The Washington times., 1901-08-04
LONDON NEWS AND GOSSIP.


LONDON, Aug. 3-The hot weather and
the close approach of August 12, conse-
Grated to grouse. have together been Civ
ing the last touches to the political sea-
son. Moreover. the pathetic death OF Mr..
Brodricks wife, removing the War Sec
retary from the political arena, deprives
the House OF Commons of Minister who.
next to Mr.. Joseph Chamberlain, is the
butt of most OF the parliamentary dis
cussion. hence the listlessness and eager
waiting for the propagation of Parlia-
ment a fortnight hence. The Govern
ment ce:.ld not DC expected to miss this
opportunity to push through the SOW
ereign's declaration bill. which. but for
the general weariness. would excite the
bitterest political and theological differ
ences. In the House of Lords Lord Rose
berry failed in his attempt to get into the
declaration definite pronouncement OF
the Professionalism of the sovereign. All
the bill does Is to excise phrases OBJ
noxious to the Roman Catholics. with the
result that every extremist is displeased.
For the rest the session Is barren al
most beyond precedent, again indicating
that when the war is over the Ministry
will find 1t most difficult to hold its party
together in face OF the relentless opposi-
ton, intent on social reforms, OF which
Toryism is incapable. and now thrust into
the background by the urgency Of the
South African problem.
The trustees of the British Museum
have received from DIR. A Smith Wood
wards preliminary reports on the seasons
geological excavations in the piiocene de-
posits of Pikermi near the Marathon
Road, twelve miles from Athens. Forty
seven large cases, the museums share OF
the fossils found. are now on the way to
England, under the arrangement made
with the University of Athens. The finds
are of the highest interest, and include
the remains of a huge proboscidean, in
Guiding Two fen:urs. each over one metre
long; a fine series of exceilently pre-
served skulls; other bones of the rhi-
noceros; the old-worid monkey. remains
of which are rarely met with In any part
of the globe as fossils; several almost
complete skulls of the mastodon: skulls.
teeth, and bones of the machaerodus. the
great sabre-toothed tiger, remarkable for
the great development Of the canine teeth.
and also Tor its wide geographical distri-
button Remains Of this animal have
been met with In England In Kent's cav
ern, Torquay. the Cresweil Crag caves,
Derbyshire. and In the Norfolk forest
bed.
Other discoveries were innumerable
bones OF the hipparon. the three-toed.
most immediate predecessor of the horse
OF the present day; of the hyaena and
other carnivores: antelopes, giraffe
with ime-bones very long and slender;
OF the heliadotherium. a short-necked
giraffe allied to the okapi: the new rumi-
nsnt mammal recently brought home by
Sir Harry tombstone from the Semliki
forest in the Congo State, and OF the
covered by DR.. Forsyth Major in the
lower piiocene beds Of the island of
Samos. off Asia Minor, said 20 connect
the helladotherium and giraffe with some
Pikermi. Traces of chelonians were
abundant, and include. az one of the
prizes of the explorations. remains OF per-
haps the largest tortoise ever found in
met with. Birds are not numerous, but
a considerable collection of land shells
was obtained. No traces of plant life
were observed
The bones occur on definite horizons in
immense numbers. The marty material
Is quite soft until dried, when it hardens.
In places the remains are so jammed to- q
sether that they are difficult to extract or
10 separate The carcasses appear to
have been buried entire. with the flesh
and tntegument, in vast numbers. prob
ably by torrential action. great number
having had the limbs sharply broken. evil
IDENTIFY at the time of death. The extirct
found in this late tertiary deposit
at Pikermi mostly relate to the present
African fauna.
Another report of the highest interest is
published this week by DR.. Carl Peters
on further explorations of the ancient
ruins OF Zambesia- He confirms theth
'ries of the late Theodore Bent explain
ed in his book The Ruined Cities of
He says that the SYM
1ols of phallus worship occur from the
Lambesi down to Sabi. There is no doubt
hat the old race adhered to the cult of
3aal anu Astarte. Most of these ancient
ortiflcations were built in connection
With the mining business. He believes
hat the ancient conquerors belonged to
ne oerliiiG race The repeated appear
tnce of such names as Massapa- Umbapa,
Susapi, Sabi etc. makes 1t highly prob
ible that they were of the Sabaean race
leariy related to the Phoenic.ans of the
Dr. Peters brings abundant evidence
of DIR. Livingstone's belief
IF direct Egyptian influence in South AZ
'ica. including newly discovered bushmen.
utely Egyptian; also a female and un-
ioubtedly Egyptian figure of between
5 and n inches in length. with hero
,lyphics round The waist d. Peters saws
hat the figure is 5000 years old and Is 4
of the goddess Isis This
$ most remarkable. for it is quite clear
hat the statuette cannot have come over
and from the Nile to the Zambesi
DR.. Peters declares the country between
he Zamhesi and Sabi to be the Ophir of
epoch. The finds of his last
expedition suggest the mysterious land
Punt or Phoun which has melted for CEN
,uries the curiosity of scholars in every
country. He believes that these mining
districts were originally discovered by
egyptians. who formed an Egyptian col
my: that the Phoenicians took the coun-
ry between 1900 Il. c.. the time of Queen
datsepus' expedition, and 1lO0 3. C.
King David's period).
Since then Arab influences have been
PREDOMINANT till the Portuguese conquis-
adores under Vasco da Cana appeared.
)r. Peters will soon lay all this evidence
'efore the public.