The Bossier banner., 1891-12-17
LOST TO HISTORY.
The Mystery of MashOna1and and Its In.
habitantR.


habitantE.
The history of Mashonaland is
wrapped in the deepest mystery. That
the country has had history worthy
of being known to the world of to-day
may be seen from the abundant evi.
dences that very large area was ex'
tensively worked for gold by an un-
known people who have left no traces
by which they may be identified. The
ancient workings, as they are to-day,
consists both of shafts and cuttings of
various kinds. The shafts are some
times forty or more feet deep, with tun,
nels of unknown lengths The walls Of
some of these have fallen in and others
have large trees growing in them
which show that they were were made
a very long time ago. On the surface
of the ground about the openings of
many shafts lie tons of broken quartz
which carries a good amount of gold;
again at the openings of others no loose
quartz is to be seen, yet the work done
below the surface shows that immense
quantities have been excavated and con-
veyed to some distant spot, presumably
for crushing.
Another mystery in the history of
Mash naland is indicated by the ruins
of buildings. There are a number of
these in various parts of the country,
but the most perfect and interesting
are those called the ZiInbabi or Zimbase
ruins, to be seen about south latitude
90 degrees Is minutes and east longi-
tude 81 degrees 80 minutes A very con-
siderable area is covered by the ruins,
but those of two buildings are in better
state of preservation than the others.
| One of these is on high and bold gran
ite hill and is built of granite hewn into
| blocks somewhat larger than bricks,
| put together without mortar. The walls
! as they now stand are 80 feet high, over
10 feet thick at the base, and several
| less at the top. This building, as well
as the other, was circular in form, and
seems, from its position and construc-
ton, to be a fort. There are slabs of
| granite protruding from the walls in
places containing rough zigzag orna-
! mentS.
The other and larger building stands
several hundred feet below on rising
ground. The walls of this building are
also of granite of the same height and
thickness as those just described. For
about third of it's circumference there
is one row of plain ornamental figures
at the top. This building was one hun
dred and fifty yards in diameter and
had but one or two entrances. Walls
running in different directions stand in
side, but the thick bush which has
grown up within makes it impossible as
yet to learn anything definite of the
| sizes and shapes of the Enclosures made
| by these inner walls. The most curious
part of the whole building is that of the
tower, which stands near the outside
wall. 1t is constructed of the same ma
terial as the building. This tower is
cylindrical in shape up to the height OF
ten feet, but after that height tapers,
and as it stands is truncated cone. Its
diameter at the base is fifteen feet.
There is no entrance to the tower, and
it appears to be solid throughout.
Huge trees and dense bush have grown
up in the interior of these ruins, so that
it would require considerable time tc
clear them away in order to get an ac
curate plot of the building. 1t is very
likely that if excavations were made u
and about these ruins articles would be
found which might throw light upoI
the mystery surrounding the history O.
them. regret that it was not possible
for me to spend more than single day
in making return journey of thirty
miles to visit these ruins.
The old gold workings and the ruin
found in Mashonaland led many to be
! lieve that Ophir, the kingdom of tn,
Queen of Sheba, whence Solomon i
said to have obtained his gold, was il
] Mashonaland. Sofala, a very old tow
on the east coast of Africa. is mentione,
c by many writers as being in the land o
Q Ophir. The Arabs have very ancien
s tradition TO this effect, and those of Sc
D fala to-day are said to hold to this ira
dition. The ruins arc west of the dis
trict of Sofala, and they are thought t
! have been the palace of the Queen O
t Sheba. l am at loss to understau
{ how any one who has ever seen thes
t ruins can incline to such belief. Thoug
t they seem to be very old indeed. the
: do not by any means have the appear
l ance of having been built hundreds {
+ centuries ago Very few white me
5 have ever visited the ruins, but as Ma
0 | shonaland is thrown open to the civilize
/: world archGologists will perhaps e1
/. anime the ruins, and may be able
!. tell us to what age they belong.-C. A
Orr, in N. Y. Sun.