ZIMBABWE.

Auckland Star, Issue 111, 13 May 1935, Page 9

ZIMBABWE.

MYSTERY OF RUINS.

FORTRESS AND MINES. SOUTH AFRICAN RIDDLE. (By a New Zealand Member of the Press Conference.) No. IV. What a wealtJt of mystery and romance lies buried in the ruins of Zimbabwe, the Sphinx-like fortress and enclosures in Southern Rhodesia that challenge the mind of every person who beholds the remarkably fascinating and wonderful mass of stonework which has been handed down from no one knows where! Every European tourist, no matter how qualified to judge, falls under the spell and starts formulating his own pet theory.

It was in such a frame of mind that almost bewildered newspapermen attending the recent Fifth Imperial Press Conference in Southern Africa wandered recently through the maze-like formations and climbed up rocky flights of steps to the summit of the hill on which stands the fortress of one of the world b greatest unsolved mysteries. No Trace of Coming or Going.

The antiquity of the ruins lias been the subject of much conjecture and research among scientists, none of who in has yet found evidence 011 which to solve the riddle which Time has made so impossible of accomplishment. Here, nevertheless, are the remains of an old city whose inhabitants, in great numbers, fought, flourished and fell, leaving no trace of their coming or going. Many theories have been advanced as to the origin of these great ruins with their conical towers and massive walls, but the past still holds its secret beneath a cloak of mystery and romance. Besides the ruins there are hundreds of gold workings, it has been suggested that this district yielded the gold of Ophir which was first mined by the ancient Arabs and then by the Phoenicians. But no one really even knows that much. It is entirely a matter of conjecture, as was explained by the curator, who gave an intensely interesting address to the visiting pressmen.

Asked what his own theory was, the curator simply smiled and remarked that although lie had been in charge of the ruins for many years he would not care to even venture an opinion. The natives, he said, just stood and looked at the great mass of stone work and with wide open mouths would exclaim "(low! Tt is very big; it must have taken a lot of people a long time to build. No! our people did not build it." A number of curious ornamental objects have been found amongst the ruins, fragments of Persian, Chinese and Arabian pottery, statuettes in hawk form, gold and copper bangles, but, said the curator, these varied relies serve only to make the'search more baffling.

The ruins were .actually found by a wandering American hunter. When the Portuguese landed in Southern Africa in the lOtli century, their imagination was captured by the tales they heard of the extraordinary wealth of the interior and they made several attempts to find it. They also heard accounts of some massive stone ruins far inland, but of the origin of these ruins the natives could, or would, tell them nothing. It thus happened that three centuries were to pass before the American hunter stumbled across them in 1808. A Brief Description:

An adequate description of this maze of stonework is almost as difficult as its solution. Briefly, the main attraction to delegates was the high-walled enclosure in the hollow of a tropical valley surrounded by a wall about 30ft high and in some places 15ft thick, with an interior circumference of about 250 yards. Inside are many narrow passageways between high walls, where the sun seldom penetrates. Everything is on the curve—there is not a straight wall or squared comer in the whole of the ruins. Inside stands the famous conical tower, an impressive piece of stonework about 30ft high, which for years was supposed to contain in some unknown form the answer to the baffling riddles. Recent investigations, by tunnelling into the tower, however, have produced nothing of any value, and the hole lias been patched up as well as possible, but although an expert was engaged on the task it shows obvious signs of having been tampered with, for it does not com-j pare with the excellent craftsmanship of the ancient stone-builder. Overlooking the valley, about which are strewn the remains of many otliei stono buildings and enclosures, is a granite hill some 300 to 400 ft high, on one side of which is a sheer precipice of solid granite. On the summit of this precipice rises the high outer wall of another strange-looking ruin—a maze of stone walls with queer, narrow passages winding in and out among huge boulders. This is known as the Acropolis. The place is obviously an old fortress, which ,in the days of long ago. must have been impossible of capture. Besides the ruins there are hundreds of ancient c* o ]d workings, some of which have reached a depth of 150 feet, and it is variously estimated thnt many millions of pounds worth of gold must have been taken out of these ancient mines before the coining of the white man. Who were the owners of these massive stono buildings, the fortresses, and the (jo Id mines? When the white people arrived the natives could tell them nothing that would help in a solution. The visitors were informed that a very ancient native had made the following reply to one of the early pioneers who questioned him on the subject: The people say that many, many moons ago a jvvhite race came to the land. After a while they went away. Now the white people have come again; but in the time to come they, too, will go away as before." . Thus the delegates to the l'utn Imperial Press Conference enjoyed an intriguing day among tho Zimbabwe Ruins, only to return to their respective lands to relate that this marvellous wonder of the world remains as before — a fascination to all who visit it, but unsolved.