The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1900-01-27

this summer explored the
between the Zambesi
and tho Pungwe, in Portupue
Sc and Tete.
East Africa and Eastern Ma
shonaland. Before l started
from England l had acquired
geographical Information which
led rne TO believe TINT Fura was
near the eastern entrance of the
Lupata gorge. There l have
found it. 1t is situated ON the
banks of the Muira river, about
fifteen miles south of the Fam
best and halfway betweenS ena
and Tete. At the time of my
discovery I had With me Mr..
l'uzy andtwon mining engineers
Messrs. Grammar aud Napols-
XII. l should perhaps explain
here that Fura is the native
corruption of the word Afnr, by
which name The Arabs of the
sixteenth century knew ill.,
district OF which l ann spe;kila. :.
Atur is the Sabaean Oh SCOUT.
Arabian form of the Hebrew
word Ophir. l have arnplc
proof tina, the Fura we dis
covered and explored this
summer is the Opilir of the
Old Testament. Atur or Ophir
in the Semitic language means
mine. Fura in the language
OF the people who now i%nl1ault
the district also means mine.
The natives who are undo the
powerful chief Macollbe, call
themselves Mukalanga, which
means people of liae sun. I'm
like any otner Africans l know
they are to this day sun and
fire worshippers. They are
quite unlike Inc ordinary Atri-
can and have fl distinct Jewish
type of face, and i'll my opinion
they are 81 mixture of the Ash
attic conquerors with the origi-
nal inhabitants of the country.
On arriving i'll the district |
soon found that the natives had
some idea of the existence of
the ancient Oph r. In fact they
wash gold themselves after the
rainy season, and after storing
it ir quilts do a fairly large
trade III it with Beira.
At first had great difficulties
with these people. For tive
weeks they refused to sell use
food and performed war dances
to brighten NE. Naconibe lllc
chief, then sent his brother
Cuntete to me demanding what
| meant by entering his coun-
try. by this time, however, as
l had succeeded in getting food
from orher sources, Cuntete
seemed inclined to he friendly.
I made friends with him and L
have brought him to England.
UP to the present his greatest
surprise is that he has not seen
the sun. This Chi IF subsequent
ly gave me valuable inforn-
alton regarding the position of
the ancient ruins and workings
which | AT once investigated.
Going to the spot indicated, l
found ancient ruins of undoubt-
eddy Semitic type. l discovered
: pilallic elnblems which have
always been connected with
the ancient Semitic sun wor-
ship. Fura itself 1 found to
possess formation of quartz
ite slate and diori,e, between
which gold reefs were running.
Under the ruins 1 found Il
large alluvial tract IN which
we discovered gold and near it
magnificent quartz reefs. The
ancient workings but there
were also shafts hewn into the
rock. l have built 81 station in
this district and also one in
Inyanga, both of which are in
charge of trustworthy Europe
ans. intend next summer to
further investigate the traces
of diamonds, coal, white mica
anb saftpeter which we found.
"Ny theory with regard to
Ophir," said the doctor in con-
clusion "is this: The ancient
conquerors heard at the mouth
Of the Zambesi OF rich alluvia!
gold up river and sailed up to
the eastern entrance of the
Lupton beyond which rapids
made navigation difficult. They
then proceeded overland and
found under the very walls of
the Notifications (ruins of
which we have discovered> al
ulvial and also reef gold. They
then settled for a considerable
period, and afterward migrated
to the west toward the Ruenye.
They eventually settled in the
cool climate of lnyanga con
quered all tho districts west
and southwest IS far as the
Sanyate river and built a great
empire along the Sambesi and