The Savannah morning news., 1900-09-06
The dictionary says

river appeared Mount Fura Now. con-
corning Mount Fura thirst for science
and thirst FOR gold had already bred In
the good doctor certain suspicious.
80 he SCI 20 work. 10 is recorded. Ia yys-
tcmatic fashion 10 get all the works he
could ind on the subject He IL credited
with possessing a wonderful memory. and
al being capable Of rscolecting minute
details for years afterward. Some Of tho
old writings thus hunted up went back to
the seventeenth century. and for two
! years wac the trail followed up. says an
1dmiring chroniclsr through the dim and
dust-streWn realms OF ceuturies-od book
land.
The recent works were studied. too. ana
"a che end OF two yean, Ia July. iksf.
he German traveller promoted In London
company-the Dr. Carl Peters Estates
aud Exploration Company. Limted-for
the purpose Of purchasing properties and
rights which had been acquired by him In
Southeastern and Central Africa, and for
the conduct by Or Peters Of we'll
equipped and carefully selected expedition
20 the district where he hoped 20 discover
Mount Fura. and 20 test his surmisee
nboW that mysterious locality
The vendors took 75.0oo a shares in part
payment. and the expenses OF this expe-
dition and sufficient working capital would
issue Of 250O shares.
Well the expedition. with DR.. Peters
10 ts head. ana the clues afforded BY the
Cd writings aud tho old map in constant
use. duly discovered the mountain Of
Fura. BY the middle Of 1879 and Dr. Pc
ters was convinced his cherished hopes
we're well founded Those hopes were
nothing more nor less than that Fara
Was Ophir the Biblical land OF god. ,ae
source OF Solomous fabulous richea.
fura. the good doctor contended. was
the native corruption OF the word Afur
by which name the Arabs Of the sixteenth
century knew the district Afur was
he sahaean. o. South Arabian. form Of
he Hebrew name Ophir As DR. Peers
aftorward assured a representative OF
Reuters Agency. for the Information ~
he world at large. no had ample PROOF
that the Fura which his expedition had
discovered ana explored IN the summer %
1850. was the Ophir Of the Ola Testament
the Ophir whose lncalculable wealth IL
referred 20 IN the first Book Of kings
In both Rocks Of Chronicles. IN job IN
the Psalms. and In Isaiah
A chief. the doctor said. gage him val
uehle Information regarding the position
% ancient ruins and workings. which he
az once Investigated Going 10 the spot
Indicated he found ancient ruins OF un-
doubted Semitic type Flira Itself he
found 10 possess formation OF quartzltio
slate and diOrite. between which gold
reefs were running. The ancient workings
which he found were not only surface
workings. bus there were also. he de-
clarsd, shafts and roads hewn into the
rock
How the shareholders must have pal
PLATED when they read. In report Dr.
Peters presented 60 che directors, that
when the Portuguese arrived In East AZ.
rica about the year 1900 the Arabs called
the district Afur. and told the portu-
guese II was the Ophir os che old Testa-
meme. For a glance az Chronicles
chapter xxx. verse four. would show
them that David gave 20 overlay the wall
Of the temple 5000 talents OF gold OF
ophir. and npon the authority Of r. W
Madden. NJ. X. A. g.. author OF History
Of Jewish Coinage" etc, they would
know that a salient OF gold was worth
5000
Here then. was n20oOco worth Of gold
from Ophir. and she incxhaustible nature
81 the supply would be apparent when
they pursued their Biblical researches 90
ind. In ! Kings. chapter tx. verse fwen-
ty-eight. that there was broughs from
Ophir 60 solomon 80 talents Of gold, equal
10 a modern value Of f2.s200oo. and that.
again. In II Chronicles. chapter Wit.
verse eighteen. mention Is made Of an
ofher dip ny solomon INTO the opnir mines
- the extent Of 40 talents Of gold. or
G.. 7o00o0.
But by now cold shivers OF doubt may
have succeeded 10 the FIRST warm thrills;
for q year has passed since the wonder
ful discovery was made, and two years
since the company was formed and no
millions Of pounds. nor hundreds Of thost-
sands. nor thousands. nor hundreds. nor
tens. nor even units have YET come the
way Of the expectans shareholders.
hut instead come unexpected whispers
that Whist purported 10 be King solomon'n
mines nrc not works thousands OF years
old, but Just mere ordinary collection
Of sand ana rock hills.
Il Il veritably the Land OF ophir. and
n 50. have David and Solomon left much
gold for the Shareholders IN DR.. Peters
Estates and Exploration Companyf