The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1891-10-10

The Mystery of MashonnIunh and Its In.
hnhIIhnis.

49, ~ no IN
The Mystery Of Newfoundland and Its In
htbIIantS.
The history of M~ashunaland is
wrapped in the deepest mystery. That
II country has had :; history worthy
Of being known TO the world of to-day
may he seen from the abundant evil
dcnccs that Il very large area was ex-
tcnsivciy worried for gold by an nn-
known people who have left no traces
10y 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,
nclS of unknown lengths. The walls of
sonc of these have fallen in and others
have large trees growing in them
which show that they were were made
IA very long time ago. On the surface
of the ground abOu the openings of
many shafts lie tons of broken quartz
which carries Il good amount of gold;
again at the openings of others no loose
quartz is to he seen, yet the work done
below the surface shows h immense
quantities have been excavatcd and ON
veycd to some distant spot, presumably
for crushing.
Another mystery in the history of
MaSh-naland is indicated by the ruins
of buildings. There are number of
these in various parts of the country,
but the most perfect and interesting
are those called the Ximbabi or Zimbase
ruins, to be seen about south latitude
20 degrees - 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 II high and bold gran
tie 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 zig2ag orna-
mentS.
The other and larger building stands
t' lNCJ DClONN VII Ilolllg
ground. The walls of this building are
also of granite of the same height and
thickness as those just described. For
about Il third of its 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 II 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 a 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 to
N'A'iAA III " w RCb oil dC
curate plot of the building. 1t is very
likely that if excavations were made in
and about these ruins articles would be
found which might throw light upon
the mystery surrounding the history of
them. | regret hat it was not possible
for me to spend more than u single day
in making IL return journey of thirty
miles to visit these ruins.
The old %old workings and the ruins
found in Mashonaland led many to be.
lieve That Ophir, the kingdom of the
Queen of Sheha, whence Solomon is
said to have obtained his gold, was in
M~ashonaland. Sofala, a very old town
on the east coast of Africa, is mentioned
by many writer's as being in the land OF
Ophir. The Arabs have a very ancient
tradition to this effect, and those of So.
fala to-day are said to hold TO this ira
dition. The ruins are west of the dis,
trict of Sofala, and they are thought to
have been the palace of the Queen OF
Sheba. / am at a loss to understand
how any one who has ever seen these
ruins can incline to such belief. Though
they seem to be very old indeed, they
do not by any means have the appear.
ance of having been built hundreds OF
centuries ago. Very few white men
have ever visited the ruins, but as Ma
shonaland is thrown open to the civilized
world archnologists will perhaps ex-
anime the ruins, and may be able to
tell lis to what age they belong.-C. A.
Orr, in n. Y. Sun.