Willmar tribune., 1904-09-21
AFRlCA'S CAVE DWELLERS.
Caverns Near Victoria Nvanza the
Origin of Which Is Shrouded
in Mystery.

| WA 'AoN,
pictures of the interior of one of the
Inhabited caves on the slopes of Mount
Elgon, large mountain near the
northwest coast of Victoria Nyanza, in
central Africa, says London report.
The best of his views shows a num-
Der OF reed huts that have been scat
tered irregularly over the wide floor,
their tops extending to within about
three feet of the black wall above
them. Wicker baskets and other uteu-
slls OF the household are sprinkled here
and there, and large masses of rock,
harder than most of the stone that
was dug away to make the subterran-
can home, jut out into the big room.
filling it with corners and recesses.
His visit was to the east side of the
mountain. All sides of it have now
been visited, and the west, south and
east slopes are found to be dotted with
these Inhabited caves, some of which
have been dug at an elevation Of $500
feet.
Perhaps no other mountain has q
similar title to distinction. Its top,
'even under the tropical sun, nearly
reaches the snow line, and it's green
sides are indented with deep pockets
the homes of many hundreds of human
beings.
| Powell-Cotton says there is no doubt
that the whole inside surface of these
caves was hewn by the hand of man,
but the present owners are quite in
capable of having executed so stupen-
dous task. They have no tradition
as to who the makers were The ex-
plorer thinks systematic examination
of considerable number of the caves
might throw an interesting light on
their original inhabitants.
Some of the visitors to Mount Ell
gon believe that they are natural caves.
They say they found no evidence that
the caverns could possibly be the
work of man.
They also report that years ago the
natives lived on the plains in ordi-
nary villages, using the caves at
times as places of refuge from their
enemies, until they finally made them
their permanent abode.
| The more scientific explorers, on
the other hand, say there is no mis-
take about the caves being of artificial
origin. Joseph Thomson, who discov-
cred them, said that they were cut out
OF compact volcanic agglomerate, and
he believed that they were mines in
some past age.
The works were evidently too vast
to be achieved by the simple savages
who now inhabit them, and he won
dered what superior race could for
merly have occupied that region. Sir
Harry Johnston also says that there
is no possibility that the caves could
have been artificial
These two explorers, as we'll as
Powell-Cotton, speak of the interior OF
the caves as being very irregular, as
the harder part of the rock has been
left jutting out in most inconvenient
corners, while the softer stone was cut
away.
Powell-Cotton made an entirely new
discovery, north of Mount Elgon, OF
a tribe living on the tops of two
mountains in two-story houses. Nc
huts of any kind have hitherto been
reported among the barbarous tribes
of Africa
1t is possible that they conceived the
idea of the two-story house to provide
more room in their habitations, for
as they live on the tops of the noun.
tains, they cannot give much. space tc
their dwellings without encroaching
upon their titled lands. Almost unde,
the equator, they succeed in raising
crops on the very sum mits of high
mountains