The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-07-14
soLoMoN's GLORY.
Former Lawrence University Student
Tells of His Nine Years in the
Heart of Africa

Lawrence, July 14-W. Harvey
Brown, VINO graduated at the universe
" here, has lately returned from nine
years adventure in the heart of Africa
His adventures while exploring the
dark continent are interesting indeed
The traveller is scarcely past the age
of 80 but he has endured hardsn1ps
which seldom fall to the lot of man.
AS collector of specimens for the Smith
sonian institution at Washington, Mr.
Brown visited South Africa soon after
leaving the University of Kansas At
Cape Town he fell in with the organic
erS of the Cecil Rhodes expedition and
enlisted as a scout for the long jour
ney of $500 miles toward the heart OF
the continent.
1T required six months to make the
Journey" said Mr.. Brown We car
ried provisions for the trip and also to
support the party of 400 thoroughly
armed men for several months after
we should reach the gold fields. By
using good tactics We landed at the de-
sired point without battle with the
natives. A country as large as France
and Germany combined is now under
the flag of England as the result of the
expedition.
The gold district lies on both sides
of the Zambezi river, which is a stream
almost as large as the Mississippi. The
altitude is 3, 900 to 5000 feet. There is
no doubt at all to the value of the
gold deposits. The drawback is the
great distance from the coast and the
lack of transportation. Our wagons
were drawn by sixteen oxen. Although
when we reached the district we found
that mining had been in progress hun
dreds and perhaps thousands of years
before Europeans ever visited the re-
giOn, nothing but masses of ruins were
presented to our view. The nations
which mined in that far away country
carried away the surface deposit and il
is only through modern methods and
expenditure of large capital that the
great reefs can be made to pay.
The alluvial deposit said he in re-
ply to inquiries, lis all worked out in
the gold region. The ancients worked
in open trenches, and when they reach
ed water level at a depth of twenty-five
or thirty feet they went no further The
methods We're of the crudest known to
man Scattered over the country are
smooth. fiat stones, which were used in
grinding the rock so as to extract the
gold. The grinding was done by the
women and il was done by hand.
There are now about 5000 whites in
the country. Thousands of mining
claims have been staked out, but
everybody is waiting for the advent OF
the railroad. Two railways are head
ing for the district, one from Cape Town
built wholly on soil claimed by the
British, and the other from the eastern
coast 500 or 600 miles away. The sec
ond road passes for some distance
through country claimed by the Port
uguese, who assess duty of per cent
on all goods passing to the interior. The
about twelve months and until the con-
nectiOn with civilization is completed
there will be little advancement It is
expected that the rush will be some
thing wonderful next year. L expect
to be on the ground, as I have mining
properties which it Will then pay to
operate
Mashonaland. according TO Mr..
Brown, is a diversified country with
mountains, streams, plains, forests des-
erts and the characteristics of animal
and vegetable life peculiar to- the dark
continent. The slaughter of the large
game has been so great during the last
few years that the game is now pro-
tected by law. For twenty-five years
under protection of the native chiefs
elephant hunters secured the country
carrying away hundreds of tons OF
ivory for the markets of Europe Mr.
Brown engaged in hunting expeditions
far into the tangled forests and met
with adventures enough to fill a volume
He advises COloradoans to remain away
from Central Africa unless they are
amply supplied with cash. The new