner and prospector i n

Umtal i , the gra in -deale r i n I nyanga are ruin ed'

by the2 76

AMONG B IG GAME

ex i s t i ng Exete r Hal l governed regu lat ions for thetreatmen t o f the blacks

,the t i nke ri ng w i th th i s problem

wh i ch i s carr i ed on by the Charte red Company ofSouth Afri ca can only fi l l me wi th aston i shed compass ion . The company imports workmen fromArabia , Abyss i n ia , and Somal i land . Thousands ofyears ago Arab ians and Abyss i n ians forced the blacksof South A fri ca to work the gold a min es of th i s part ofthe globe for them . To -day these peopl e from thenorth are expected to do the rough work

,i n orde r that

the "black may enjoy secu ri ty of l i fe and property i ncom rta ble S lo th . The black i s a much bet te r navvythan the sens i t i ve northerner . Bes ides th i s theimpo rted labour is i n comparably deare r . Why ,the refore

,not t reat the black on his own natu ral

bas i s , wh ich Gungunja n a a n d Company appl i ed w i thsuch success ! Why not i n troduce legal i sed forcedlabou r

,wi th the mod ificat ions wh ich our modern

sen t imen t demands ? The Chartered Company wouldnot onl y cons ide rably improve i ts own budget , butwould al so afford many thousands of Eu ropeans anopportun i ty of prospe ri ng i n its te rri to ri es . Nor would ,i n al l probab i l ity

,any such ru i nous import dut i es be

requ i red to bu i l d up Rhodes ia as those wh ich are nowlev ied .

The form of such fo rced labour can be selected fromseveral al te rnat i ves . Ei ther so heavy an annual pol ltax can be put on the negro that he i s forced to work ,at leas t for seve ral mon ths

,i n orde r to earn the money

to pay i t,in wh ich case a t l east £ 5 a head should be

charged— a fine source of revenue for the S tate ; o rel se

,as has been before sa id was done by the Boe rs ,

one can demand that eve ry male negro of a certai nage Shal l carry a s ix mon ths ’ “l abou r t i cke t that i s

2 77

AMONG B IG GAME

to say , proves that he worked at l eas t s ix months at awh i te

’

s during the pas t year . I f h e fa i l s to Show th i sguaran tee he i s sentenced to forced labou r fo r th e samenumber of mon ths

,and i n cases of repe t i t i on to more .

Agai n a good haul for the Gove rnmen t i s e ffected .

To me the most advantageous system seems to beone i n wh i ch the negro i s forced

,fol l owi ng th e exampl e

la id down by Pruss ian m i l i tary law,to devote some

twel ve years of h i s l i fe to work i ng fo r th e Government .Duri ng th i s t ime he shoul d rece i ve food and She l te r,and a smal l wage , sav abou t two sh i l l i ngs a mon th ,l i ke the P russ ian sold ie r . H e should have S unday forh imsel f, he shou ld be al lowed to marry , he should bet reated humanely and j us tl y .

The labou r thus obta i ned should be con tractedou t by the Governmen t to pr i vate en terpri ses . Theplan te r cou ld , bes ides keep , pay s ix sh i l l i ngs a mon thto each workman

,the m i ne -owners twel ve to fi fteen

sh i l l i ngs a mon th . The d i fference be tween the twosh i l l i ngs wh ich the Governmen t pays the negro and '

the S ix Sh i l l i ngs wh ich i t rece i ves for h i s work wouldi n most cases be suffic i en t , whe re the wh i tes adm in i ste rthe i r own count r i es

,to cover the cos t of such a dmin i

s tra tion . I ns tead of,as to -day , mak ing the Europeanpay for the whol e bus i ness

,i n the shape of dut i es ,

taxes,l i censes

,&c .

,th e negro would be forced to bear

the burden i n re tu rn for the advan tages he enj oys .Thus the Eu ropean s tates would be released , wh i ch ,as i n the case of the German Empi re

,spend qu i te d i s

proport ionate sums o n th e admi n i s t rat ion of the i rAfri can colon i es ; and so wou ld th e wh i te se tt l e rs ,who , i n Rhodes ia fo r i nstance , th rough the presen tsys tem of taxat ion , are be i ng d ri ve n to the ve rge o fru i n , wh i le the negroes themsel ves would be the

2 78

AMONG B IG GAME

means of c iv i l employmen ts , s im i lar rewards fo r se rv i cepe rfec tl y ca rr i ed th rough . I n th i s d i rec t ion thegran t i ng of farms to part i cularl y abl e and rel iabl elabou re rs i s to be spec ial l y recommended . By th ismeans one wi l l be abl e to ass i s t the agri cul tu raldevelopmen t of Afri ca to a remarkable degree .

I n te rnat ional arrangemen ts would have to be madei n o rde r to h i nde r the workmen from runn i ng off fromone colony i n to th e othe r

,s im i lar to the ex i s t i ng

arrangemen ts o f the European s tates i n regard todeserte rs . Only by th i s means w i l l Europe be ableto get the negro completely under con t rol . I n th i sway a real t ra i n i ng o f the black for work wi l l bereached . Beh ind al l th ese measu res , natural ly , thefu l l freedom of th e i nd i v idual to con t ro l h i s work mustal so be the goal i n Afri ca . Only i n the black con t i nen tone must no t s impl y cl ear at a bound the t ra i n i ng ofcen tu ries wh i ch the Eu ropean has had to go th roughto reach the s tage of free con t ract .That al l so rts of pos i t i ve obj ect ions wi l l be ra i sed

agai ns t my proposal I foresee . But i f any one comeswi th the sta le reproach that i t is i nhuman , he wi l l haveto prove to me i n what way i t is more bru tal than theGerman sys tem of m i l i tary Serv i ce . “The Ge rmanArmy is a school for the Ge rman people . Al l r igh t ;the o rgan i sat ions of the black workmen wi l l be l i ke i t .The German sold i e r mus t figh t fo r the freedom ofhis coun t ry . R igh t agai n ; and the black workmenwi l l carry on the agri cu l tu ral devel opmen t of his .

The phrase “A peopl e under arms I w i l l set i nAfri ca bes ide “A people wi th spades and hammers .What i s i nhuman i n th i s ?

S uch conclus ions were ve ry natural i n coun tr i es l i kethe Sabi and Melse t te r regions , where a ki ndly pro

2 80

AMONG B IG GAME

viden ce had fu rn i shed every cond i t i on for agr i cul tu ralprogress and weal th , and where , i n sp i te of th i s , thefarmer i s i n actual wan t

,because an i ncomprehens ible

l egi slat ion al lows the r ich labou r-power of the land tol i e fal low . I may add to th i s that I have onl y exp ressed he re what are pract i cal l y the l ead ing ideas ofal l i n tel l igen t peopl e i n te rested i n South and Cen tralAfrica . I f Europe w i l l n o t al l ow these a dec i s i vevo ice in the regulat ion of matte rs that to them are

OLD RU I NS AT M ELSETTER .

v i tal,al l these set t l ements mus t e i the r be ru i ned or

el se free themsel ves by force from European tutelage .

On May 1 3 th ou r operat ion s i n the Sab i V al l eywere for th e t ime concl uded , and I could se t out onthe march back . In spl end id weathe r we agai nascended the gorge of the Injambaba , wh ich , however ,

we soon parted from so as to turn d i rec tl y towards

Mrs .Webste r’s farm . The ascen t was impress i ve .

Enormous wal l s o f S l ate fal l sheer in to the val l ey onboth s ides

,to the l eft a t remendous dome of rock

2 8 1

AMONG B IG GAME

towers ove r th e i ncl i ne . The fol iage of the t reesgl ows i n au tumnal t i n ts . But beh ind us reaches thebroad Sab i P la i n

,th rough wh ich the ri ve r w inds l i ke

a sh i n i ng r ibbon .

A road cou ld be bu i l t here,al though the ascen t

would natural ly be on e of great d i fficul ty .

Towards noon we had cl imbed th e gorge , and nowa further march of abou t seven m i l es

,part l y th rough

fores t , part l y th rough the fields of the nat i ves , brough tus back to M rs . \Veb s ter

’

s farm,wh ich we reached

towards th ree o ’clock,and agai n p i tched ou r camp on

the old spot nex t to the set t l ement .Soon after our arr i val I l earn t that Bekker’s and

young M r . Webster ’s ox—waggons we re ly i ng at Mrs .

Mood ie’

s farm , from whence they were go i ng nex tmorn ing to Umtal i . Consequen t ly I at once d espatched a l e t te r w i th the reques t that they shouldwai t for me

,as I agai n wanted to make use of th i s

opportun i ty for t ransport .The n igh ts on the Mel se t te r P lateau were now

always b i tterly cold . I t froze regularl y ou t-of-doors ,and a few days late r

,even i n the ten ts . I s l ep t i n

seve ral wool l en sh i rts and two pai rs o f pan ts regularl y .

AS I i n tended to send a new exped i t ion to thecopper-field s before long, I l e ft a number of uten s i l sbeh i nd me i n M rs . Webste r

’

s store,and set ou t early

on the morn i ng of May 14 th w i th twen ty—six l oads forMrs . Dunbar Mood ie ’s farm . Here we arr i ved towards noon , and r igh t enough the Boe r waggons werethere . We were very heart i l y rece i ved on al l S ides .

I n the afte rnoon B locke r and I v i s i ted one of theold ru in s wh ich l i e scat te red ove r th i s part of theMelset te r P lateau . I t s tood on a h i ll on the r igh thand s ide of the Umtal i Road

,and we could recogn ise

2 82

AMONG E’

IG GAME

scape that I have seen . One compares impress ionsand observat ions , and thus obtai n s a far cleare r p ictu reof the ne ighbourhood . I t would

,howeve r

,hardly

i n te res t my readers to have a detai l ed accoun t o f ourre turn jou rney .

On Satu rday , May 1 8 th,I sen t H err B locker on i n

advance w i th a few porte rs by th e d i rec t fo res t -path toUmtal i , to have our cla ims regi s te red there , and thento go on immed iatel y to Macequece to se t tl e othe rbus i ness matters .On May 1 9 th we were i n Melset te r, where I was

aga in mos t heart i l y wel comed by M r . Longden , h i ssec retary , and M r . Mered i th . I n Melse t te r . I al so metM r . L a rssen , a young Dane , the sender of the tel egramfrom Umtal i wh i ch had so su rpr i sed me on my ou tward march . He had an old map of De l’Isle ’

s i nh i s possess i on , and wa s l ook i ng ou t for anc i en t goldm ines w i th that as a gu ide . I have not l earn t whatbecame of his exped i t ion .

A rad ian t,sunny haze rests ove r my memories of

the whol e of our j ou rn ey back . Forest and meadowlay before us i n the ful l glo ry of au tumn ; the seasonhad advanced cons ide rabl y i n the fou r weeks that hadi n te rvened . I t wasa t ime of sweet peace and thoroughrelaxat ion fo r the nervous sys tem st ra i ned by weeks o fres t lessness .

On May 2 5 th, at th ree o’clock i n the afternoon , th e

hol low of Umtal i l ay once more before ou r eyes . Thejou rney had lasted exactly s ix weeks , and sel dom i nmy l i fe have s ix weeks had so s t rengthen in g an effec ton my heal th a s these . More fresh and en ergetic I

have never fel t than on the re turn from my exped i t i onto the Sabi . Melset ter may be regarded as the SouthAfri can sanator ium .

2 84

AMONG B IG GAME

And what i n te res t ing impress ions we had obtai nedon th i s j ourney To form a cl ear Opi n ion abou t Sou thAfri ca con s ide red as an anc ien t E ldorado

,one must

regard the Sab i cha i n of copper-mines as the necessarycomplemen t to the gold -mines of Mashona andMan ica- lands . We can now establ i sh that gold ,

copper, and i ron ce rta i n ly , poss ibly al so prec iouss tones , have been worked from t ime immemorial i nth i s part o f the earth . Thi s gives us a much moresol i d foundat ion for the explanat ion of the myster iousridd les wh ich have come down to us from the greyes tan t iqu i ty . True we had al ready known whence camethe gold fo r the temple of K i ng Solomon . Ourj ou rney to th e Sab i had by pe rsonal obse rvat ion sprov ided us wi th a S ign -pos t by wh ich we couldperhaps find an answer to the quest ion from whenced id the Egypt ians obta i n the coppe r of the i r voyagesto Punt ?

Chance wi l l ed i t that i n Umtal i I rece i ved tworemarkable i ncent i ves wh i ch d i rec ted my though ts toth i s matte r . M r . F a irbridge , an old set tl e r i n Rhodes iawho took a l i ve ly i n te res t i n al l th e archaeologi calprobl ems of the coun try , Showed me , when on a v i s i tto h i s house

,th ree cop ies he had made of newly

d iscovered pai n t i ngs by Bushmen . The pose of thefigures

,the charac te r of th e drawing , the head -dress ,

rem inded one at the fi rs t glance o f the frescoes i nEgypt ian temples

,and made u s both dec ide on the

i nfluence of anc i en t Egyptian cul tu re .

Duri ng the same t ime I saw much of M r . B i rch ,the D i rec tor of Pol i ce at Umtal i , who i s also anarchaeologis t and has al so made an i nte res t ing co llec

t ion,whe re i n he i s great ly ass i s ted by h is many

relat ion s wi th the nat i ves . Among othe r th i ngs he2 85

AMONG BIG GAME

showed me the upper part o f a statue tte wh ich wasfound 1 7

° S . l at . 3 2° E . l ong . south of the Z ambes i .The figure was undoubtedly Egypt ian . Mr . B i rchgave i t to me , so as to have i t exam ined more close ly .

Th i s fu rther exam inat ion wh ich Professor F l i ndersPe tri e made here i n London proved the en t i re correctness o f ou r assumpt i on . I f we find Egypt ian re l i cssou th o f the Zambes i , we may cons ide r oursel vesj us t ified i n i n ferri ng that d i rec t Egypt ian relat ionswere mai nta i ned as far a s these regions

,j us t as

,fo r

i ns tance , Mommsen i n fe rs , from the offshoots of theRoman d i scover i es , the l im i ts of Roman authori ty or ,i f not that , of Roman i n te rcourse . I w i l l t reat th i smatte r more fu l ly i n the nex t chapter . Here I wi l lconfine mysel f to Say i ng that the week wh ich I Spen ti n Umtal i be tween May 2 5 th and june I s t was , wi thi ts i n teres t i ng archaeologi cal exper i ences and i ncen t i ves

,

a very useful complemen t to ou r d i scover i es on theSabi . To a certa i n exten t i t removed the fact o f theold copper -mines to a h ighe r and more generalplane .

On june Is t I re tu rned to Man icaland ove rMacequece

,made my las t arrangemen ts for the two

m ines I had acqu i red , i n wh i ch meanwh i l e work hadbeen proceed i ng energet i cal l y . The managemen t ofthe Moun t Mol tke M i ne I confided to M r. Eyre ,wh i l e M r . Bul l was l e ft i n charge of the Win dahgilM ine .

By june 1 1 th everyth i ng was i n orde r, and I set

ou t wi th H err B locke r for B e i ra , a very unpleasan tcon trast i n cl imate to the splend id plateauwe had left .Here I had a quan t i ty of bus i ness to set tl e , and onlyon ju ly 2 n d d id I beg i n on the s teamer of theMessager i es Mari t imes

,my retu rn j ou rney over

2 86

AMONG BIG GAME

on you th ful proj ects o f th i s so rt . I was forced todevote my atten t ion to the far poore r regions of m idAfr i ca . How much grander wou ld the pos i t i on ofGermany have been i n Afri ca had i t begun by lay inghands on the cool , wel l -watered gold regions south ofthe Zambes i ! The annexat ion s furthe r north couldhave been added wi th ease . A German Colon ialEmpi re from the L impopo to the Upper N i l e andthe Gul f of Aden was poss ible

,whose southern

fron t i e r would have had no t the Eng l i sh bu t theBoers a s ne ighbour. At one blow we would havepossessed a coun try fo r se t t l e rs , and , i n the goldm i nes , a field fo r the employmen t o f Germancap i tal .Accord i ng to the l egend of the anc i en t Egypt ians

the modern gods wande red from Pun t , the fabulou sE ldorado of the sou th , northwards . The Privy Councillors , vo n K usserow , Dr . K rauel , and Dr . K ayse r,were apparen tly not the men to promote the advanceof Germany i n to the “home of the gods .

2 88

CHAPTER XI

THE GOL D OF OPH IR

ORE than hal f a cen tu ry ago Carl Ri t te r cameto the concl us ion that al l poss ib i l i t ies of ex

pla in i ng the Oph i r probl em were al ready exhausted,

be i t the c r i t i c i sm of the tex t,o r the i n te rpretat ion

of the obj ect i ve of the voyage , or the etymologicalau then t i cat ion and th e origi n o f the goods brough tback ” vol . xiv . fol .Th i s con cl us ion wa s ful ly j ust ified as long as i t wa s

sough t to solve th i s quest ion from the studen ts ’ desksof Europe ; by general theore t i c cons iderat ions , bycommerc ial hypotheses

,by ph i lol ogi cal analyses .

There fancy had a w ide playground . The one suggested th i s region

,the othe r that . Some brought a

happy though t to market others se rved up anyth i ngthat en tered the i r head . There wa s a chaos of contra d ictory,

somet imes of wel l - founded , frequen tly ,though

,of al toge the r crazy , assert ions and hypo

theses .I do not i n tend to reopen th i s maze of theori es and

fab ricat ions . T he reader who wishes to glance th roughi t I can refe r to Carl R i tte r h imsel f, o r , should heprefe r a shorte r summary

,to my own book , K ing

S olomon’

s Gola’en Op/zir (pp .

For years my at t i tude towards th i s quest ion has2 89 t

'

THE GOLD OF OP H IR

been that i t i s imposs ibl e to arr i ve at the s i tuat ion ofOph i r by means of theore t i cal deduct ion s

,and that one

must actual l y d iscover i t somewhe re on the earth . I ts tand s to reason that an E ldorado

,from wh ich a S i ngle

exped i t i on last i ng th ree years re tu rned to J erusal emwi th a mass of gold we igh i ng 420 tal en ts (of I 1 4 l bs .t roy , or 4 2 , 6 kg . each), must be i nd icated to -day byunassa i lable a rchaeologi cal remai ns . One must reflec tthat th i s amoun t represen ts a value of ove r £ 1

And in 1 Caron icles xx ix . 4, we even read that K i ngDav id had brough t togethe r talen ts of gold fromOph i r

,represen t i ng a val ue of

S O l arge a quan t i ty of gold could not have beenobta i ned w i thout extens i ve m in i ng operat ions

,and of

these the re must be d i s t i nc t t races remain i ng somewhere , unl ess we wish to d iscard the whol e t rad i t i onof a golden Oph i r, and relegate i t to the l umbe r- roomof trave l l e r’s tale s . Acco rd i ngly research ough t

,fo r

good or i l l , to have qu i t ted the comfortable wri t i ngtables of Europe and to have set about a search i n theregions of the I nd ian Ocean , o r o f the Red Sea atl east . When Ri t te r wrote the words c i ted above , th eexaminat ion of th i s probl em had not , as he supposed ,been exhausted in -al l d i rect ion s ; i t had hardly beenbegun . The explore r and not the S tuden t had to speakthe dec i s i ve word .

S tart i ng from these remarks one arr ives at thefundamental concept ion on wh ich the fol lowi ng exam inat i on i s based N o solution of tae Oplzir p roolemis wort/23x of scien tific con sidera tion taa

‘

t does n ot sta r t

from tlte clea r a n a’ irrefraga ble eviden ces of a n cien t,

a n a’

,to oe more precise, a n cien t S emitic gold

-min ing

opera tion s .

I t i s poss i ble that a coun try , i n sp i te of such ev idences ,2 90

THE GOLD OF OP H IR

need not be rega rded as th e Oph i r of the Old Testamen t ; here one has to take the spec ial c i rcumstancesi n to cons ide rat i on . Bu t where such a bas i s i s absen t ,th e reader of 1 90 2 can safely th row every sc i e nt ifict reat i se on the Oph i r p robl em i n to the fi re . H e wi l lge t noth ing bu t empty words in s tea d

'

of th e facts hehas a righ t to expect .H e who se ts ou t i n search of any place on the

st rength of a d esc r i pt i on,be i t i n th e fores t o r i n

the pla i n , does wel l to impress eve ry s ign by wh ichone may recogn i se i t fa i th fu l l y on his mind . Therefore we wi l l c l ea rly enumerate eve ryth i ng that ou rau thori t i es tel l u s abou t Sol omon ’s Oph i r , and keepi t sharply before ou r eyes . We are

,howeve r

,main ly

d i rec ted to the passages i n K ings , and the passagesthat correspond to these i n Caron icles . The twobooks of K ings are , apparen tly , an abridgmen t of theS tate Annal s a s they were reco rded from year to yearat the Court of K i ng Solomon . Cnron icles i s a late rremodel l i ng of the same mate rial

,and , accord i ng to

Ewald,only dates from abou t the m iddl e of the fou rth

cen tury B .C. Therefore , whe re K ings d i ve rges fromCaron icles , preference should be g i ven to K

'

ings .

I n add i t i on to these essen t ial l y h i s to ri cal sou rces ofi n format ion i n regard to the Oph i r exped i t i on we havethe so -cal l ed Tabl e of the Nat ions of Gen esis to cons ide r (chap . x . 2 5 Here Oph i r appears i n th efol low i ng con tex t : “And un to Eber were born twosons the name of the one was Pel eg ; for i n h i s dayswas the earth d iv ided ; and his

’

b rother’

s name wasJ oktan . And J oktan begat Almodad

,and Shel eph

,

and Hazarmaveth,and J e rah ; and Hadoram and

U zal and D iklah ; and Obal and Ab imael , and Sheba ;and Oph i r and H av i lah and J obab al l these were the

2 92

THE GOLD OF O P H IR

sons o f J oktan . And the i r dwel l i ng was from Mesha,

as thou goes t toward Sepha r,the mounta i n of the

East .A . H . Sayce , who i s supported i n th i s by D r . Edward

G lase r, expla i ns that th i s “Table of the Nat ions” can

lay no cla im to represen t an e thnograph i cal chart . I ti s pu re l y geograph ical i. e. , i t g i ves a l is t of Arabianplace - names . The Eber ment ioned i s pe rhaps thec rad le of the H ebrews , who are thus t raced back toSouth Arabia and the Phoen ic ian coun try as the i r placeof origi n . Oph i r here appears be tween Sheba andH av i lah . The whol e region i n ques t i on i s exac tlyspec ified geograph i cal ly i n verse 30 . Mesa or Meshais , accord ing to Ri t te r (ibia

’. fol . the modern Musa

,

and Sephar, la te r known as Dhafa r, Dhofa r by M i rbati n the i ncense coun t ry , i s now the “Isphor o f thenat i ves .

“The moun tai n o f the East i s the mode rnrange ofin cen se moun ta i ns , cal l ed F aguer i n the Ekhililanguage . The Ekhili language i s a d ialec t o f theremote ly anc ien t H imyari t i c tongue .

The sons of J oktan , among whom were Oph i r andHav i lah

,l i ved

,the refore

,towards the eas t o f the

modern Hadramaut . I w i l l re tu rn to th i s late r i nconnec t ion wi th the researches of D r. Edward Glaser,Theodore Bent

,and P rofessor Keane , and only add

here that H av i lah i s men t i oned as the son of Cush

(Gen esis x . and there fore as belong i ng to aHami t i c t r i be . Bu t i n the Creat ion (Gen esis i i .Hav i lah i s ment ioned i n connect ion wi th the fol lowi ngcon tex t : “And a ri ve r wen t ou t of Eden ; and fromthence i t wa s parted and became fou r heads . T/ze

n ame of t/zefi rst is P isnon t/ia t is it w/z ic/t compa sset/i

t/te wnole la n a’of H am/a lt , wnere tli ere is gola

’

; andthe gold of that land is good : there i s bdel l i um and

3 93

THE GOLD OF OP H I R

onyx s tone . And the name of the second ri ve r i sG ihon : the same i s i t that compasseth the whol eland of Cush . And the name o f the th i rd r i ver i sH iddekel : that i s i t wh ich goeth i n fron t of Assyria .

And the fourth r ive r i s Euph rates (verses 10

Th i s i s in te res t i ng i n relat io n to ou r i nqu i ry ,because i t shows how fluc tuat i ng these geograph i calpronouncements i n Gen esis are . While we wered i rec ted to Yemen or even to the Afr ican coast forthe Cush i te H av i lah

,th e Hav i lah of Parad i se br i ngs

us to the Pe rs ian Gul f,i n the wate rshed ofth e Lower

Euphra t’

es . With the Hav i lah of the “Table of theNat ions , we , howeve r, found ourse l ves , as we haveseen , i n th e easte rn Hadramau t , on the southe rn coas tofAra b ia . How n ow mus t we explai n th i s ? Werethe re seve ral H av i lahs

,or i s only one and the same

d i s tr i c t d i ffe ren t ly l ocated i n the seve ral or ig i nalb ibl i cal sou rces wh ich are brought together i n theBook of Genes i s ? Trad i t i on gi ves us no answer toth i s ques t ion . We see ,

th ere fo re,how l i t t l e can be

done for ou r probl em wi th these s tatemen ts i n Genes i s .One i nves t igato r i n te rprets them th i s way , anotherthat . The refo re

,they possess no real weight as evi

dence for one theory o r the othe r . Let us lay themas ide for the presen t .To ou r quest ion

,where d id Dav id and Solomon

send the i r t reasu re - sh ips,and whence came the gold of

Oph i r , we have , as al ready said , to go to K ings andC/tron icles for an answer ; and here we arr i ve onfi rme r h i s to ri cal ground .

There the fi rs t passage to i n te res t u s i s i n1 Cnron icles xx ix . 3 and 4 I gi ve i t un to the houseof my God

,over and above al l that I have prepared

for the holy house ; even th ree thousand tal en ts of2 94

THE GOLD OF OP H IR

temple , th i s can on ly have been th rough m i n ing ,a s

the J ews of h is e ra were much too poor to procu resuch quant i t i es o f the prec ious metal by barter . ThatEupolemo s cal l s Oph i r o r Urphe o r Upher an i s land ,proves that i t lay oversea and not overland

,an d was

reached by Sh ip .

Thi s much we may take fo r gran ted , that the Oph i rgold voyages we re al ready be ing energet i cal ly prosecuted unde r Dav id .

H is great so n and successo r, Solomon , seems tohave organ i sed these exped i t i on s wi th a greate r degreeof regulari ty . He re we are on th e fi rm ground of theBook of K i ngs :

1 K ings i x . 2 6— 2 8 :“And K i ng Solomon made

a navy of sh ips i n E z io n -gebe r,wh ich i s bes ide

Eloth , on“ the Shore of the Red Sea

,i n the land

of Edom . And H i ram sen t i n the navy h i s ser

van ts , sh ipmen that had knowledge of the sea , wi ththe servan ts of Solomon . And they came to Oph i rand fe tched from thence gold

,fou r hundred and

twen ty tal en ts,and brough t i t to K i ng Solomon .

”

2 K ings x . 1 0 ,1 1

° “And she (the Queen ofSheba)gave the k i ng an hundred and twen ty talen tso f gold

,and of sp i ces ve ry great s tore , and prec ious

s tones there came no such abundance of spi ces thanwh i ch the Queen of Sheba gave to K i ng Solomon .

And the navy al so of H i ram,that brought gold from

Oph i r,brough t i n from Oph i r great pl enty of algum

t rees and prec ious s tones .I n the S econd Book of Caron icles (v i i i . 1 7 , 1 8)the

same s tory i s n arrated i n the fol low ing form :

“Then (afte r the bu i ld i ng of the temple)wen tSolomon to E z io n -geber , and to Eloth , on the sea

shore i n the land of Edom . And H u ram sen t h im2 96

THE GOLD OF O P H I R

by the hands of h i s se rvan ts sh ips,and servants that

had knowledge of the sea ; and they came w i thth e se rvan ts of Solomon to Oph i r

,and fe tched from

thence fou r hundred and fi fty talents o f gold,and

brought them to K i ng Solomon .

Ke i l explai ns the d i ffe rence i n the number of talen tsi n K ings and C/z ron icles by a cl eri cal erro r , causedth rough the s im i lari ty of the H ebrew s igns fo r 4 20and 450 . On th i s mat te r

,i n accordance wi th the

general c r i t i ca l pos i t i on we have taken up , we fol lowK ings , as the olde r sou rce .

D r.Edward Glaser,at presen t the best au thor i ty in

regard to the most anc ien t Arabian h is tory,tel l s us

that Sheba and Saba are two d i fferen t forms of oneand the same name . The Sabaean Empi re had i tscen tre of grav i ty i n Sou th -easte rn Arab ia , in Yemen .

The cap i tal , Ma ra ia ba Bahrama lakum VVa tch- towe rof the Royal wh i ch D r . G lase r has recentlyv i s i ted , lay abou t four days

’ j ou rney east of Sana , thepresen t cap i tal of Yemen . The Queen of Sheba IS

the Pri n cess B i l k is of the Arabian t rad i t ion . Accordin g to l egend she became the m ist ress of Solomon ,and the rul e rs of Abyss i n ia boas t of havi ng sprungfrom th is un ion .

The rul e o f the Sabaeans extended over the wholeof the eas t of the Afri can coas t

,and

,as we shal l see

late r on,i n cl uded th e gold—field s of Man ica and

Mashona- lands . The ru i ns of the temple in the oldcapi tal of Queen B i lk i s at Marib , and the remain s o fthe templ e bu i ld ings i n Easte rn Mashonaland and onthe Sab i

,are of one and the same origin .

1 shal l have to retu rn to th i s late r . But i t i s importan t to bear th i s fac t i n m ind i n cons ideri ng theoccas ion of the Queen of Sheba

’

s v i s i t to J e rusalem ,

2 97

THE GOLD OF OP H IR

that i t i s no t a mere co i nc idence that the gold exped it i ons of H i ram and Solomon i n K ings as wel l as

’

Caron icles are reco rded i n connec t ion w i th th i s v i s i t o fOueen B i lk i s . I t i s more than probabl e that theyorigi nated from th is v i s i t .The Oueen of Sheba , as P rofessor K eane hardly

need have i ns i s ted on , came across the desert ove rland to J e rusal em . Thi s i s ev iden t from the passagei n wh ich i t i s s tated that she came wi th a large follow i ng , wi th camel s laden w i th sp i ces . For ourques t ion th i s i s i n te res t i ng i n so far as i t proves thatthe o rd inary t rade route from Yemen to As ia M i norwa s at that t ime not viii th e Red Sea , for i n that caseB i l k i s al so would have t ravel l ed by that rou te . Wecan , however , concl ude from th i s that Solomon andH i ram a s wel l

,i f the i r gold exped i t ions had been

voyages to th e Sabaean Empi re i n South Arabia ,would not have equ ipped a fl eet i n E z io n -gebe r, bu twould have sen t camel s l i kewi se . For the J ews at leas twere much l ess at home on the sea than the mari t imeSabaeans . From the d i ffe rence i n the equ ipmen tsof the exped i t io n of th e Queen of Sheba to J e rusalemand the Solomon -Hi ram exped i t ion s to Oph i r we cantake i t a s se tt l ed that the obj ect i ve of the two wa s no tthe same region (Sou th -easte rn Arabia), bu t that i twa s a quest ion of two d i fferen t goal s , and we mayi n fe r from the connect ion be tween both en terpri sesthat i n Spi te of th i s the obj ect i ve of the voyagesto Oph i r was somewhere w i th i n the boundar ies ofSabaean overlo rdsh ip

,wh i ch extended over the whole

of Eas t Afri ca . That the gold of Oph i r was notiden t i cal wi th the gold that came from Arabia i s ,moreove r, qu i te cl ear from the fol lowi ng passagei n 1 K ings x . 1 4,

I 5 :

2 98

THE GOLD OF OP H IR

in the res t of the i r s tatemen ts the re are essen t ialcon trad i ct i ons i n the two vers ion s . I n both

,i t i s t rue ,

the Oph i r fl ee t i s dest royed at E z ion -gebe r . I nKi ngs , despi te J ehoshapha t

’

s decl i n i ng to al ly h imsel fwi th Ahaz iah ; i n Caron icles , because h e made suchan al l iance . Apparen t ly the ve rs ion i n Caron icles i sa late r and biassed accoun t from th e hand of anorthodox pr i es t of J ehovah

, who seeks a myst icalreason for the .

fa ilure of the exped i t ion , and finds i ti n th e al l iance wi th the Baal—worsh ippers . We fol lowthe s impler accoun t of K ings .

J ehoshaphat was the grea t -grandson of K i ng Solomon

,and re igned from 8 7 3

— 848 . I t i s i n te res t i ng tonote that he made an at tempt to renew the Oph i rpol i cy . These en terpr i ses

,reckoned from the t ime

of Dav id , th e refore cover the epoch from abou t1 0 30

— 8 50 E C.

The I dumeans,to whose te rr i tory E z ion -geber

belonged,were old hered i tary foemen of the IS

ra elites . They were al ready defeated by Saul , andwere final l y ove rth rown by K i ng Dav id . Solomonwa s the fi rs t to bu i ld dockyards i n th i s harbou r , andhe used i t a s a po i n t of departure for h i s overseaen terpri ses i n al l iance wi th H i ram ,

wi th the concu rrence of the k ind red Sabaeans i n the sou th- eas to f A rab ia .

A quest ion wh ich ari ses i n regard to E z ion -geberas the po in t o f departure for the voyages to Oph i ri s

,how d id H i ram

,the K i ng of Tyre , get the sh ips

wh ich he sen t to Solomon to that port ? Certa in lynot ove r the I s thmus of Suez ! Keane gives al engthy cons i derat ion to th i s ques t ion

,and works

i t ou t th i s way . Meneptah I.,

1 366 made acanal , us ing -the N i l e del ta , from Buba stes (near the

300

'

l HE GOLD OF O PH IR

p resen t Zagaz ig) to some po i n t above the head o fthe Gul f o f S uez , the reby open ing a pas sage fo rsh ips from the Med i te rranean i n to the Red Sea (T/zeGold of p . I t i s h ighly probable thatH i ram

’

s sh i ps c ame th i s way . Perhaps they werealso bu i l t i n E z io n -geber . That they were brough tthere K ings does not relate , bu t on ly the late rCnron icles . But the Books of th e A

’

ings s tateexpressly that both Solomon and J ehoshaphat bu i l tthe i r sh i ps at E z io n -gebe r . The J ewi sh flee t wa s

,

the refore , ce rta i n ly not t ransported from the Med iter

ra n ea n to the Gul f of Akaba . VVhen ce H i ramordered h i s sh ips there i s not men t ioned ; we areonly tol d that they sai l ed from E z io n -gebe r w i thSolomon ’s sh ips to Oph i r . W i th such inexpl i c i tsources we mus t l eave th i s ques t ion open .

Bu t of the act i v i ty of the un i ted fleets we havemore exact explanat i on s i n ou r or iginal sou rces .I n 1 K ings x . 2 1 and 2 2 we read :And al l K ing Solomon

’s d ri nk ing vessel s were of

gold,and al l the vesse l s of the house of the fores t

of Lebanon were of pu re gold : none were o f s i lve r ;i t was noth ing accounted of i n the days o f Solomon .

For the k ing had at sea a navy of Tarsh i sh wi th thenavy of H i ram : once eve ry th ree years came thenavy of Tarsh ish

,bri nging gold and S i l ve r, ivory

and apes and peacocks ” (o r gu i nea - fowl ?)The Second Book of the C/i ron icles gives th e

fol lowi ng render ing of the same i nc iden ts :Chap . i x . 20 and 2 1 :

“And al l K i ng Sol omon’

sd ri nk ing vessel s were of gold , and al l the vessel s ofthe house of the fo res t of Lebanon were of pu re golds i l ve r was noth i ng accoun ted of i n the days of Solomon . For the k i ng had sh ips that wen t to Tarsh ish

30 1

THE GOLD OF OP H IR

wi th the servants of H uram : once eve ry th ree yearscame the sh ips of Tarsh ish

,bri ngi ng gold and si l ve r ,

i vo ry , and apes and peacocks .From the passage i n K ings one fi rs t o f al l sees that

P rofesso r K eane i s righ t i n emphas i s i ng the fac t thatJ ew i sh and , Phoen i c ian Sh ips togethe r wen t on thegold exped i t i on s . The d i ffe rence i n Cnron icles ,

where on l y H i ram ’s servan ts are ment i oned , doesnot affec t th i s conclu s ion .

OtherwIse both passages are i n agreement that thet reasu re flee ts of Solomon came once i n every th reeyears

,not , perhaps , onc e afte r an absence o f th ree

years,bu t i n a regular ro tat ion . I f the author had

not mean t to say th i s he would have had to s tate tha tthey re tu rned from the i r voyage afte r an absence ofth ree years

,and wi th that an end . But he reports

that they always re turned once every th ree years .This i s an ext remely i n teres t i ng fac t towards theunders tand ing of al l these en te rpri ses

,whether i t

s ign i fy that the sh ips t raversed a regular t rade rou tei n th i s t ime or whether they transported the productsof a certa in region only once every th ree years toJ e rusalem . The th ree years al so gi ve us a suffic ien ti n te rval to make the s ea rch fo r ou r Oph i r on a d i s tan tcoas t o f the I nd ian Ocean a reasonabl e one . Weprev iousl y found i t unl i kely that these voyages shouldhave had South Arab ia as the i r obj ec t i ve

,where , a s

we see from the v i s i t o f Queen B i l k is , th e t rade rou tecommon ly used at that t ime lay overland . Now thei nte rval of th ree years is almos t a chal l enge to l e t ou rgaze wande r beyond these matters .Now

,i n add i t ion to gold

,i vory

,ebony and prec ious

s tones , s i l ve r, apes , and peacocks are ment ioned asfre igh t on the re tu rn voyage . The i vory

,in any case ,

302

THE GOLD OF O P H IR

of J avan , El i shah , and Tarsh i sh , K i t t im andDodan im .

J avan i s th e H ebrew name for I on ia , and theTarsh i sh ment i oned here was i n C i l i c ia (Tarsh ish onthe r iver Cydnus ; see K eane , Note 4 2) wh i l eK i t t im i s ou r mode rn Cyprus . I n P sa lms l xx i i . 10

we read :“The K i ngs of Tarsh i sh and of the i s les

shal l br ing presen ts ; the K i ngs of Sheba and Sebashal l o ffe r g i ftsI n E z eé n xxvu. 2 5

“The sh ips of Tarsh i sh werethy caravans for thy merchand ise ; and thou wastrepl en i shed and made very gloriou s i n the heart of theseas .I f we cons ide r these passages

,to wh i ch I could add

others , soberly , we find that Tarsh i sh i s i n eve ry casement ioned as a place re lated to the sea . I t i s mention ed s ide by s ide w i th the i slands , and was knownas a commerc ial port . I al so w i sh to rem ind thereade r that In th e h i s to ry of Phoen i c ian commerc ialpol i cy

,th e name occu rs i n seve ral places . I have

al ready men t ioned the Tarsh i sh i n C i l i c ia . Bes idesth i s Tun is was i n anc i en t t imes cal l ed Tarsh i sh .

There was a promontory cal l ed Tarshish on the coas to f Oman wh ich was passed by theflee t o f Nea rchos ,

the adm i ral o f Alexander the G reat . The Tarsh i shmos t renowned in h istory is the Spa n i sh Ta rtessusof the old G reek world

,known for its exports of S i l ve r .

When names occu r i n th i s manner , and that alwaysi n connect ion w i th ce rta i n wel l -d efin ed places , as he rei n the names of ce rta i n Phoen i c ian t rad i ng stat ion sove rsea , we may accept as a general pri nc ipl e that i tis not so much a quest i on of an i nd iv idual name as ofa gene ral class des ignat ion : someth ing l i ke the Lat i ncolon ia o r ca stellum , wh ich reappears i n corrupted

304

THE GOLD OF OP H I R

forms i n a ll sorts of coun tr i es . The spec ial name hasi n such a case a ri sen from the or ig inal concept ion .

I am , unfo rtunate ly , no Sem i t ic scholar , and cannotthe refore t race Tarsh i sh back ph i lolog i cal ly to itso rigi nal mean ing ; but I would l ike to assume that thePhoen i c ian s or igi nal ly cal l ed a t rad ing se ttl emen tove rsea a Tars i s , and that Tars i s sh ips were thevessel s wh ich kept up the i n te rcou rse between suchset t l ements . I f th i s theory i s righ t

,then K ings and

Cliron icles may both be correct . Solomon and H i rambu i l t Tars i s sh ips

,bu t the Oph i r for wh ich they were

bound was one of the Ta rs ises o f the anc ien t SahmanPhoen ic ian per iod . Keane iden t ifies the Tarsh i sh o fthe

,B ibl e wi th Sofala . For th i s he has absol u tel y no

h is tor i cal foundat i on . But,i n sp i te of th is , h is

suppos i t ion may be the righ t one .

There on ly remai n now several passages from theOld Tes tamen t to be ci ted , i n wh ich Oph i r i s mention ed i n c idental l y , befo re I gathe r together clearlyand pla i n ly my conclus ion s from our sou rces .

foo xxv i i . 1 2,1 6 : Bu t where shal l w i sdom be

found ? and where the place of unders tand ing Manknoweth not the pr i ce the reof, ne i the r is i t found i n theland of the l i v i ng . The deep sa i th , I t i s not i n me '

and the sea sa i th I t i s no t wi th me . I t cannot begotten fo r gold

,ne 1the r shal l s i l ve r be we ighed for the

pri ce thereof. I t cannot be valued wi th the gold ofOph i r

,wi th the prec i ous onyx or the sapph i re .

foo xx i i . 24 :“Then shal t thou lay up gold as

dus t,and the gold of Oph i r as th e stones of the

brooks .P sa lm xlv . 9 :

“K i ngs daughters are among thyhonourabl e women ; at thy righ t hand doth s tand thequeen i n gold of Oph i r .

305

THE GOLD OF OP H IR

[sa ia /i x i i i . 1 2 I w i l l make a man more rare thanfine gold , even a man than the pu re gold of Oph i r .I f one grasps the total impress ion produced by al l

these passages taken together,two characte r i s t i c

ind i cat i ons s tand out cl early at once . F i rs t of al lOph i r was the Eldo rado of that day .

“Gold of Oph i ri s qu i te a fl uen t express ion even there

,where s imply

gold i s mean t , the poe ts o f the P sa lms and of j ob add“of Oph i r ” almos t mechan i cal ly . P rofesso r K eane '

th i nks that i t i s unnecessary that the gold should haveactual ly been m ined i n a coun t ry cal l ed Oph i r i n orderto arr i ve at s uch a facon de pa r/er . I t i s suffi c i en tthat i t was always sh ipped from a certai n port that wa scal l ed Oph i r. Bu t I would l ike to ask i f such an i n te r

preta tion cove rs al l o u r quotat i ons . For i nstance ,

foo xx i i . 24 , where i t is a ques t i on of the brooks ofOph i r

,does not fi t i n w i th M r . K eane

’

s hypoth es i s .I f th e gold were n ot from Oph i r , bu t from somewhereel se

,say from Hav i lah , we shou ld be en t i tl ed to expect

some h i n ts of th i s i n ou r sou rces . But there is not thes l ightes t t race of anyth i ng o f the k ind . The ques t ionwhethe r Oph i r wa s the Eldorado or on ly th e exportharbour , that i s to say place of resh ipmen t , for thegold , actual l y goes hand i n hand wi th the quest ionwhethe r the J ews obta i ned the gold themsel ves bymeans of m in i ng ope rat i ons . or whether they bough ti t . We shal l see late r how the lat te r suppos i t i on i simposs ibl e . Here

‘

I w i l l on l y po in t ou t that ourquotat ion s , rat ional l y i n te rpreted , s imply character i seOph i r as an Eldorado .

Furthe r , Oph i r i s ment ioned th roughou t a s a regionqu i te fam i l iar to everybody at that day . Nowhere i si t cons idered necessary to give any explanat ion of i tsgeograph i cal pos i t i on . I n the Old Testamen t Oph i r

306

CHAPTER X I I

THE ERYTHREAN WORL D BEFORE THE T IM E OF SOLOMON

N the third m i l l enary before the bi rth of Chri s timportan t nat ional movemen ts had taken place

along the shores of the I nd ian Ocean . Aryan t r i besha d qu i t ted the i r an cest ral homes i n Eastern I ran , andhad pushed forward , probably th rough Ca bulista n andthe weste rn passes of the H i ndu K oosh , to I nd ia,where they appeared as conquerors i n the val l ey of theI ndus , and late r al so on the Ganges . The part i cu larso f th i s great m igrat i on of nat ions l i e qu i te beyond ourh is tor i cal t rad i t ion . Thousands of years before ourcomputat ion of t ime

,the north o f I nd ia was i n the

hands of Aryan - B rahm in i cal t r i bes,the Khacija s , the

H i ndus tan i s , Bengal i s , Mahrattas and others . (Compare Lassen : [n discne A ltertnms [( n n de , vol. i. ,

p 468 )I n the same period

,whethe r i n connect i on wi th and

from the same . causes a s th i s Aryan m igrat ion i sen t i rel y unknown

,a movemen t o f S emi t i c tr ibes had

al so taken place,s tart i ng from the Pers ian Gu l f. Here

had been the origi nal home of the Pun i c nat ion , wh ichpoured i tsel f i n two m igh ty s t reams to the north andsou th of th i s region .

I

I Thi s a ssertion is ch iefly ba sed on Dr. Edward G laser’s : “Pun tun d d ie Sud arabischen Re iche,” “Skizze d er Gesch ichte un dGeographie Arabien s,” &c . , a n d “da s W e ihrauchlan d un dSocotra .

”

308

BEFORE THE T I ME OF SOLOMON

The northern movemen t poured i tsel f beyond theRed Sea to the Medi te rranean

,where i t a rr i ved abou t

2000 B . C. , set t l i ng down as Phoen ic ians i n As ia M inor ,as Carthagi n ian s i n North A fr ica

,whence i t pressed

on as M i l es ian s a s far as the B r i t i sh I sl es . To th i ss t ream al so belonged the H ebrews

,the Syrians

,the

Nabatheans an d Babylon ians,who had pene trated

ove rland towards the north .

The second grea t Pun i c st ream,the “South Phoen i

cia n s , founded empi res i n Sou th Arab ia , and pressedas conquero rs ove r East Afri ca . To th is belong theH imyari tes , Minaeans , Sabaeans , Kahta n ides , Azan iansand Abyss i n ians .They rul ed East Africa from Abyss i n ia sou thwards

to beyond Sofala .

I n Solomon’

s t ime empi res of the M inaeansSabaeans , Kahta n ides and the Azan ians

exis ted i n Sou th Arab ia . The country of QueenB i lk i s o f Sheba was bounded on the north by thesouthernmos t prov i nce of the Solomon ic k i ngdom .

The Kahta n ides and the i r d i rec t branches the Gabani tes and H imyari tes were las t i ngl y at warfare wi ththe Sabaeans , and were d ri ven s tep by s tep ou t o fEast Afr i ca by these . The peri ods i n East Afr ica ,accord i ng to G l ase r

,succeeded one anothe r in the

fol lowi ng orde r :

(1)The Azan ians , Whose sou thernmost harbour wa sRhapta ,

i den t i cal,as I wi l l Show late r on , wi th the

Quilima n e o f to-day .

(2)The K ahta n id es— H imyari tes .

(3)The Sabaean s .The las t named

,apparen tl y , pressed the fu rthest

towards the sou th . The i r ch ie f cen tre seems to havebeen about the Sab i R ive r and i ts h i nte rland , where

309

THE ERYTH REAN W OR LD

many name - sounds st i l l remind one of the Sabaea nepoch . (Rusap i , the many Ma ssapa s , Umsapa ,

&c .)Mashonaland

,wi th i ts preh i sto r i c m in i ng works and

ru i ns , al so belonged to the regions impressed w i th thec i v i l i sat i on of the o r iginal P un i c race

,the H imyari tes

and Sabaeans . As ev idence of th i s Glase r cal l s at tent ion to the analogy between the Mashonaland ru i n sand those of Socotra . H e s imply avers , moreove r,that the nat i ves of Socotra are even to-day , e thn o

graph i cal l y,very cl ose ly related to the orig inal Pun i c

i nhab i tan ts . As a matte r o f fact,they

,w i th the Mah ra

t r ibe , are the sole pure remnan t of th i s oldes t of theSemi t i c m igrat ions . Now the ru i ns o f Socotra are i nplan and charac ter s im i lar to those of Mashonaland .

One must,the re fore

,i n fe r that the Mashonaland ru i n s

were original l y erec ted by Pun ic t r i bes .The Pun i c elemen ts i n Afri ca have

,i t i s t rue , been

ass im i lated i n al l essen t ial s by the nat i ve t r i bes .Probably the re wa s n eve r a real Semi t i c se t tl ementon the coast

,but prac t ical ly on l y a governmen t by

the South Arab ians . I th i nk , however, that one cantrace the Pun i c m igrat ion to East Afr i ca beyond theVic toria Nyanza and to Lake Tanganyika , even asfar as the Upper Congo . Here we find the rul i ngtr i be of the Ba ima I orWaWitu(Ba andWa are pl u ralprefixes)Who had once founded a great k i ngdom onthe Uppe r N i le , and to wh ich t ri be the ru l i ng fami l i eso f Uganda and to the wes t of the Nyanza as far asthe north - east of Tanganyi ka belong to th i s dayThey came the re w i th the st raigh t—backed Sangaox

,and one can st i l l define the zone of the i r advance

from the spread of the Sanga ox i n con t ras t to theZebu . They are of l ight complex ion

,and the i r type

I Ba -ima or Ba -’m is perhaps a corruptio n ofBa -Ma

’in .

3 1 0

THE ERYTH REAN W ORLD

the northe rn ports . Bas i l es wrote his report be tween

54— 60 A. D .

H is accoun ts o f Arabia and I nd i a natu ral l y suffe rfrom the defec ts wh i ch accoun ts based on second -handi n format ion must i ncu r , to -day as then . We must notexpec t to find the d is tances given qu i te accuratel y .

The au thor, to a certa i n ex ten t , saw these coasts asa bird sees th em . He rece i ved

,presumably from

Arabian sa i lo rs,th e names and a general descr ipt ion

of the places of cal l,and the i r approx imate d i stances .

A travel l er i n Eas t Afr ica could not l earn more fromthe nat i ves even to -day . However

,the accoun t given

i n the “Periplus i s suffi c i en tly cl ear for a person,

who , l i ke mysel f, knows the appearance o f the coastsand places , to find h is way qu i te c learl y by meanso f i t .I find

,and wi l l presen tl y demonst rate that up to

now the commen tators on the Peripl us have alwayscompressed th i s repo rt too much . They seem to beafra id of advan c i ng the old sea - rou tes too far to thesouth . The whole bus i ness i s l ocated a s much a s

poss i bl e round Somal i land . At Zanz ibar , o r, atthe most

,at Dar-es - Salaam and K i lwa a fin i sh i s

general l y made . I t i s t rue that Las t , Glase r, ando thers have al ready po i n ted out tha t the i sland ofMenuthia s ment ioned i n the Per ipl us wa s probablyi den t i cal w i th Madagascar . B ut they d id not fol lowout th i s suppos i t i on i n regard to i ts hea rings on theunders tand ing of the whole document .I am at one wi th D r. Glaser when he expl a i ns that

the Ras Gird if men t ioned i n the Per ipl us i siden t ical wi th Guardafu i

,and Opone wi th Ras

Hafun,and en t i re ly agree W i th h i s conclus ion that

we possess i n th i s name a rem i n i scence of the3 1 2

BEFORE THE TIME OF SOLOMON

anc i en t Pun ic Empi re . From Opone onwards I th i nkI can find my way i ndependen tl y

.

Three en t r i es i n the Per iplu s can be ent i relyconfi rmed to th i s day

,and they prov ide a fi rm frame

work where i n one can fi t the Whole report . The fi rs ten try i s the Aigialos

,the Great and Li t tl e Coastland .

Th is bears i ts n ame

’

to th i s day in the Ben ad ir

Coast , al so cal l ed s imply Sah i l coas t by theZanz ibar Arabs . Why th i s coast i s cal l ed Ben ad ir,

i. e . , harbours , I do not know . Harbou rs i t does notpossess , and the reason could ,

there fore,only be that

o f a tai n s a n on la cen n’o. But Arabs have repeatedlytold me that such i s the mean ing of the Ben a d ir

coastThe second en tryis Menuthia s , an i sland characteri sed

by r i vers w i th crocod i l es , and by an extens i ve catchof sea tu rtl es by means of baskets at the ri ver -mouths .

I n the whole of East Afr i ca no i sland answers to th i sdescr ipt ion except Madagascar . Zanz ibar i s qu i tebes ide the mark ; there one finds ne i ther r i vers , norc rocod i l es

,nor tu rtl es . Two en t r i es i n the Per ipl us

appear to speak aga inst Madagascar . I t says ,Menuthia s i s 300 s tad ia d is tan t from the con t inen t .But here one can oppose what I j us t sa id about EastAfri can d i s tances as exper i enced by my own i nqu i r i es .Every Afri can t ravel l e r wi l l agree w i th me howent i rel y un rel iabl e such i n format ion always is . I t i simposs ibl e to obtai n exac t d i stances from Arabs orSwah i l i s . Thus these 300 s tad ia need not d i scou rageus . Secondly

,the “Periplu s ” s tates that Me nuthia s is

a flat i s land . Now Madagascar i s in parts flat on i tseastern S ide . But the reported abundance o f r ivers onthe i sland speaks

,on the other s ide , aga inst the state

men t of flatness i n the Peripl us .”

A11 en t i rely flat3 1 3

THE ERYTH REAN IVORL D

i s land would not be able to form channel s for r i ve rs .So th i s argumen t again s t Madagascar i s d i sposed of.The th i rd po in t i n the Peripl us that I can establ i sh

i s the Rhap ta al ready men t ioned . Rhapta l ay on amoun tai n-spur

,Rhapto n ,

and on a r i ve r,Rhaptos . I t

d id not,however

,l ay at the mouth of th i s r iver , bu t

some d i s tance up - s t ream . Now,between Mozambique

and Quilima n e there s t i l l l i es the harbou r of Parapator Pa rapa to ,

whose name pla inly resembles that o f theanc ien t Rhapta ,

i f we wri te i t Pa -Rhapa t or Rhapa to .

Howeve r,the descript ion of th e anc i en t harbour of

Rhapa ta does n o t agree i n i ts part i culars w i th th i splace

,as Parapat l i es ne i ther on a moun tai n -spu r nor

up- st ream on a r i ver . Now,accord i ng to Glase r, the

name Rhapta i s deri ved from the Arab i c rnaod (sewn),and i s supposed to have orig inated i n a custom of thenat i ves i n th i s part of the I nd ian Ocean

,who sew the i r

boats and can oes togethe r i ns tead of nai l i ng them . Iam rem inded here of the many fabl es o f the Arabians tory - te l l e rs abou t magnet i c moun ta i n s , wh ich drewthe i ron nai l s out of the sh ips

, so that the sa i lo rs l i v i ngnear such phys i cal i nfluences used to sew the i r sh ipstogethe r . S uch myths apparen tl y owe the i r origi n tothe st rong currents in th e I nd ian Ocean on the Afri cancoas t

,by whi ch the sa i l i ng boats o f the an c i en t seamen

must often have been qu i te myste ri ously taken out ofthe i r cou rse . The sai lo rs could not explai n suchphenomena , and the re fo re i nven ted fables o f magnet i cmoun ta ins and the l i ke . B e that as i t may , the factthat i n ce rta i n parts of the I nd ian Ocean the boatswere sewn aroused the aston i shmen t o f the anc i en tArab ians

,as we see from such s tori es

,and i t may ,

there fore,be very poss ible that they named a part of

th i s ocean Rhabd or Rhapta because such boats were

3 14


Thus , then , ou r framework stands Ben a d ir,Mada

gasear , Quilima n e as su re , and the Per ipl us takesus from Cape Guardafu i to the mou th of the Zambes i .I f th i s i s gran ted , the iden t ificat i on o f the othe r recordsi n the Peripl us ” presen ts no fu rthe r d ifficultv .

Opone (Ras Haftm)i s fol lowed by the steep coastl i n e (Okopon a)where there are no harbou rs , bu t onlyanchorages . Th i s fi ts the Somal i coast admi rably

,

wi th the roadsteads of Magd ischu, Merka , Barava , andKismaju. Then comes the G reat and L i t tl e Coast

(now cal l ed Ben a d ir). This took s ix days to reach

(natu ral l y wi th the north -eas t monsoon), wh ich i s qu i teco rrec t . Th is takes one as far as Kwa ihuBay northo f Pat ta .

We then come to the land of the S a rapion os ,

apparen t ly Lamu and Wi tu . Perhaps th e Eapmn’

a vog

was the ances to r o f the rule r of Wi tu . Afte r th i s wereach the coun t ry of the Nikon os , Mal i nde wi thMombasa

,l ate r the S ul tanate of th e Masarui . The

po rt i on of the East Afri can coas t that fol lows now i sexactl y recogn i sabl e : seve ral r i ve rs (just 8 1; Tror a

luoi

Beyond Mombasa one passes the mou ths ofthe Pangan i , Wami , K i ngan i , Rufidji, and then comeseven fu rthe r places of cal l (K i lwa , L ind i , M iki ndan i ,I bo

,Mozambique , &c .)— one can no longer part icular i se

them wi th any ce rta in ty . After these the i s lands of the

v aAt‘to z ri se up ou t of the sea , i.e.

, of the F i re -peopl e .

On the African s ide of the I nd ian Ocean there i s on l yone group of i slands to wh ich the te rm F i re—i s landsappl i es ; that i s the vol can i c Comoro group , whosemost importan t vol cano on Anga sija feet) i sact ive to th i s day . The i slands of the Pyra la oi are ,therefore

,the Comoros They take us to the

“Channel men t ioned i n the Peripl us,the Mo z am

3 1 6


bique Channel , at Whose ent ry they are s i tuated . Andfrom he re the voyage l eads

,a s we have seen

,to

Menuthia s (Madagascar), to Rhapta (Quilima n e).Th is read ing o f the “Peripl us i s cons i s ten t and

natural , and I th i nk that i t can surv i ve any cri t i c i sm .

The Periplus ignores Pata and Zanz ibar,as far as

one can see , because they were of that t ime of nocommerc ial importance .

For ou r approach i ng i nqui ry the most importan tpo i n t i n th i s expos i t io n i s that the sou thernmostharbour lay at the mou th of the Zambes i

,and therefore

on a h ighway lead i ng to the ru i n s of Mashonaland .

The Pe r iplus says that from Rhapta the coast - l inetook a south -wes terly d i rec t ion

,and the I nd ian Ocean

u l t imately m ingled w i th the Atlan t i c . This refe rencei s doubly i n teres t i ng . On the one hand i t pract i cal l yconfi rms my i n te rpretat ion , as such a characte r i sat i onwould be absu rd from Dar-eS -Salaam or K i lwa

,where

one had so far placed Rhapta . On the o ther hand,i t

shows that the i n fo rman ts o f Bas i l es al so knew thecoasts south o f the Zambes i as far as Cape Colony .

These countr i es al so seem to have been i ncl uded inthe anc ien t trad i ng operat ion s from South Arabia .

That the Arabians were acqua i n ted wi th the relat ionof the I nd ian to the Atlan t i c Ocean , and wi th theconfigurat ion of the southern po i n t o f Afr i ca at thebegi nn i ng of the Chri s t i an e ra

,need not exc i te sur

pri se when one cal l s to m ind that K ing Necho , or Neku ,of Egypt had al ready sen t a Phoen i c ian exped i t i on tosa i l round the whol e con t i nen t about 600 B . C. ThePhoen ic ians sa i led from Suez and returned i n theth i rd year from s tart i ng by way of the S tra i ts o fG ibral tar . Thus H erodotus tel l s the s tory , and hisaccoun t i s in every way trus tworthy .

3 1 7

THE ERYTH REAN WORLD

Now anybody wi l l concede that K i ng Necho,i n o rder

to con ce i ve such a plan,must al ready have had exac t

i n fo rmat ion as to the geog raphy of Afri ca . S uch i nformat ion

,howeve r , had been furn i shed h im by the

Phoen i c ians,who aga in had rece ived i t from the i r

cous i n s i n South A rab ia and East Afri ca . We canal so i n fe r from th i s reco rd that the south of the I nd ianOcean was al ready ve ry wel l known to the Pun i cnat ions before 600 B . C . , and th i s agai n general l yconfi rms th e p ic ture o f the cond i t i ons i n th i s part o fthe world , as presen ted to us th rough th e researchesof D r . Edward Glase r .I n orde r to comple te th i s p i c tu re we mus t bri efly

glance over the resul ts o f the d iscove ri es o f P rofesso rA . H . K eane

,who

,i n chaps . x i i . and x i i i . of h i s book

,

Tne Gold of Op/i ir ,po in ts to anc i en t P un i c in

fluen ces i n Madagascar . K eane cal l s them H imya

ritic i nfluences , bu t , i n con tras t to Glase r , he des ignatesas H imyari tes (the

“Red Peopl e ”

)the whol e of theSouth Arabian t r ibes (p . and there fore l eaves theques t ion open as to wh ich branch of the Sou th Arabianspenet rated to th i s d i s tance . He quo tes a number ofph i lol ogical fac ts i n support o f th i s theory that Mada

ga sca r wa s the scene of a pre -Muhammadan Arabianmigrati on

,and that the fundamen tal Malayo - Polynes ian

tongue has adopted seve ral th i ngs from these remoteArab ian el emen ts

,e .g . , i ts numerals . K eane al so

demonst rated very sk i l ful ly that many su rvi val s o fanc i en t J ewi sh rel igious prac t i ces s t i l l ex i s t among themodern H ovas . Thus

,fo r i n s tance , v i cari ous sac rifice

i s s t i l l i n usage i n Madagascar . Professor K eane ,however , means that i n Madagascar , as on the EastAfrican coas t

,South A rabian se tt l emen ts ex i s ted ,

dat in g from a hoary an t iqu i ty , and I bel i eve that he3 1 8

THE ERYTH REAN IVOR L D

Th is whol e Pun i c or H imyari t i c te rr i tory , fromArabia and down the whole East Afri can coast , fromMassowah to beyond Sofala

,the Egypt ians cal l ed

Pwn t or Pun t o r Pon—a t . One must , however , notethat , accord i ng to Edward Glase r , th i s name had onlya general e thnograph i c mean i ng

,and never was appl i ed

to an o rgan i sed s tate . Also the Egypt ians are theon ly peopl e who used th i s e thnograph i cal des ignat ionto cove r the whol e of the coun tr i es that were set t l edi n or ruled ove r by the Sou th Arabi ans . The s ingles tates of th i s race were known among themsel ves on l yby the i r separate names : Azan ians

,Aba sia n s , Sabaeans ,

K ahta n id es ,

The o the r c i v i l i s ed coun tr i es of anc i en t t imes,su ch

as the Babylon ians,Phoen i c ians

,H ebrews

,and Greeks ,

were u nfam i l ia r w i th th i s co l l ec t i ve e thnograph i caldes ignat i on of the Egypt ian i n scr ipt ions

,and on ly

knew each s tate by i ts name . The Egypt ians alonehave that col l ec t i ve des ignat ion for the en t i re southPun i c world . This Should be kept i n m ind i n attempti ng to sol ve the problems wi th wh ich we are concerned .

The anc ien t Egypt ian Pwn t or Pun t , there fore ,embraced H adramau t and Yemen

,anc ien t I

ZE thiopia

wi th i ts cap i tal Axum and the Aba sia n colon i es thatextended beyond the V ic tor ia Nyan za , th e Azan iancolon ies along the Zanz ibar coas t

,the Sabaean do

m i n ions be tween the Zambes i and the Sab i , wi thMashonaland and Man ica and doubtl ess Madagascar .All th i s wa s known to the Egypt ian s

,and to the

Egypt ians on ly , as Pwn t or Pun t o r Pon -a t .

At the t ime that these S em i tes were found ing s tatesi n the wes t

,the A ryans had es tabl i shed the i r domin ion

i n I nd ia i n the bas i ns of the I ndus and Ganges , and ,3 2 0


al so i n th i s d i rec t i on , there was a l i vely t raffic fromArabia .

Thus , broadly speaki ng , d id th e world appear, i n towh i ch th e J ews and Z idon ians sa i l ed abou t the year1 000 B .C . wi th the i r t reasure -sh ips . I n wh i ch d i rect ionthey sa i l ed— that i s the long—d i scussed quest ion . Weshal l have to answer i t by look i ng round wi th i n th i sarea for anc ien t reco rds and t races of the i r presence .

I n other wo rds , i n o rder to es tabl i sh the s i tuat i on o fthe place whence Sabaeans , J ews , and Phoen i c iansobta in ed the i r gold about 1 000 B . C. , we must beabl e to Show gold -mines wh i ch plai n l y belong toth i s epoch , and wh i ch con ta i n characte r i s t i c a rchaeo

l ogi cal tokens of the presence of the th ree nat ionsi nvol ved .

I f my readers are agreed w i th me that the v i s i t o fthe Queen of Sheba to J erusalem wa s connected w i ththe gold exped i t ion s of the two al l i ed k ings , th eyw i l l be i ncl i ned from the outse t to assume wi th methat the voyage was to a reg i on wh ich formed partof a dependency of the Sabaean empi re . I t i s no tl i kel y that Queen B i l k i s , i n add i t i on to the presen twh i ch she personal ly brough t for Solomon , and wh ichare enume rated i n deta i l i n [( ings , al so made h im ad i rec t g i ft o f the gold of the Oph i r exped i t i ons . Bu tperhaps she d i rec ted her fr i end to the coun try Wherehe could find gold , and gave him what to -day we wouldcal l a m i n i ng concess ion .

I w i l l now Show that the obj ect i ve of the H i ramSolomon i c exped i t ions can onl y have been the Sabaeante rr i to ry be tween the Zambes i and the Sabi .Before we begi n our dec i s i ve examinat ion le t us

at tempt a few etymological experimen ts . And fi rs t32 1 Y

THE E RYTH REAN WORLD

we mus t t ry and make clear to ours e l ves the mean i ngof the word Oph i r i tsel f.For th i s pu rpose I mus t po i n t o u t that i n the

S em i t ic tongues vowel s are of no essen tia l s ign ifican ce .

The consonan ts,as the actual framework of the word ,

s tand fi rm , a ere peren n in s ; th e vowel s fl uctuate .

General ly speak ing every word ha s th ree consonants .The l i v i ng H ebrew tongue had 110 vowel -s igns . I nthe second cen tu ry B . C. th i s tongue became obsol e te ,and was replaced by the Aramaean . The vowel -s ignswere not added t i l l the seven th cen tury A.D .

,when

H ebrew had pe trified to a pu re ly academi c language ,as Lat i n is t o - day . I n the H ebrew name Oph i r,th erefore

, we should not lay too much weight on theo and the i. I n Gen esis the word i s wr i t te n main , i nK ings r ain

, but is based s imply on the th ree consonants ph i

,resch). How i t wa s origi

nal ly pronounced by the H ebrews we cannot know .

We mus t further con s ide r tha t for the H ebrewsOph i r was a fore ign region

,whose name they learn t

from the H imyari tes or South Arabians . I f we wishto know the actual name of the coun t ry

,therefore ,

we Shal l have to go to Sou th Arab ia for i t . Now

Sprenger had i den t ified Oph i r w i th the A rabi c afi r

(i n South Arab i c ofer)and an author i ty l i ke Gesen iushad fol l owed h im i n th i s . Afir , ofer , howeve r , wassaid to mean “red . Through th i s i n te rpre tat i on , whi chI al so fol lowed i n my book

,K ing S olomon

’

s Golden

Ogair ,Oph i r research was for a t ime l ed astray .

For accord i ng to Glase r (S léiz z e a’er Gescnicnte a n d

Geograp lz ie A raoien s , vol . i i . p . 3 7 8) th i s i n te r

preta tio n i s wrong. There i s no Sou th Arab ian wordofir that means red . Red , i n the Mahra tongue , i sa

’

f ar . B ut , so Dr . Glase r wri tes me on J an . 30 , 1 90 2 ,

2 2

THE ERYTHREAN IVORL D

got to know the land of gold th rough th e S outhArabians , we wi l l take the pronunc iat ion of the lat te ras the dec i s i ve one fo r us , and , therefo re , ratherexpec t to find resemblances to Afi r than to Oph i r i nthe region of wh ich th ere i s now ques t ion . I t is ,howeve r

,adv i sable wi th th i s fl u id i ty to keep as cl ose

a s poss ible to the consonan ts of the word . These are,

once more,al eph (i n H ebrew regarded as a co n so n a n t),

ph i , resch . The root o f the name , wri t te n i n Engl i sh ,i s A . F . R . This was pronounced i n a gu ttu ral mannerby the Sem i tes

,wh ich may have resul ted i n more

s t ress be i ng placed on a by one t r i be , more on o

by another , wh i l e the th i rd may have accen tuated th en . One can i ns tance hu ndreds of exampl es of suchvary i ng pronunc iat ion s i n d i ffe ren t d i s t r i c ts from thel iv i ng Semi t i c tongues . I t i s , the refore , immate r ialwheth e r the word was pronounced Oph i r or Aphir, o rOpha r or Apha r o r Aphur, i n d i ffe ren t regions . Onthe other hand , however , the th ree primary consonants ,al eph , ph i , resch , are absol u tel y necessary for i tsrecogn i t i on . Where th i s coun try A . F . R lay we havenow to dete rm i ne .

I t would con tr i bute much to our purpose i f wesucceeded i n find ing a cl ear etymological der i vat ionfor th i s word A . F . R . Th i s would perhaps prov ide uswi th the key to the sol u t i on of our problem . Un for

tun a tely such a der i vat ion ha s up to the presen tevaded the S em ito logis ts . I t has not even beenshown whethe r the name is of S em i t i c or igi n o r hasbeen borrowed from some other tongue . Dr . Glase rhad the i ngen ious idea of der i v i ng the Greek dv og

(the att ri bu t i ve for gold)from’

Apir, and recommendsGreek scholars to d i scover whethe r the word mra pog

(Ep i ru s , a shore ”)i s no t i n some way connected w i th324

BEF ORE THE TIME OF SOLOMON

th i s . AS Api r , wh ich G lase r regards as the Oph i r ofGen esis , is the sea -coast of the gold - coun try Hav i lah

,

we should i n th i s way ge t coas t or “shore ” as themean ing of Api r o r Oph i r .Professo r K eane rej ec ts th i s explanat i on . He

cit. pp . 86,8 7) in den tifies Oph i r rathe r w i th

S appha r, S appha r wi th Tafa r, wh ich means cap i talo r me tropol i s . Oph i r he s imply regards as a cap i tal .Howeve r , K eane h imsel f says tha t h i s ev idence forth i s de ri vat ion “i s no t ove rwhelm i ng . I find i t contra dicts not on ly the mean i ng of the word as employedi n Gen esis , where Oph i r i s ment ioned as a s t rip ofland between Saba and Hav i lah , but al so everyth i ngthat we know about Oph i r from K ings and Cnron icles .

The author, wri t ing i n J erusal em ,would never have

said,the nav ies sa i l ed to “the cap i tal w i thou t men

tion ing to wh i ch cap i tal they sai led . For to theJ ewi sh authors J e rusal em was the capi tal . We canaccord i ngly d i s regard Keane

’s at tempt at anexplanat ion .

I th i nk I am i n a pos i t ion to tu rn the atten t ion ofS em i t i c scholars to a theory that , I t rus t , res ts on afi rmer foundat ion . Couto

,a Portuguese wri ter of the

seven teen th cen tu ry,speaks of the gold -mines of

Zambes ia,and i n do i ng so makes the fol low i ng

observat ion : “The r i chest m i nes of al l a re those ofMassapa

,where they show the Abyss i n ian m i ne

(Aba sia n)from wh ich the Queen of Sheba took thegreater part of the gold wh ich she gave to K i ngSolomon for h i s temple . And i t i s Oph i r, for Me

K afi rs ca ll it F a r a n d tae A ra bs Afar .

”

So that one may form an idea of the d i ffus ion ofth i s t rad i t ion

,I beg to po i n t ou t that the Portuguese

rece ived th i s and s im i lar i n format ion from the Arabs

32 5


on the coast and i n Sena . These Arabs were thesuccesso rs and probably th e descendan ts of the oldSouth Arabian conquerors . I t appears that atrad i t i on a thousand years old

,relat i ng to these

names , has been preserved . We are i n te res ted i n theiden t ificat ion o f the name Afu r

,i n wh i ch we recogn i se

ou r A. F . R , wi th th e n egro word Fu r . Fur,how

ever , i s the Fu ra of the modern Maka la nga s , and them ine of wh ich Couto speaks i s the always recurr i ngMount Fu ra . Now I ment ioned i n a former chapte rthat to -day Fu ra means among the nat i ves ofZambes ia a “hole or a m in e. They even form averb é nfn ra ,

Wh i ch means to d ig or to burrow formetal . Thus é nfn ra n a ngn ra

= to d ig fo r i ron,

.é nf nra delama = to d ig for gold . I f Fu ra i s a negrocorrupt ion of th e Arabian Afa r— our A. F . R — thenA . F . R . wi l l a l so have mean t “mine origi nal l y ; andi f th i s i s no proto - Sem i t i c word , then , perhaps , theH imyar i tes adopted i t at a very early date , certai n lylong before th e compos i t i on of Gen esis , from anAfri can language .

I am st rength ened i n my assumpt ion by a veryi n te res t i ng fact wh i ch I owe to Professo r C . Le NeveFoster

,namely

,that i n Cornwal l , and S im i larly i n

connect i on w i th anc i en t Phoen i c ian work i ngs , a m ine i ss t i l l known as “Wheal Vor . ” Apparen tly we havehere i n Vor the same root as i n Fu r and wi th thesame mean ing . My cri t i cs w i l l

‘

al low that th i s agreemen t

,at two

,geograph ical ly

,so w idely separated po in ts

of the old Pun i c domin ions , is i n the h ighes t degrees ign ifican t . I should l ike s tuden ts o f the old S em i t i clanguages to l ook round i n th i s d i rec t ion fo r furthe ranalogi es .I n the fi rst chapter of th i s book I men t ioned that

3 26

THE ERYTH REAN WOR LD

wh ich th ey appl i ed to th e Afri cans,from the Ca rtha

gin ia n s , and that i t i s no th i ng but a Lat i n i sed form ofthe anc ien t S em i t i c A . F . R . That th en from Aferarose afr ica s , ter ra afr ica ,

Afr ica , i s no longer anhypothes i s . bu t a wel l - known ph i lological fact wh ichno on e d ispu tes .What re lat i on exi s ts be tween the Oph i r ment ioned

i n Gen esis , i n connect i on w i th th i s deri vat ion wh ichI have been at such pai n s to lay bare

,i s no t apparen t

from the scan ty mate rial before us . The Danaki l , aSomal i t r i be on the Gul f of Aden , cal l themsel vesAfar Perhaps they are the t ri be men t i oned i nGen esis , wh ich wi th many oth e r H imyari tes c rossedover to Afri ca . Perhaps the Ophirites origi nal lyrece i ved the i r name i n Arab ia

,because they were

engaged i n m i n i ng work . The v ic i n i ty of goldenHav i lah and al so of Sheba m igh t have occas ionedth i s . Of th i s

,however

,we know noth i ng . Dr .

G lase r,wri t i ng to me pr i vate ly

,suggests that the

Ophirites , l i ke the Azan ians o r Sabaeans , perhapsfounded a colony i n South Afri ca a s wel l , and thatth i s was later on the Oph i r of the Solomon i c epoch .

For th i s al so we have no h i stor i cal ev idence , and weneed not hark back to any such hypothes i s i f we canShow that A . F . R . o r Fura is to th i s day i n SouthAfri ca S i mply the word for “mine . I n th i s case thevoyage to Oph i r j us t meant an exped i t i on to the“min ing region ,

” perfect l y wel l known to the contemporary world .

Moreover , I en t i re ly agree wi th P rofessor K eaneand others , that i t i s dange rous to t ry and provemuch i n such cases w i th e tymologies alone . We al lknow to-day what “Rand means . How I pi ty thepoo r scholars who , many thousand years hence , wi l l

3 2 8


perhaps have to try and d iscover from the etymologyof the word Rand whence th e London , Berl in , andPari s of the twen t i e th cen tu ry obta i ned the i r ch ie fsuppl ie s of gold !Le t us , therefo re , l eave th i s dangerous ground , on

wh ich even the most careful and al ert i n vest igato r i si n danger of s i nk ing , and le t us re tu rn to the fi rmerso i l of a rchmologica l fac t .

3 2 9

C HAPTER X I I I

TH E GOAL OF THE OPH IR VOYAGES

H I LE we have been gett i ng a v iew of thegeneral s i tuat ion on the I nd ian Ocean , the

nav i es of'

H i ram and Solomon have sa i led down theRed Sea . That H i ram ’s se rvan ts were i n chargeof the exped i t i on is cl early Shown i n th e passagesal ready quoted . I find furthe r ev i dence fo r th i s i n1 K ings i x . 1 4

— 1 5 as wel l , where we read“And H i ram sen t to the K ing s ix score tal ents of

gold . And th i s i s the reason of the levy wh i ch K i ngSolomon ra i sed ; for to bu i ld th e house of the Lordand h i s own house

,and M i l l o

,and the wal l of

J erusal em and Hazor and Megiddo and Geze r.The K i ng of Z idon could

,therefore

,del i ve r gold to

th i s amoun t l ong before he sen t sh ips to Oph i r w i thSolomon . Thus the Z idon ian s had apparen tly d iscovered the gold -field s al ready ; pe rhaps i t wa s theywho had taken out Dav id ’s m iners . The Book ofJ udges al ready tel l s u s “how they dwel t i n secu ri ty ,afte r the manner of the Z idon ians , qu ie t and secu re

”

(xv i i i . The weal th o f th i s o ld Phoen i c ian t rad ingcen t re wa s t rad i t ional and proverb ial .Where d id these p i lo ts take th i s al l i ed flee t ?

That the exped i t ion found i t s obj ect i ve on the sou thcoas t o f Arab ia i s unworthy of bel ief, because the

330

THE GOA L OF THE OP H IR V OYAGES

Now Professor Keane has at tempted to Show in h i sbook

, Tne Gold of Ofi /i ir : Wnen ce orongnt a n d oyWnom P that the gold o f Oph i r o rigi nal ly came fromRhodes ia

,but that the harbour of Oph i r from wh i ch

the al l i ed k i ngs had i t fe tched was s i tuated i n SouthArabia ; or , rathe r, that Oph i r to the wes t of Moun tSephar wa s not the harbour

,bu t rathe r the cap i tal

,i n

wh ich the gold was barte red . The harbou r where th efleets pu t in was Moseha , wh i ch acco rd ing to K eanemeans S imply “a harbou r . Dr . G laser d i spu tes th i setymology o f Moscha on l ingu i s t i c grounds . I mysel fhave a number of obj ect i on s to formulate aga i nst th eseparat ion of th e Eldorado and the harbour fromwh i ch the gold wa s fe tched .

P rofesso r K eane main ta i ns that ou r modernRhodes ia i s i den t i cal w i th the H av i lah of the OldTestamen t . But for th i s as tound ing assert ion hebri ngs not a Shred of pert i nen t ev idence . Hav i lahis ment ioned in the t rad i t i on of Eden as an E ldorado .

But,as Glaser has Shown , th i s Hav i lah of Eden lay

i n Eastern Arab ia , and that towards the northern endof the Pe rs ian Gulf. Accord i ng to Glaser i t i s th emounta i n - range of J emama . K eane certa i n ly t ri es toupset th i s assumpt ion of Glaser

’s . But he can produceno argumen t showi ng that th i s H av i lah Should not besought fo r i n the region of the lower bas i n of theEuph rates . H is reason for remov i ng i t ove r the wideI nd ian Ocean to Rhodes ia he does not expla i n . I t i st rue that Rhodes ia i s an Eldorado , bu t mus t i t therefo re be Hav i lah ? Such an assert i on i s more thanbold

,and is devo id of every sc i e n t ifi c foundat ion .

Accord ing to K eane “gold of Oph i r i s a phrasethat became s te reo typed ; wh ich migh t j us t a s wel lhave ari sen from the harbour whence the gold was

332

THE GOAL OF THE OP H IR VOYAGES

sh ipped as from the coun t ry where i t wa s produced .

I a sk my readers Whethe r the passages quoted aboveac tual ly support th i s explanat ion

,o r Whethe r they do

not rathe r show the Oph i r of the Solomon ic e ra i n thel igh t o f a gold -produc i ng coun try B ut i f one couldal so see good reason fo r K eane

’s i n te rpretat i on i nthem , one would s t i l l have to l ook fo r some sol idh i sto ri cal foundat i on i n order to accept such a compl i cat ion of the probl em . For i t i s no t enough toarr i ve at ’ a concl us i on from h i s tor i cal sou rces i f oneis unabl e to produce any reason fo r bel i ev i ng that th i sconcl us ion i s more probabl e than the s impler v i ew .

The s imple “Oph i r Probl em is wi thou t quest ionmore s impl e than w i th the perfect l y gratu i tousadm ixtu re of Hav i lah .

At the same t ime I need not for a moment refe rto such general po i n ts of v iew as these d isputedc ri t i cal sou rces . I can Show d i rectly that the hypothes i s of K eane is untenable . I t mai n ta i ns by i n ference that the J ews bough t the i r gold i n the SouthArab ian Oph i r from the Sabaeans who washed i t i nSouth Afri ca . The gold i s expressl y ment ioned asa th i ng apar t among the presen ts wh ich the Queenof Sheba brough t to Solomon . Bu t i t i s al soseparated from the gold wh i ch he oong/zt from theArab ian t raders . But l e t us pu t th i s as ide . Let usassume that he sen t Sh ips to South Arabia i n o rde rto ba rte r the re w i th the Sabaeans fo r South Afri cangold ; there s t i l l remai ns the old obj ect ion , al readys tated by

‘

Ritter, wi th what goods cou ld he havepurchased such large quant i t i es of the prec i ou s metal ?

Not w i th s i l ver , fo r “s i l ve r was noth i ng accoun ted ofi n the days of S olomon . Nor wi th prec iou s stonesor i vory

,fo r he on ly obta i ned these by means of the

333

THE GOA L OF THE O P H IR V OYAGES

Oph i r sai lo rs . What,then

,could the K i ng of J udah

have sen t from a pu rel y agri cul tu ral coun try to Arabiai n exchange for gold i n vas t quan t i t i es

,i vory

,prec ious

s tones , ebony , &c . Professo r K eane ’s repl y that theTarsh ish peopl e (of Sofala)had employed slaves towork the m i nes

,does not affec t th i s obj ec t ion of m ine ,

for i t i s no t a ques t ion of how the Sabaeans obta i nedthe gold , but of what the J ews gave the Sabaeans i nretu rn for i t . K eane gi ves no answe r to th i s ques t ion ,and he cannot answer i t

,because our sources gi ve n o

i n format ion on the mat te r . We find noth i ng whateve rabout i t i n the sou rces

,for the s imple reason that the

gold of the Oph i r voyages was no t ob ta i ned by barte rat al l , bu t by m i n i ng, as Eupolemos al ready te l l s us ,speaki ng of the Dav id ian era .

And n ow i n regard to K eane ’s theo ry we come tothe real s urpri se . Afte r he has tr i ed to conv i nceus i n chapte r v i i i . that the Solomon ic Oph i r wass i tuated i n South Arab ia

,and that th i s was the

obj ect i ve of the voyages of Solomon’

s and H i ram ’snav i es , he goes on to show very luc id ly , i n chaptersx i i . and x i i i . of h is book

,that the nav i es by no means

on ly wen t as far as S ou th Arab ia,that they rather

came to Madagascar,where they l eft las t i ng cul tu ral

i nfluences beh i nd them ,and that from Madagascar

they crossed to the South Afri can shore oppos i te . Ifu l ly agree wi th these suppos i t io ns , and engage themi n support o f my own v iew . Bu t I ce rt i fy that wi thth i s P rofesso r K eane demol i shes his own hypothes i s .

I f the flee ts of H i ram and Solomon sai l ed as far a s

Sou th Afri ca,they d id not there fore remai n i n Sou th

Arabia,and down goes the theory that th e gold

came from Sou th Afr i ca , bu t wa s rece i ved by theMed i terranean peoples from Sou th Arab ia .

334


E z ion—geber . I am,therefore

,of op i n ion that the

commentato rs who,up to now , i n common wi th Dr .

Glase r , have iden t ified Parva im gold wi th Oph i r gold ,are m i s taken . I would rathe r sugges t that Parvaimgold i s men t ioned here i n con tras t to Oph i r gold . I tmay be that D r . Glase r i s r igh t when he recogn isesParvaim i n Sak -el- F a rwa in i n North Arabia , and goesback to Hav i lah for the o rig in of th i s gold ; al thoughthe fac t that F a rwa in i s no t even men t ioned as am i n ing d ist r i c t , speaks again s t th i s . I t m igh t be

,

however,that the name , once appl ied to a large

region,has only l i ngered on i n a s i ngl e spot .

That the Sou th Arab ians of the Solomon i c epochcarr i ed on an ex tens i ve trade i n gold

,i s qu i te ev iden t

from ou r t rad i t io ns . That,however

,H iram and

Solomon d id n o t send the i r flee ts to carry on sucht rad i ng operat ions , we have seen . We mus t accordingly assume that they sen t exped i t i ons to thefountai n -head i tsel f

,whence the prec ious metal was

brough t to the north , as Dav id d id before them .

The i r flee ts,there fore , had not reached the i r goal

when , after the passage th rough the “Gate of Tears ,”

they swept round the sou th -wes tern corne r of Arabia ,bu t they had to sai l furthe r i n to the myster ious beyond .

D id they sai l to the East , towards I nd ia ? Manki nd bel i eved th i s fo r a long t ime . Oph i r was soughtfor i n I nd ia; eve r S i n ce the Arabian Muhammedanst ranslated the b ibl i cal word I nd ia by E l—H en d . TheSeptuagi n t and F lav i us J osephus al so fol lowed th i sV i ew . I n modern t imes , however , its mos t impor tan tsupporte rs were Lassen and Karl R i tte r .The reason for th i s i s eas i l y found . I nd ia wa s

regarded by the whol e of an t iqu i ty , and al so by336


the M iddle Ages , as the mys terious land of in exhaus tible r i ches . Also i t was known at an early datethat a remotel y anc ien t t rade ex is ted between Arabia

,

and th rough th i s from the Med i te rranean coun t ri es,

and the I nd ian pen i nsula . But to -day we know thatI nd ia neve r belonged to the Eldorados of ou r planet .I t Wa s neve r a gold -producing ,

but always,and to the

presen t-day , a gold -importing coun t ry . This fac talone i s suffic i en t to pu t an end to i ts c la im to be thegoal of the b ibl i cal voyages to Oph i r .Also the second art i c l e of the Oph i r voyages , the

i vory, ha s not i ts home i n I nd ia . The I nd ian elephan thas

,as i s wel l known , smal l tusks , and these have

neve r been of much importance i n the world’

s commerce .

These th i ngs cons idered , what do the ph i lol og i calspecul at i ons of Lassen amoun t to ? Even i f he hadShown that the H ebrew names of the Oph i r art i c l eswere of I nd ian or1g1n , he would not have demons tra ted by that that the art i cl es themsel ves we rebrough t from I nd ia .

The relat ions between the two languages are almos tunknown to us ; we do not know i n wh ich era theyreacted upon one anothe r . But Lassen has notproved h i s assert i on

,as I have al ready demonstrated

i n my book K ing S olomon’

s Golden 0gair (pp . 20—2

I t i s qu i te bes ide the po i n t for h im and Ri t te rto t ry and ident i fy the Abhira s at the mouth ofthe I ndus wi th the b ibl i cal Ophirites . For Ao/i ira ,

t ranslated,means “Cowherds , and i s , the re fore , no

t r ibal name at al l . Now cowherds could certa i n lybarte r m i l k o r meat o r h ides wi th st rangers . Butwhen and whe re have we heard that cowherds deal ti n gold at the same t ime ? And , wi th that , gold i n

337 Z

THE GOA L OF THE OP H IR VOYAGES

such quant i t i es as one m us t assume from the B ibl e ?

They would ve ry soon have le ft o ff d ri v i ng cows .I f th e flee ts had gone to I nd ia to get gold from the

warl i ke Aryan t r i bes , they would ce rta i n l y , as i nArabia

,have had to buy i t . Then the same d i fficul ty

ar i ses o f d i scove ri ng what art icl e they could havebrough t to market i n exchange . The d i fficul ty he rei s an even greate r one , because a populat i on of cowherd s wa s s t i l l l ess in wan t of the agr icul tu ral produceof the J ew ish Empi re than were the Arab ian towns .What dec i s i vely cuts th e ground from under the

fee t of th i s I nd ian theory is the fac t that no t races o fold gold -mines have been found the re .

“ No chain sof ru i ns are the re wh i ch l ead on e to suppose that apreh i sto r i c m i n i ng populat ion once dwel t the re . Ac

cord ingly,from the po i n t of v iew wh i ch we have taken

up ove r th i s i nqu i ry,eve ry foundat ion i s lack i ng for

the pu rsu i t of the b i bl i cal Oph i r on the easte rn s ide ofthe I nd ian Ocean ; and we m us t decla re that theAlexandrian s and F lav i u s J osephus

,Lassen and Karl

Ri t te r,l ike so many others , were mis taken when they

though t that th e gold of K i ng Sol omon ’s cou rt had i tsor ig i n i n the East I nd i es .I f th e ‘Oph i r voyagers , the refore , d id not sa i l to the

easte rn s ide of the I nd ian Ocean , then only thewestern S ide

,that i s to say, Afri ca , remains for us to

seek for the marks of the i r p resence . And herece rta i n ly we shal l find them deeply stamped .

I n Eas t Afri ca gold - seekers who came from thenorth could fi rs t of al l t u rn to the oft -ment ionedEldorado of Sasu or Shasu . Thi s lay , acco rd ing to adescr ip t ion by Cosmas In d icopleustes , some fifty days

’

j ou rney beyond Axum . I f th i s i s r ight , reckon i ng theday ’s j ourney at ten m i les

,we should have to look for338

THE GOAL OF THE OP H IR V OYAGES

We see that the t ribute of Shasumostly cons i s ts ofprec iou s metal s and prec ious s tones

,and these worked

by craftsmen . But horses and cat tl e are al so i ncl uded .

I th i nk we ough t not to go so far sou th as LakeRudolph . Th is desc rip t ion does not match thatbarren d is t ri c t i n the l eas t degree . That Sasu andShasu are one and the same region is a matte r o fcou rse . I t i s no t poss ible that there was an Eldoradocal l ed Shasu and another cal led Sasu . The Egypt ians ,however, had regul ar overland relat i ons w i th Shasu .

Thi s mus t be borne i n m i nd i n con t ras t to Punt ,whence the cou rse wa s by sea . That the i nhabi tan tsbelonged to the Pun i c race i s ev iden t from the name .

They were one wi th the Bedou i n t r i bes of Hyksos ,who ground Egypt under the i r i ron rul e for 5 1 1 years .I n spi te o f the descr ipt ion i n Cosmas

,I sugges t that i t

was a ques t ion of B edou i n t r ibes i n the Nub ian desert .Here old gold -mines have been found

,here we have

s t i l l a cat tl e - reari ng nomad i c popu lat ion of s/ta sn .

Then we remai n i n the region of the Red Sea w i ththe gold - coun t ry Sasu . I n support of th i s assumpt ionmay I po in t ou t that the name Nuba does not re fer tothe people who l i ve the re i n Egypt

,but to a sou the rn

coun try r i ch i n gold (Nub)? How i n t imate the relat ion s be tween Egypt and Nubia were i s not on lyproved by the cha i n of anc i en t gold -mines on theNub ian -Arab ian coas t

,bu t by a se ri es o f o ther anc ien t

Egypt ian monumen ts i n th i s coun try . Temples dat i ngfrom the remotes t t imes s tand ing i n the m idd l e of thesand -d esert

,wi th an avenue of Sph i nxes at S ebuah, at

Assouan , and other places , demonst rate that we arehe re w i th i n the Sphere of the genu i ne c i v i l i sat ion ofthe Pharaohs .The harbour fo r th i s d i s t ri c t i s Suakim . Now the

340

THE GOAL OF THE OP H I R VOYAGES

fleets of Solomon and H i ram could ce rtain l y have pu ti n he re to take up the i r gold . Was not Solomon theson -ia - law of the re ign i ng Pharaoh , Psusen n es II.

?

But fo r such an assumpt ion ou r sou rces affo rd no s ingl ecr i t i cal j us t ificat ion . Had the Oph i r voyages hadany connect ion whatsoeve r wi th the K i ngdom of thePharaohs

,we should surely find some trace o f th i s i n

ou r bibl i cal au thori t i es . As th is is not the case , wehave no righ t to se t up such a suppos i t ion , even as ahypothes i s . Further

,the obj ec t ions wh ich we had to

ra ise aga i ns t Arabia and I nd ia al so affect the countryof Shasu s tand ing under Egypt ian suzerai n ty . TheJ ews could not d ig for prec ious metal s here themsel ves

, in the m ids t of a h ighly—developed mi n i ngpopul at ion

,and would the re fore have had to buy

them . With what could they pay for them ?

Th is obj ect ion al so ari ses i f we look for the countryof the Sasu i n a more southerly d i rect ion , say i nGa lla la n d ,

o r,wi th Glaser

,even on Lake Rudolph .

We cannot avo id the Egyptian sphere of ru l e , and weare always confron ted wi th an equal ly c iv i l ised populat ion

, who not on ly worked the i r m i nes themsel ves , butwere also capable goldsmi ths . Here , therefore ,

“

we

cannot look for the obj ect i ve of the Solomon i c Oph i rvoyages . The gold - seekers of As ia M inor had , fo rgood or i l l

,to sa i l pas t Sasu , or, rather, the count ry of

the Bedou i n .

But i n th i s case the goal o f the i r j ou rney couldon ly be the coun t ry be tween the Zambes i and Sab i ;fo r no other anc ien t gold—mine count ry has beenshown to ex i s t i n South Afr i ca . From Cape Guard afui to the Mozamb ique Coas t no finds of gold i n theh in terland en ter i n to the quest ion , and nowhe re have

34 I

THE GOAL OF THE O P H IR VOYAGES

old gold -mines and ru i n s been d i scove red . Here,

the refore , we must no t look fo r the goal o f the Oph i rvoyages . Bu t sou th of the Zambes i we find eve ryth i ng we requ i re , as I now i n tend to demonstrate . Ith i nk that I shal l be abl e final l y to conv i n ce thereade r who has fol lowed me thus far that here andhere only one ough t to l ook fo r the A . F . R . o f th eSouth Arabians .What , then , i s necessary fo r th i s proof ? F i rs t of al l

we mus t es tabl i sh that there real l y ex i sts a clear andunmis takable gold fo rmat ion i n the region wh i ch

M ASS OF ROCK FRO M \VH ICH THE ANC I ENTS EXTRACTED GOLD .

cla ims to be the anci en t Oph i r . For th i s the ev idenceof a few quotat i ons from authors showi ng that goldwa s once obta i ned here or the re i s i nsu ffi c i en t . Whatwe wan t is an i nd i spu tabl e geological proof.After that we must demons t rate that anc ien t nat ions

real ly worked gold i n these gold fo rmat ions and thatto such an ex ten t that the immense q uant i t i es mentio n ed i n the B ibl e and e l sewhere are expla i nedwi thou t d i fficul ty . I t i s no t enough to po i n t to On eor anothe r anc ien t m ine we must show an extens i ved is tr i c t cove red wi th m ines

,al l worked on a large scale .

342

THE GOA L OF THE OP H IR VOYAGES

F i rs t of al l , l e t me enumerate bri efly the ev idencewh i ch my own observat ion has afforded me on myexped i t i on s i n these coun tr i es .On the Zambes i , eas t o f the Lupata Gorge

,

oppos i te Lake Rufumbo , we fou nd the old hal ffabulous d i s tr i c t of Fura aga in , wi th i ts anc i en t ru i nswh ich s t i l l Showed plai n ly that they fo rmed part of theold S emi t i c sphere o f c i v i l i sat i on . The wal l roundthe m iddl e of the h i l l , th e betylae ,

the p hal l us that Ifound by chance , are typi cal o f Pun i c bu i ld i ngs .Round these anc i en t ru i n s

,from wh ich the figu re of

Baal looks down on us across thousands of years ,l i ves the Makalanga nat ion

,wh ich i n its .worsh ip of

the Kabu luKagoro ha s preserved the old Sem i t i cnatu ral rel ig ion un t i l the p resen t day . Here , asthousands of yea rs S i n ce

,sacrifices are s t i l l made to

Baal on the h i l l s and heigh ts,fi re-worsh ip i s s t i l l

p ract ised , and s tones l i ke the p i l lar of Sherele ares t i l l obj ec ts o f re l igi ous vene rat ion . The t rad i t ion s ofPun i c an t iqu i ty have developed wi thout a break up tothe presen t day . S imul taneously

,th e m i n i ng of the

prec ious metal has gone on here s tead i l y from the t imeof the anc i en t p io neers

,and st i l l con t i nues .

I cons ide r th e Makalanga to be the actual bastardrace that arose from th e Pun i c imm igran ts and theorigi nal Afri can popu lat i on . Hal l and Neal (op . cit.

pp . 1 2 1— 1 39)gi ve many i n teres t in g part i cu lars aboutth i s race ; bu t they do not come to qu i te the sameconclus ions as mysel f, because they rely on thedescr ipt ions of t ravel l e rs who have on ly learn t toknow the Makalanga as a subj ec t race the Maka laka

i n Matabele land and the Mashonas,bu t no t the

i ndependen t t r ibes i n Ma combela n d . Ben t , S i r J oh nW

’

i l l oughby,Selous

,the m iss ionary G . Cul len ,344

THE GOA L OF THE OP H I R VOYAGES

H . Reed are al l occup ied w i th the scattered fragmen ts i n the wes t , wh i l e the nat ional cu stoms andObse rvances have n atu ral l y been most purel y prese rved in the i ndependen t k i ngdom of the east . Myobse rvat ions of th i s port ion of the Makalanga were

,

accord ingly , bound to y ield cleare r resul ts , moreespec ial ly i n so far as they conce rn the d isc losu re ofthe worsh ip of Kabul u .

Certa i n ly th e cen t re ofgra vity of the old set tl emen td id not l i e i n the l owe r easte rn hal f

,but on the h igher

tabl elands of the west , and there we s t i l l find theactual ru i ns of the H imyari t i c monumen ts upon wh ichfo r the mos t part ou r concept ion of th i s h i s tor i calepoch i s based .

I f we tu rn from Ma combe’

s land to the wes t , wehave to cross the Ga va resi and Ruenje Ri vers i nwh ich the Makalanga wash gold regularl y and fromwhose banks many an old gold -mine

,numerous stone

enclosu res , and aqueducts , remi nd one of the e ra ofanc i en t South Afri can h i story .

Sou th of Ma combe’

s country the ru i ns of I nyangatowe r l i ke a myster ious note of i n te rrogat ion wri ttenby some van ished and forgotten hand . I n the accoun to f my travel s I have at tempted a desc ript ion of theseru i ns

,wh ich

,as I see ,

i s i n general agreemen t w i th thereports wh ich Hal l and Neal publ i sh i n the i r book (op .

cit. pp . 3 50 They cons i s t of c i rcular or fou rcorne red stone enclosu res wh ich are scattered i nimmense quan t i t i es ove r the whol e coun t ry , and i nseveral places assume the characte r of large townsh ips

,wi th a d iamete r of up to S i x m i l es . These

enclosures are i n places five fee t h igh . Below themare open Spaces wh i ch were apparen t ly used as templesfor sacr ifices

,the al tar l ook i ng towards the east . The

345

THE GOAL OF THE OP H I R VOYAGES

stones of these bu i ld ings are worked i n exactl y thesame way as those we fou nd by the Fura ru i ns , andof wh i ch I have brough t seve ral spec imens to London .

The same nat ion was apparen tly at work here as there .

One can al so find ev idences of the worsh ip of the suni n I nyanga . Here also

,as i n Ma combe

’

s coun t ry , themoun ta i ns played a part i n rel ig ion

,and everywhere one

finds the phal l us , the symbol of the obscene worsh ip ofBaal . Among the ru i ns i n th e I nyanga Val l ey al lt ravel l ers not i ced , as I d id , the remarkable p i t -l i kebu i ld i ngs sunk i n the earth

,wal led i n wi th cyclopean

stones , and prov ided w i th covered s ide -passages . AsI s ee from the accoun t o f Hal l and Neal , al l o the rexplo re rs are of the op i n ion that he re we have anc i en tslave -pri sons before us . To th is theory I s t i l l opposemy concl us ions formed 0 11 th e spot . I n the ra i nyseason such p i ts were un i nhab i tabl e . Many of them ,

too,a re unm is takably connected w i th anc i en t con

du i ts . A fte r al l , on e cou ld hold one’s S laves j us t as

secu re ly by means of cha i ns i n those old days asto -day . For the above theo ry one can ce rta i n lyadvance that the Romans l earn t to lay down s im i la runderground slave-pi ts from the Carthagi n ians i nNorth Afri ca

,a n d that they therefore represen t an

anc ien t S em i t i c i nven t ion . I mus t acco rd i ngly leavethe explanat ion of these remarkabl e monumen ts alonefo r the presen t . What i s s t range is that such underground bu i ld i ngs on ly occur in I nyanga and Man icaland

,but no t w i th i n the sphe re of the so - cal led

Z imbabwe c i v i l i sa t ion fu rther south .

That i n I nyanga— and , as I can add , i n Fura— theru i ns are al togethe r d i ffe ren t from the Z imbabwe typeas presen ted to us by Mauch

,Bent

,Hal l and Neal , and

o the rs,has been not i ced bv a ll t ravel l e rs i n I nyanga .

346

THE GOA L OF THE OP H IR V OYAGES

could neve r sai l the Sab i w i th such boats . Traffi chere would probably always have been conducted bymeans of roads runn ing alongs ide the r i ve r . A broads tream l i ke the Zambes i must , therefore , have i nv i teda seafari ng nat ion to ven ture on an advance i n landmuch earl i e r than a smal l r i ve r . Accord i ngly I cons ider i t proba ble that the en te rpri s i ng South Arab iansorigi nal ly used th i s h igh - road to the m in i ng regions

,

and I th i nk that the rui n s of Fu ra and I nyanga datefrom the fi rs t epoch of anc ien t S em i t i c immigrat ion .

I f the I nyanga pi ts are slave pr i sons they were certa in ly bu i l t by S em i tes and not by negroes . Domest i cS l avery neve r took so seve re a shape w i th th e negroesas to cal l fo r such precau t ions . B ut wi th the S em i tessuch p i ts were general , as we are taugh t by the h i storyof the Phoen i c ian , and espec ial ly the Carthagi n ianse t tl ements i n North Afri ca and S i c i ly .

348

CHAPTER XIV

AN ANC IENT ELDORADO

-S the most remarkable pecul iar i ty of the I nyangaru i n s the t ravel le r fi rs t not i ces the enormous

terraces bu i l t on the slopes and moun tai ns,wh ich I

have desc r ibed i n a former Chapter . Mr . Edwards

(see Hal l and Neal , p . 3 5 6)reckons that these te rraces cover an area of 1 50 Engl ish square m i les , o r

square feet , and that ton s ofrock were requ i red to carry them out .When confron t i ng these terraces we are al so face to

face wi th a dark secre t . Dr . S ch l i chte r,who , i t i s

t rue , only passed th rough I nyanga , sugges ts that thereare essen t ial d i ffe rences be tween the ru i ns o f themountai n and those of the val l ey . He does n o t

cons ide r that the te rraces are anc ien t . I would ,

however,l i ke to ask where else i n Afri ca negroes

have execu ted so vas t a quan t i ty of work . I n nonegro coun t ry have I seen or heard anyth i ng of suchlay ing out o f terraces on the he igh ts . Such a labou rreminds one more of the bu i lders o f the pyramids thanof the hab i ts of the negro .

Al l t ravel l e rs , quoted by Hal l and Neal , bel i eve thatthe te rraces were planned fo r agricu l tural purposes

,so

as to obta i n more room for the growing of grai n . Thisalso was my fi rs t impress ion when I saw them . I

349


should,however l ike to poi n t ou t that wh i l e one m igh t

poss ibl y have la Id ou t te rraces on the he igh ts for th i spu rpose

,one wou ld neve r have covered these he ights

w i th wal l s o f rock . Do Schl ich te r,Edwards , and th e

others,then

,th i nk that the n at i ves hoped to grow

mapire o r ma i ze on s tone wal l s ? Also I would - l i keto see whethe r gra i n grows at al l on th i s cold andw indy escarpmen t of I nyanga . Even i n the val l eythe cl imate i s i n no way favou rabl e to th e growth ofgra in

,as Messrs . G r immer and Norri s on Rhod es

’

s

Farm bear W i tn ess . The th eory that thousands ofyears ago I nyanga wa s a Sou th Afri can granaryfounde rs on th e fac t that the cond i t i on s for growinggra i n the re to -day are so un favourable . I t must ,broadly speak i ng

,always have been a graz i ng

coun t ry .

I agree wi th Edwards and others that there wa sonce an epoch when I nyan ga was very denselypopulated . Bu t I do not th ink that a dense negropopulat ion ever l i ved there . For where would i t havegone away to ? Accord ingly

,I cannot be l i eve that

the moun ta i n te rraces were bu i l t by negroes . And , i fwe do not assume that they served agri cu l tu ral pu rposes

,th en ce rta i n ly

" eve ryth i ng gets wrapped up i n amyste r ious darkness .I n I nyanga one comes across a few traces of anc i en t

gold -work i ngs,but th ey are i ns ign ifican t , and i n no way

explai n the gather ing togethe r of so vast a numberof peopl e as the square and c i rcu lar s tone enclosu ressugges t .Where economi c reasons i n explanat ion of pre

h i sto r i c ru i n s are absen t,we are as a rul e fo rced

back on rel igious opi n ions and pract i ces . Whetherth i s i s the case i n I nyanga I dare not dec ide . Perhaps

3 50

AN ANC I ENT ELDOR ADO

that I nyanga was the cen tre o f a l i vel y bus i ness i n te rcou rse even down to recen t t imes .The remai ns i n Man i caland j o i n

.o n to the

I nyanga ru i ns . Only here we have a pronouncedgold -mine count ry before us

,wi th worki ngs of mos t

d i ffe ren t periods . That the ru i ns of I nyanga andMan i caland belong to the same class i s ev iden t fromthe fac t that ‘here as there we find the Same s tyl e of

AN OL D M I N E \V ITH CHARACTERI STIC STONES .

undergrou nd bu i ld i ngs,as wel l as c i rcula r o r fou r

cornered stone encl osu res . Mr. Levan found two ofthese “s lave -p i ts eas t o f ou r Coun t Mol tke M i ne i nthe Inyamka ra ra Val ley .

The old workings were essen t ial l y al l uv ial . Hereare many rap idl y flowing brooks , and therefore muchgold i s brough t down to the val l ey . I n Revu

'

e'

,

Inyamka ra ra , Chimesi, Mud z a ,everywhe re one finds

352

AN ANCIENT ELDORADO

al luv ial gold , and i n every place old work ings . Onthe G raf Mol tke alone we found no l ess than th reehundred . The Portuguese , when they saw th i sd i s tr i c t fo r the fi rs t t ime

,under H omem

,i n the year

1 5 70 , found the nat i ves bus i ly engaged i n goldwash ing . Th is has con t i n ued un t i l ou r own day .

The d i ffe ren t epochs can be very plai n ly d i st i ngu ishedi n the al l uv ial m i nes . Where Shafts are found at adepth of over fi fty feet , one can general l y reckon thatthey were not sunk original ly by negroes

, who usual l yconfine themsel ves to wash ing the sand i n the ri vers .I t is to be hoped that under the gu idance of the

sagac ious and energet i c Capta i n d’

An d rade ,the

D i rec to r of M i nes i n Ma cequeoe , a col l ect ion ofMan ica an t iqu i t i es wi l l be brough t togethe r. Herewe s t i l l find cl ear ev idences of anc i en t Sou th Arabiancul ture

,a s , for i n stance , several graves tones . I possess

a photograph of such a graves tone , wh ich i s owned byCapta i n d

’

An d rad e . I t i s c l early of H imyari t i c origi n .

The l i n es wh ich are carved i n to i t and the hol e - l i kepo i n ts arranged i n c i rcl es represen t an c i en t symbol i ccommun icat ion s . One finds them over the wholefiel d of the most anc i en t Pu n i c set t l ements . Mons ieu rPa co tte told me of o the r remarkabl e gravestones i nthe Man ica d ist ri c t . I w i l l g i ve th i s matte r my spec ialat ten t ion when I re turn to that count ry .

The Man icas,l i ke the Mashonas and the i nhabi tan ts

of I nyanga,belong to the great Makalanga nat ion ,

and Macombe al so enj oys a cer ta i n re l igious au thori tyamong them .

I f we tu rn from Macequece and Umtal i towards thesou th

,we find on the Upper Umbvumvumbvu, i n the

bas i n of the S a b i, jus t on the fron t i er be tween Rhodes iaand Portuguese East Afr ica

,a number of old work i ngs

35 3 AA

AN ANCIENT ELDORADO

connected w i th prec ious s tones,probably , however ,

only sem i -prec i ous s tones . H ere , at the t ime ofwri t i ng , an Umtal i synd i cate i s p rospect i ng . I wasshown spec imens by Messrs . Howard and Myburg i nUmtal i , but I do not know whethe r real d iamondswere among them . Be that as i t may , i t is i n teres t i ngal l the same that anc i en t prec ious - s tone - mines areshown to have ex i s ted i n th i s region at al l . We donot know What sort of prec ious s tones we re broughtby the Oph i r voyagers to J e rusal em . Perhaps theywere on ly sem i -prec ious . I n the Sab i region suchhave been shown to ex i s t, and Solomon

’s se rvan tscould therefore have fetched them thence .

On the Upper Sab i we come to ru i ns of theZ imbabwe type , as we have seen and shal l see

agai n . There,i n th e summer of 1 90 1 , I asce rta i ned

the p resence of anc i en t coppe r-m ines,extend i ng over

a d i stance of twen ty -five mil es,and wi th that I

demonst rated that th i s importan t m in i ng product o fanc i en t t imes wa s ac tual ly m ined i n th i s part of theearth some thousands of years ago . Thi s i s , anyhow ,

an importan t complement to the d i scovery of the ancientgold—mines of S outh Afr i ca .

My own d i scover i es have , therefore , shown thatthe zone of the anc i en t S em i t i c ru i n s reaches to theLupata Gorge on the Lower Zambes i

,and that the

ru i ns there belong to the I nyanga type . They haveShown that some South Arab ian pract i ces , above al lthe unmixed worsh ip of Baal

,st i l l s urv i ve among the

Makalanga o f to -day . They have,I th i nk , th rown

new l igh t on the ru i ns o f I nyanga,and es tabl i shed

that anc i en t copper -mines ex i s t on the Sab i . Bythei r means I bel i eve that I have con t ri buted someth i ng towards the un ravelmen t of the H imyari t i c e ra

3 54

AN ANCIENT ELDORADO

of Sou th Afri can h i s to ry ; among th i s the fac t thatth e Zambes i lay i n the sphere of H imyari t i c en te rpri sei s espec ial l y of i n te res t . This r i ve r wa s apparen t lya h ighway for the mos t anc i en t Semi t i c m igrat ion toSou th Afri ca . These Semi tes came from SouthArab ia and worsh ipped Baal and Ash taroth . Thesewe can n ow regard as establ i shed fac ts .I can

,howeve r. onl y regard these po i n ts as an

expans ion of the mate rial ev idences i n support of aH imyari t i c h i s to r i cal e ra d i scove red long before myexped i t i on s i n Sou th Afri ca . Th is body of proof hasfo r i ts cen tre th e ru i ns of Z imbabwe i n Sou th- easte rnMashonaland and the many othe r ru i ns o f the samecharac te r scatte red over the whol e zone part i cular i sedabove . Every year n ew l igh t i s th rown over th i smass of d i scove r i es . S i nce Carl Mauch d i scoveredthe great ru i ns o f Z imbabwe i n 1 8 7 1 , and TheodoreBen t

,wi th M r . Swan , explored them i n de ta i l i n 1 89 1 ,

a number of savan ts and travel l e rs have expla i nedand S i fted the mater ial be fo re us i n eve ry d i rec t ion .

Of these,I bu t ment ion S i r J ohn Wi l loughby

,Dr.

Sch l i ch ter,P rofesso r A . H . K eane , and , above al l

others,Messrs . Hal l and Neal . I t on ly remain s fo r

me to enumerate bri efly the facts wh ich have cometo l igh t th rough the labours of these men

,i n so far as

they belong to the i nqu i ry before us . I can l im i tmysel f to th i s

,and for the res t refe r the reader to the

comprehens i ve volume of H al l and Neal .Z imbabwe i s a Ban tu word , and means “house

of s tone .

Z imba (K iswanili nynmowa) th e pl ural o f imoa ,

owe a corrupt ion of maowe =- s tone . The word i sth erefore no Spec ial name for a Spec ial place

,but a

general des ignat ion . Actual ly al l the seats of ch i efs3 56

AN ANCIENT ELDORADO

i n the Makalanga terr i to ry,e.g . ,

the M isongwe ofMacombe , are st i l l cal l ed Z imbabwes . Z imbabwewas there fo re not the name of the famous ru i n at th et ime that the H imyar i tes dwel t there

,but the negroes

of to -day cal l the place thus .I n any case we have the most importan t ru i n o f the

H imyari t i c period i n the whole of South Afri ca befo reus . Z imbabwe was the cap i tal and the rel ig iouscen tre of the anc i en t colony . Here lived the Governor ,here . was the cen tre of the nati onal worsh ip . All theothe r ru i ns , of wh ich up to the presen t over two

hundred have been explored , acco rd i ng to Hal l andNeal , are smal l e r bu i ld i ngs i n the s tyl e of theseenormous ru i ns .As ev idence i n explanat i on of these South Afri can

ru i ns we can now accept the fol lowi ng1 . They belong th roughou t to the sys tem of the

H imyari t i c and Phoen ician cu l tu ral sphere . They areanalogous w i th the anc i en t S emi t i c ru i ns of SouthArab ia

,of Socotra

,o f Phoen i c ia , of Sard in ia , of

Cors i ca , &c . They exh ib i t al l th e character i s t icsof Natu re -worsh ip as p rac t i sed by the proto -Sem ites .Sun

,moon , and s tars were adored Baal and

Ashtaroth were the ch ief de i t i es o f the rule rs o fthese places .

2 . Professor K eane (op . cit. p . 1 6 2)shows that thefragment of an i nsc ript i on found by Theodore Ben ti n Z imbabwe i s wri t ten i n p roto-Arabian , i n H imyari t i ccharacte rs and those of the M inaean -Sabaean type .

3 . Dr . Schl i ch ter has establ i shed from the so -cal l edZ imbabwe Zod iac

,wh ich was i n the possess ion o f

th e late M r . Cec i l Rhodes , that at th e t ime of theZ imbabwe C i v i l i sat ion the sun en te red the S ign ofTau rus at the beginn i ng of the year. This carri es u s

35 7

AN ANCIENT ELDORADO

back to 1 1 00 B . C. as th e era i n wh ich th i s zod iac wa si n use . The great temple of Z imbabwe must havebeen e rected somewhere about that t ime . My readersw i l l remembe r that the Oph i r voyages of Solomonand H i ram d id not beg i n t i l l abou t a cen tury late r .4 . Bu t Hal l and Neal teach us i n chapte r x i i .

of the i r book that the South Afr i can ru i ns by nomeans belong to a s i ngl e pe riod . They d i v ide them

,

rathe r,i n to fou r per iods and gi ve (pp . 1 68—1 7 1) the

characte ri s t i cs of each . The fi rs t i s the most pe rfec ti n s tyl e and execut ion

,the second is l ess mass i ve and

l ess elaborated , the th i rd i s cl ums ie r s t i l l , and thefou rth

,one o f decadence or im i tat ion by nat i ve races .

That the great temple of Z imbabwe wa s not the fi rs tbu i ld ing e rected by the S outh Arabian conquerors ispla i n . I t s d i s tance from the coas t mus t alone beagai ns t th i s suppos i t ion . Centu ri es must have elapsedafte r the fi rs t appearance of the Pun i c gold - seekersbefore they , march i ng st ream -upwards along th e Sabi

,

establ i shed themsel ves i n the tablelands of Mashonaland . We may , the re fore , undoubtedly go far backi n to the second m i l l enary B . C. for the begi nn i ngof th i s h i s tor i cal e ra .

5 . All these bu i ld ings s tand i n connect ion w i thgold -mi nes . The golden ornaments as wel l as theu tens i l s that have been found near Z imbabwe andothe r ru i n s are th e exac t coun te rparts of the Phoen ieian d i scove ri es i n other parts of the world . The oldwork i ngs are , as we have seen , es t imated by Hal l andNeal to reach the enormous numbe r of 7 andm i l l i ons of tons of gold ore have been dug he re i nd i stan t ages The re can be no quest ion but that theactual E ldorado of th e H imyari t i c e ra wa s s i tuatedhere . Withou t ques t ion

,al so

,most of the gold wh ich

35 8

AN ANCIENT ELDORADO

who guarded the secret of the i r origi nal sources mostj ealously . I n th i s respec t the H imyari tes of thesou th d i ffered i n no way from the Phoen ic ian s ofthe north .

The five facts wh i ch I have enumerated here areno hypotheses , but are proofs de r i ved from the actualru i ns of Sou th Afr i ca

,and stand on as fi rm foundat ions

as the documentary trad i t i ons that have come down tous from the land of the Pharaohs

,o r from N ineveh

and Babylon . I t only rema ins fo r me to draw suchconcl us ions as re late to the i nqu i ry i n wh ich we areengaged .

What , then , wa s the name borne by these anc i en t andenormous gold -field s —th i s E ldorado

,wh i ch must have

been as wel l known to the Semi t i c nat ions of anc i en th i s tory as the Rand or K londyke are known to theeducated classes o f to - dayWhen i n the year I 50 5 the Portuguese commander

Alvarez de Cahal was the fi rs t European to en terSofala , t he whol e region extend i ng from the Zambes idownwards to the L impopo was known as the k i ngdomof Sofala , whose rul er wa s named Mo n omo tapa . Thename Sofala was not confined to the modern harbourof that name

,bu t i t

’

i n cl uded the whol e of the anc i en tgold -field s . Thi s was the name by wh ich the Arab iansof the fou rteen th cen tu ry knew th i s d i s t r i c t and spokeof i t to the Portuguese . But i t occu rs cen tu r i es beforei n the works of the Arab ian geographers .Ma soud i (890—947 A.D .)wri tes Sofala i s the goal

o f the sai lors of Oman and Sylaf. I t i s acoun t ry fu l l o f gold and r i ch i n wonderful th i ngs andvery fru i tful . This does not refe r to the ne ighbourhood ofSofala

,fo r there is no gold there , nor i s i t v ery

fru i t fu l bu t i t re fe rs to the gold -field s of the i n te r i or .

360

AN ANCIENT ELDORADO

Edri s i (1 1 00 A.D .) I bn Sayd (1 2 50 AD ), and othe rArab ian wri te rs al so cal l S ofala an Eldorado .

The name Sofala , as appl i ed to the anc ien t goldfield S

, i s me t w i th many cen tu ries back in Arab ianl i te ratu re . We come across i t abou t 900 A . D . I t canhard l y be ques t ioned that i t was handed down to theArab ians of Ma soud i’s t ime from ages most remote .

Thi s name Sofala o r Sofara i s at th e t ime ofthe Septuagin t the acce p ted name for the Oph i rof the Solomon ic era . The S eptuagin t t ranslatesOph i r

’

wi th : Eo vtpfp , EOIKPEl’

p , Ewpfp , Ewcpt t'

p , Ewdnpé ,

2 0 4x40 6. The las t form i s iden t i ca l w i th Sofala,as

l and r are i n te rchangeabl e .

’

Sofala i s st i l l p ron oun ced Sofara among the Makalanga . Gesen ius ,our greates t H ebrew authori ty

,says that th i s pre

cis ive fo rm of Ophi r has ari sen ou t of the Egypt ianprefix 5 a , mean ing “Land . Sofala

,acco rd ingly

,

means l i te ral ly “Oph i r- land .

The Arab ians of the n i n th cen tu ry , there fore , cal l edth i s m i n i ng region i n South Afri ca Oph i r- land . DeBarros (1496 gives us a demarcat ion of Sofalai n h i s Asia ,

Fi rs t Decade,book x . chap . i. I

Al l the land wh i ch we i n clude i n the k ingdom ofSofala - i s a great region ru led by a heathen pri ncecal l ed Ben omo tapa ; i t i s enclosed l i ke an i sland bytwo arms of a ri ver wh ich i ssues from the mostcons iderabl e lake i n al l Afr ica . The r i ve r

,

wh ich flows towards Sofala after i ssu i ng from th i slake

,and ha s a long cou rse , d iv ides i n to two

branches . One reaches the coas t th is s ide CapeCorri en tes

,and i s the r i ver wh ich we formerly cal led

the Rio da Lagoa , and now the Rio do Espi ri toSan to (Limpopo), lately fixed by L ourengo Marques ,

1 Fo l lowin g the En gl ish tran sla tion ofProfessor Kean e .

36 1

AN ANCIEN" ELDORADO

who d i scovered i t i n 1 545 , and th e othe r branchdebouch i ng twen ty-five l eagues above Sofala is

cal l ed the Cuama,al though other peopl e i n land

cal l i t Z ambere (Zambes i). This branch is muchthe more cop ious , be ing nav igabl e for ove r 2 5 0

l eagues,and i n to i t fal l these six l a rge r i vers

Pa nhames Luamgusa (Oa ngwa), Arruya

(Ruia), Ma njovo (Majova), In a d ire and Ruen ia

(Ruenje), al l of wh ich water Ben omo tapa’

s land,and

most of them carry down much gold wh ich i s y i e ldedby that land . Thus th ese two branches

,wi th the sea

on the other s ide,form th i s great k i ngdom of Sofala

i n to an i sland,wh ich may have a c i rcu i t of ove r 7 50

l eagues . ”

De Barros wrote th i s , bas i ng h i s i n fo rmation onArabian sou rces . I agai n beg to cal l atten t ion tothe al ready -quoted passage of Eupolemos , accord ingto wh ich K in g Dav id sen t m i ners to the Isla n d ofUrphe or Upher . Presumably Sofala wa s regardedas an i sland from the most anc i en t t imes .I have repeatedly ment ioned that a number o f

name - sounds reca lling'

a Sabaean era s t i l l ex i s t i nth i s m in i ng coun t ry of S ofala . The Sab i R i ve r

,

whose upper s t ream is cal l ed Ru o r Lu- Sapi ,Massapa near I nj a-ka -Fura , Massapa to the south ofS ena

, Umsapa ,i n Melset ter, al l these reach ou r ears

l i ke a muffl ed memory recal l i ng some grey and hoarypast

,some h i s tori cal e ra when the Sabaeans were

masters here and worked the gold of the coun try .

A dist i nc t remnan t of th e A . F . R . per iod of th i sregion has l i ngered on i n the names of the d i fferen tFuras . We have seen that the Makalanga t ranslatethe word Fura by “mine , that Coutos says theArab ians cal led i t “Afur . ” I t is s ign ifican t when

362

AN ANCIENT ELDORADO

the i n te rpolat ion of the A rabian Afu r . I know ofa Fura i n the region of the Zambes i : I nj a -ka -Furaon the Lupata Gorge , another I nj a-ka -Fu ra oppos i teTete , Fu-Fura on the easte rn S l ope of th e moun tai nsthat run down to the Ga va res i, and Fura , i den t i calw i th Moun t Darwin

,i n Easte rn Mashonaland . I

am conv i nced that one would find more places wi ths im i lar sound i ng names i n Zambes ia . They havel i ngered on at certa i n places from an era when thecoun try wa s s t i l l cal l ed A . F . R . by the H imyar i tes ,and not a s ye t Sofala .

I should lay l i t t l e we igh t on these e tymologicalfac ts i f I had not the powerfu l foundat i on of theru i n s and archaeologi cal d i scove ries whereon theed ifice of my body of proof rests as on bed- rock .

Taken together w i th these , however, they are finaland dec i s i ve , and I do not see how anybody wi l lbe abl e to doubt that the Oph i r probl em has at las tfou nd i ts sc i en t ific solut ion .

Le t us make a final summaryI t i s Shown that i n South Afri ca far back i n the

second thousand years before Chri s t a H imyari t i cco lony ex is ted , whose area wa s about 7 50 000 squarem i les . I t IS shown that the great temple of Z imbabwewa s bu i l t about 1 1 00 that i s to say, about acen tury befo re Solomon sen t sh ips to Oph i r . I t isShown that the Sabaeans , the al l i es o f Solomon , werepredominan t here at that t ime . I t i s shown thatth roughou t th i s whole region gold was m i ned on alarge scal e at that t ime

,but that prec ious s tones ,

copper , and t i n were also obta ined here . Al l theother products of the Oph i r voyages— i vory , ebony ,apes , in d ia rubber (a lmnggim), and gu i neafowl— wereal so obta i nabl e here .

364

AN ANCIENT ELDORADO

Let us look round the Shores of the Red S ea andthe I nd ian Ocean . What o the r coun try ex is ts i n th i sregion that could oppose these fact s ?

To th i s i s added,that th i s old H imyar i t i c m in ing

coun try wa s cal l ed by the Arabians in the n inthcen tury A. D . by the name i nto wh i ch the word Oph i rhad been al ready t ransfo rmed at the t ime of thet ranslat i on of the S eptuagin t— {he name Sofala , wh ichthe Portuguese s t i l l found curren t i n the s i xteen thcen tu ry , wh ich been preserved port ion

RU I NS AT Il S IGA

of the coas t down to the presen t day . That thet ranslators of the Septuagin t d id not change thename to Sofara on pu rpose

,bu t wi shed to des ignate

therewi th a geograph ical reg i on that was onceregarded as iden t i cal w i th the Oph i r of the Solomon icera

,i s cl ear from the fact that they i nd i cated the

Oph i r Of Gen esis wi th the Oph i r o f SolomonW i th S ophira or S opha ra . Thus they Showed qu i tecl ea rly that they regarded both as d is t i nct places andpoi n ted to the Sofala region that we know .

365

AN ANCIENT ELDORADO

With th i s my cha i n o f ev idence i s compl ete . Today al ready it i s i ndest ruc t ibl e

,bu t I am su re that

every year new d i scove ri es w i l l fo rge i ts separate l i nksmore fi rmly toge the r .I t on ly remai ns for u s to fo rm a cl ear pi c tu re as to

how the en try of J ew i sh - Phoen i c ian en te rpri se i n toth i s H imyari t i c “sphere of i nfluen ce ” may be b i s to rical l y explai ned . For th i s we must ce rta i n ly po i n t tothe connec t ion wh i ch is character i sed by the v is i to f Queen B i l k i s to J e rusal em . A . F . R . was not so

much a H imyari t i c colony as one of those Pun i cset t l ements for the purposes of explo i tat ion wh ich wefind i n al l parts of the worl d of that day . AS i n ourmodern Sou th Afr i ca

,there was then al so el bow- room

for the gold - seekers of variou s nat i ons . What theQueen of Sheba granted the two al l i es was su rely notthat she employed her servan ts to d ig gold for them ,

wh ich they on ly had to take away,o r we would

ce rtai n l y hear of th i s i n ou r records . But she permitted her northern ne ighbours to go to the gold—field sopened up by the Sou th Arab ian s

,and there lay out

the i r own gold -mines . She gave them what we woulddescr ibe to-day as a comprehens i ve m in i ng concess ion .

I f we do not take this view ,then a ll the obj ect ion s

that we ra i sed el sewhere agai ns t a poss ible acqu i s i t ionof gold by purchase would come i n to force . Or dopeopl e imagi ne that the Sabaeans i n South Afri cam igh t poss ibly have made th e J ews and Phoen i c iansa presen t of the i r gold ? Even th ree thousand yearsago they would no t have th rown the i r gold away i nth i s fash ion .

“Every th ree years once came the K i ng’s sh ips .Here i n l i es the key to the final u nders tand i ng of themost i n te res t i ng of a ll h i s tor i cal ep i sodes . The road

366


We can on ly say that the A rab ian s of the S i x teen thcen tury were of the former op i n ion

,wh ich we accord

i ngl y find expressed in the l i te ratu re of the period ofth e Portuguese conqu i s tadors . The sto r ies abou tMoun t Fura on the Zambesi and abou t the “Abyss i n ian M ine ” from wh i ch the Queen o f Sheba rece i vedher gold , and round wh i ch were the s tone houses ofSolomon

’

s m i ners , po i n t i n th i s d i rect i on . I mustl eave th i s u ndec ided . That we ,

i n orde r to set tl eth i s mat te r, must no t tu rn ou r at ten t ion to rel ics o f

OL D RU I NS AT BULAWAYO .

the worsh ip of J ehovah i s cl ear,as Solomon at the

t ime he was engaged i n these en te rpri ses was h imsel fcompletel y fal l en back i n to the cul t of Baal , i n wh ichcourse he was probably i nfl uenced by h is connect ionw i th the Phoen i c ians and the Sabaeans and thegeneral pol i t i cal t rend of the second hal f o f his re ign .

The worsh ip of J ehovah was at that t ime only a localand secre t cu l t of the J ews

,wh i l e Baal and Ashtaroth

and the i r fol low ing governed the Pun i c wo rld , towh i ch al so the J ews be longed .

368


No matter what roads the J ews may have takenafte r they had anchored , the keel s of the sh ips ofH i ram and Solomon , once they had passed Socotra ,tu rned

,wi th the north -east monsoon , towards the

south -west ; they sai l ed along the East A fri can coast ,and anchored at one of the harbours from whencethey could reach the gold -mines between the Zambes iand the Limpopo , at the Oph i r o f the Old Testamen treco rds .

369

CHAPTER XV

GOAL OF THE VOYAGES TO PUNT

N 1 896 B rugsch suggested that Oph i r and Pun tmay have been one and the same region . Each

wa s an Eldorado reached by sea ,and the n atu re o f

the cargoes brough t back from the anc i en t Egypt ianexped i t i ons to Pun t wa s very s im i lar to that of theart i cl es men t ioned i n our accoun ts o f the Oph i r exped it i on s of K i ng Solomon .

Now G lase r , whom I fol low i n th i s mat ter, hasshown that the Pun t , Pwn t or Pon -a t of th e Egypt iani nscr ip t ion s , was not the name of a s i ngl e s tate , bu t anethnograph ical term embrac i ng the whole Pun i c worldon the I nd ian Ocean , from the Pe rs ian Gu l f past Babel-Mandeb , and a s far as th e region beyond Abyss i n iawes twards , and thecoast o f East Afri ca to beyond CapeCorr ientes . Th is I have expla i ned i n the forego ingchapte r .The ques t ion wh i ch the celebrated German Egypto

logis t has started is there fore not whethe r Oph i r wa sS i tuated i n the domai ns of th i s general region of Pun tbu t a cl early defined i nqu i ry as to whethe r theEgypt ians brough t the i r gold from the same d is t ri c ti n Pun t i n the s ix teen th cen tury B . C. a s that fromwh ich , five or s i x cen turi es late r , th e yel low metalreached J erusal em .

37O


qui r i ng whethe r the exped i t i on wh ich (accord i ng toF l i nde rs Petr i e) was sen t to Pun t by QueenHa tschepsu abou t 1 5 50 B . C. d id not , perhaps , goto the coun try wh ich we proved i n ou r las t chapte rto have been the obj ect i ve o f the Solomon i c Oph i rvoyages . That th i s coun try fo rmed a port ion of theEgypt ian Pun t we know from Glase r . I t is al so , onthe face of i t , poss ibl e that the Egypt ian Ama -goldof the Pun t exped i t i ons came from Mashonaland orMan icaland and not from the coun try of the Shasu ,wh ich was more or l ess an Egypt ian prov i nce , wh i l ewe are expressly tol d of Pun t that the Egypt iansappeared there fo r the fi rs t t ime . There wa s , however , no th i rd Eldorado i n Eas t Afri ca at that t ime .

I t is very easy to s ay that th e voyage wa s to Somal iland . But one should Show how and where theEgypt ians cou ld col l ec t the i r d i fferen t Punt cargoes i nSomal i land . Also to sol ve the Pun t probl em we

must adopt the same poi n t of v i ew that we boundoursel ves to i n our t reatmen t of the Oph i r probl em .

We must demand archaeologi cal ev idences , and mustno t be sat i sfied wi th general argumen ts .

But I wi l l attack the matter from i ts ve ry begi nn i ngs ,and for th i s we haVe fi rs t

'

ofal l to exam ine , a s was thecase w i th Oph i r , what records of Pun t have beenhanded down to us by Egypt ian h is to ry and trad iti on .

The fi rs t ment ion of the land of Pun t i s a note tothe effect that under K i ng Assa (3 5 80—3 5 36 ap igmy or dwarf was b rough t from thence to Egyptby Bau r-dedu (see Pet ri e , op . cit. vol . i . p .

Th is i n format ion is not of much use to us , as nogeograph ical s tatemen t of any k ind is given wi th i t .Then fol lows the t rad i t ion of the wel l -known

exped i t ion to Pun t under K i ng S a n khka ra (abou t372

GOA L OF THE V OYAGES TO PU IIT

2 786— 2 7 78 D .C .)wh i ch i s represented on the in scrip

t i on i n th e rocky val ley o f Hammamat . Thisexped i t i on was commanded by a certai n H enu . Hemarched th rough the Libyan desert to a harbou r onthe Red Sea wh ich i s cal l ed S eba . Here he hadsh ips bu i l t fo r the sea voyage . I am unable to dec idewhether the name Seba ” impl i es that th i s harbou rwas a Sabae an se tt l emen t . Accord ing to B rugsch thelen /tos limen of the Romans i s the modern Ouosseir.

Thi s i n sc r ipt ion l i kewi se g ives no geograph i cal ideaas to

_

the aim of the exped i t ion . The cargo brough tback i s no t ment i oned . I t on ly says that H enubrought back al l k i nds of products wh i ch he foundcu rren t i n the lia roon r town s of the sacred count ry .

From Quosseir a voyage wa s undertaken to reachthat coun t ry . But when , at the beginn i ng of thei nscript ion

,we read that H enu wa s sen t to fetch

perfumed spi ces for the k ing,we may assume that the

j ou rney was to the actual F ranki ncense Country ofthe anc i en t world on the coas t of Arab ia .

More defin i te i n format ion i s gi ven i n the aforemen t ioned accoun t of the exped i t ion to Pun t underOueen Ha schop, or Ha tschepsut (1 50 3—1 48 1 B . C. ,

accord i ng to Pe tr i e), wi th wh i ch th i s i nqu i ry i sspec ial ly concerned . The story i s i nsc ribed on thewal l s o f the celebrated templ e of De i r-el-Bahri , nearThebes

,the anc i en t cap i tal .

B rugsch gives the fol lowi ng renderi ng of th i srecord of De i r-el-Bahri (op . cit. , p .

“I n st igated by an oracl e of Ammon , the ch ie fTheban god

,the Queen of Egypt resol ved that a

voyage of d iscove ry to the unknown balsam coun tryof Punt should be undertaken . By hearsay theEgypt ians were acquain ted wi th the wonders o f th i s

373

GOAL OF THE VOYAGES TO P UNT

d is tant coun try 0 11 the coasts o f the Red Sea and theI nd ian Ocean

,the home of the genu i ne frank i ncense ,

so much des i red fo r the s erv i ces of the i r temples andmany othe r del i cate t reasu res o f the so i l .“A great n umber of sea -go ing sh ips we re fi t ted out

fo r the l ong and d i fficul t voyage . and these weremanned wi th capabl e sa i lo rs and warr io rs

,and gi fts of

fr i endsh ip of many ki nds were not fo rgot ten . A highcou rt offic ial accompan ied the flee t as royal em issary ,and noble pri nces and gen tlemen i n the serv i ce ofthe i r lady and queen j o i ned the val ian t l eader .H ow long tae sea voyage la sted tae in scr iption s do

n ot sta te. After the fleet,by the help of Ammon ,

had reached i ts goal the Egypt ians landed on thecoast of the frank in cense mounta i ns . Wonder onwonde r man i fes ted i tsel f befo re the as ton ished eyes ofthe n ew arr i val s

,w/io in everytning taey saw were

awa re of naving en tered a n n n é n own wor ld . People ,the l i kes of whom they had neve r seen before , th ei nhabi tan ts of th i s “god - l i ke so i l

,

” s tand i ng on thecoast

,appeared to be l i t t l e l ess su rpr i sed than the

Egypt ians themsel ves at th e und reamt -of spectacl e ofthe land ing of st range men . They l i ved i n bu i ld ingsrai sed on p i l es

,i n l i t tl e dome-shaped huts en tered by a

ladder,i n the shadow of fru i t- laden cocoa-nu t palms

and spl end id i ncense t rees,i n whose branches rare

b i rds rocked,and at whose fee t fin e herds of oxen

grazed peaceful ly .

Afte r .th e fi rs t shock o f surpri se had passedassurances of peace were fi rs t of al l exchanged wi thth e pr i n ce of the s t range coun try

,and then fol lowed

an exchange of hosp i tal i ty and gi fts . For as thei n scr ipt ion l i te ral l y tel l s u s : “The royal em issary i sarr i ved wi th the warr io rs of h i s escort . Every o ne of

374

GOA L OF THE V OYAGES TO P UNT

utmos t clearness . I t reads “The camp of the royalenvoy and h i s warr io rs i s p i tched i n the ne ighbourhood of the F rank i ncense Moun ta i n of the coun try ofPun t , on the shores of the great sea ,

to rece i ve thepri nce o f th i s coun t ry . H e was offe red bread

,mead

,

wine , meat , d ried fru i t , and everyth i ng el se that theland of Tomer (Egypt)produces , j us t as was comma n d ed by the royal cou rt .The ch ief represen tat i ve of the pri nces of Pun t

,the

aforemen t i oned Pa rihuaccompan ied by h i s pot-bellieda n d a d ipose wife , d id not keep them wai t i ng. Fo r“ the P ri nce of Pun t came

,bri ngi ng the tr i bu te w i th

h im , t o the Shore of the great sea . Golden r ings , ivory,

a n d a w/iole neap of costly ba lsam were p i l ed up beforethe envoy ’s ten t . G roan ing i nhab i tan ts of Pun t anddr i vers l ead ing the i r l oaded donkeys

,and cow-he rds

fol low i ng th ese,bes t Show the W i l l i ngness o f the

nat i ves to do homage to th e doubl e c rown of Egypt .The envoy of “the Queen rece i ved the gi fts of theP r i nce of Pun t . Peace and fr ie ndsh ip were thusseal ed , and everyth i ng made ready for the re tu rnhomeward .

The ri ch t reasu res of the m i ne ral , an imal , andvegetabl e world whi ch Pun t had wi l l i ngly and joyful ly offe red to the Egypt ians

,were i nc reased by an

uncommon add i t i on,wh ich represen ts the fi rs t and

oldes t reco rded attempt a t the t ransplan tat ion of atree to a s t range so i l . Well protected in tn bs

,t/ie

n a tives d ragged a long tnirty-on e fra n kin cen se trees .

Every s i ngl e tree has six men to carry i t . Whenspec imens of al l the produc ts o f the coun t ry s toodready to be sh ipped

,th e d iffi cu l t work o f pack ing and

load i ng began . Fai th ful ly the l i fe - l i ke p1cture showsu s the seamen and nat i ves at work . The aecom

376

GOAL OF THE VOYAGES O P UNT

pany ing 1n scr1ptio n fu rther explai ns the ve ry l uc idrepresen tat ion on the stone wal l .The sh ips are

loaded to the i r a qr—b 0 4 511 c

ut m o s t capa c1ty

wi th the wonde rful products of theland of Pun t

,and

t h e d ifl e r e n t

classes o f t imbero f tha t d i v i n ecoun t ry ; and wi thheaps o f franki ncense gums , wi thfresh frank i ncensetrees

,and obj ects

ofebony,a n d i voryset i n refined goldo f the Land ofAmu

,wi th l iquo

ri ce,wi th frank in

cense of Ahem ,

holy gums andcosmet ics , w i t hbaboons and monkeys and greyhounds

,wi th rare

fu rs,and wi th in

habi tan ts o f thecoun try togetherw i th the i r ch i ld r e n . N e v e rhas anyth i ng l ike th i s been brough t to a k i ng (ofEgypt)s i nce the begi nn i ng of the world .

”

377

GOAL OF THE V OYAGES TO PUNT

Soon the sh ips begi n to move . Sai l s and oarsmust help i n tu rn . The i ncense t rees s tand on deckbetween boxes and sacks , and , to the great amusemento f the sa i lo rs

,the monkeys who are now set at

l ibe rty j ump up and down on the sh ip’s ropes . Thei nsc ript i on accompany i ng the p i ct ure i n quest i on tel l su s that the pri nces of Pun t were al so i ncl uded amongthose who made th i s voyage . Let us hear the wordsthemsel ves : “They move by sh ip

,they return

happi l y to the i r home,they sai l the road to Thebes

wi th j oyful hearts,th e warr io rs of the rul e r of the

land . The pri n ces of th i s coun try are wi th them .

What they bri ng i s of a k i nd that no othe r monarchhas ever had brough t to h im .

The re tu rn of th e voyagers and the i r arr i val i nThebes was natu ral ly ce l ebrated as a great event .Egypt had made her own ,

i n the most peacefulmanne r

,a new l y d i scovered region i n the Eas t , and

wi th that secu red to herse l f th e acqu is i t ion of themost cost l y products o f th i s E ldorado . I n solemnaud ience th e Queen rece i ved the tr i bal pri nces o f thatfore ign land

,who th rew themsel ves reve ren t ial l y to

earth before the i r p resen t rule r,and who des ignated

her i n the usual Court ly speech of the i r cel ebratoryaddress as “the Queen of Tomera and th e sun ,

wh ichSh ines as the d i sc of heaven

,

” not w i thou t acknowledgi ng her at the same t ime as the i r “Queen , andas the M i st ress o f Pun t “They have now becomesubj ec ts o f H er H ol i ness . I n a long t ra i n the an imal sand othe r natural products are l ed past the Queen ,and even the ponderou s frank i ncense t rees are carr i edpas t the augus t presence of t he Sovere ign .

I n consequence of the happy resul t of the Egypt ianvoyage wh ich had carr i ed the name of Egypt a s far

378

GOAL OF THE V OYAGES TO P UNT

The exact a n d jus t scal es of Thu t , wh i ch the queenhad had made for her father

,the Theban Ammon , to

we igh s i l ve r,gold

,sapph i res

,emeralds

,and al l o ther

prec i ous s tones — such are the words i nscr ibed ove rthe pi ctu res o f the scal es .On the one scal e repose th i rty-one ri ngs made of

prec ious metal , on The othe r scal e are the Ten orpound -weigh ts

,i n the shape o f res t i ng bul l s

,and the

smal le r we igh ts are formed l i ke bul l s ’ heads andstone t i l es . The occupat ion for the t ime be i ng ofHor,

”

th e watche r of the scal es,i s descr ibed as the

we igh ing of the gold and copper and th e worksof the i nhab i tan ts of the sou th fo r the Theban godAmmon .

I n a rel i e f below th i s the spectato r sees two enormous heaps of prec i ou s frank i ncense-gum . Fou r menare employed i n measu ri ng these heaps . An in script ion above th i s reads : “Very energet i c measuri ng of

th e fresh frank i ncense fo r the Theban Ammon , th emost wonderfu l o f the coun t r i es of Punt , th e mos tgl or ious o f th e d i v i ne coun try .

With the proceed i ngs descri bed above (accord i ng tothe con ten ts o f a

,l ongi sh i nscr ip t ion carved next to

them)was comb ined a great feas t i n honou r of Ammon .

The Queen had ornamen ted hersel f mos t beaut i ful l y ;a spotted l eopard - sk i n wi th copper Cl asps covered hershoulders

,and her l imbs exhal ed a perfume l ike newly

fal l en morn i ng dew . Al l the i nhabi tan ts expressedthe i r fes t i ve mood wi th song and mus i c and j oyfu lsoundsT/ie brotber of tbe Qn een ,

who was known at cou rtat that day by the name of K ing [Wa n —clieper -ba ra ,

had the honour of Offe r i ng a gi ft of the bes t franki ncense of the holy barge of Ammon , wh i ch was carr i ed

380

GOAL OF THE V OYAGES TO P UNT

on the Shoulders o f serv i ng-pri ests i n j oyful process ion .

A long t rai n o f pries ts , offi cers o f the court , warr io rsand people approached the sh ri ne of the d iv i ne protec to r o f Thebes , the holy men wi th sacrific ial gi fts ,the warri ors wi th peace offeri ngs (branches) i n the i rhands . Food and d ri nk -offeri ngs were prepared , andloud cri es o f gladness sounded from the l ips of thej oy ful ly exc i ted mul t i t ude .

Pet ri e , who i s much bri e fer than B rugsch , cal l s thebrother o f the Queen who sacrifices to Ammon by h i sh i s tor i cal name of Tahutmes (or Tho tmes) I I I .Speak i ng of the fatness o f the Pr i ncess of Pun t andher daughte r

,he obse rves that i t wa s probably a

resul t of the Afri can ideal of beau ty , as i n Sou th Afri cato-day . He expla i ns the exac tness o f eve ry de ta i l bythe fact that art i s t s accompan i ed the exped i t ion ,because the sea -go ing Sh ips are d rawn qu i te d i fferen tly from the ord inary sh ips , wh i le the pri ncess andher donkey , the houses an d t rees , al l appear to havebeen sketched by an eye—wi tness (op . cit. , 8 2

I f we take al l these s tatements togethe r they real lyafford a body of ev idence from wh ich we can drawcerta in geograph i cal concl us ions .The exped i t ion wa s u ndertaken by means of e ight

sa i l i ng-vessel s fi t ted wi th oars and sa i l s,wh ich , j udg ing

by the i r cons truct ion,were more seaworthy than the

dhows wi th wh i ch the Arabs sa i l the I nd ian Oceanto-day .

How long they were at sea ,how long , i n fact , the

whol e exped i t ion las ted i s not s tated . But we l earnthat the coun t ry wh ich they reached wa s a new worldfor the Egypt ians

,wh i ch d i sc losed to them wonde r on

wonder, and that its n at i ves expressed aston i shmen tthat i t wa s poss ible that the st rangers cou ld reach so

d i stan t and unknown a coun try .

38 1


These nat i ves , i n th e way they wear the i r beards ,resemble th e Egypt ian s themsel ves .The Shore on wh ich the exped i t i on encamped i s

Shaded by leafy t rees i n whose branches unknown b i rdsare seen

,and at whose fee t graze herds of cat tl e .

I ask any t ravel l e r who knows the Somal i Coas twhethe r th i s desc r ip t ion matches , even i n a single t ra i t ,that sun -burn t , barren , desert - l i ke coast . Only a personwho has never been i n North -eas t Afri ca, or whoden ies that the accoun t given i n Dei r-el-Bahri ha s anyval ue as real i sm

,can refe r i t to North -east Afr ica . P er

con tra i t en t i re ly matches certa i n regions of South eas tAfr i ca

, e .g ., Quilima n e and the mou th of the Zambes i ;

or at the same t ime , cer ta i n port ions of the Zanz ibarcoast . The nat i ves

,j udged by the format ion of the i r

heads,belong apparen tly to the Pun i c t r ibes from

wh i ch the Egypt ians o r igi nated as wel l . Bu t theFa lstaffia n proport ions of the i r women , wh ich en t i re lyco i nc ides w i th that of the H otten tots

,and th e way

the i r houses were bu i l t,l eave us to conclude that we

have to do he re wi th n egrofied H imyari tes or el sew i th hybr ids .The world wh ich the Egypt ian s en tered was qu i te

new to them . I f one sa i l s from the western shores ofthe Red Sea to Somal i land one does not en te r a brandnew world

,but everywhere the re i s the same sun

parched , d reary coas t .I the re fore do not bel i eve

,wi th those who have so

far commen ted on th i s matte r,that the Frank i ncense

range of mounta i ns men t i oned i n the i nsc r i pt ion wasS i tuated i n the ne ighbou rhood of Cape Guardafu i , asth i s con trad i cts every s i ngl e featu re of the en t i rerepresen tat ion .

And now what d id th e Egypt ian seamen bri ng

382

GOAL OF THE V OYAGES OF PUNT

Zambes i,for th roughou t the whole l ength no anc i en t

work i ngs have been d i scovered . They would,at

l east,have had to go as far as the anc i en t Rhapta ,

the n orthe rnmost en t ry to the H imyarit i c SouthAfri can gold -field s .

With th i s we have carr i ed ou r i nqu i ry to the samepo i n t that we reached a l i t t l e wh i l e back wi th theOph i r probl em . We have an ind i rec t proof that thePun t exped i t i ons wen t to South Afr i ca

,because we

cannot see Where else they cou ld have gone to for acargo composed a s the i rs wa s . B ut i n add i t i on tosuch i nd i rec t ev iden ce i n support of the presence ofthe Oph i r voyagers i n Sou th Afri ca

,we found s t i l l

o ther p roofs . The ques t ion w i l l be whether we cand i scove r s im i lar pos i t i v e records the re po i n t i ng torelat io ns w i th the anc i en t Egyptia n s .

I This we canmos t ce rtai n ly do .

I Na tura l ly th is question does n o t mean whether South Africa wa sa n a n cien t South Arabian or a n a n c ien t Egyptian settlemen t, a s

Pro fessor Kea n e, to my grea t a ston ishmen t,makes me aver. I

have n ever proposed such an a l tern a tive . Ever Sin ce Ben t’s exploration s I have kn own tha t the mass of the South African ruin s is of

a n c ien t Sem itic origin . A lso the Egyptia n record expressly sta testha t the Ha tschepsuexped ition wen t to a Pun ic coun try . I d o n o t

un derstan d how Ha l l a n d Nea l (op . cit. p . 44)ma n age to make Kea n econvert me from the Egyptian to the H imyaritic theory. It is heres imp ly a question ofdiscovering whether the Pun ic coun try to whichthe Pun t voyage wa s made layin South or North -ea stAfrica , an d thisin quiry must be con ducted by mean s of ethn ograph ica l an d archaeo

log ica l facts .

CHAPTER XV I

CONNECT ION W I TH ANC I ENT EGYPT

T i s known that L i v i ngstone d iscovered a Ban tu t ribenot far from the Rovuma , wh i ch had tattoo marks

that rem inded h im of anc ien t Egypt ian h ie roglyph i cs .Now th i s t ribe has neve r been met wi th aga i n by anyothe r t ravel l e r . L iv i ngstone , al so , wa s not an expertin such matte rs . Th is d i scove ry of L iv ings tone ’s i s

,

the re fore,not o f much val ue as ev idence i n el uc idat ion

of our probl em,and I onl y ment ion the matte r i n

pass i ng w i thou t lay ing spec ial s t ress upon i t .More importan t to my mi nd i s the t ransformat ion of

the name Oph i r i nto Sofara , as had al ready occu rredby the t ime of the Septuagi n t , and wh ich arose fromthe anc i en t Egypt ian prefix 5 a

,mean ing land . We

have preserved i t down to the presen t day i n the wordSofala . Th i s can hardly be expla i ned i n any othe rway except that Egypt S tood i n d i rect relat i ons w i ththe South Afr ican E ldorado , out o f wh ich such anEgyptifica tio n o f the name arose .

Theodore Bent (T/ie R a in ed Cities of M a s/zon a

la n d ,pp . 36

—3 7)ment ions that the head - rests of the

Makalanga bear a st r i k i ng resemblance to the woodenhead - rests of the anc ien t Egypt ians , as we find themshown

,for i n stance

,i n the B r i t i sh M useum . I n proof

of th i s he Shows two reproduct ions s ide by s ide . I

385

CONNECTION W ITH ANCIENT EGYPT

3 86

made j ust the same observat ioni n Misongwe i n 1 899 . Nowth i s fact , as wel l , i s o f veryl i t t l e value as ev idence i ne l uc idat ion of ou r probl em

,th e

l ess so because s im i la r headrests are found al l ove r Afr ica.

But s t i l l i t shows that a common dexter i ty ex tended fromthe N i le as far as the o the rs ide of the Zambes i .O f unquest ionabl y greater

importance i s the start l i ng s im ila rity of some of the B ushmanpai n t i ngs to anc ient Egypti anfrescoes . So that the two maybe compared

,I reproduce four

such newly d i scovered Bushman pai n t i ngs from South -eas tAfri ca

,for t rac i ngs of which I

am i ndebted to th e k i ndnesso f M r . F a irbridge , of Umtal i .Any one acquai n ted wi thEgypt ian frescoes w i l l recogn ise the same characte r i n thepose of the figures i n theseSouth Afri can pai n t i ngs . Theway of weari ng the hai r , i nthe second of my i l l us t rat ion sespec ial l y , i s a lso qu i te iden tical w i th the anc i en t Egypt ianfash ion . Thi s i s far more dete rm 1n a t1ve than any analogyi n the shape of head - rests , a s

such pain t i ngs are not foundal l ove r Afri ca , bu t onl y to

CONNECTION W ITH ANCIENT EGYPT

i t does not decl i ne and conj ugate i ts words by meansof prefixes l i ke the Ban tu

,but , l i ke the Sem i t i c and

Caucas ian,wi th su ffixes ; that i s to say, th e Changes

i n the fo rm of the nouns and ve rbs are placed , notbefo re

,but

,as w i th us

,at the end of the words .

The cel ebrated Egyptologi s t,Leps iu s , po in ted ou t

the relat i onsh ip of the H otten to t tongue to anc i en t

BUSHMEN'

S DRAW I NG,NEAR TSUNGUESI, M ASHONALAND .

(F rom a n origin a l tra cing of F a irbridge in Dr. Polers’

possessmn .)

Egypt ian . The d i v i s i on i n to th ree genders i s i nthe H ot tento t tongue qu i te s im i lar to that o f theCush i te languages of the m iddl e N i l e .

Th is relat ionsh ip i s al so apparen t i n the rel igiouspract i ces o f the H otten tots . The worsh ip of themoon i s fo remost

,l i ke the -worsh ip o f I s i s i n the

N i l e Val l ey . Also a green beet l e , hal f the l engthof a finge r and related to ou r stag—bee tl e

,enj oys

388

CONNECTION W ITH ANC IENT EGYPT

rel igious venerat ion among the H otten to ts . Wheni t fl ies i n to a v i l lage sheep are k i l l ed i n i ts honour .This i s analogous to the scarab -worsh ip of the anc i en tEgyptians .The bu r ial o f the

dead is a sac redduty he re

,as i n the

N i l e Val l ey . Thebod ies of relat i vesare placed toge theri n gra ves a n d caves .

Th is al so rem i ndsone of the oldEgypt ian customs .Anothe r remark

a b l e S i m i l a r i t ybe tween th e H otte n tots and theEgypt ians i s thephys iologi cal fac tthat they are bothvery sens i t i ve toa moi s t cl imate .

They go i n searchofd ry reg i on s . Forthe res t , the H otten to ts have al l thephys iological peculia rities of bas tard

BUSHMEN’

S DRAW I NG . (F rom a n origin a l

tra cing ofF a irbridgc in D r. Pclcrs’

possess/on .)

races . Thei r hands and fee t are smal l . They arecunn i ng and very sensual

,and have a much l ivel ie r

imagi nat ion than the negro races .For us who wish to i n te rp re t the old i nscri pt ion

of De i r-el- Bahri , two spec ial H otten to t pecul iar i t i es389

CONNECT I ON W I TH ANCIEN" EGYPT

should be cons idered . The fi rs t i s th e corpul ence ofthe i r women

,wh ich we found part i cu larl y not i ceabl e

on the Egypt ian Pun t - rel i e fs . I t ari ses th rough theprominence o f the cu sh ion s of fat round the hi ps .The second pecul iar i ty i s th e h ive - l i ke shape of the i rhouses , wh ich al so s t r i kes the eye as typ i cal i n th eDe i r- el-Bah ri represen tat ion . Both characte ri s t i csare qu i te absen t i n the rea l Pun ic or Arabian t r i bes .Now the P ri n ce of Pun t i s named Pa rihui n the reco rd ,and his wi fe

’

s name is At i . Both are pure Semi t i cnames . B ut every t ravel l e r who has v i s i ted Arabt raders i n Africa knows that th i s has noth i ng to dow i th the e thnograph i cal d i v i s io n of the members ofthe fami ly . The South Arabian marr i e s the daughte rsof the coun try and gi ves them Arab ian names . Thusi t w i l l have been fou r thousand years ago ; thus it i sto -day . But i f we look around i n Eas t Africa

,where

such nat i ve women,l i ke those charac ter i sed at Dei r

el- Bah r i , are at home , we shal l find no t races o f themi n North -east Afri ca

,wh ich i s i nhab i ted by Somal i s

,

and where the Sem i t i c i nfluences were far more intense . Bu t the same nat ional i ty has been prese rvedi n South Afr i ca, i n the H otten tots , or K /ioiboin asthey cal l themselves

,down to the presen t day : That

th i s race fo rmerl y , that i s to say before the i nvas ionof the Ban tu tr i bes

,al so i nhab i ted South - east Afri ca

i s a gene ral l y acknowledged fact,wh ich is al so

supported by the Bushman pai n t i ngs i n EasternRhodes ia and i n Portuguese East Afri ca . AS th i si s the case , the Egypt ian templ e i n sc r ip t ions wi ththe i r remarkable de ta i l s q u i te clearly po i n t to th i spart o f the B lack Con t i nen t .I do not w i sh to speak here au thori tat i vel y wi th

regard to the H otten to t quest ion , fo r I have no r igh t390

LCONNECTION W ITH ANCIENT EGYPT

to be explai ned W i thou t assum ing that d i rec t relat ion s ex i s ted between the anc ien t Egypt ian s andSouth Afri ca .

As a final s troke I am now i n a pos i t ion to producean archaeologi cal d i scove ry from the sou th of theZambes i wh ich po i n ts d i rectl y to the e ra of

BUSHMEN’

S DRA\VING ON F I VE M I LE RI VER,NORTH SAL ISBURY .

Tahutmes I I I . , the refore to the t ime of the greatPun t exped i t ion i tsel f. Th is i s the Egypt ian figurewh ich I rece ived i n May , 1 90 1 , th rough M r . B i rch i nUmtal i , wh ich i s proved to have been found abou t1 7

° S . la t . and 3 2° E . l ong , therefore i n the northwestern corner of the Makalanga country .

393

CONNECT ION W I TH ANC I ENT EGYPT

Professo r F l i nde rs Pet r ie,to Whom I submi t ted i t

,

pronounces i t a figure of Tho tmes I I I . or one of h iscou rt i e rs , and descr ibes i t as fol lows“Upper part of an Usha b té figure of potte ry im

pressed in a mould . On the head i s an elaborate wig,

i n each hand a scourge i n s tead of a hoe . On the ches tis the cartouche of Tahutmes

I I I . (abou t 1 450 Threel i nes of i nscr ipt ion remai nbelow , so much effaced thaton ly the t i t l e O s i r i s can beseen ; bu t there i s no t race ofa cartouche wi th i t . The wigand the scourges i n the handspo i n t to th i s be i ng a figure ofthe k ing h imsel f

,bu t h i s name

canno t be t raced i n the l oweri nsc r ipt ion . As to the s ource

,

the figure is ce rta i n ly genu i nelyanc i en t

,and by i ts smel l i t has

been bu ri ed i n mo is t earth (noti n an Egyp tian tomb), and hasno t been kept long by an Arab .

Al l th i s agrees wi th the accoun tof its find ing .

My readers wi l l remembe rthat Tho tmes or Tahutmes

I I I . i s one of the ch ief figures i n the Pun t p ic tureson the temple of De i r- el-Bah ri . He is the pri ncewho offe rs the sacrifice to Ammon . H i s e ffigy wasfound abou t 300 m i l es up -s t ream on the sou th s ideof the Zambes i . P rofessor Keane th inks that i t mayhave reached there th rough a dozen channel s

,and

the re fore one i s no t necessari ly forced to concl ude that393

EGYPTIAN F IGURE FOUNDSOUTH OF THE ZA M BES I .

CONNECT I ON WITH ANCIENT EGYPT

i t po i n ts to d i rec t relat i on s wi th Egypt . But whatt rader would carry such an obj ec t i n to the i n te r io r ofAfri ca ? Pet ri e affi rms that i t had not been long i nthe hands of an Arab

,ne i the r had i t been buri ed i n

the d ry Egypt ian,bu t i n a mo i s t so i l . . Therefo re ,

apparen t l y , i t was buri ed where i t wa s found , and i sthe record and proof of an anc i en t Egypt ian gravesouth of the Z ambes i i n North - eas t Mashonaland .

I n th i s case i t represen ts a documen t of the h ighes th i s to ri cal value .

I see i n i t a fi rs t archaeologi cal proof of the fact thatthe exped itio n s to Pun t unde r Queen Ha tschepsut wen tto th i s part o f Eas t Afr i ca

,and recogn ise h ere a very

des i rabl e confi rmat ion of the general arguments wh i chI have enumerated above . I am convi nced that fu rthe rd i scoveri es w i l l fol low i n the same d is t r i c t . As we seei n the actual records of the rol l s of the gove rnmen t ofTho tmes I I I .

,the paymen ts of t r ibu te from Pun t

con t i nued even afte r the great exped i t i on (see Petr i e ,op cit .

, vol. i i . pp . 1 1 7 and 1 2 1 ; B rugsch , op . cit . ,

pp . 3 1 4 and gold,i vory

,ebony

,and leopard

skin s are always among the en tr i es . I t i s , the re fore ,more than l i kely that the Pharaoh kep t a Governor i nth i s profi tabl e coun try . The Usha b té figure on theZambes i i s a ve ry s ign ifican t s ignpos t

,i f we w i sh to

d iscover where tha t Governor had h is seat . I t appearsthat h is o ffi c ial d is t r i c t wa s S i tuated not far fromTete . There he appears to have d i ed and to havebeen bu ri ed .

Th is relationsh ip between the gold coun t ry Pun tand Egypt seems to have ex i s ted at l eas t d ur ing therul e of the whole e igh teen th dynas ty . Under H oremh ib (1 3 3 2— 1 3 2 8 the las t k i ng of th i s house , anembassy appears from Pun t br i ngi ng a number of

394

CONNECT ION \V I TH ANC IENT EGYPT

that day , and from here es tabl i shed re lat ion s wi th thet ri bes o f the Zambes i . The Frank i n cense Mounta i nwh i ch i s men t ioned i n the i nsc rip t io n was

,i n that case ,

n o t Cape Guardafu i , bu t the promonto ry of Rhapton .

Below th i s the Sh ips anchored . AS I mentionedbe fo re , the m odern K i swah i l i name Quilima n e meanson the mounta i n .

”

I assume that the Egypt ian s founded a stat ion ups t ream , in the actual gold coun try i tsel f. Thus do Iexplai n the payments of t r ibu te under Tho tmes I I I .and down to Horemhib . The Usha b té figure wh ichI brought from Sou th Afri ca i n 1 90 1 , and wh ich comesfrom North—eas t Mashonaland

,is probably from the

tomb of the commandan t of th i s m i n i ng s tat i on underTho tmes I I I . I t i s adv i sabl e to explore th i s ne ighbourhood thoroughly for fur the r a rchwo logica l remai nsdat i ng from the t ime of the Egypt ians .I n o rde r to unders tand the re lat ions of the

northerne rs to th i s anc ien t Eldorado,we mus t no t

p ic tu re i t as an ac tual P un i c sta te. Otherwi se eve rybody who l i ked would not have been able to go the reto fetch gold from thence

,as H i ram and Solomon

subsequen tly d id . South Afri ca was the m i n i ngcoun try of the H imyari tes . B ut beyond the i r own

gold -mines there was room for o thers as w el l,and the

nat i ves themsel ves , apparent ly , had no idea of theworth of the yel low metal . . That was why they gaveso much of i t to the s trangers .I f our i nqu i ry , the refore , has assu red us that as

early as 1 500 th e Egypt ians sa i l ed down theI nd ian Ocean , at . l eas t a s far as the mouth of theZambes i , and establ i sh ed d i rec t t rade—re lat ions wi ththe h i n te rland , then the c i rcumnav igat i on of Afr i cawh ich K ing Necho orde red about 600 also loses

396

CONNECTION W ITH ANC I ENT EGYPT

i ts remarkabl e charac te r . For the Egypt ians must atthat t ime have been acqua i n ted wi th the gene ral shapeof the Afri can con t i nen t fo r many cen tu ries .With th i s we have arr i ved at a ve ry d i fferen t pi ctu re

of th e t rade and cul tu ral relat i ons on the easte rn shoresof the I nd ian Ocean from that to wh ich we wereaccustomed . Unt i l the i n t roduct ion of steam andel ec t r i c i ty i n to that part o f the world i n ou r ow n

gene rat ion,noth i ng has changed much the re for the

las t years . Travel l i ng i n Afri ca at thatt ime . must have been exactl y the same th ing as amodern Afri can exped i t ion w i th carri e rs , on ly that i twas much more comfortabl e , for the anc i en ts possessed an un told numbe r of S laves . Nav igat ion onthe I nd ian Ocean abou t 1 500 B . C . d i ffered i n nopart i cular from the commu n i cat ion by means of dhowswh ich un i te s Arab ia , I nd ia , Madagascar , and Zanz ibarup to the presen t day . South Afri ca , howeve r, wasthe Eldorado of Thebes and Memph i s , S idon andJ e rusal em

,as to -day i t i s the ch ie f prov ide r of gold

for London and New York , Berl i n and Pari s . W i ththat

,however

,i t takes i ts place once and always i n the

great relat i onsh ips of the most anc ien t c i v i l i sat ions .

397

CHAPTER XV I I

T I IE FUTURE OF ANCIENTOPH IR

398

HE reader who

has fol lowed mefar back as the mos tanc i en t e ra ofS o u t h A f r i c a nm in i ng operat ionsw i l l pe rhaps bei n cl in ed to take aglance al so at thefu t u r e d e v e l o pmen t of the re

gions we have t raversed . Europeane n t e r p r i s e h a stu rned i ts attent i on w i th espec ialenergy to th i s partof the world duri ng the las t fewd e c a d e s . TheB r i t i s h S o u t hAfr i ca Companyon the one s ide ,th e MozambiqueCompany on the

THE F UTURE OF ANC I ENT OPH IR

othe r , have set th e m igh ty forces o f modern sc i en t ificappl iances i n mot i on to pave a way for the Wh i terace , and to secu re a foundat ion the re fo r Europeanc i v i l i sat i on .

On the Engl i sh s ide Cec i l Rhodes was the d i rec t i ngforce who ,

figh t i ng agai ns t Dutch and Portuguese,here

procu red elbow - room for h i s people . From the L impopo to Lake Tanganyi ka , from the slopes of theplateau of Mashonaland as far as beyond the KalahariDesert , he ra i sed th e flag of Great B ri ta i n , and wi ththat took possess ion of the South Afr i can tabl elandsto the north of the Transvaal for England .

Cec i l Rhodes belonged to the same orde r as theAlexande rs and the Napoleons , those s t range dreamerswho combi ne a l ive ly imagi nat i on w i th an unsc rupu lous

,

even a brutal wi l l -powe r,and by means of th i s com

binat ion become revol u t ionary world—conquerors onou r plane t . But wh i l e th e Alexanders and Napol eonstake the nat ions by s torm w i th phalanges and armycorps

,Cec i l Rhodes knew how to enl i s t th e modern

forces o f cap i tal and the Eu ropean bourses i n his

serv ice , and wi th these to conque r an empi re equal i nexten t to B ri t i sh I nd ia . H is bold wi l l -power and thegen i us o f h i s en te rpri se found the necessary unde rs tand i ng among h i s people

,and the support w i thou t

wh i ch even the greates t pe rsonal i ty can ach ieve nolas t i ng resul ts i n the face of the bru tal oppos i t i on ofthe nat ions . England always cove red h i s act ions

,

even when he made m is takes ; and therefore Sou thAfr ica w i l l remai n las t i ngl y B ri t i sh

,and the Engl i sh

spi ri t o f en terpr i se w i l l for al l t ime have the re agreat field for i ts ac t i v i ty .

Thus has Rhodes ia ari sen,th rough the gen ius o f

a s i ngl e man and the co - ope rat ion of h i s n at ion bu t

400

THE F UTURE OF ANC IENT OP H I R

i t i s a c reat ion of modern cap i tal ism,and th i s

pecul iar i ty gi ve s i t its characte r th roughout . I n afew years towns we re beaten out of the earthBulawayo , Gwelo Sal i sbu ry , Umtal i , Melset te r , &c .

—a ra i lway more than mi l es l ong j o i ned CapeTown to Gwelo ; anothe r i ron road wa s bu i l t th roughthe bush of Portuguese East Afri ca up to the tabl eland ofMashonaland

,from Be i ra to Sal i sbury . And

w i th th i s , from the begin n ing ,the Ang l o - Saxon

pri nc i pl e of se l f-gove rnmen t was i n t roduced i n to theseregions . Every town had to look afte r its ownrequ i remen ts

,and rece i ved a communal represen tat ion

of i ts own i n wh i ch , certa i n ly , the Charte red Companyof South Afri ca preponderates for the presen t .M in ing and land concess ion s were d i str ibu ted i n themost l i be ral manne r . Everybody who seemed capableo f br ingi ng capi tal and use ful work i n to the coun trywas rece ived w i th open arms .The coun try wa s soon s u rveyed and covered wi th

the not i ce—boards o f the pri va te owners o f land andmi nes . B road roadways comple ted the newly -bu i l tne t of ra i lways , and wh i te set t l emen ts arose everywhere . The blacks were not gi ven

-

the righ t to ownpri vate property . With the day of i n corporat ion theso i l became the property of the B ri t i sh South Afri caCompany . The pri vate farms of the negroes werei ncl uded as wel l ; and at the same t ime the fu rthe rexplo i tat i on of the gold and other m ines wa s forb idden them ,

and a rather h igh but and catt l e- tax wasla id on the coun try .

I t i s wel l known that th i s wa s the cause of the greatMatabel e revol t of 1 896 , wh ich the Mashonas soonj o i ned . The rebel l i on wa s pu t down , and then theadmi n is trat ion of the B ri t i sh South Afr i ca Company

40 1 n o

THE FUTU RE OF ANCIENT OP H IR

wa s extended over the whol e coun try . Commiss ione rswere placed i n the larger towns , a m i n ing commiss ion er

,a c i v i l commi ss i one r

,a nat i ve commiss ione r ;

fu rthe r,a magis t rate was appo i n ted , and courts o f

j us t i ce were establ i shed . On the flat coun try rul ewa s main ta i ned by means of pol i ce -camps wi th wh i tet roops

,wh i l e black pol i cemen were placed at the

serv i ce o f the ac tual cr im i nal department .At the fi rs t glance a ll these resu l ts , wh i ch European

cap i tal had c reated i n South Afri ca at a s t roke , workedspl end id ly . I have al ready poi n ted ou t th e d is

advan tages of th i s whol e sys tem,under wh i ch groups

of cap i tal i s ts who do not wan t to take part i n th eactual Work of develop i ng these regions

,set tl e down

on large land and m in i ng r igh ts,and by th is means

keep smal l e r men from proceed i ng w i th the realwork ing of the coun try .

Another dec ided d isadvan tage i n the admi n i s trat ionof Rhodes ia i s the fact that a company wh i ch , on theone s ide

,has to cons ider the i n te res ts of i ts share

holde rs , i s , on th e other,t ry i ng to carry on the

a dmi n is trat i on of a s tate . This i s i n i tsel f a contra d iction ,

fo r the i n te res ts of the shareholde rs cal l fo ras h igh d ividen d s

‘

a s poss ibl e,wh ich are on ly to be

obta i ned i f the cos t of admi n i s t rat ion is kep t downto the lowes t po i n t ; wh i le , on the othe r hand , thecoun try requ i res advances from Europe

,wh ich can

only be obta i ned at the expense of the shareholders .

For th i s reason a fiscal sys tem has been in t roducedi n to Rhodes ia wh ich presses on the a ctua l se t tl e r veryheav i l y , a n d stands d i rect ly i n the way of the developmen t of a heal thy t rade

,and c rippl es the progress o f

agri cul tu re and mi n i ng .

Accord ingly one can only w ish , i n the i n te res t of the402

THE FUTU RE OF ANC I ENT O P H IR

depth of ce rta i n regions of Wes t Afri ca o r SouthAmeri ca

,for al l that

,espec ial ly i n the r i ve r val l eys ,

there are large s t re tches of land where agri cu l tu re ofevery k i nd i s poss ibl e

,as soon as the labour quest ion

i s se t tl ed i n a sens ibl e manner . G raz i ng espec ial lyw i l l be poss ibl e on a large scale . Oxen and sheep ,horses an d donkeys , wi l l i n c rease rap id ly , as soonas ou r mode rn hygiene knows how to figh t thed i ffe ren t m icrobe - s i cknesses success fu l ly . Mr . VVe issenborn , at Umtal i , and M r . Co len bra n der, at B ulawayo ,as wel l as many othe rs

,hav e proved that al l k i nds of

vegetabl es and fru i t grow spl end id ly i n th i s coun try .

Herr B locke r, h imse l f a Ge rman fores te r , who re

ported on the nature of the fores t - land of Rhodes iafo r the Charte red Company

,bel ieves that the cul t i

vat ion of t imber rat ional ly undertaken coul d be madeextraord i nari ly extens i ve and profi tabl e . Add to th i sthat the cl imate is cool and pl easan t

,and water excep

tio n a lly abundan t , as is shown i n my desc ript ion s ofI nyanga and Melse t te r . The same cond i t i ons applyal so to mos t othe r parts of Rhodes ia . Cec i l Rhodesalways took a l ively i n te res t i n the agri cul tu ra ldevelopmen t of h i s c reat i on

,and i n his wi l l he gave

pract ical express ion to th i s i n te res t . Two modelfarms w i l l always be run a s an example to the se tt l e r ,one i n I nyanga , the othe r near B ulawayo , and aS chool on riculture i s to be founded from the moneyhe has le ft . I th i nk that Rhodes ia , Should the varioush i ndrances wh ich I men t ioned be overcome

,wi l l be

able to supply i ts own requ i rements i n meat,grai n ,

and vegetables before ve ry long . I would recommendthe se ttl emen t i n th i s coun try

,as was once done i n

K i ng VVilliam ’

S Town i n Cape Colony,of a number

of carefu l ly-sel ected German peasan ts,who

,a s i n

404

THE FUTU RE OF ANCIENT OP H IR

North Ameri ca , B raz i l , Austral ia , and South Afr icaal so , have long shown themsel ves to be the mostcapabl e and successfu l p ionee rs of agr i cul tu ral developmen t. At the same t ime art i san s should besen t out.To -day the coun t ry suffe rs from the m i s fortune that

i t has no exports at al l , and trade i s actual l y confinedto imports excl us i vel y . I n o the r words

,th e whol e

th i ng i s,at bottom , paid fo r wi th European money ,

and of th i s money the Gove rnmen t takes an extra va

ga n tly h igh percen tage i n the Shape of customs andtaxes .How h igh the taxat ion of the bus i ness people i s I

wi l l show by some s tat i s t i cal de tai l sAle

,bee r , and c ide r , and al l k i nds of sp i ri ts con tai n

i ng more than 2 per cen t . of al cohol , pay I S . 6d . pe rbottl e ; l i queurs and beverages con tai n i ng more than2 per cen t . of al cohol , as wel l as methylated spi r i ts ,pay 1 5 s . a gal lon , scen ted l iqueu rs , £ 1 ; tobacco ,

3s . 6d . per lb . ,c igaret tes , 4S . per lb . , c igars , 6s .

per lh. , clare t , 6s . a gal lon,othe r wines

, 9s . pe rgal lon .

One can unde rstand the taxat ion of th i s class o fgood s

,bu t what mus t one say to a taxat i on of cocoa ,

chocolate,honey , prese rved fru i ts , j el l i es , and al l o the r

k i nds of preserves manufactured w i th sugar, w i th1 8 5 . 6d . per cwt . , and to prese rved fru i ts i n bot tl e sw i th 1 8s . 9d . per cwt . ? Each barre l of a doublebarrel l ed r ifle or Shot-gun cos ts £ 1 the barrel s alone ,1 5 s . each ; pis tols , revol ve rs , 5 s . nat i ve p i cks andhoes , 6d . Then a 20 per cen t . a d va lorem duty i scharged on blankets and sheets

,on sweets , carts ,

carriages , and al l wheel ed waggons used i n t ransporti ng goods or people

,and on al l separate parts of such

406

THE F UTURE OF ANCIENT . OP H IR

from hand to hand , but one forgo t that the whol eprofi t real ly came ou t o f the compensat ion gran ted byRhodes ; that from the so i l , by t rade i tsel f, no profi tshad ari sen . So the re were gay t imes i n Umtal i abou t1 89 7 . Eve rybody l i ved i n c love r . When the moneycame to an end the owne rs of th e bu i ld i ng s i tes andland and m i n i ng concess ion s sat as t igh t on the i r t i t l edeeds as a hen 0 11 he r eggs . They wai ted fo r theboom ,

so a s to p rofi t by anothe r l i ve ly ep i sode ofthe same sort . Instead of the boom came the war .Real es tate

,i n stead of ri s i ng , sank more and more .

For the presen t fresh European cap i tal was d i si n cl i ned to engage i tsel f i n Rhodes ia

,and , i n the place

of prosperi ty , soon a s tate o f general wan t arose , evenof poverty . Those who had money enough to goaway to another part of the world d id 50. Those whoremai ned were i n part not very des i rabl e humanmaterial . Th is wa s the s tate of affai rs i n Rhodes iai n the summer of 1 90 1 . I remember a ve ry characteris tic occu rre nce of th i s t ime , wh i ch th rows a fa i rl yaccu rate l igh t on the at t i t ude of the Rhodes ians toCec i l Rhodes .A Ge rman farmer of I nyanga had bo rrowed

of Cec i l Rhodes some years back , at the t ime wheneveryth i ng was con /ea r de rose. Afte r a t ime he hadpaid Rhodes back £ 200 of th i s When , however

,the l ean years came and Rhodes arr i ved once

more at Um tal i ou r fri end wen t to h im and said , “Someyears ago you l en t me and I honou rablyrepaid you £ 200 of i t . May I now ask you to l e tme have the £ 200 agai n ? ” Rhodes looked at h imrathe r amused ly and then sa id

,Don ’t you find that

your request i s rathe r cheeky I have come here toa sk you to pay th e other £800 back as wel l . My

408

THE FUTURE OF ANCIENT OP H I R

coun t ryman d id no t ge t his £ 2 00 back agai n,nor

has Rhodes eve r seen anyth ing of h i s £800 .

Natural ly the presen t decl i n e of t rade i n Rhodes iai s j us t as temporary as the stagnat ion of bus i ness l i fei n Sou th Afri ca general ly . The natu ral resou rces ofthe coun t ry must , r igh tl y handled , l ead to prosperity o r the

“boom that the genu i ne Rhodes ian i s i nthe habi t of wai t i ng fo r i n the bar of a publ ic -house i nB ulawayo , Sal i sbury , o r Umtal i . Th i s w ai t i ng for aboom i s so ch i ld i sh that i t i s almos t amusing.

At a publ i c enterta i nmen t i n Umtal i a thoughtread er

’

appea red , who col l ected quest ions from thelad ies and gentl emen presen t . F ive of the quest ionson the fi rs t even ing

,when I wa s presen t

,were

,

When wi l l the ‘boom ’ come ? as though theboom were an i nd i v idual who would arri ve by ra i lroad o r ox-waggon

,when

,afte r al l , a new sett l emen t

can only bri ng a bout_its prosperi ty wi th the axe

,

wi th the pi ck , or wi th the spade by the sweat ofthe brow .

Such a period wi l l as su rel y arr i ve i n Rhodes ia as i thas come to the U n i ted S tates and the Aust ral ianbush . But the p ionee r of modern c iv i l i sat ion inSouth Afr i ca mus t not be the publ i c -house ; i t s waymust be paved by the cat tl e -breede r, the farmer, andthe miner . Every cond i t ion need ful fo r the successof these e lemen ts ex i s ts on these plateaux , wh ich ri se toa he igh t of from to feet i n a wel l -wate redcoun t ry

,i n a splend id brac i ng cl imate , and th e Eu ro

pean race are bound to bu i l d up one of the i r greatcul tu ral reg ions he re wi th i n no d i stan t t ime . Thenonce more an act i ve economical l i fe wil l be developedi n the anc i en t land of Oph i r. Where slave labou r i sabsen t modern sc i ence wi l l have to step in wi th steam

409

THE FUTURE OF ANCIENT OP H IR

and el ec t r i c i ty to force the al l -mothe r Natu re todel i ver up he r g i fts , acco rd i ng to the anc ien t lawthat man mus t ea rn h i s bread by the sweat of h i sbrow .

An i n te res t i ng po in t i n the d i rec t ion of th i s devel opmen t wi l l be the quest ion Whether

,afte r Cec i l Rhodes ’s

death , the Charte red Company i s suffic i entl y st rong tocarry ou t the Cape to Ca i ro Ra i lway . The execut iono f th i s proj ec t w i l l fi rs t o f al l bri ng a furthe r qu i ckeni ng s tream of Eu ropean capi tal to Rhodes ia

,and at

the same t ime c reate d i rec t t rad i ng relat ions betweenCen tral and Sou th Afri ca . Cent ral Africa has fo r yearsbeen of importance to the count ri es o f the south i n tworespec ts . On the o n e s ide , th e m ines have obta i neda regular supply of con trac t- l abou r from these denselypopulated regions on the othe r

,the cattl e -markets to

as far sou th as J ohannesburg have for years beensuppl i ed w i th oxen

,Sheep , and goats from Nyassa

and Lake Tangany ika . Thi s in te rchange wouldnatural l y be i nc reased by the bu i ld i ng of a ra i lway .

Viewed thus,I would regard the cont i nuat ion of the

ra i l road as far as Cen tral Afri ca as i n eve ry way

jusd fied .

The quest ion o f the Cape. to Cai ro Ra i l road a s awhol e looks d i ffe ren t when regarded as connect i ngCape Colony wi th Egypt . S uch a ra i lway l i n e wouldpass th rough al l the t ropical ra i n -bel t s from north tosou th

,and would

,therefo re , be exposed to con t i nual

d i s tu rbances . Even the rai lways wh i ch are laid downi n T rop i cal Afri ca from eas t to wes t can hardly be useddu ri ng the great rai ny season . There are con t i nuouswash ings away of embankmen ts

,and of the t rack

i tsel f,and for weeks the re i s l i te ral l y no t raffic . The

great ra i ny season on the Mashonaland- Be i ra Rai lway4 1 0

THE FUTU RE OF ANCIENT O P H IR

wi thou t quest i on he of more se rv ice to the econom icaldevelopmen t o f the Afri can cont i nen t than the g igan t i cscheme of Cec i l Rhodes . At the same t ime , I w i l lno t deny that the execu t i on of th i s scheme migh tposs ibly demol i sh al l my argumen ts

,and I mysel f

should be wel l pl eased i f th i s were to happen .

CHAPTER XV I I I

ADVANCE OF THE WH ITE RACE

F v i tal importance for Rhodes ia i s,before eve ry

th i ng , the con t inuat ion of the Southern Rai lwayfrom Gwelo to Sal i sbury , and , furthe r, from Gwelo tothe coal and copper-field s on the Zambes i . Noth ingShort of th i s w i l l real l y open up the m ineral weal th o fthe north . A branch of th i s ra i lway Should run fromGwelo ove r Fort Charte r and Vic toria to the UpperSabi , to open up the copper fields d iscovered by mei n the summer of 1 90 1 . From the Upper Sab i i tshou ld be extended to the Be i ra Ra i lway

,j o i n ing th is

l i ne somewhe re near Ch imo io . At the same t ime thewaggon -road from Umtal i , wh ich at presen t on ly runsto M rs . Webste r

’

s Farm , must be carri ed down fromthe plateau to the Sab i , so that a more exac t sc i en t ificexam inat ion of the ground may be poss ible .

Al l these are plans requ i r i ng much Europeancap i tal

,energy , and labour . The men who are at

the head of the Chartered Company at any rate offersome surety that there wi l l be no lack of zeal i ntak ing ove r th i s i nhe ri tance from Cec i l Rhodes . EarlGrey and his fr iends i n London , Mr . M i l ton and M r .Orpen in Sal i sbury , w i l l ce rtai n l y do the i r bes t i n th isd i rect ion . The quest ion now w i l l be : How far arethey i n a pos i t ion to command i n ternat ional capi tal ?

Let us n ow form a col l ect ive p i c ture of the colony4 1 8

AD V ANCE OF THE \YH ITE RACE

as shown by the part i cu la rs c i ted . The rap id set t l emen t of a coun t ry l i ke Rhodes ia

,wh i ch nowhere has

a coas t of i ts own,and

,acco rd ingly

,has to rel y fo r

its imports from al l s ides on an extended system ofra i lway l i n es

,mus t be regarded as a wonderful

ach i evemen t , wh ich the gen i us of Cec i l Rhodescarr i ed out by th e power of modern capi tal i sm .

The cal l i ng i n to be i ng of fou r l iv in g c i t i es in wh ichan ac t i ve popu lat ion has set t l ed far from the nat ionun i t ing ocea n i s

,perhaps

,a un ique i nstance i n the

h is tory o f th e world . But,wh i l e a govern i ng body

of shareholders is,Speaki ng broadly

,forced to bu rden

the colon is ts wi th the adm i nis t rat i ve charges of th i scoun t ry

,and , the re fore , ha s to apply the screw of

taxes and dut i es to an ext reme degree,a momen t

of arrestmen t has ari sen i n th i s development . Onlythe d i rec t i n te rference of th e H ome Governmen t canhelp here . The B riti sh Governmen t has an i n te res ti n S ee ing to i t that these parts of the B ri t i sh Empi reprospe r

,because they con tai n i n themsel ves al l th e

ing red ien ts necessary fo r an enhancemen t of B r i t i shpol i t i cal econom ics and

,wi th that , of B r i t i sh powe r ;

i t should therefore e i ther s ubs id i se the CharteredCompany heav i ly

’

or el se admi n i s ter the count ryi tsel f. Then , as i n fo rmer years , European cap i talwould i n te res t i tsel f i n these regions , th e ra i lway androad systems would be carr i ed forward , and manyhundreds would gai n the opportun i ty of mak ingindependen t pos i t ions o r fortunes fo r themselves .We should then look forward to a developmen t i nRhodes ia s im i la r to that wh i ch has al ready occurredi n the Transvaal

,and the anc ien t Oph i r would regai n

some of the importance wh ich i t possessed i n the d impast .

41 4

AD V ANCE OF THE W H ITE RACE

and the Revue as belonging to th is coun try . Anumber of spri ngs and brooks extend th i s wel lwate red area i n to almos t every s i ngl e c ross -val l ey

,and

i t con t i nues as far as the mounta i n-peaks.

of Uppe rPungwe and the Revue

‘

s teppe . Fru i t and vegetabl egrowing can be carr i ed on everywhere , and on themoun tain -l pes the re is sweet grass fo r cat tl e andsheep . So here al so we meet wi th eve ry cond i t ionnecessary to a prosperous developmen t . H ere a s

wel l the m in i ng i ndust ry wi l l remai n the ch ie f sourceo f prosper i ty , but i t w i l l be a s i n Rhodes ia

,suppl e

m en ted by graz i ng and agr1culture .

AS i n Rhodes ia , the developmen t of Man icaland , i tsS i s ter-coun try , has been th rown back several years bythe Sou th Afri can war ; al though the MozambiqueCompany , wh i ch here carr i es on the admin i s t rat ion i nthe name of the Portuguese Gove rnmen t cons tant ly,unde r the d i rect ion of the far-s igh ted Capta i nd

’

An d ra d e i n Macequece , affords l ibe ral ass i s tanceto eve ry s i ngl e set t le r. The bu i ld i ng of roads fromMacequece is al so carr i ed on energe t i cal l y and c i rcumspectly. Always where a m ine i s be i ng seri ouslyworked i t can rely on obta i n i ng su ffic ien t means ofcommun i cat ion w ith the rai l road . With the in troduct io n of set tl ed cond i t io ns In the whol e o f SouthAfr ica , Man i caland mus t w i thou t ques t ion advance i nprosper i ty .

From the he igh ts o f Man ica , gaz i ng from them igh ty peak of Moun t V enga

,the eye wanders to

the north -eas t,over the broad pla i n of the Pungwe

Rive r,far i n to Ma combe

’

s coun t ry . From Mace

quege the ra i lway qu ickly d ips down i n to the actuall owlands . One ge ts i n to the genu in e Afr i can bush ,wh i ch in parts

,however

,becomes real fores t . I n w ide

4 1 6

AD VANCE OF THE WH ITE RACE

cu rves and w ind i ngs the ra i lway l in e turn s to thesouth -eas t , and part l y c rosses , espec ial l y afte r therai ny season , scenes of t rop ical vegetat ion and luxuriance .

A Portuguese wri te r of the S i x teen th cen tu ry oncesa id that i t was remarkable that Nature had bypre ference spread her gold -field s ove r the most aridand parched places of the earth . I t seemed asthough i n such spots she

’

concent rated her energy

ON THE M ASHONALAND RAIL IVAY .

whol ly on th e product i on of the prec ious metal . Thi sobservat ion appl ie s wi thou t quest ion ch iefly to thesec ret gold -mines of parched Macombe—land , severalof wh ich have al ready been recovered by ou r exped it ion s . As my readers al ready know from ou r fi rs tchapter

,we are ac tual ly here i n the fabulous emp i re

of the Mon omo tapa o f the M idd le Ages , or theK i ngdom of Sofala . I am not ye t i n a pos i t ion tomake publ ic more exact part i cu lars of ou r d i scover ies .as our i nvest igati on s a re not yet concl uded , but when

41 7 BE

AD VANCE OF THE \VH ITE RACE

I can do th i s I w i l l p ropose the bu i ld i ng of a rai lwayl i ne

,say from Ch imo io or Bamboo C reek , th rough

the actual Macombe - land on the M iddl e Zambes i ,perhaps w i th a branch l i ne th rough Go rongo z a . No t

only would such a l i ne open up r i ch gold-field s , bu tal so coal and d iamond -m ines . This would be thes imples t way of prov id i ng a final sol u t ion to thet roubl esome Macombe ques t ion , wh ich at presen tcr ippl es eve ry en terpri se the re .

Macombe - land con ta i ns a great supply of labourmaterial , wh ich should at las t he made use of i nopen i ng up the coun t ry . Even th e most i ndependen tnat i ve ch ie f canno t s tand out las t i ngly aga inst thebu i ld i ng of a rai lway . I devou tly hope that I shal lbe al lowed to take a pract i cal hand i n the se tt l i ng ofth i s mat te r next t ime I am i n Sou th Afr i ca . Thesewhole regions

,wh ich con ta i n abou t the same area as

the anc ien t K i ngdom of Sofala ment i oned above ,Stand at presen t u nder the adm in is t rat ion of theMozambique Company

, wh i ch is t ry i ng to developthem after the pat tern of the B ri t i sh South Afr i caCompany— wi th th i s advantage

,however , that i t

de ri ves real , sound revenues from the dut i es l ev i ed onthe coas t , and the re fore need not burden the set t l e rsengaged he re i n agri cu l tu ral pursu i ts wi th a quan t i tyof charges l i ke those of the Engl i sh company .

Portuguese dut i es are cons iderably l ess than theRhodes ian . F ive per cen t . a d va lorem on a ll art i c l esi s the general du ty that i s ra i sed i n Be i ra

,Ch i nde

,

Quilima n e ,&c . I n th i s the re i s no th i ng oppress ive .

The land al so i s , i n part , spl end id ly adapted for thecul t i vat ion of trop i cal p roduce . On the Lower Zambes i as wel l as on the Pungwe and B us i the bestqual i ty o f sugar grows ; cotton and tobacco so i l are

4 1 8

ADVANCE OF THE IVH ITE RACE

to ocean -go ing s teamsh ips and the town,whose name

real l y means bar o r sand,owes i t s origi n to th i s

c i rcumstance . Now one always sees a number ofmore or l ess large vesse l s i n th e harbou r , and atpresen t Portuguese , Engl i sh, or German Sh ips of warrid i ng at anchor . There , where ten years ago stooda few huts

,are now abou t fou r thousand i nhab i tan ts

,

one thousand of whom are Europeans . -Li fe at Be i rai s very gay

,i n certai n d i rec t i ons even fr i volous . The

place has al l the d rawbacks of an i n te rnat ional seaport . The Mozamb ique Company , wh ich has here i tsseat of gove rnmen t , does much i n the d i rect ion ofbui ld i ng roads and o the r improvements . Here thefi rms of Ph i l ipp i 81 Co . , whose pr1n c1pa l, Herr M in ck ,i s th e German consul , S ute r Co . , the Man ica LandTrad i ng Company

,The S tandard Bank of South

Afri ca,The Bank of Afr i ca , and o thers , have the i r

head offices on th e coast . A newspape r, i ssued oncea week

,th e B eira P ost, gives the i nhabi tan ts news

from the great world . The streets th emsel ves areexceed ingly dusty and sandy , bu t on the s ide -walksthere i s good asphal t pavemen t for foo t-passengers

,

and the personal t raffi c as wel l as the fre igh t t raffi c i scarri ed on by means of a pecu l iar k i nd of “t ro l l ey ” onra i l s

,wh ich

,i n the hot hou rs o f the day , u nder the

burn i ng sun of summer- t ime , is a great rel i ef.The fu tu re of B e i ra depends ent i rely on the developmen t of th e gold -fields of the h in terland , that i s to say

on Man icaland and Rhodes ia . But at presen t i t hastaken

,and w i l l mai n ta i n , th e place of the anc i en t

Sofala,wh i ch lay more to th e south .

Be i ra i s th e seat of the Portuguese Governmen t o fSofala

,and , therefore , fu l l o f Portuguese offi c ial s .

The Engl i sh element,however

,is very st rongly

42 0

ADVANCE OF THE \VH ITE RACE

represented , as Be i ra i s at the same t ime the start i ngplace of the Be i ra -Mashonaland Ra i lway

,an Engl i sh

ente rpri se wi th a very independen t concess ion . Thi sra i lway crosses the Pungwe at F on tesvilla

,forty m i les

from Be i ra , and then tu rns , a s we have seen , by way

F ONTESVIL LA,ON THE

of Bamboo Creek and Ch imo io i n to the uplands ofMan ica . I ts importance w i l l on l y show i tse l f ful l ywhen the branch l i ne I have proposed i n to the UpperSab i Val l ey and into Ma combe

’

s count ry i s carr iedout .

42 1

CHAPTER X IX

M INE S , RAILWAYS , AND HARBOURS

IBERAL,general l y speak i ng

,as the admin i stra

t ion of the m ines i s i n Man i caland,under the

d i rec t ion of the far- S ighted Capta i n d ’

An d ra de , j us t ass low and narrow i s i n many respec ts the generaladmin i s t ra t ion of the Mozambique Company i n Be ira ,wh ich d i ffe rs , very much to i ts d i sadvan tage , from thepol i cy pursued i n Ma cequege . Here a regularbureaucracy has set tl ed down

,wh ich seems to th i nk

that i t owns the coun try . I t i s ch i efly th i s c i rcums tance wh ich preven ts any large i nves tmen ts ofcap i tali n the Portuguese colony , a n d h i nders the progress o fth e coun try . Some refo rm is , there fore , n ecessary i nth i s place .

_

TheDelagoa Bay Rai lway lawsu i t is s t i l l rememberedby eve rybody . A S im i lar th i ng can happen anewevery day under a narrow -mi nded governo r . Hereare several examples of the short - s igh ted pol i cypu rsued . They could ne i ther wage wa r no r make at reaty of peace wi th Macombe . I had made a goodbegin n i ng

,by set t i ng to work i n h is coun try , towards

sl owly open ing th i s region up fo r European en te rpri seand thu s prepar i ng the way fo r the MozambiqueCompany . Suddenly I was forb idden to have anyfurthe r i n te rcourse wi th Macombe

,and wi th th i s the

42 2

M INES ,RAIL VVAY S ,

AND HAR BOU RS

be cl ear to the mos t conservat i ve s tatesman i nL i sbon .

We Germans have hardly a righ t to laugh at th i scolon ial adm in i s t rat ion o f Por tugal , a s long a s we

oursel ves are prac t i cal ly commi tt i ng s im i lar mistakes ,wi thou t , on the other hand , tak i ng up the progress i ves tandpo in t wh ich the Mozambique Compan y , at leas ta s regards the m in i ng i ndust ry , has adopted . Havewe an hones t autonomy , the “open doo r for al l ? Donot our colon ies al so su ffe r from an imposs ib l e systemof bureauc racy , a short-s igh ted monopoly by the S tate ?

We shal l on ly be abl e to exchange our glass-housesfo r dwel l i ngs o f a more subs tan t ial k i nd i f we take al eaf ou t of England ’s colon ial pol i cy .

As England gai ned a foothold i n Be i ra by theMashonaland Rai lway Concess ion and a Customst reaty , wh ich gi ves goods des t i ned fo r the B ri t i shh in terland duty- free t rans i t th rough Portuguese te rr ito ry , so i n Ch i nde , the actual harbour of the Zambes i ,England ha s p rocured for he rse l f an except ional pos it ion th rough the so -cal l ed B ri t i sh Concess ion . Thenav igable Ch i nde estuary was d i scove red by an Engl i shnaval officer , and the Zambes i was thus opened up tomode rn nav igat ion .

’

Th i s was the des i red po i n t o fdepartu re for the London d iplomat i s ts to obta i n thel ease of a “free por t on the Bay of Ch i nde fromPortugal . This leasehold is the “B ri t i sh Concess ion al ready ment ioned

,or

, a s one can al ready readon the Engl ish pack i ng -cases the re

,Br i t i sh Ch i nde .

B ri t i sh Ch i nde was at fi rs t on ly five acres i n exten t ,bu t for al l that i t has late ly expanded to twen ty-fiveacres

,and i s enclosed and separated from Ch i nde

proper by a pal i sade . All goods wh ich are landedthe re are qu i te i ndependen t of the Po rtuguese cus toms

424

M INES , RAIIAVAYS ,AND HARBOU RS

offic ial s i n Chi nde,and i f th ey are forwarded from

thence i n to B ri t i sh te rr i to ry the Portuguese Cus tomsadmin i st rat ion has noth i ng whate ve r to do w i th them .

Only the goods wh ich go from the “concess ion i n tothe Portuguese h in te rland have to pay duty at some

CAPTAI N D'ANDRADE,DIRECTOR OF M I NES, MACEQUEcE .

place o f cal l on the Zambes i— a t Lacedon ia o r, perhaps , Sena .

Unfortunately the harbou r of Ch i nde does notpe rm i t of the en try of large s teamsh ips . A bar thati s col lect i ng more and more sand preven ts the i r en try

43 5

M I NES , RAIL VVAYS ,AND HARBOURS

i n to the i nne r harbou r . The large boats of theGerman East Afr i ca L i ne

,the re fore

,remai n outs ide

th i s bar the t raffi c w i th the i nne r harbou r i s carr i edon by means of the l i t t l e Adjuta n t, th e d i rec t t raffi cbe tween Ch i nde and Be i ra by means of the oldP eters .

F rom Ch i nde five l i nes of r i ve r s teamers carry on thet raffi c to Tete and to Lake Nyassa

(1)The Afri can I n te rnat ional F lot i l la and Transpo rt Company .

(2)The Afri can Lakes Company .

(3)Sha rrer’

s Zambes i T raffic Company .

(4)Messrs . Deuss Te ixe i ra and Company .

(5)The B ri t i sh Cen t ral Afr i ca Trans i t Company .

Al toge ther las t year there we re 1 1 0 B ri t i sh , 2 5

Portuguese,and 6 German vessel s on the Zambes i ,

Sh i re , and Lake Nyassa , and five Portuguese and twoEngl i sh gunboats do pol i ce du ty the re . I have nodoubt whatever that when the progress i ve movementgets the uppe r hand i n Portuguese colon i al a dmin istra tion th e Zambes i w i l l soon become the scene ofextens i ve econom ic en te rpr i ses . So gigan t i c a s tream

,

wi th fert i l e al l uv ial banks and ri ch s tores of m in eralweal th i n the background

,combin ed w i th an in ex

haustible supply of labou r can , reasonably admi n i s te red ,

be very rap id ly developed i n to a field of i nves tmen tfor i n te rnat ional cap i tal . Here one finds r i ch count ryfor the plan t i ng of sugar

,co tton

,and tobacco ; he re i s

coal c lose to the r i ve r ; here we found gold andd iamonds . What more can one wan t ? I on ly hopethat Germany w i l l j o i n i n there at the s tart . Roundabou t the Lupata Gorge I have c reated Germani n teres ts . Men l i ke Deuss , A . Herfurth,

&c ., are

open ing up other channel s . German cap i tal has to426

M I NES , RAIL \VAY S , AND HAR BO URS

i t belonged to the Pun i c world . I nhambane l ies23°50

’ S . lat . and 3 5° 2 5’ E . l ong , and has a good

and wide harbou r . Its ch ie f cla im to importan ce now~

adays ari ses from the fac t that the S ha nga n s of Gazaland

,the best labou r mate rial fo r the work i ng of the

Sou th Afri can m ines,are sh ipped from here . Ga z a la n d ,

between the L impopo and Sabi , i s s t rewn wi th ru i n so f the anc i en t c i v i l i sat i on that on ce flouri shed there ;wel l watered

,i t i s a splend id coun try for agri cu l tu re or

cat tl e - ra is i ng . A short t ime ago a company w i th anom inal capi tal of wa s founded i n L isbonto explo i t th i s region .

Between I nhambane and Be i ra l i es what wa s oncethe actual port of Sofala

,wh i ch has now lost i ts im

portance,as i t can no longe r be used by modern ocean

go i ng s teamsh ips . Some d i s tance to the sou th of i tthe R iver Sab i flows i n to the I nd ian Ocean , and here ,accord i ngly

,we may cons id e r that we have reached the

cen tre of the Sabaean domin ion i n South Afr i ca .

Th is,br i efly stated

,i s the land of Oph i r of anc i en t

h i s to ry,as i t appears to us to -day . I ts modern

development depends,apart from i ts natural resources

,

on the pol i cy of two compan i es,the Mozambique

Company and the'

B ri t i sh South Afri ca Company .

I f we are to look forward hopeful l y they must workhand i n hand

,fo r the one has con t rol of the coas t

,

wh i l e the othe r has the greate r part of the heal thyand fert i l e h i n te rland .

The rul e rs of the anc i en t world cou ld d i spose ofthe immeasurabl e labour—power of slave ry , wi th wh i chi t wa s enabled to bu i ld up pyramids i n the n orth ofAfr ica ; and i n the sou th i t cou ld carry ou t m in i ngoperat ions for at l east a thousand years , that no t on lyprov ided the markets of As ia M i nor and Arabia

,but

42 8

M INES , RAIL VVAYS ,AND HARBOURS

al so the whole of the Med i te rranean reg i ons,wi th

pract i cal ly al l the i r suppl i es o f the yel low metal . Yes .

as far as the Rh i ne and the Danube flowed th i s s treamfrom Sou th Afri ca , and the gold of the N ibel ungs ,wh ich tempted Ge rman heroes to t reachery

,bat tl e

,

and murder , probably came from the coun tr i es be tweenthe Zambes i and the Sab i .Our own age has put as ide slavery for good and al l .I n stead of i t we use the mechan ical powers of steamand elect r i c i ty to force old Afr i ca to y i eld

’

up he rt reasures . Withou t human d i rec t ion , howeve r , theseforces can not be put to economic uses . Europeanbrai n -power and Afri can muscl e -power w i l l have to beyoked together th rough al l t ime i f the gian t problemof open i ng up the Black Con t i nen t to c i v i l i sat ion i s tobe success fu l ly sol ved . To reach th i s end we mustwork towards a rat ional organ isat ion of the Afri canlabour quesd on .

I f Europe i s abl e to sol ve th i s quest ion i n a praetica b le fash ion

,then the anc ien t land of Oph i r i s on

the th reshold of a new golden age . The two gateways l ead i ng up th e Zambes i , and from Be i ra to thetabl elands

,wi l l aga in s tand open for the en try of

economic labou r and northern i n tel l igence i n to aur iferous South Afri ca .

I f we l ook back on the past of ou r spec ies , th i spe riod of human h istory often appears to us as un

jus tifia blv and excess ively prolonged . Actual l y , weare rathe r on the th reshold of an immense development . The human race st i l l s tands at the s tage ofch i ldhood

,and probably essen t ial changes are imm i

nen t,so that the cen tu ry that we have j us t en tered

wi l l be j ust as much i n advance of the n ineteen th asthe n ineteen th wa s superio r to the e ighteen th i n al l

429

M INES , RAIIAVAYS ,AND HARBOURS

sc ien t ific d i scove ri es and i nven t ion s . The solu t ion o fthe problem of the fl y i ng-mach ine

,the explo i tat i on of

the i nexhaust i bl e t reasu res of the ocean,th e pract i cal

p reparat ion of an imal foods chem ical l y,perhaps the

open i ng up of commun icat ions wi th o the r plane tsth rough the perfect ion of wi rel ess te l egraphy— al l theseare tasks wh ich open up farreach ing v i s tas i n theprogress o f ou r race .

One th i ng i s cl ear, that the power o f man ove r theforces o f ou r plane t grows eve r more absol u te , andthat the wh i te race i n part i cu lar explo i ts s tep by s tep

,

and decade by decade,wi th a neve r-growi ng d i sregard

,

eve ry zone o f the world i n order to supply i ts needs .I n th i s process the dark con t i nen t , espec ial ly

Sou th Africa , wi th i ts abundance of m ineral s , i tsheal thy and wel l -wate red plateaux , its

'

in part fert i l eand luxurian t l owlands , wi l l a lways play a more andmore promi nen t part . I f no t so excl us i vel y as th reethousand years ago

,fo r to -day othe r gold -field s are

compet i ng w i th i t , the Oph i r of anc i en t h i sto ry w i l lagai n become an essen t ial fac to r i n success ful en te rpri se .

As I marched ove r the h igh lands of I nyanga andMelse tte r

,or lay camped i n the wel l—wate red moun

tai ns of Man i caland , v i s ions of such a fu tu re fo r th i smyster ious land of ru in s rose up before me . Again Isaw c i t i es ari se i n wh i ch an i ndus t r i ous Europeanpopulat ion l ev i ed weal th from above the so i l andbelow i t . Once mo re my eyes saw sacred temples .But Baal was not worsh ipped i n them

,fo r over the i r

ru i n s s tood the cross,the symbol of renunc iat ion and

peace . Thus the c i v i l i sat ion of Chri s t,so myste rious

i n i ts combi nat i on of world -conque r i ng ene rgy andworld -abandon ing sacrifice , wi l l lay i ts hand on theland that wa s the Eldorado of the Book of the K i ngs .

430

APPEND IX

PARTICULAR S OF A F IND O F CO INS IN I NYA N GA (RHOD ES I A)

EUROPEAN CO I N S .

H otta zza’

.

— Duca t of W est Frieslan d, I 5 98 .

Spa z'

n .

— Do l lar ofCharles I I I .,1 7 7 7 a n d a lso of 1 78 2 .

These two pieces are coun ter-marked with Chin ese charactersca l led chops

,a n d were formerly the prin c ipa l medium of commerce

in Ch in a . They a re n ow superseded by the Mexica n Do l lar, but sti l lcurren t in Formo sa .

Austria — Do l lar of Ma ria Theres ia 1 790 . These do l la rs were

frequen tl y restruck during the la st cen tury for c ircula tion in

Abyssin ia .

Sweden .—R igsda1es ofGustavus I I I . ,

1 788 .

Copper Coin s.

P or tuga l — I o Rees p iece of joha n n es V .

, d a ted 1 749 ; a n d 1 0

Rees piece ofjosephus I .

,da ted [ 765 .

E czzga ry .

— 2 Gro schel p iece ofMaria Theresia , da ted 1 763 .

GRAECO-I ND I A N CO I N S .

Alexa n d er’

s successors, in cludingEukra tides, 1 80—1 60 , B .C.

Appollodotus, I 3 5Stra ton a bout 1 20 B .C .

Hurribha .

Nameless Kin g, about 2 5 A . O.

Late I n do-Seydhic-co in s ti l l about 2 1 5 A.O .

433

A PPEND IX

P a ta” Sulta n s oi mtosta /z .

4 co i n s abou t 1 488—1 54 5 A.D .

IND I A CO INS GEN ERALLY .

N i zam Domin ion s .

— Na tive Rupee,1 1 2 5 A.H .

Roma Han ba .

— Temple piece,da te un certa in .

r .

Bhopa l , 1 30 2—1 3 0 3 an d 1 30 5 A .H .

Chamba .

Delhi, Earl y Sulta n s .

Ka n dahar, abou t goo A.D .

Ka shmir, I a n tique an d 2 modern coin s .

Mysore, 1 modern co in .

Nepa l, I modern co in .

Sebh, 1 modern co in .

S iam ,fuan g, Kin g Somdet Phra Pa ramen d i about

1 8 50 .

RUDOLPH FRENTZEL,Member Lon don Numismatic Soc iety .

434

IN D E X

A

Abasian s, 3 1 9, 3 2 0

Abdul lah , 2 76

Abhira , 33 7—33 8

Abyssin ia , 2 97 , 30 9 , 3 1 1 , 3 1 9

Ahr,1 1

A. F .R,1 3 , 3 24, 3 26, 3 2 7 , 3 2 8,

34 2 , 343 , 36 2 , 3 64 , 366

Africa , 1 1

Afur,1 1

,1 8

,

A fur,afi r

,Ofer, 3 2 2 , 3 2 3

Aig ia los, 3 1 3Akaba , Gul f of, 2 99, 30 1

A lbuquerque, 4 3 1Ammon , 3 73 , 3 74, 3 79, 380 , 393

Amu-go ld , 3 7 2Amu

,La n d Of

, 3 7 7

Angasija , 3 1 6Apir

, 3 24 , 3 2 5

Arabia , 2 94 , 2 98, 299, 3 1 2 , 3 1 4,

Aramaea n , 3 2 2

Aryan , 30 8 , 3 2 0 , 3 38

Ashtaroth (Ashera), 1 2 8, 35 6,

3 5 7 , 3 68

Assa,Kin g

, 3 7 2

Assouan , 340

Assyria , 2 94

Ati, 3 7 5 , 390

Aufur (see A fur)

Axum, 3 1 9, 3 2 0 , 3 38 , 339

Aza n ian s, 30 9, 3 1 1 , 3 1 9, 3 2 0 »

3 2 8 , 34 7

B

Baa l , 1 2 7 , 1 2 8,1 2 9 , 300 , 343 ,

Bab el-Man deb, 30 7Babylon ia n s

, 30 9, 3 2 0

Ba ima, 3 1 0

Bamboo Creek , 4 2 1Bara -Uro

,1 45 , 1 46, 1 4 7

Barava, 3 1 6

Bareto , Fran c isco , 24 , 1 3 2 , 1 3 3 ,

Barge (see Barué)Barid i

,1 48

Barra l,Dr. , 34

Ba rue,1 45

Ba s i les, 3 1 1 , 3 1 2 , 3 1 7

Bechuan a lan d, 343

Beira , 24 , 1 1 2,

1 1 7 , 2 0 5 , 2 1 6,

2 86, 40 1 , 41 9

—42 1 , 4 2 9

Bekker, 2 30 , 248, 2 5 0 ,2 5 1 , 2 8 2

Ben dera , 34 7Ben galis, 30 8Ben t, Theodore H .

,1 3 , 2 0 , 2 5 7 ,

2 83 , 2 8 7 , 2 93 , 346 , 3 5 7 , 38 5 ,

43°

Betylae, 5 0 , 344

437

Bez ed enhuyd t, 2 54

B i lkis,2 9 7 , 2 98 , 30 2 , 30 7 , 309,

B irch , Mr.

, 1 86,2 85 , 3 5 1 , 39 2

B la n tyre,86, 1 8 2

, 296

BlOcker,Herr

, 54 , 5 6, 5 7 , 5 8 ,

60,6 2

,65 , 66, 6 7 , 68 , 70 , 7 2 ,

2 30 , 2 3 1 , 2 3 2 , 2 3 8 , 24 2 , 246,

2 5 5 , 2 60,2 6 2

,2 63 ,

2 64, 2 65 , 2 66,2 69, 2 70 ,

2 8 2,

Boccaro , An ton io , 1 8

Boccage, V i l la , 9 2Bocuto, I 6 , 1 0 1

,1O2

Boers,1 65 , 1 68, 2 30 , 2 36, 2 3 7 ,

Bo n ga,60

Bourgign on , Mon s ieur, 9 7

Bradley,Mr.

,240

Braga n za M in e, 2 0 7—2 09British Cen tra l A frica

,1 66

British South Africa Compan y, 7 ,

1 70 , 2 5 6,

Brown,Mr. C . G.

,2 2 6

Brown e, 2 6 2 , 2 68, 2 69, 2 70 , 2 7 1

Brugsch , 3 70 , 3 7 3 , 38 1 , 395Buba stes, 30 0Bulawayo , 1 2 9, 1 90 , 40 1Bul l

,Mr.

,2 1 2

,2 1 3 , 2 86

Burro,2 2

Burton,Sir R ichard

, 3 3 1

Bushmen,Pain tin gs

, 386, 390 ,

3 9 I

Bus i,2 0 5 , 2 5 0

C

Cabulista n , 30 8

Cabal, A lvarez d e, 360Camp Life, 1 3 7

— 1 38

Cape to Ca iro, 6 2

Carthagin ia n s, 30 3 , 30 9Ca trin o, Sen hor, 95Chimara

, 94

Chimbue, 95

Chimesi R iver, 1 95 , 2 0 0 , 2 0 3 ,

2 0 8,2 1 1

,2 1 2

,2 1 3 ,

Ch imoio, 4 2 1

Chin de, 24 , 2 5 , 2 6, 9 2 , 93 , 96,

3 1 5 ;

Chin de R iver,2 6—2 7 , 96

Chipatula , 1 45Ch ipa n ga , 1 46

Chiramba, 3 2 , 3 5 , 36, 90

Chiromo, 94 , 96

Chisue Moun ta in s,1 40

Chi tavo, 1 48 , 1 5 1

Chua Va l ley, 2 1 3Christma s Pa ss, 1 8 5

C lara,2 7 1

Cole, Ten n yson , 68—70Colen bran d er, 40 1

Comoros, 3 1 6Coplan d , Capta in , 95—96Cosma s In d icopleustes, 3 38, 340Cul len , G .

, 344

Ca n rete, 53 , 5 7 , 64, 65 , 70 , 7 1 ,1 0 0

,1 0 3 , 1 1 0

,1 1 2

,1 1 3 , 1 1 4,

1 2 011 2 2

)1 40 7 I43 ) 1 44) 1 48 3

2 94

Dan aki l, 3 2 8Dambara le

, 9 1

Damba ra ri, 1 7 , 2 0,2 1

, 43 ,

1 3 5

D’

An d rad e, Capta in , 2 2 5 ,

4 1 6, 4 2 2 , 4 2 3 , 4 2 5

D’

An d rad e D istrict, 1 94,

2 0 2,2 1 4

IND EX

G ihon,2 94

Gird if, Ras, 3 1 2

G la ser, Dr. Eduard,2,1 98 , 2 89,

30 8 , 309,

3 1 4, 3 1 8, 3 2 0 , 3 2 2 , 3 2 3 , 3 24 ,

3 2 5 , 3 28 , 3 3 1 , 3 3 2 , 3 36, 339,

34 1 , 3 70 , 3 7 I , 3 83

Gorongo z a , 3 1 , 1 2 9, 1 3 1 , 1 95 ,

1 98, 2 2 8, 343

1 0 3 , 1 04 , 1 0 6,1 0 8

,1 1 1

,1 1 2

,

1 1 4, 1 43 , 1 48 , 1 49,

1 5 6, 1 60,1 6 1

,1 64,

1 7 1 , 1 7 2 , 1 7 3 , 1 74 ,

1 79, 1 80,1 8 1

,1 8 2

,1 83 , 1 84 ,

Grea t East Africa n Ditch, 3 1

Greeks, 3 2 0Grey, Earl , 4 1 3Crimmer’s Farm

,1 73 , 3 5 0

Gungunya n a , 2 5 0 , po l ice camp ,2 5 6 ; Ch ief, 2 7 2 , 2 7 7

H

Hadramau t,2 93 , 2 94, 3 2 0

Ha fun , Ra s, 3 1 2

Haggard,R ider

, 38

Ha l l an d Nea l,2, 343 , 345 , 346,

Hammama t, 3 73

H a nyati, 343

Hartzel l, Bishop, 1 85 , 1 86

Ha tschepsut, 3 39, 3 7 1 , 3 73 , 394 ,395

Havilah , 2 93 , 2 94, 3 0 6, 30 7 , 3 2 5 ,

Hayes,Mr .

,6 1

Hebrews, 2 93 , 3 20, 3 2 2 , 3 2 3

Hepburn,M r. , 6 1

Herodotus, 3 1 7

H iddekel,2 94

H imyarites, 2 93 , 309, 3 1 0 , 3 1 8 ,

3 2 2 , 3 2 6, 3 2 8, 343, 344, 3 5 7 ,

H imya ritic en terprise, 3 54—3 56Hiram ,

1 2,2 96, 2 98, 30 0 , 30 1 ,

30 2 , 30 7 , 3 1 9, 3 30 , 334, 33 5 ,

H in du Koosh , 308Hin dostan , 308Homem ,

Va sco Fern an dez, 1 34,

Hon de, 2 0 5H oremhib

, 394, 396

Hotten tots, 38 2 , 3 86—3 91 ; 38 7388 (lan guage); 388—3 89 (rel iska vs 389—390 Uflumflfl ogY);395

Hova s, 3 1 8

Hudson ,M r.

,1 79

Humbe,Serra d a , 1 98, 2 1 8

fi yksoa

Ibn Sayd, 3 6 1

Ib o , 3 1 6

Idumea n s, 30 0

Imbeve,1 0 3

I n dia, 3 1 2 , 33 6

—33 8

In due, 1 4 5In dus

, 308, 3 2 0

I n hamba n e, 4 2 7 , 4 2 8In ja—Ba n da

, 5 6, 68 , 70 , 98 , 1 1 8

I n ja -Cheche, 1 45

I n ja -ka—Fura,2 1

,2 3 , 4 2 , 43 , 46,

1 0 2, 1 2 6 , 1 2 8

,1 34,

In ja -ka—Lapa,1 0 0

I n ja -ka -L ongoé, 64, 6 7 , 7 1 , 74,

I NDEX

In ja -ka-Run gue, 5 7Injahori, 245

In ja-koro, 44, 4 7 , 849 8 5

In jambaba ,2 54, 2 5 5 , 2 5 6 , 2 58 ,

2 69

In jamban da , 1 40

Injamkarara , 2 00 , 2 0 3 , 2 04 , 20 5 ,

Injamenga le, 5 , 7 2 , 1 3 2 , 1 33 ,

I 34

In ja -Ndara , 66, 68In jangombie, 1 79

In ja ngon a , 1 38

I n ja -

pa—Ga za

,1 0 3

Injapan d ira , 1 45

Inia - Sapa , 43—44, 4 7Inja sonja , 1 4 2 , 1 94, 1 98

1 54, 1 63 , 1 65 : Po lice Camp ,1 70

— 1 7 1 , 1 74, I 7 7 7 1 78 3 1 80,

1 86 2 3 3 , 266, 2 76, 2 8 7,

345 , 346, 34 7 , 348 , 349, 3 5 0 ,

Inya ngad z e, 1 7 2 , 1 79

Isphor, 2 93

I

James, Mr. , 1 7 3 , 1 74, 1 78

J an saro, 1 45

Java n , 304Jehosaphat, 2 99, 30 0

Jehovah, 1 2 7 , 1 2 8 , 300 , 368Jerusa lem ,

2 90 , 2 95 , 2 9 7 , 30 2 ,

30 7 , 3 2 1 ; 3 2 5 , 33 1 , 3 59 ,

3 70

Jews, 296, 2 98, 30 6 , 3 2 1 , 3 3 3 ,

3 34, 3 3 5 , 3 3 7 , 34 1 , 343 , 366 ,

3 6 7 , 368 , 369LJosephus, F lavius, 3 36, 3 38

Judah , 2 99, 3 34 Labour question in Africa , 2 7 2Juswisse, 1 2 5 28 1

44 1

KKabulu Kagoro, 1 24, 1 2 5 , 1 2 6

,

I 2 8, 344 , 345

Kahta n id es, 30 9, 3 2 0

Ka iser W i l helm Lan d,1 48 , 1 5 0 ,

I 5 3 , 1 54

Ka lan ga La nd , 1 0 1,

1 0 2,

1 1 7 ,

1 30 , I S4

Kambarote, 43 , 4 7 , 48 , 70 , 7 1 ,

7 2 a 74

K apien d ega , 6 2

Kapran z in e, 46

Kashi, 64 , 70 , 1 1 4

Katerere, 1 1 3 , 1 4 2 , 1 49, 1 5 1 ,

1 5 8 ; 1 59

K atsulis,Mr. ,

2 0 1

Kean e, Pro f. A . H . ,2,1 0 3 , 2 8 7 ,

293 , 2 95 , 2 98 , 30 2 , 304 , 30 5 ,

30 6 , 3 1 8, 3 2 3 , 3 3 1

Kean e’s hypothes is, 33 2 —33 4,35 6, 3 5 7 , 36 1 , 3 84 (n ote), 393

Ke i l, 2 9 7

Ken i lworth , 249

Khatija s, 30 8

Kho i-ko in (see Hotten tots), 390Kilwa , 3 1 2 , 3 1 6, 3 1 7Kin g

,Mr .

,2 5 1

Kin gan i, 3 1 6K ismaju, 3 1 6Kiteve, 1 3 1 , 1 34

Kittim , 304

Klein boy, 2 5 0 , 2 54 , 2 56, 2 5 8 ,

2 6 7 , 2 7 1

Krige, Mr.,2 0 3 ; K rige

’

s Hotel ,2 2 5

Kwa ihuBay, 3 1 6Kwa Mura , 1 95 , 1 96

INDEX

Lacedon ia , 3 1 , 96Lamu

, 3 1 6

L arssen,M r. ,

2 84

La ssen , 30 3 , 30 8 , 3 36, 33 7, 3 38

Last, M r.

, 3 1 2

Lawley, M r.

,1 5 3

L e Neve, Prof. C .

, 3 2 6

Lepsi us, 38 8Leva n ,

M r.

,2 0 0

,2 0 1

,2 0 2

,2 04,

L’

Hon oré a n d Cha tela in , 9

L ima, J . Lopes da , 46

L imes Roman us, 1 30

L impopo, 9, 2 88

, 360 , 36 1 , 369,

395L in di

, 3 1 6

L ivin gston e, 3 1 , 6 1,

1 2 0,

1 97 ,

2 79, 38 5Lon gden ,

Mr .

,2 4 2 , 2 43 , 2 84

L on gu '

e, 5 1 , 5 3 , 1 0 1

,1 0 2

,1 0 3 ,

I 3SLoren zo Marques

, 36 1

Luare d e Ramao , 3 1Luisa

,1 3 5

Lun di,2 2 2

,2 2 8

Lupata , 2 0 , 2 1,2 2

,2 3 , 36, 5 2 ,

5 8, 6 2—64 , 70 , 84 , 2 62 , 2 66

,

344, 34 7 , 3 54, 364

Lusi ti,246

Macbete, 1 4 7

Macequece, 34, 1 1 7 , 1 2 4 , 1 9 1 ,

2 0 1,2 0 6

,2 1 2

,2 1 3 ,

2 1 4, 2 1 5 , 2 1 6,2 25

—2 2 7 , 2 84,

Ma combe,I,2 2

:2 3 7 36 > 3 7 a 43 a

44 , 5 3 , 5 6, 5 7 , 64, 6 5 , 7 2 , 73 ,

86,

1 0 2,

1 0 3 , 1 04 , 1 05—1 2 1

,

1 2 2,1 2 5 , 1 2 6

,1 3 1 ,

I 3S, 1 4 1 , 1 4 2 , 1 43 , I4S, I 4 7 ,

443

1 48 , 1 5 1 , 1 8 7 , 1 94, 2 1 8 , 2 6 2 ;

J ll a combe/a n a’

, 344, 345 , 346,

3 5 3 , 4 1 7—4 1 8 , 430

Ma combe river, 1 0 3

Madagascar, 3 1 2 , 3 1 3 , 3 1 4, 3 1 7 ,

Ma fun da , 44 , 4 7 , 48Magd ischu, 3 1 6Mahra tongue

, 3 2 2

Mahra tta s, 3 08Maka lan ga

,2 3 , 3 7 , 1 0 8 , 1 1 1

,

1 1 7 , 1 2 0,

11 2 1 —1 24, (E thn o

graph ica l Sketch); 11 24—1 3 0

(rel igion), 1 30— 1 36

1 8 7 , 34 4, 34 5 , 3 54,

3 5 7 , 36 2 , 3 85

Makanja moun tain s, 90Man -cheper

-kara (see Tho tmes)Man ica , 2 2

,2 3 , 1 46,

1 48 , 1 84 , 1 95 , 2 1 2 ,

2 1 4 , 2 24,

2 7 1 , 2 76, 2 8 5 , 2 86,

2 8 7 , 3 2 0 , 346, 34 7 , 3 5 2 , 3 5 3 ,

3 7 2 , 41 5—4 1 6

Man ja te, 1 4 5

Manjorilike Moun ta i n s,1 40 , 1 4 1

Ma n zoro,1 6

,2 0

,1 0 2

Maraiba Bahrama lakum,Marib

,

2 9 7

Marameo, 96, 9 7

Ma ra ngue, 60Marie Louise, 2 7 1

Markham,Mrs .

,2 49

Ma rromba le, 3 1 , 93

Ma rtin s,Sen hor

,6 1

,1 4 2 , 1 7 2

Mashon a lan d,2 3 , 98 , 1 1 7 , 1 3 1 ,

1 3 2 , 1 3 8 , 1 45 , 1 8 7 , 2 04 , 2 6 2 ,

2 7 2 , 2 85 , 2 8 7 , 3 1 0 , 3 2 0 , 344 ,

Mashon as, 40 1

Ma soud i, 360 , 36 1

I NDEX

Namuli Moun ta in s, 95Napolski, von , 2 6, 3 5 , 68 ,

Neku (Necho), 3 1 7 , 3 1 8 , 3 96Nhan i

, 1 5 1 , 1 5 3 ,

Nikon os, 3 1 6

N i le, 30 0 , 3 86

Norris, Mr. ,1 7 5 , 1 76, 1 7 7 , 1 78 ,

Nuba, 340

Nubia, 340

Nyamaka Moun ta in s,1 38

Nyamya swi, 2 40 ,24 2

Nyan za, 3 1 0 , 3 1 9 , 3 2 0

Nya ssa,2 8

Nymbaya R iver, 2 3 6

O

Ocea n a Compa n y,60

Odzi,1 74 , 1 8 7 , 2 36, 2 3 7

Old Macequece, 1 90 , 2 0 0 , 2 0 2

Old Umta l i , 1 8 5 , 1 89

Oman , 304 , 36 1

Ophir,1,1 0

,1 1

,1 3 , 1 7 ,

2 50 , 2 89, 2 90 , 2 9 2 , 2 93 , 204,

2 95 , 2 96, 2 97 , 2 98 , 2 99, 30 0 ,

3 0 1 , 30 2 , 30 3 , 30 5 , 30 6, 30 7 ,

3 2 1 , 3 2 2 , 3 2 3 , 3 2 5 , 32 8 , 33 1 ,

3 3 2 , 3 3 3 , 3 34, 3 3 5 , 3 36, 33 7 ,

3 38 , 34 1 , 34 2 , 3 54 , 36 1 , 363 ,

364, 365 , 3 69 , 3 70 , 3 7 2 , 384 ,

428—43 0 (fu ture of)

Ophirites, 3 28

Opon e, 3 1 2 , 3 1 3Ormuzd

,1 2 8

Orpen , 4 1 3 (Surveyor-Gen era l)P

Pacotte, M .,2 0 1

,2 0 4, 2 0 5 , 2 0 6,

Panga n i , 3 1 6Papyrus, Sa l l ier, 3 39Parapa t

, 3 1 4

Pa rihu (Prin ce of Pun t), 3 7 5 ,

Parva im go ld, 3 3 5—336Pa terson

, en g in eer, 95 , 96Pa tta , 3 1 6—3 1 7Pen ha lon ga , 2 0 0

,2 30

“Periplus,” 2 5 , 3 1 1 , 3 1 5 ,

3 1 6, 3 1 7

Pers ian Gul f, 30 8Peters, Dr. Carl

,Estates an d

Explora tion Compan y, 2 3—24

Moun t, 4 2 , 43 , 48, 5 2 , 54, 96

Petrie,Pro f. Fl in ders, 2 86, 3 39,

3 7 2 , 3 73 , 3 8 1 , 393 , 394

Pha l lus, 5 0 ,1 63 , 1 80

,1 86

, 344

Pharao, 340 , 34 1Phoen ician s

,1 2 2

, 30 5 , 30 9 , 3 1 8 ,

Pin to Basto, 34

Pishon,2 93

Piso,1 43 , 1 5 1 , 1 54 , 1 66

Pits, 1 68—1 70 , 1 76—1 68 , 346,

3 5 2

Poen at (see Pun t)Pompue, 3 5 , 1 1 2

,1 3 8 , 1 44 , 1 45

Portuguese, 9 , 3 1 , 65 , 1 0 1,1 0 2 ,

1 1 1 , 1 1 7, 1 3 2 , 1 34,

1 367 3 1 5 3 3 2 5 3 4 2 2—4 2 4 (ad '

min istration)Portuguese Ea stA frica , 3 5 3 , 4 1 5

4 1 8

Pouhin,M . ,

2 0 6,2 0 8

,2 0 9, 2 1 1

,

Psusen n es H .

, 34 1

Ptolomaeus, 3 1 1 , 3 1 5Pungwe, 6 7 , 1 4 1 , 1 46, 1 48,

1 96, 1 9 7 , 1 98, 2 0 5 ,

I NDEX

Pun ic, I,2,1 2 9, 308 , 3 1 0 , 3 1 8,

Pun t, 1,2 8 5 , 2 88 , 3 2 0 ,

3 7 1 , 3 7 2 , 3 73—3 82 (N a rra tive

of E xpedition) 3 74 (lzouses)3 79 (p ram : of); 384. 38 7 ,

Puz ey, Mr. Leo n ard , 2 6, 34 , 36,3 7 , 40 , 4 2 , 44, 4 7 , 48 ; H i l l ,48 , 5 4, 60 , 62 , 66, 1 33 , 1 3 7

Pwn t (see Pun t)Pyralaoi, 3 1 6

Q

Qua-

rra

-

Qua te , 1 24 , 1 2 5 , 1 2 6,

Quiliman e, 2 5 , 3 1 1 , 3 1 4 , 3 1 5 ,

Quiticui, 2 2

Quosseir, 3 73

RRapton , 3 1 4 , 396

Raptos, 3 1 4Raw, Mr.

,1 94, 2 0 3

Reed,H .

, 344

Resen de, 2 0 0

Revue,2 0 0

,2 0 2

,2 0 3 , 2 0 6

,26 2 ,

3 5 2

Rhapta , 2 5 , 30 9, 3 1 4, 3 1 5 , 3 1 7 ,

Rhodes, Cec i l , 1 65 , 1 70 , 1 7 2 ,

1 7 3 , 1 83 , 1 8 5 ,

Rhodes ia , 6 2,

1 2 9 , 1 89 , 1 90 ,

2 76, 2 7 7 , 2 78 , 33 2 , 3 5 3 , 400 ,

401 (ra ilways) 401—402 (sys

tem of a dmin istra tion) 403

(popula tion); 403—406 (openings) 406

—407 (custom-lzouse

duties) 4 1 0—4 1 2 Cape to

Cairo railway)

R i be iro , Sen hor Hen riquo d a

S i lva d a , 8 5R ichmon d M in e, 2 0 7

—2 0 9

R i tter, Carl , 2 89 , 290 , 2 93 , 30 3 ,

Robertson , Ma jor, 6 1 , 1 74

Roma n s, 30 3

Rovuma, 38 5

Rudo lph Lake , 340 , 34 1

Ruenje , 5 3 , 60 , 65 , 1 5 1 , 1 5 2 ,

1 73 , 1 74, 1 7 7 ,

Rufidji, 3 1 6Rufumbo, 2 1

,8 5 , 2 6 2 , 344

Rupire, 1 4 7 , 1 49, 1 54

SSabaean s, 1 2 , 4 7 , 2 3 7 , 2 7 2 , 2 9 7 ,

2 98 , 30 0 , 30 5 , 30 9, 3 1 0 , 3 1 9 ,

3 2 0 , 3 2 1 , 3 2 8 , 3 33 , 3 34 , 34 7 ,

Sabi,1 2

,1 8

,1 2 9, 1 3 1 , 2 2 2 , 2 2 8 ,

2 2 9, 2 30 , 2 36, 2 3 7 , 2 44, 24 7 ,

2 5 5 , 2 5 6, 2 5 8 , 2 6 1,

2 65 , 2 66, 2 6 7 , 268, 2 69 , 2 7 1 3

Va l ley, 2 7 1—2 7 2 ; 2 80

,2 8 1

,

2 8 2 , 2 84, 2 85 , 30 9,

3 1 9, 3 2 0 , 3 2 1 , 34 1 , 343 , 34 7 ,

Sain t Paul , 34Sa l isbury, 1 89 , 1 90 , 40 1

Sa n kh-Ka ra , Kin g, 3 7 2Sa n to Tao , 3 5

Sapphar, Sepha r (Ta fa t), 3 2 5 ,

33 2

Saramagombie, 86

Sa rapion os, 3 1 6

Sa su (see Sha su)Saul, 30 0Sawyer, Mr. ,

1 94, 1 98, 20 0 , 20 2

Sayce, A . H . ,2 93

44s

IIQI)IEE(

Schl ich ter, Dr.

, 1 5 3 , 349, 3 5 0 ,

Schopen hauer,Arthur

, 7 5 , 78

Seba, 3 73

Seba stia n , Kin g ofPortuga l , 1 3 2

Sebuah, 34o

Seda n da,1 3 1

Sel in da,Moun t, 2 2 8

,2 30 , 2 5 0

Se lous,M r.

, 344

Semitic,1 2 8

sema a 2 1 > 9 1 , 9 2 3 93 3 1 3 2 ,

Sen la ngombie, 1 2 1,

1 2 5 , 1 40 ,

1 41—1 44

Sephar,2 93

Shanga n s, 2 5 6

Sha ! 1 (5wa0, 338

Sheman o-man i,2 4 7

Sheba (Saba), Q ueen of, 1 8 , 2 93 ,

2 96, 2 97 , 2 98, 30 7 , 30 9, 3 2 1 ,

Shan jave, 1 46

Shewa nga , 1 04 , 1 0 8

Shimbwa , 9 1

Shinga le, 90 , 9 1

Shipanga , 96

Shla tin , 2 69, 2 70 , 2 7 1

S idon ian s, 3 2 1 , 3 30S i lver, Capt .

, 3 1 , 34

S i lverstream ,24 7

Simbuyi, 1 5 3

Sin d eram,Myn heer, 9 2 , 93 , 94 ,

Smythe, Mr. , 1 66

Socotra , 30 8 , 3 1 0 , 369Sofa la

,1 2

,1 2 8 , 1 3 1 , 1 34 , 248 ,

30 5 , 3 20 , 334, 34 7 360 , 3 6 1

So lomon , Kin g, 1 2 , 1 8 , 2 8 5 , 2 9 2 ,2 94 , 2 95 , 296, 298 , 2 99

30 0 , 30 2 , 30 5 , 30 7 : 3 1 0 , 3 1 9,

3 2 5 , 3 30 , 3 3 1 , 33 3 , 3 34, 3 35 ,

3 36, 3 3 8, 34 1 , 364 , 36 7 , 368 ,

Soma l i la n d, 3 7 2 , 38 2 , 38 3 , 3 95South Arabia

, 30 9

Spren ger, 3 2 2Steven s

,Mr.

,1 66

, 1 68, 1 7 1

Suakim, 340

Suez, 3 0 0 , 30 1 , 3 1 7Sumu

'

e, 1 2 6

Sun gue,1 0 3

Swan,2

Swin n ington ,M r., 2 5 0

T

Tambara , 2 1, 3 2 , 36, 5 2 , 84, 93 ,

1 3 3

Tan gan yika, 3 1 0 , 3 1 9

Tarshish (Tarsis), 2 99, 3 0 1 , 30 2 ,3 035 305 , 3 34

Ta rtessus, 304Tau

'

I'

,1 5 5

Ta iika,1 5 3

Tela , 5 5 , 65 , 1 3 3

Ten d akulu,1 3 1

Ten je, 54, 5 5 , 5 6, 5 7 , 64, 66,

I 3 2 , 1 45

Tete,1 6

,2 1

,2 8 , 5 5 , 5 8, 60

—62,

1 1 2, 1 4 2 , 1 5 2 , 1 7 2 ,

1 8 2, 39s

Thea l,2 0 -

46, 1 0 1 , 1 0 2 , 1 30 , 1 3 3 ,

1 36

Thebes, 3 73 , 3 78, 3 8 IThomson , 84 , 85 , 2 63

Thorn hi l l, Sir Thoma s, Moun t,

Tho tmes I I I . (Tahutmes

‘Ebe Gresham p ress,

UNW'IN BROTH ERS, L IM ITEDW

'

OKING AND LONDON.

The Eldorado of the Ancients - Forgotten Books

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