St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-17
WONDERS IN AFRICA
DESCRIBED BY EXPLORER a.
DONALDSON SMITH.
BIG MOUNTAINS PIERCED.
Sub terrtI,can River and Most Re-
mnEkaDIe Gaves-Traits of
Abyssinians.

Copyright by the Associated Press.
NEW YORK. Feb. 16.-The AS
ISOLATED Press has received the fol-
lowing letter from DR.. A. Donaldson
Smith, of Philadelphia, in which
news of the Lake Rudolph Eastern
Africa expedition is given UP to
Dec. IA 1894. The letter is dated
from the Shebeyli river, near SomoIi-
land He relates the details Of his
encounter with Dodjas Wada Cub
bra, an Abyssinian ruler, who had
exterminated or enslaved the native
Gallas, and who prevented DR.. Smith
and his party from proceeding. The
doctor writes: Da Gubbra proved
himself to be one of the funniest and
wittiest old men imaginable His
wife and daughter and principal fe-
male slaves had their eyebrows re-
moved and large crescents tattoed
in blue ink over their eyes. They
do not cook their meat, but eat it
Immediately after the animal is
killed. They always conceal their
faces when eating or drinking. and
the sight of a lot of Abyssinians
squatted about a dead bullock, with
their cloaks thrown completely over
their heads, is very amusing. They
have many curious customs besides
these. Such thing as morality is
unknown among them They seem
to delight in cruelty treating their
slaves. [ have frequently seen
young girls kicked and beaten for
quite trif1ing offenses. We made a
rich discovery on our way south.
[ had heard of a river that ran under
a mountain where the great God of
the Gallas, Waco, had carved a,
palace for himself. AS we were not
far from it, Mr. GiIIett and 1 made
an excuse that we wished to shoot
elephants, which abounded in that
direction. We made a hard push.
and, to our surprise, discovered the
most beautiful subterranean passage
it would be possible to imagine.
A large tributary of the River
Juba had carved a way for itself
under a mountain a mile in length.
ON the other side of the stream
were great vaulted chambers from
twenty-five to forty feet high and
supported on massive coIumns.sIThe
columns were most ornately carved
oy the waters. and many of them
uniting would form long arched pas
sages. The mountain was followed
out great distance on the other
side Of the stream. [ have named
them the Caves of WyndIawu. I
shall publish an illustrated account
OF them on my return to England. as
L believe them to be the mosn re-
markable caves of the kind in the
world. The greater part of our
journey has been through the rich
est country, from an AGRICULTURAL
point Of view, have ever seen. and
the climate would suit a European
farmer exactly. Everywhere there
were the signs Of much previous Gull
t1VatIon, but there is little land cl1I-
t1Yated at present. The owners have
been killed off, as is too often evil
dent by the human skeletons living
about. For every village that is. in
habited there are at least six that
are without owners. All about these
villages. there are large areas that
were highly cultivated five years
ago, and even more recently, before
the Abyssinians grabbed the land
and slaughtered the. defenseless na-
tives.
We have long Journey before US,
and it will probably be several
months before we reach Lake Ru-
dolplA a. DONALD SMITH.