Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-07-25

(SnGClal correspondence wa VIZ 49,
oret Ncws by Frank G. caroenter)
IA mr. AToPos HILLS, Acica.-Fly-
N/h ing for 60 miles over Motabele-
land in an automobile.
Racing at % miles an hour
over the veldt on roads so muddy that
the wheels often spin around without
catching.
Dashing through streams where the
water splashes high into the air, and
crossing Stitches whore the machine
goes NJ and down with u jump.
Now honNng by swsmps. frightening
the great black and white herons which
live there, now racing with antelopes
over the llnins. and now rushing by
Matabelc kraals where the natives
come out ard gaze at us in their half
naked WONDER,
These arc some OF the Incidents OF
ride took yesterday from here so the
Matopos Illus to visit the grave oil
Cecil Rhodes.
ACROSS MATABELELAND.
The great African statesman lies
buried in low mountains far off from
any human settl ement. He selected as
his tomb fortuation fitted for the
grave of a god, and the way to II tahes
one for 80 miles through fertile val
ley, the most of wlNch IL comprised in
n great estate which MI. Rhodes owned
and which is still heh IN his name.
1t was up this valley we went on our
way TO the tomb. Tue country is but
little different now fiom what 1T was
when David Livingstone the great AMI
can explorer, first ann punced its exis-
fence to white men. ~ consists of a
vedlt which stretches on and on as far
as the eye can reach. Ehe most of II
Is covered with grass, as green as that
which borders Victoria iVyanza, spot
ted here and there with a scanty
growth Of thorny brush. There are
many native villages alorg the road
to- the tomb. aud all the way out on
the veldt are patches of cultivated
lands. These are the farms of the
natives Some are not rs big as
bed quilt, and the largest contains only
four or I'VE acres. They are planted
to millet and indian corn, They have
no fences around them and they stand
right out in the wilds
Cecil Rhodes gave directions that the
natiYes should have free. amy of his
unused lands aud they are charged no
more now than when the whole coun-
try belonged to them.
AMONG THE MATABELES.
shall write more of the Matabeles
III llt luNulEs Isl At Eubu fudiltt
to see them during this ride Their
kraals are scattered over the country
ana In nearly every corn patch the wo-
men were working The hard labor of
these people is done by the women. We
saw many girls who were hoeing corn
They were naked to the waist and the
white sweat drops stood out like pearls
on their brown skins as they bent low
and chopped out the weeds. In some
of the fields there were men, but they
were mostly smoking ard watching the
women to keep them up to their work.
a few OF these lords OF creation were
clad in cast-off European clothing, but
some We're absolutely rude. save for
little skin apron tied around the
waist. The aprons are not much bigger
than ladies' handkerchief They are
made of deer or calfskin with the hair
on, and are quite ornamental. My
chauffeur told me that the women were
the wives of the watchers, aud the lat
ter We're out in the fields to see that
their ladies did not loaf on the joo.
Many of the Afatabeles have two or
three wives. and there are some trust
nlagnates" who have 20 or SO. Women
here are a sign of wealth. and the
more man owns the richer he Is.
IN THE NATIVE KRAAI.S.
We stopped now and then to. visit
some of the native villages many of
which are found not far from the road
way. They are fair types of the thou
sands which are scattered over this
country. Let me describe one 1t con-
ssts of Il dozen or so huts, surrounded
by a wall made of limbs of trees tied
together and looking not unlike one of
the stump fences OF the northern New
York Inside this wall there is another,
shutting off Il space in which the sheep
and goats are kept at night, and out
side the latter are the homes of the
people. These are circular mud huts.
with walls about feet high and
matched roofs which slope upward in
the form of a cone. Each hut has n
door at the front and this Is the only
way into the average home. Let us
enter. The floor is plastered with ce-
ment made of native mud. 1t Is as
smooth as u school boys slate, except
AZ the center, whore hole as big as a
peck measure has been cut ont for the
fire The cooking is al done over that
hole, the clay pots resting upon the
Goals inside il In few huts iron ket-
ties are used, but, rs in the past, most
of the cooking is done In rude jars of
clay, made by the natives, In one hut
that entered saw green corn boiling,
and In another a half-naked woman
was roasting locusts, While her family