Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1889-06-11
IDAHO
JEWELLERS IN CAVES.
Living Types of Prehistoric Man Discov
cred by African Explorers.

cred by African Explorers.
When Colonel Grant was descending
the Nile from Victoria Nyanza, 9
native, who had Travelled far, told him
that hundreds OF miles southwest of the
lake. in Katanga, the great copper
country, he had seen caves so high that
from a camel's back he could not have
touched their roofs with a spear. One
Of them, he said, was four hundred
yards wide, and he penetrated it from
sunrise until noon. emerging at last on
the other side of the mountain. No
credence was given this story until Mr.
Arnot, who returned from the Katanga
country awhile ago, said that he had
seen these caves and the people who
inhabited them. 1t Is to be regretted
that his work In other directions pre-
vented him from thoroughly studying
these remarkable Sombwe caves and
their tenants, but he promised upon his
return next spring to make them the
object OF careful research.
Tho mountain range where these
caves are found Is about four hundred
On the precipitous south face OF these
mountain Arnot saw, at n distance
holes here and there dotted like RABBIT
warrens over tho front OF the range.
These are entrances to the caves, and
Arnot was astonished by their large
number One cave he says, has two
entrances, the distance betw cen the
openings being five milos In some
caves are streams OF running water.
The walls have the appearance OF
pumice stone. and limestone strata
were also found. In the caves and
around thoir mouths live thousands OF
natives. They till their millet fields In
front OF their subterranean homes. and
store their food In them. The explorer
found them a wild but peace-loving peo-
pie.
1t was not known until recently how
great IL the number Of people whose
homes find their prototype In the lake
dwellings Of prehistoric times. For
hundreds Of miles along the south and
east coasts OF New Guinea In many "a
sheltered inlet and hay, are large viii
lagos. numbering sometimes ono hun
dred hut5, or more built on piles In the
water. and accessible from the shore
only by CANOES Thus. like prehistoric
man. they guard their homes against
sudden surprise, Cameron introduced
MS to picturesque Lake Mohrya in Cen
trail Africa, and the large collection of
huts raised high on stills above its
placid surface. Tho tenants of these
lake dwellings I'LL their fields on shore,
retiring when night comes on or dan
ger threatens to the security OF their
lake huts. Young discovered hundreds
OF natives living Ia the edge OF the great
Lake Nyassn and reproducing phases OF
life that are thought to BIO identical
with those OF the ancient Swiss lake
dwellers But not until long after these
discoveries were made was it known
that probably hundreds Of thousands OF
Africans moor canoes under their huts
and reach the rude floor above by
means Of ladders,
Along many OF the Congo southern
aud northern Zambcsi tributaries these
villages built OF ptles are seen by scores.
Not q few tribes build their houses on
marshy aud overlooked land to render
their villages difficult Of approach.
Many other tribes, particularly along
the Congo tributaries. inhabt lands
that are subject to periodical inunda-
tlons, and they senslbly raise their ga
ble-roofed cabins several feet above
high wa'er mark to keep out Of the
wet N Y. Sun.