Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-02-23
GOLD IN SOUTH AFRICA.
PERHAPS MASHONALAND WAS
THE LAND OF OPHIR.
Mysterious Ruins OF .the Great zim-
babwe-AncIsns Gold Furnaces of ~
Forgotten Race-Did tho Queen OF
sheba Get Her RlchesIuere?

Vi u lOIlucI mag uluCcub ClNlllIdbiOus
and Captain Hamilton spent several
months with Theodore Bent, the
Archaeological. studying the ruins
found there. The origin OF these
has been much disputed. some claim
ing the place to be the land OF Ophir,
whence the queen OF Sheba obtained
her gold, while oeters hold that
they are the remains of an Arabian
or Phenician colony. Captain Ham
ilton holds the latter theory.
In speaking of Mashonaland, he
said: This is strange, weird
country to look upon, and after the
fat monotony Of Bechaunaland,
through which you pass to reach it,
q perfect paradise.
The granite hills are oddly fantas-
tic, the deep river beds richly
luxuriant in their wealth of tropical
vegetation and the gigantic Boabab
trees antediluvian in their aspect
Here one would never be surprised
to come across the roc's egg of Sim
bad or the golden valley of kasselas. ="
Captain Hamilton. in a recent
lecture. illustrated by means of a
chart the famous Great Zembabue
ruins, which, he said, are on a
high table-land of Mashoualand
$500 feet above the sea, and form
the capital of long series of ruins
stretching the whole length Of the
Sabi river. "These ruins, he con-
tinued. "are built of granite on
granite. The prominent features OF
the Great Zimbabwe ruins are, first,
the large, or rather elliptical ruin.
with its round towers; second. tho
mass of ruins in the valley beneath
this. and. third, the fortress on the
granite hill above, acting as the
acropolis Of the ancient city. The
wall of the circular ruin at its high
est point is thirty-fve feet above
ground. Its greatest base thick
ness is sixteen feet and its thinnest
five feet The portions TO the south
and east are better built than the
north and west portion as we'll as
thicker and higher.
The courses are marvelously true,
as If constructed with leveling line,
and the granite stones, hammered
into shape, are exactly the same
size. On the northwest the courses
are slightly irregular and the stones
Of unequal size, suggesting almost u
different period OF workmanship.
The walls are built without cement
or mortar. and, as specimens of the
| dry building art. are without par
alleL Within these walls are the
sacred towers. The valley between
this circular Enclosure and the for
tress on the hill is a mass of ruins,
many Of the parts being very curious.
THE labyrinthine nature of the
fortress battles description. Tn Q
hill itselfis of great natural strength,
being protected on one side by gil
gantic powders and on the other by
precipice from seventy to ninety
! feet high. On the only accessible
side the ancient inhabitants had con-
structed massive wall, thirteen
! feet thick at the summit. The top
was decorated with a succession OF
small round towers, alternating with
tall monoliths. The approach TO the
fortress was difficult, being protected
at every turn. by ambuscades. The
redundancy OF fortification all over
this mountain, the repetition of
walls over a precipice itself inacces-
sible, the care taken with every hole
in the powders through which an
arrow could pass, prove that the oc-
cupants were in constant dread of
attack and lived like a garrison in
the heart of an enemy's country.
cat the summit of the mountain
are huge powders about fifty feet
high, and Immediately below the
highest Is a curious little plateau
decorated by the ancient inhabitants
1t is approached by narrow passage
and steps and curious passage
through q wall covered with huge
beams of granite. The summit itself
was decorated with great monoliths
and soapstone pillars, some being
eleven feet high. In the center
stood an altar covered with q thick
coating of cemont
The southwest end of the fortress
was evidently used as temple. In
| the center of il stood another altar
Adj Joining the temple TO the north is
a semi-circular building, the inner
walls of which were built TO support
a roof, indicating that the ancient
inhabitants lived in more fragile and
smaller huts outside.
South of the temple fight of
steps led down to the gold smelling
furnaces and caves. Here was an
immense mass of fallen ruins. The
presence OF the furnaces in this POI
sition pointed to the fact that the in
habitants lived in fear of having
their gold stolen and conducted the
working of it inside the most forti-
fed position of the building.
lone peculiar feature of the region
is the absence of any kind of ceme-
terry or burying grounds belonging
to the aucients The conclusion to
be drawn from this is that the an
clients were in the habit of removing
their dead TO some safer place. This
plan had parallel in Arabia in an
tiquity. notable instance being
| found on the Bahrein island, in the
Persian gulf, where acres and acres
/ of mounds contSn thousands OF