The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1889-04-11
JEWELLERS IN CAVES.
Living Types Of PrehIstoric Man Diseov.
cred by African Explorers.

cred by African Explorers
When Colonel Grant was. descending
the Nile from Victoria Nyanza, .
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 camers back he could not have
touched their roofs with 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 aud
their tenants, but he promised upon his
return next spring to make them the
object Of careful research.
The mountain range where these
caves are found is about four hundred
miles northwest of Lake Bangweolo.
On the precipitous south face Of these
mountain Arnot saw, at distance
holes here and there. dotted like rabbit
warrens over the 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 between the
openings being five miles 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 their 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 wild but peace-loving peo-
pie.
1t was not known until recently how
great is 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
sheltered inlet and bay, are large viii
lagos, numbering sometimes one hun
dred huts, 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
us 10 picturesque Lake Mohrya in Cen
trail Africa, and the large collection Of
huts raised high on stills above its
placid surface. The tenants Of these
lake dwellings till 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 in the edge OF the great
Lake Nyassa and reproducing phases Of
life that are thought to be 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
and northern Zambesi tributaries these
villages builtof piles are seen by scores
Not few tribes build their houses ON
marshy and overhowed land to render
their villages difficult of approach.
Many other tribes, particularly along
the Congo tributaries. inhabit lands
that are subject TO periodical inunda-
tions. and they sensibly raise their ga
ble-roofed cabins several feet above
high water mark to keep out Of the
wet. IN. Y. Sun.