The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-09-11
DIR. PETERS, THE EXPLORER, CON
WINGED HE HAS FOUND KING
SOLOMON'S MINES
TN PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA
He Contends That Was the Great
wealth Producing Country of
the Hebrews and the
Phoenicians.

|
assertion made by DR.. Carl Peters, the
explorer, has at last been found.
There is ample proof, :" he says, "that
the Fura we discovered and explored
last summer i'll Portuguese South Africa is
the Ophir of the Old Testament"
This startling statement, which has
sent a thrill of excitement throughout
the scientific world was made by DR..
Peters on his arrival from Africa. Along
with it goes the solving of a problem
more mysterious than that of the Sphinx.
The location of the great emporium of
biblical tines has long puzzled the best
scholars and Biographies of the world.
DR.. Peters, however, has lifted the ven
! which FOR centuries has enyeloped the
mystery, and now the Eldorado of the
ancient world where King Solomon sent
his fleets fer gold~wherewith to build his
great temple has been definitely located.
| DR.. Peters concludes that the territory
known today as Portuguese East Africa
and Eastern MashonaIand was. 900 years
before the CONNIE C ment Ct the Chr S ian
era, the great commercial and goId-pro-
dqeing. country colonized by the Jews,
Phoenicians and Western Arabians who
built great ernpire. the capital of which
/ was Cphir, located on the banks of the
! Zambesf river, whose waters became a
highway for the fleets of the then known
world
Phe ancient mines were situated In the
northern portion of Portuguese South
Africa, some fifteen miles south of the
Aambesi, and half way between the towns
OF Sena and Tete. An old Portuguese
map was consulted by DR.. Peters before
leaving London. 1t was based on the
early reports of the Portuguese naviga-
tors of the fifteenth and sixteenth cantu.
ries, who were the first to sail to ti,e
East African coast and to carry IN q
trade with the Arab merchants. The ma
tlves- told the early naYigators stories of
having found great quantities of gold in
the interior. On this old map an impor
tant clew was obtained by finding a place
designated as "Afur." which is a soutb
Arabian form of the Hebrew name Opbir
Wincn means mine. Fura is the name
now given to the locality by the nresant
race who inhabft the district. whiia FI,ro
| today, in their language, means mine
and is a native corruption OF the word
A1ur, by which name the Arabs of tho
sixteenth century knew the district
with this geographical data Dr.. Peters
reached SoHth Africa and commenced the
! search for the ancient site of Ophir. Fol
| lowing the tracings of the old map he
pushed into the interior until he had
| reaehed the supposed locality. The com
Try was found to be occupied by a people
calling themselves '.Malanka. . and rnIe5
over by powerful chief. who AZ once
became hostile to the entry of the wbjte
men, refusing for five weeks to sell them
1000. Finally the chief sent his brother
TO 70 parley with the explorer, and, after
became friendly and subseauentiv 49,
the ruins. PSI ioA Vi
continuing his search south of the Zam-
pesi and midway between the settlamer.s
OF Sena and Tete, DR.. Peters came mon
a series Of immense ruins, consisting Of
I Eelhples fortifieations, dwelling houses
Mofhshops' all constructed of solid ma
sonfy, and which bore the unmisfaIya bIo
stamp Of antiquity The outer walls ana
plliaEs were covered with astroponnics1 !
| Signs and other concentrations. which
are identical with Phoenicfan and semitio
symbols employed at that time. One of
the largest of the ruins covers an area
81 several acres, having massive walls.
Lovers ana monoliths. 1t is supposed to
/ nave been huge temple of worsbir =
|
t mon Itself Smelling furnaces shafts
ana other appliances for metal workings
| were round, which leaves no doubt flo >
Seld was the chief occupation Of the for.
1ner dWellers of the city.
| 1uII survey of the ruins, giving conn
80 80, uetalls and measurements. together
1 ma.h an examination of the ancient
hiIlSS ana the quartz gold reefs will
oe made on DR.. Peters next ret1,rr -.
Atf1ca. Traces of diamonds. coal Whit
INCA ana saEpetre were found ana n
refers feels assured that all the nrod,Iot.
81 81 ne ancient Ophir are. TO be found on
Inese massive and mysteries ruins
| STAND cut in startling contrast with 49,
primitive huts of the present Nc" neti,t eii'
Unaoeptedly large Population havine
thousands of skilled artisans once Bna5
mere and erected double walls 70 nrctaot
tnelr splendid city and the great nnantt-
sies OF gold which they extracted from,
INC guartz reefs against the pillaging of
.n1os'e tribes DE- Peters concludes that
soeh style of architecture and e,,ob -
/ civilization as it signifies could MOI - q
originated and developed in South Africa
-srenIecture and the art of gold work.
- aied long ago in Southeastern AFRICA
wnIle those who practieed them are be,
I1eVeo 10 nave been swept off the face Of
,,T-!1 "a IN some catastrophe, possibly
~ pi-Siits Oh the aboriginal people, dur
Als which they and their civilization
persisted together. ~ Il
che OF the objects found which adds to
ehe PROOF That the ruins are those Of
oPhlr was a zodiacal calendar. well
preserved through all the centuries of it's
-ut5rIneht. The zodiacaI drawings are
3een d could not nave been made by the
NaIIlrs. one of the pictures is a repre-
Sentat.en of the sun. similar to tba SIN
pictures found in Asia Minor which ha-
long 20 the AssyFo- Babylontan nerfod
Inc center Is represented by a crocodile.
winch was tTequeHtely used in oIden
lInes as representing tbs polar constel-
!atlon OF the Northern hemisphere These
Identical similarfttes show that there was
an early connection between the inhabi-
sants OF this region and the ancient races
VINO practice solar worship and astrono-
my Even the present natives who live
m the district are sun and fire worship
peIs' ana are unlike any of the other
AFRICAN tribes. They have a distinct
JeWIsn type of face, and,it is the opinion
OF Dr Peters that they are mixture
OF the Asiatic conquerors with the orig
inal inhabitants 81
Inc PROBABILITY of Ophir being in East
AFRICA was not realizedd until the Portu-
geese navigator Vasoe da CANA rounded
the Cape in 1887 and opened up the East
Aifican coast to the Western world In
an Oh the ports he called at the Arabs
eoid MIN wonderful stories about the gold
NEEDS In the Interior :, The next Pertu-
geese expedition, in 1906, founded the
town OF Sofalo. With this began the
modern history of this country A Ger
man traveller, Carl Maach- f~st visited
sne interior of Mashonaiand, and report
ed Oh the finding IF Euisis in this region.
Theodore Bent twenty wears later also
visited the same ground and investigated
the ruins. Dr. Henry5 Schlichter, an