Chipo-popo Falls—Frond Glen—Lumbo Rocks—“Morgenster” Mission—Wuwulu—MojejÈje, or Mystic Bar—Suku Dingle—Bingura’s Kraal—Motumi’s Kraal—Chipfuko Hill—Chipadzi’s Kraal

CHIPO-POPO[25] FALLS

THESE are about two miles and a half north-east of Zimbabwe, on the Motelekwe Road. The Chipo-popo, which is a perennial stream with its source on the south side of the Beroma Range, crosses the road and runs towards the Moshagashi River, which it joins four miles lower down. Immediately to the north of the drift (ford) the stream descends abruptly down granite ledges into a deep ravine, on the east side of which is Chipo-popo kraal. The falls are reached by leaving the road at thirty yards on the Zimbabwe side of the drift and going between some large boulders on the north side of the road. This is an interesting spot at any time, but especially so when rains have swollen the torrent. A path from Chipo-popo kraal leads to Oatlands Farm, four miles north-east of Zimbabwe, where Naidoo, an Indian, has an extensive market-garden. The walk to the falls and to Oatlands Farm is a very easy afternoon’s exercise.

FROND GLEN

This is a very pretty, secluded, and sheltered spot in a deep ravine about half a mile east of the South-East Ruins. A stream from the valley, which extends eastwards from the Elliptical Temple, passes through it in a south-easterly direction. On the banks of this ravine are to be found tree-ferns, palms, royal ferns (osmunda regalis), and maiden-hair ferns. The scenery and atmosphere of this glen are said to be somewhat similar to those of some tracts on the southern slopes of the Himalayas. To reach the glen one should leave the Motelekwe Road at three-quarters of a mile east of Havilah Camp, cross the small valley on the south to the South-East Ruins, and then go due east from the ruins, the land descending towards the glen.

LUMBO ROCKS

These strikingly picturesque cliffs, which form a prominent landmark for miles around, are a little over two miles south of the Elliptical Temple, and are approached by the native path leading from Zimbabwe to the Morgenster Mission. These granite crags rise perpendicularly for about a hundred feet from out of the summit of a rocky kopje, and form a rude square-sided column of precipice, which is divided into four portions by very narrow fissures, which run through it on all four sides from base to summit. Visitors should climb this hill and inspect the rocks. There are numerous granite boulders split into fantastic shapes all round this kopje. The headman, Lumbo, now has his kraal about a third of a mile to the west of these rocks. Chipadzi’s kraal lies one mile to the south-east of Lumbo Rocks, and half a mile nearer Zimbabwe, and on the west side of the path to the mission is the deserted kraal of Baranazimba, situate on a high rugged kopje among gigantic boulders which rendered the kraal most difficult of approach. This chief is a relative of Mogabe. His new kraal is on a kopje close to the Victoria-Zimbabwe Road about four miles from the ruins.

MORGENSTER (“MORNING STAR”) MISSION

One of the prettiest walks from Zimbabwe is to this mission station, which is barely three and a half miles distant in a south-south-westerly direction. The path passes between the Elliptical Temple and the Bentberg. About two miles along the path and close to the right-hand side is Baranazimba’s old kraal perched up high among the boulders of a kopje. The path then crosses a nek between Baranazimba’s and the Lumbo Rocks, and descends into a narrow valley and up a high ridge, on which, cutting the sky-line, is a tall and prominent Finger Rock, which is only a few hundred yards from the mission, which lies just over the ridge. Morgenster is on a much higher elevation than the Zimbabwe Valley. The walk is highly interesting to anyone fond of romantic scenery. Rugged kopjes, with cliff-boulders on which huge granite masses are most delicately poised, lie along the right-hand side of the path for a great part of the distance to Morgenster.

The mission was founded in 1891 by the Rev. A. A. Louw, of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dr. John Helm, the medical missionary, joining the station in 1894. Several other European missionaries are attached to the staff, and there are numerous outlying stations.

The mission settlement is ideally situated on the south face of a high ridge overlooking the Mowishawasha Valley on the south and the N’Djena Valley and Motelekwe River on the south-east. Its position is marked by clumps of tall blue gum-trees. The buildings comprise the residence of Mr. Louw, the houses of Dr. Helm and other missionaries, and a school-house. Morgenster is celebrated for its banana plantation, the number of its lemon trees, and its large irrigated gardens. The Mahobohobo trees are very numerous in the vicinity of the station.

The district in which the mission is situated is known to the natives as Amangwa, this being in former times the country of the once powerful tribe of Amangwa, who were driven away from the Zimbabwe district by the present local Makalanga on their arrival almost seventy years ago from the Sabi district. A kopje within a third of a mile on the east side of the mission was, until very recently, occupied by a local tribe of Makalanga, who built up rampart walls of unhewn stones to fortify the kopje against the attacks of the Matabele about 1893.

Morgenster is also celebrated for the immense panoramic view of the Motelekwe Valley, extending for at least forty miles, where the tumbling sea of rugged kopje summits fades into the blue distance. The view is so extensive, impressive, and grand that one can never tire beholding it. As far as the eye can reach the land can be seen descending towards the south. The nearest point of the Motelekwe River to the mission is four miles. There are a great many villages in the valley.

A peculiar interest attaches to this view of the Motelekwe Valley, for along it appears to have been the main route of the ancient gold-seekers from the coast to Zimbabwe, and so into the interior of the country. Along the Motelekwe is a chain of ruins (see Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia), of which the Mapaku Ruins, eight miles east-south-east of Zimbabwe, are the nearest. Some of these ruins are of major importance, and two at least are decorated with the chevron pattern, and occupy areas almost as large as the main ruins at Zimbabwe. This line of forts, or “blockhouses,” is extended along the Sabi River for a considerable distance into Portuguese territory. In viewing this valley from Morgenster, the thought that within sight lies one of the ancient roads to the coast, and that along it passed the gold- and ivory-laden caravans, makes the contemplation of the Motelekwe Valley one of absorbing interest.

The sharp-cut kopje with steep glacis sides, about a mile and a half south of the mission, is Rugutsi. This divides the scenery of the Motelekwe from that of the Mowishawasha Valley on the south. This also is a fine view, but not so extensive as that of the Motelekwe Valley. An absolutely bare, granite, balloon-shaped kopje lies to the west.

Two miles due south of the mission, in the Mowishawasha Valley, is a natural stronghold known as Wuwuli.

WUWULI

This village, which is two miles south of Morgenster, is situated in a deep and narrow ravine immediately west of the Rugutsi Kopje, which forms such a prominent feature in the landscape of the Mowishawasha Valley, as seen from the mission. Formerly this place was of considerable importance to the local Makalanga, for during the times of the Matabele raids the natives between this place and Zimbabwe took refuge in the very extensive caves which run under the north side of the ravine. A strong perennial stream flows through the caves. Here, in time of danger, women, cattle, and grain were hidden. When Mr. and Mrs. Bent visited this village, in 1891, the natives were opposed to their inspecting the caves, and they were only permitted to go a certain distance inside. Now that raidings have ceased the caves are deserted, save for bats, and we were permitted to view the caves without any demur on the part of the villagers.

The present chief is Bungu, a brother of the present dynastic chief Mogabe by another mother. The former Mogabe, Chipfuno, resided at this kraal as well as at Zimbabwe, and it was here he was shot in 1892.

When visiting this village we saw a man undergoing a cure by blood-letting. Incisions were made in the flesh of the leg, and horns of yearling cattle placed over them. The air was then sucked out of the horns through small holes in the top, and the holes were then stopped with wax. The horns clung to the flesh, owing to the vacuum which drew the blood. Bungu’s attention was drawn to an old iron-smelting furnace, on which was the usual female breast and furrow pattern. He said the natives did not smelt iron now because they could buy their garden hoes from the white men, and they were therefore saved the trouble of making them.

MOJEJÈJE, OR “MYSTIC BAR”

There are two of these mystic bars at Zimbabwe, one being on the Motelekwe Road, a quarter of a mile east from Havilah camp and opposite Middle Kopje (Chamananga), and the other about a mile from Zimbabwe, on the path to Bingura’s. The one on the Motelekwe Road is formed by a bar of aphite crossing a granite glacis, over which the road passes, but the one on Bingura’s Path is an arbitrary line drawn across a piece of granite, over which the path crosses. Each bar is at right angles to the path. At either end of each bar is a pile of stones, which show evident signs of having been hammered upon the bar for generations past. A native on a long journey, arriving at one of these bars, will take a stone from the pile on one side and with it tap the whole length of the bar, and lay the stone on the pile on the opposite side. Natives crossing the bar in passing between their kraals and their plantations, or going a short distance only, do not tap the bars. The idea in so tapping the bar is that by so doing the back is strengthened for the journey, and also that the man they are going to see may be at home, that the food will not be cooked till they arrive, and that their journey may be successful. There is no appeal to spirits or ancestors in performing this act.

SUKU DINGLE

This is situated but a few yards from the left-hand side of the lower path leading from Zimbabwe to Morgenster, and is about 400 yds. north-east of Lumbo Rocks, about two miles from Zimbabwe. The dingle runs east and west, and is deeply wooded and narrow. This is a good spot for fern collectors. Down the dingle runs a happy little stream in perennial flow. The stream’s bed is formed of white clay. The sides of the banks have been trenched extensively for a perfectly white soil. This is used by the natives for whitewashing the outside of huts and for making the check patterns on their interior walls. It is quite possible that the ancients knew of this spot, and used the material in making their more choice pottery. The natives know of no other place in this district where the same material is obtainable, and they come from many miles’ distance to fetch it.

BINGURA’S[26] KRAAL

This kraal, which is situated two and a half miles west-south-west of Zimbabwe, is well worth a visit, the walk itself being interesting and the situation of the kraal romantic. Possessors of cameras will find at this kraal ample opportunities of making “shots” at native life, as well as of taking typical views of the Zimbabwe scenery. The path to Bingura’s crosses the valley lying between Havilah Camp and Rusivanga, and then leads up through native plantations to the broad nek on the horizon between Rusivanga and a kopje just west of the western end of the Bentberg. On the nek is another MojejÈje, or “Mystic Bar,” crossing the path, where it passes over open granite. The ascent to the nek is for almost a mile, and the path from the nek dips down the western side of the ridge into a wide valley, and passes through the farmstead of a Basuto mission-boy named “James.”

The kopje on the summit of which Bingura’s kraal is located is of horse-shoe shape, and the huts of the kraal are along the line of summit at intervals among huge boulders. The almost inaccessible position this kraal occupies, and its rocky surroundings, is also paralleled by the now deserted kraal of Baranazimba, which is on the summit of a very high hill protected by precipitous cliffs, and lies on the right-hand side of the path leading from Zimbabwe to Morgenster. The men from this kraal, like those of Chenga’s, have not been spoilt by contact with white men as are many of the men of Mogabe’s kraal. So far Bingura has not yet left his natural stronghold, but the probability is that once the neighbouring fields become poor through over-cultivation he may, like his neighbours, move his kraal into the open country.

Starting to ascend the hill, one hears at a hundred yards’ distance the noise of falling water in a ravine at the north foot of the hill. The path ascends steeply up fissures and along narrow ledges, and over slippery slopes of black granite worn white with the passing of many feet. Bingura’s hut is about half-way up the hill, and here on a small flat area are about a dozen huts, and on still higher ledges on the north and west faces of the hill are more dwellings almost hidden, even when near to them, among huge boulders, also many circular clay granaries perched on rocks out of the reach of white ants. The large number of these granaries testifies to the industry of Bingura’s people. The tree boughs were festooned with mealie cobs drying in the sun. A large, flat rock was covered with locusts, and quantities of melons, pumpkins, and gourds were laid outside the huts. Women were winnowing rapoka corn and cleaning rice. Bingura’s youngest wife, a fine and very good-looking young woman, was sewing pink beads in chevron pattern on to her skin apron, and every man, woman, and child appeared to have some occupation. There were more manifest signs of business here than at any other kraal in the district. Here they have less regard for the need of apparel than any of the inhabitants round about. Bingura is a small man of about fifty years of age, but as agile as a buck, and has a quick shrewd glance. This is in every respect the most interesting village in this district.

MOTUMI’S KRAAL

This kraal is about one mile west of Bingura’s, and is situate in open country and is worth visiting. Motumi is a very good specimen of a Barotse headman. He is fully seventy years of age, but is still hale, hearty, and straight. The features of the people at this kraal are very fine, and most of the men and boys are well-made. They are a very industrious people and never seem to be idling in their kraal. Motumi is above the average native in intelligence and can give an account of what is now Matabeleland long before the Matabele arrived, with long lists of place-names in that country as then known. Matgwain, his eldest son, is exceptionally intelligent. Motumi’s people speak Chicaranga, and most of their characteristics and customs are also those of their neighbours, the Amangwa, to whom they are allied by long generations of marriages.

CHIBFUKO

This hill adjoins the Mowishawasha Hill, which is about seven miles west-south-west of Zimbabwe. Washa is always associated in the mind of the natives with power and authority. Chibfuko is never ascended by the natives. Either the hill itself, or something on it, causes them to revere or dread it. They never pass by without kneeling and clapping hands to it. It is said that they hear girls singing on its summit. The hill has a few caves highly suggestive in appearance of ancients and hidden relics. In this district valuable relics taken from the ruins have been discovered. Mr. Drew, Native Commissioner, is of opinion that many generations past some powerful Makalanga chief must have been buried on the hill and that this originated the native awe for the place, but the natives will not divulge the reason. To reach the hill Bingura’s path must be taken.

CHIPADZI’S KRAAL

This kraal is three miles south from Zimbabwe, and it may be visited on the same round as Suku Glen, Lumbo Rocks, and Morgenster. The walk is an interesting one, but there is nothing of note in the kraal itself, save the view of the Mapudzi Valley which it overlooks. The Morgenster path must be taken for 1,000 yds. south of the temple, where a well-defined native path branches off to the south-east. Later the path descends into a long, narrow valley till it approaches the kraal. The scenery in this valley is very fine. A small perennial stream, which at one point disappears under the ground for a quarter of a mile, flows down the valley, and on either side of it are palm trees and tree-ferns, each with a trunk some 3 to 8 ft. in height, also large areas covered with the royal fern (Osmunda regalis). Mahobohobo trees are plentiful, and orchids are abundant on the branches of the larger trees. The kraal comprises about a score of huts. There is a very grand view towards the east of the Mapudzi Valley down which flows the Mapudzi, a stream which has its rise on the east side of the Elliptical Temple. The ravine is at least 200 ft. immediately below the kraal which overlooks it. The two large and prominent kopjes on the south are Moroma, the nearer one, and Rugutsi. Morgenster is one mile west on the summit of the high land on that side.

MAPAKU, OR “LITTLE ZIMBABWE”

A walk to these ruins is one of the most interesting in the vicinity of the Zimbabwe. They lie south-east of Zimbabwe at a distance of less than eight miles, and the path runs through the romantic scenery of the Beroma Hills and the Motelekwe Valley. The best way to reach the ruins is through Chenga’s kraal, past Mandiara’s, which overlooks the lower country on the south side of the Beroma Range, and past the picturesquely situated kraal of Mapaku, which is at the foot of a tall cliff a quarter of a mile north-west of the ruins. The ruins are not extensive (see description of Mapaku Ruins, chapter xxi.), but are well worth inspection. To return to Zimbabwe the path may be taken to some large pools in the Motelekwe River, and from there through Gobele’s kraal near to, and on to, Chipadzi’s kraal, which is about three miles from Zimbabwe. Making the round journey as suggested enables the visitor to see native life as it is lived beyond the ordinary tracks of the white man. The best time of day to take this walk is to start just before sunrise and arrive at the ruins before the heat can be felt, and so return to Zimbabwe in good time for lunch.

SCHLICHTER GORGE

This is the ravine a mile to the south-west of Zimbabwe, down which flows the Mapudzi stream southwards. The walk in certain parts is somewhat rough, while in the rainy season owing to swollen tributaries and dense jungles of tall reeds it is almost inaccessible. To approach it one takes the path down the valley at the south foot of East Ruins, and directly east of Maund Ruins, and follows a small stream, the banks of which are shaded by trees and covered with royal fern. In the dry season there is very little water flowing, but there are always small pools. The path crosses this stream at its junction with the Mapudzi, the right bank of which must be taken. Where the sides of the valley close in the rocky sides of the hills must be climbed and then descended again. Along the course of the stream, which is densely wooded at the gorge, and flows between large boulders causing numerous pretty waterfalls even in the dry season, are some delightfully shaded pools, round which orchids and palms, and also ferns of rarer species, are to be found in great quantities. Where the gorge opens out at its southern end on to a wide valley a steep path, which leads up to Chipadzi’s kraal, must be taken. From the kraal a fine view of the gorge is obtained.

CHICAGOMBONI HILL (NINI DISTRICT)

This is where the rediscoverer of the Great Zimbabwe ruins, Adam Renders, a German-American, lived from 1868 to 1871. Renders was known to the natives as “Sa-adama,” and to this day the Makalanga speak well of him, and are particularly anxious that all Europeans should know that everything which “Sa-adama” bought from them he always paid for. Mogoma, an old man of exceptional intelligence, is the native chief in this locality, and knew Renders intimately, as the latter lived in his village and made it the centre for his elephant-hunting expeditions, on which Mogoma often accompanied him. One of Renders’ hunting “boys” still lives in the neighbouring village of M’Tibi. Elephants in those days were very plentiful, especially in the Beka and Mali districts. Renders, the natives say, was a tall, strong man. He first arrived in Mr. Stokes’ wagon. Mr. Stokes was a well-known preoccupation pioneer whose native name was “Setokwe.” Mogoma’s kraal has been moved from the hill to the valley on the south-west side. The chief states he never knew of the waterfall near Renders’ hut as described by Mr. Philips, and certainly owing to the formation of the rock it is difficult to see where there could have been one. In other respects the description of the spot where Renders lived in the Nini country (R. G. S. Journals, Dec., 1900, and Feb., 1901) is accurate, save that Chicagomboni is eleven miles south-west of Zimbabwe. Mogoma has distinct recollections of the visits of Dr. Mauch and Mr. Philips to Renders about 1871, and states that Cherimbila, the paramount chief, also visited Renders at this spot. Both Renders and Dr. Mauch took Mr. Philips to see Zimbabwe, but they did not stay long there.

After living in Mogoma’s village a little over two years, Renders moved to Chirimbila’s kraal, a few miles north of Mogoma’s, and lived there for three years, when he died. He was buried close to the kraal.

The Chicagomboni Hill is at the south-western extremity of the Livouri Range, and on the west side has a precipitous drop of about 700 ft. Half-way up the face of the cliffs is a narrow ledge running across them, and at the northern end of the ledge, and on a raised rock platform, was Renders’ abode, the remains of which can still be seen. Mogoma’s old kraal was on this ledge. At the point where was Renders’ hut, the cliff, at a height of 60 ft. above the ledge, protrudes outwards some 50 ft., thus forming a lofty and gigantic roof over the place were Renders lived. This is known as I-Baku—the cave. There are some narrow fissures in the face of the cliff which open out on to the ledge, but not one of these is worthy of the name of cave. In these Renders stored his trading goods and ivory.

From this point is gained one of the finest and most extensive views in Rhodesia. It extends over M’Chibi district, the valley of the Tokwe, the Belingwe Hills, the Selukwe Hills, and the high ground further to the west and north-west. Three hundred feet directly below is Mogoma’s new kraal and the adjoining village of Passi. Anyone staying a few days at Zimbabwe should not miss visiting this spot. The path from Zimbabwe leads past Motumi’s and Masua’s kraals, ascending all the way. Any of the “boys” at Mogabe’s kraal would act as guide, but on arrival at the hill it would be well to send for Mogoma, or one of his headmen, as this would dispense with the necessity of descending some hundreds of feet to the valley, in addition to which the approach to the ledge being hidden among large rocks, it is difficult to reach it without a local guide.

A JAUNT ALONG THE ZIMBABWE AND MOTELEKWE ANCIENT ROAD

One often wondered along what part of the country on the south or east of Great Zimbabwe lay the ancient road from the coast to this old-world metropolitan centre. Several suggestions more or less possible have been made since the preoccupation days as to the ancient road. That the ruins at Mapaku (the caves), seven miles distant towards the south-east, formed one of the posting stations on such a road may be considered as highly probable. Visitors have generally favoured the conjecture that the road from Zimbabwe to Mapaku must have passed to the north of the Beroma Range, which, seen from Zimbabwe, from which it is two miles distant, forms a continuous granite rampart some 600 ft. high, four miles long, and about one and a half miles broad, stretching from north to south. This range appears to present a solid obstacle to any approach from Zimbabwe. A detour round its north end and along its eastern base as far as Mapaku would make the distance at least ten miles. Moreover, on this line the kopjes and valleys have recently been thoroughly searched for any traces of ancient occupation, and none have been found. This therefore shows that such suggested route, had it actually been the ancient road, would have been altogether undefended for ten miles in an awkward country where the valleys, gorges, kloofs, and boulders would have provided splendid vantage points for attacks on the gold- and ivory-laden convoys proceeding from Zimbabwe to the coast.

Schlichter Gorge, running south at the east end of Zimbabwe Valley, has also been suggested as the ancient approach to Zimbabwe. Certainly, viewed from the Acropolis, this would appear to be the only natural road, but the position of the gorge, as can be seen when visited, negatives the suggestion. The gorge at its southern end is practically impassable. It is filled up at several points with solid sections of cliff which have fallen into it from the steep sides on either hand, and though the Mapudzi stream finds its way under these obstructions, the traveller must climb the almost perpendicular sides some seventy to a hundred feet to descend again beyond the obstructions, and further on repeat the climbing to pass a further barrier. In this gorge and on the summit of its cliffs there are no traces of walls to defend the defile, while an enemy could easily destroy the convoy, for the pass forms a veritable military trap. The distance from Zimbabwe to Mapaku in this direction would be at least nine miles.

Thus these two conjectured routes may for many reasons be dismissed as impracticable. But there remain two other possible routes to be considered, and both of these pass over the Beroma Range. The first, the one traversed by Mr. Bent and by all visitors to Mapaku, keeps to the Motelekwe track past East Kopje (Mazanda) till opposite Chenga’s kraal, through which the path leads, and up the long trough-like valley on the Beroma Range, which depression is formed by the two parallel lines of the summits of the range. On the east line of summit are two depressions, and visitors are taken by the northern of these past Mandarali kraal, which is on the edge of the cliff facing east, then down the side of the range and along its base southwards to Molinije’s kraal at Mapaku. This line of route makes the distance a little over seven miles. The local natives say that this path from Zimbabwe to Mapaku is a very long one. On it a careful search has failed to discover any traces of ruins.

A well-defined line of route protected at several strategic points by ruins of buildings indicates, beyond doubt, the actual road of the ancients. This makes the distance barely six miles, which is the shortest to Mapaku, and along it runs a much-frequented native track, used by the numerous long string of “boys” coming up, between the harvest and the sowing, from the districts of the Lower Motelekwe and the eastern stretches of the Lundi and Limpopo rivers, to seek work in the gold district west of Victoria. The ruins protecting this route form a chain of forts, which occur at intervals of about one mile and a quarter. On the Zimbabwe-Mapaku section of this route there are the remains of five substantial and well-constructed ancient buildings. It is along this section and a further section of the chain of ruins extending from Zimbabwe to Majerri that the trip here described was taken.

At 3.30 a.m. the six boys to carry blankets, food, cooking utensils, survey and photographic apparatus, botanical case, insect bottles, rifle, and a few tools, were waiting ready to start for the Majerri Ruins in the Motelekwe district, some twenty miles south-east of Great Zimbabwe. The moon was almost at the full, but would set an hour before sunrise. This is the best time of day to start on a walking expedition, as one may then hope to break the back of the distance before the sun’s heat could be felt. Five boys took up their loads, each about 35 lbs., and our guide marched on ahead with the rifle. Our little party passed down the Motelekwe track till the East Ruins were reached. It was perfectly light and a greenish-grey mistiness invested the Valley of Ruins, the Acropolis, and the Elliptical Temple. Walking silently we passed through the ruins of the dead city to the point where the old road to the coast leaves Zimbabwe.

At East Ruins the track to the upper reaches of the Motelekwe, and to Arowi, rounds off at the foot of East Kopje towards the north-east. Our path took us slightly south of east. But the Beroma Range looked like a Titanic wall of granite cliff barring our passage in that direction. “Sheba’s Breasts” (Sueba, black; marsgi, a corruption of the word meaning bald-headed), a pair of bare and round-topped hills on the southern end of the summit of the range, stand clearly against the greenish sky, and above them the morning star is just appearing. Sueba is marked on all maps of Rhodesia as “Mount Sheba”; but the names “Sheba’s Breasts” and “Mount Sheba” are very modern indeed, dating back only to 1891. This pair of hills can very well be seen from the Tokwe, where the old Pioneer Road from the Lundi crosses that river. Evidently some member of the column familiar with Mr. Rider Haggard’s works, knowing that Great Zimbabwe lay just behind those hills, bestowed these names upon them, and so they have been known ever since.

Our path led down a slight valley from East Ruins to the Mapudzi stream, and here the Beroma was found not to be such an obstacle to our progress as was at first imagined, for on its west side is a broad defile leading up to the ledge of land a third way between the base and summit of the range, and at the top of the defile, and a hundred yards to the left, is a well-built ruin which guards the approach up the defile. Chenga’s Ruin, as it is called, occupies a position well chosen for defensive purpose, and presents several good architectural and constructive features. Here the coastward-bound convoy would first realise they had quite left Zimbabwe behind them, and would start to count the fifteen to twenty days of their tedious and, no doubt, highly dangerous journey to the sea, which should bear them in their gold-laden argosies homewards, either to the port of Eudaemon (the present Aden), or to the Moscha (“harbour”) of Ophir, metropolis of the ancient SabÆans, or else, if later, to Ezion-Geber, the Jewish and Phoenician port on the Red Sea during the reign of King Solomon.

Chenga’s Ruin is outside the Zimbabwe ruins’ area, and is the first posting station on the road to Sofala. In 1540 the Moslem Arab traders in gold and ivory informed the Portuguese that the journey from Sofala to Zimbabwe required from fifteen to twenty days (twelve to fifteen miles a day), so that the later Arabs must have travelled on foot taking native carriers. They too may have used as caravansaries the line of ancient forts that stretches from Zimbabwe towards Sofala along rivers whose valleys form the natural outlet to the coast for the populations of Southern Rhodesia, for they could thus find admirable protection at easy intervals for the night, or halt within the walls built, possibly, by their remote ancestors. So the ancients leaving Chenga’s Ruin might know they had at least fifteen days of tramping ahead of them, for no evidence of their employing oxen, horses or camels, or any wheeled vehicles, has come to light. The journey may have even been longer, owing to the delays of the slave gangs and carriers with their burdens of gold and ivory, and to the caution needed in passing through a land clearly shown by the protecting forts to have been hostile territory. The weary stretch of the Sabi Valley lay before them—Sabi, a name which students of Chicaranga and of other native languages state has no known derivation, and of which the natives emphatically affirm “It is but a name. It means nothing to us.” It has therefore been repeatedly conjectured that the name Sabi, SabÆ, or Saba has a connection with the river with which they must have been very well acquainted. From scriptural accounts we find that such duplication of names of places was a practice of the old Semitic peoples, as in Havilah, the local and pastoral country, and Havilah, the foreign and mineralised country, in a superlative sense the gold land, “and the gold of that land is good” (Genesis ii. 12). Instances, in fact, occur almost everywhere from the remotest time down to the founding of New South Wales, Nova Scotia, New York, and a hundred other well-known places.

Chenga’s Ruin was absolutely unknown to white men, as also were the Beroma Ruins, until quite recently. The local natives repeatedly denied the existence of any ruins on the Beroma Hills, and this denial on their part, so authorities on Makalanga customs say, is perfectly natural and to be expected, for all the ruins of this chain, like so many others throughout the country, have been used by the Makalanga up to the present day as burial-places, and being well aware of the clearing of the Zimbabwe ruins, they feared lest these other ruins, too, should be explored. But since they have learnt that in the work at Zimbabwe the graves have been respected, they appear to be less nervous, and as it is known for many miles round that substantial rewards will be paid for information as to other and fresh ruins, they sometimes volunteer their information and offer themselves as guides. Thus some nine additional ruins have now been discovered and inspected. But the three ruins on the Beroma Hills which at strategic points guard our path were found by the author on making a systematic search of all the hills in the district of Zimbabwe.

From the ledge on the west face of the Beroma Range on which Chenga’s Ruin is situated the ground rises gently towards a broad depression in the western crest of the range into a long valley, which runs from north to south and from end to end of the top of the hills. The path after passing through the farmstead of David (a native teacher) passes up the valley southwards for half a mile and then turns east at a sharp angle towards the most southerly of the two depressions on the eastern crest. Within a few hundred yards, on the right-hand side of the path where it turns east, and on a low, rocky knoll, is a second ruin—Beroma Ruin—which is well-built, and has a rather fine, rounded entrance. The southern half of this ruin is now reduced to a few piles of granite blocks. On the south-west side of this ruin is one of “Sheba’s Breasts,” Marsgi. On the south side of the path is Sueba, the other “Breast.” Half-way between Beroma Ruin and Sueba, and on the south side of the path, is a cluster of tall, pillar-like rocks, which look in the serene moonlight, and at a little distance, like a cathedral built of white stone. The natives call these rocks Rusinga. On the left-hand side of the path, on the ridge of the depression on the eastern line of summits, is a tall column of huge boulders, which, when seen from the south side, exactly resemble one of the soapstone birds on beams found by Mr. Bent at Zimbabwe.

On Sueba is another ruin which overlooks the depression, through which the path runs south-east down the east side of the Beroma Range towards the Mapaku Ruins, which form the fourth posting station from Zimbabwe. Climbing Sueba, one can at once see that this line of route, owing to the topographical structure of the range, is not only the most direct from Zimbabwe, but the most natural for anyone crossing the Beroma Range.

Just as the path starts on the descent to the Mapaku Ruins the scenery to the north-east and south, as viewed by moonlight, is truly magnificent. Towards the north-east the sky-line is formed by the jagged crest of the romantic Livouri and Inyuni Hills, while the Moshagashi Valley is wrapped in a mantle of greenish mist, above which towers the lofty Arowi Peak in solitary grandeur. Here the ancients on their way to the coast would have their last view of Zimbabwe.

We arrive at Mapaku kraal (Baku, “cave”; Mapaku, “caves”) just as the light is sufficient to make the main features of the scenery perfectly distinct. Here the sub-chief Molinye and his people are already stirring and squatting round fires in the open. The kraal is situated at the east base of a cluster of high cliffs, and these cliffs are full of caves and deep fissures used as passages. The kraal which formerly occupied these rocky vantage grounds is now removed to level ground, and built without a fence of any kind. Molinye is a younger brother of the Mogabe Handisibishe by the same mother, and takes the name of their father, the Mogabe-Molinye. He is an intelligent man and very active. He considers himself the custodian of the neighbouring ruins of Mapaku, and just as his brother at Zimbabwe says to all visitors, “Here is Zimbabwe. One shilling!” so Molinye’s first remark to visitors is, “Here are the caves. Two shillings!” or “Here are the ruins. Two shillings!” Molinye is very proud of the caves, for here his people successfully defied the Matabele and Amaswazi raids. In these caves the women, children, cattle and grain were safely hidden, and the approaches to them could well be defended by two or three men as against a hundred of the enemy.

Molinye’s tall figure leads the way to the Mapaku Ruins, which since 1891 have been known as “Little Zimbabwe.” Here our breakfast is laid out in the central enclosure, and Molinye sits enviously watching the boys eating “bully beef.” Evidently he will not be happy till he receives a tin, and he is given one. Still he is not content, and urges the payment of a further two shillings for taking us to the ruins. He only knows two words of English, and these are “Two shillings,” but having already paid him one florin, which is more than his due, he fails to draw a second, and is at last content with a box of matches. Natives always ask for about ten or twenty times more than they expect to receive.

The sun is just showing above a long black hill—Ingumaruru—and as we have ten to twelve miles to cover before we reach Majerri’s, our journey is taken up afresh. There is another ruin at Mandindindi’s, lying on our route, but our time will not permit us to visit it on this trip.

From Mapaku the path leads south to the right bank of the Motelekwe, about a mile and a half away and near Gobele’s kraal, which is from this point of view backgrounded at some distance by the steep and rocky Goruma Hill. Here the river is wide, and has, even in the dry season, large pools many acres in area. The granite rocks in the bed of the river are pierced with round holes a few feet deep, all of which have been made by the action of the water. The path then passes through Gobele’s kraal and down a small defile towards a drift across the river. This drift is only used by the people of the neighbouring kraals, and the paths on each side of it are very narrow, while the crossing is rather tortuous and slippery. From above the drift we continue on the path south-west to the south end of the Goruma shoulders at a quarter of a mile distant. We were now at least a mile and a half from the river, which has turned south-east through some dark-looking, tall kopjes, and from the higher ground we could see that the rivers which flow to the Motelekwe form swamps just before reaching it, and by keeping on the high ground these are avoided and the rivers are more easily crossed. In fact, by taking this path we cut off an eastward bend in the Motelekwe, striking it again at a wide, easy, and natural drift some eight miles farther on.

About a mile from Gobele’s we come to the Meziro, a perennial stream, 300 yds. from which on the east side of the path is the Rumeni Ruin, built on the slope of a hill. This ruin occupies an area of 111 ft. from east to west and 63 ft. from north to south. The highest wall is now only about 6 ft. high. The style of building is peculiar—a large, well-built, rounded buttress being at the north entrance, and the walls show both superior and inferior workmanship, while the western side is formed of arcs of circles end on end. The Meziro flows south and east of the ruin in the valley below.

Two hundred yards back along the path and about one hundred yards from it on the west side is an old Makalanga wall with portions of the wall of an oval enclosure. The structure is of no great age, and is definitely claimed by the natives as the work of some few generations past. Its total length is 54 ft., and the area of the enclosure is 16 ft. at its longest parts. Some old Makalanga clay flooring has been used as building material at different points in the wall.

The journey south, and later south-east, is continued, and the Meziro and Mazili rivers crossed, while the following kraals are passed in order—Chinaka’s to the left, Skarduza’s on the right, and Manamuli also on the right. In front is a very high kopje with almost perpendicular sides. This is Rushumbi, a noted landmark for many miles round. The path leads past the south of this hill and up another hill, where is Marota kraal. This hill, which has a very considerable elevation, is exceedingly steep on the south side, and there is an extensive view from the summit down the Motelekwe and Tokwe valleys. Marota was the largest kraal seen on this journey. Half an hour’s walk from Marota brought us to a natural drift on the Motelekwe, which here bends south-south-east. The river-bed at this point is about 200 yds. wide, and in the dry season is very easy to cross, from sandbank island to sandbank island and scrambling over large granite rocks with smooth glassy surfaces. There is no doubt that this is the best drift within a good many miles either up or down the river, and it lies, as seen in the distance from Mount Sueba, the eastern “Sheba’s Breast,” exactly in the natural and unbroken line of country up which is the easiest and most natural approach to Zimbabwe from the south-east, thus avoiding bewildering mazes of kopjes and rough country which lie on either side. The topography of the country clearly points out the ancient route, and it is along this that our present journey is made. At this drift we saw a boy of about nine years of age with a skin no darker than that of an ordinary Spaniard and with almost perfect features. Both parents were ascertained to be Makalanga.

From the east bank of the drift the path ascends for a distance of nearly two miles between the drift and the Majerri Ruins, which at this distance lie half a mile to the south of the path on a line of kopjes to the south-west of another Mapaku (“the caves”). This Mapaku must not be confused with the Mapaku we had visited during the small hours of the day, for wherever there are caves there is a local Mapaku; hence there are several places of this name within a score of miles from Zimbabwe. The name of the headman at this Mapaku is Munda, and on sending to his village, one of his men will act as guide to the ruins, which are rather difficult to find by anyone unacquainted with the district. On our way from the drift we passed several very long game-drive fences and large game pits, and saw two herds of wild pigs and several large buck.

By three o’clock in the afternoon we had reached the ruins, and a camp for the night was made in one of the enclosures. Soon afterwards the boys were busy with hatchets cutting away brush from the sides of the walls, so that a survey could be made and photographs taken. The ruins are much larger and better built than we had been led to believe. There are sixteen enclosures, also a passage 290 ft. long running from end to end of the ruins. Chevron pattern is on the west face of a very substantial wall of what appears to have been an important enclosure. We worked at the measurements till it was dark, when we partook of our evening meal. The full moon rose a little later and flooded the ancient building with light, so that further examinations could be made. The enclosure in which our camp for the night was formed was made most picturesque with the lights of moon and fire, the walls gleaming white with the heavy mantle of lichen which covered them. This white appearance of the walls is a prominent feature in all the ruins of the Motelekwe chain, most probably accounted for by the mists that usually hang over the line of the river.

The talking and singing of the boys, the music of their Makalanga pianos, seemed in perfect harmony with the solemn stillness of the ruins and of the night. We turned in early, and at five in the morning we were again busy completing measurements and noting up descriptions of architectural features and styles of construction. At ten o’clock the principal parts of the ruins were photographed, and at eleven we set out on our return to Zimbabwe.

The objective of our next expedition down the Motelekwe Valley will be another set of ruins still further south-east. There are other ruins beyond these again, and we hope to be able by such expeditions to obtain full descriptions, with photographs and plans, of all the ruins of the Motelekwe chain.

Munda, the headman at Mapaku (Majerri), states that only three white men have ever seen these ruins, two came together and one alone, but that these visits were made some years ago. One of the Messrs. Posselts was of this number.

On this journey we found the women were all decorated with the furrow pattern on their bare stomachs. The “female breast and furrow pattern” was on all washing-tubs, drums, granaries, and furnaces, and also on some doors, and further worked out in clay on the sides of the huts. Check pattern adorned some of the huts, but mainly the inside walls. Some very well-built semi-circular walls for screening open fires were found at some of the villages.

SOME OF THE DENIZENS OF THE ZIMBABWE DISTRICT

These are most numerous in the Elliptical Temple when the size of its area is considered, for this building abounds in bird, animal, reptile, insect, and plant life. Protected by high walls all round, it provides an area free from the disturbing effects of grass fires, sheltered from cold winds, and full of rank tropical vegetation and jungle. Here the gorgeous lapis-lazuli and turquoise blue of the jays and the brilliant scarlet and rich metallic green of the honey-sucker flash brightly in keen contrast to the white lichened walls. Yellow and grey hornbills, barn owls and owlets, wagtails, weaver birds, pigeons and doves, and little birds with yellow, white, red or blue or mottled breasts and wings, are constantly to be seen in the temple courts. One large barn owl has its usual perch on a branch near the summit of the Conical Tower, while “Go-away” birds are incessantly urging us to “Go away!”

Numerous squirrels climb the walls and spring along their summits. Chameleons, one minute pale green, the next a mottled yellow, grey, and black, climb with aristocratic movements up the orchid-clad trunks of trees, pausing at intervals to fold their front paws in a comic attitude of prayerfulness. Large and small lizards of brilliant colourings, mainly magenta, Prussian and electric blues, and a startling orange, bask upon the ancient stones. Puff-adders, grass snakes, and mambas haunt the place, the latter climbing the highest trees and ascending steep, smooth sides without any apparent necessity for picking their way up rough surfaces. Pythons have been seen, and a python’s nest with about two dozen white leathery eggs, from which the young had been recently hatched, was found in the centre of the temple. On commencing work here in May, 1902, scores of cast-off snake skins of all sizes up to 5 ft. in length were found all about the temple. Scorpions which hide under the stones suggest to one the necessity of being careful in sitting down. Centipedes and large millipedes, snails with white spiral shells from 6 in. to 9 in. long, frogs, which on wet days persistently urge us to “Work! work!” abound, while after sundown crowds of large night-moths and bats flutter in the air. Brilliant butterflies, dragon flies, and fire flies, gigantic spiders, spiders which make their trap-doors of clay, hornets, bees, beetles, mosquitoes, and other stinging insects, and those which assume imitative forms. Tortoise-shells and porcupine quills were found, but no tortoise or porcupine. The number of skeletons of wild animals found in the grass was sufficient to suggest thoughts of Noah and his zoological cargo.

The birds of the Zimbabwe district include quantities of blue jays, hornbills, honey-birds, honey-suckers, bee-eaters, several sorts of rollers, crested kingfishers, South African thrushes and babbling thrushes, shrikes, swifts, swallows, and martins, weaver birds, owls, corncrakes, night jars, woodpeckers, larks, wagtails, doves, pigeons, white storks, herons, secretary birds, bush crows, vultures, hawks, guinea-fowl, sand grouse, quails, and partridges, while paaw (bush bustard) is sometimes met with.

Two ostriches with black and white feathers once approached within 100 yds. of Havilah Camp. A covey of African grey parrots fled over the huts going south in the springtime. One bird of the plumage and shape of an ordinary skylark soars high in the air, remaining in one position, but instead of singing it flaps its wings loudly for some minutes together. It is best heard just before sunrise.

During the dry season game animals are not plentiful in this locality, but when the grass has started to grow after a veld fire they arrive in fairly good numbers. Reed buck, sable antelope, and springbok have been within sight of the camp.

Lions for some years past have not been seen at Zimbabwe, though they are in continuous residence on the Livouri Range, some eight miles to the west, and also at one or two other places about the same distance from Zimbabwe. But with the advent of buck they are known to come within two or three miles of our camp. Their spoor has frequently been seen on the road between Zimbabwe and Victoria, and they have recently killed donkeys within five miles of Zimbabwe. On one occasion only have we heard lions roaring, and they must have been almost two miles away. Jackals are a nuisance, and come to the camp for poultry. Large leopards have been shot in the neighbourhood during the author’s stay at Zimbabwe.

Natives state that within their time herds of tusker elephants have been wont to frequent the Zimbabwe Valley, and they point out certain trees which have been damaged by them. The elephants have now gone south-east. The traces of two ivory trading stations of the late sixties are still to be seen at Zimbabwe.

Eagles soar above Zimbabwe Hill and the topmost line of cliffs. Two eaglets fallen from the nest were found in the Acropolis ruins, one each spring. One died of its injuries, and the other lived for two months at our camp. The boys were fond of feeding “the big chicken,” and it eventually died in consequence of its gluttony. Hawks abound on the hill, and there are also kites and owls. Large black crows with a white patch on the back of the neck, and with vulture-shaped beak, also crows with white breast and wing tips, but with a raven-shaped beak, are constantly flying round the hill. Here are also wild tebie cats and tiger cats, ant-bears, conies, squirrels, and at least five species of large baboons. The constant parading of the latter to and fro on the summit has formed a well-beaten track. These creatures bark and cry—the crying is exactly like that of a human being. Toward noon they usually descend to the valley and romp about on the open granite spaces. So destructive are these particular baboons that the local Makalanga have been obliged to abandon their gardens on the south side of the hill. Their spoor has been frequently found within our camp. The reptiles here are large pythons, mambas, iguanas, and lizards of all colours.

The plant life found in the temple was very rich and diversified, and each specimen was of larger growth and bloom than those of the same species growing outside the walls. Here are many sorts of elegant ferns, but mostly small, including maiden-hair fern, also the ordinary bracken. Stag’s-horn moss and plants of carnose foliage grow in the joints of the walls. Beds of scarlet cannÆ, Cape gooseberries, raspberries, crimson and mauve gladioli, convolvuli, large and small, white, purple, yellow, and mauve, verbenas, heliotrope, azaleas, also a flower exactly like the daffodil, and arums or St. John’s lilies, flags, mauve-flowered peas, a blue flower like borage, and blue and yellow ground orchids, covered the surface of the interior. Nettles and nettle trees, stinging plants, and thorns of all sorts formed prominent features in the vegetation of the temple. The trees within the walls were numerous, and included varieties of hard and soft woods. Some were of gigantic girth and height, rising to 60 ft. Wild fig-trees and evergreen hardwoods predominate. The “Zimbabwe creeper,” a climbing plant peculiarly local, is a great feature in all the ruins at Zimbabwe, and so far has not been found elsewhere in Rhodesia. This creeper resembles jessamine in leaf and stalk, only it has light pink, bell-shaped pendent flowers growing in clusters at the end of each spray, these being about the shape and size of a foxglove flower. Orchids with yellow flowers grow on the trees, from which are also suspended lichen festoons some 3 ft. long. The monkey-rope trees once interlaced the tops of the trees with their runners and created a semi-darkness in the temple even at brightest noontide.

On the hill tobacco, once cultivated here by the natives, now grows wild. Large beds of scarlet cannÆ, Cape gooseberries, hemlocks, and blackjacks are seen in most parts of the hill, while every flower of the veld is represented. Monkey-ropes, wild vines, wild orange, fig, nut, greengage, currant, and raspberry flourish here. The kafir-baum, which flowers profusely when leafless early in the spring, and abounds at Zimbabwe, provides a striking contrast of brilliant scarlet to the grey granite cliffs in front of which it flourishes. The flat-topped umbrella trees (mimosa) impart an odd effect to the hill. The Zimbabwe creeper grows very extensively on the north and west sides of the hill. Cacti, euphorbia, and liliums, also bulbous plants, are multifarious, while tall aloes give an old-world appearance to the hill.

Palms with fronds 10 ft. long, tree-ferns 8 ft. high, and large areas of Osmunda regalis (royal fern) are to be seen in most of the glens and gorges of this locality. The blue lotus lily (NymphÆa stellata) grows in most pools of water, while the yellow everlasting flower (Helipterum incanum) is plentiful, and the bright red sealing-wax-coloured flower (Erythrina kaffra) shots the veld grass as daisies do an English meadow. The sugar bush (Protea mellifera) though present is not found in quantity. Bamboos grow in the neighbourhood, also sugar-cane, and wild cotton. The mahobohobo is not indigenous to the country, but is the most usual tree found here. Its area covers many square miles of this district. Like the wild fig, the mahobohobo fruit ripens in the spring only.

---