The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1892-06-11
LOST TO HISTORY.
The Mystery of Mashonaland and Its In.
habltantE.


habltants.
The history Of M~ashonaland Ia
wrapped in the deepest mystery. That
the country has had a history worthy
of being known to the world of to-day
may be seen from the abundant evi.
dences hat n very large area was ex-
tensively worked for gold by an UNI
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 n good amLunt 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
Mashonaland 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 Zimbabi or Zimbase
ruins, to be seen about south latitude
20 degrees Is minutes and east longi-
tude 81 degrees 30 minutes. A very con-
atln.,a h1a .-4n -, o-o- 49, A. Il
but those of two buildings are in better
state of preservation than the others.
One of these is on a 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, yer
10 feet thick at the base, and several
less at the top. This building, as we'll
as the other, was circular in form, and
seems, from its position and construc.
ton, to be a fort. There are slabs Of
granite p~rotruding 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 a 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 one or two entrances. Walls
running in different directions stand in
side. but the thick bush which has
grown up within makes 1t 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. It 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 rs 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
clear them away in order to get an &C.
curate plot of the building. It 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. l regret that it was not possible
for me to spend more than a single day
in making a return journey of thirty
miles to visit these ruins.
The old gold workings and the ruins
found in Mashonaland led many to be-
lieve that Ophir, the kingdom of the
Queen of Sheba, whence Solomon Is
said to have obtained his gold, was In
Newfoundland. Sofala, a very old town
IN the cast coast of Africa, Is mentioned
by many writers 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 eve visited the ruins, but as Ma
shonaland is thrown open to the civilized
world arcfnBologists will perhaps ex-
anime the ruins, and may be able to
tell us to what age they b~elong.-C. A..
Orr, in N. Y. Sun.
H