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Evening Star, Issue 8399, 27 December 1890, Page 1 (Supplement)

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THE EXPEDITION TO MASHONALAND. Mr E. Harrow sends a communication arguing that Mashonaland, to which an expedition has proceeded from the Cape, is the Ophir of Scripture. He states :—" I quote the verses froir the Biblo—' And King Solomon made a navy of shipß in Ezion-Geber, which is bebide Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy hia servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon. . . . And the navy also of Hiram that brought gold from Ophir brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and preoiouß stones. . . . And the King made of the almug trees pillars for the House of the Lord. . . . There came no such almug treep, nor were seen uuto this day. , . . For the King had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram. Once in every three years came the navy of Tharshisb, briuging gold and silver, ivoiy, and apes, and peacocks.' Sofala, the port on the coast of Mashonaland, will suit this in every way. First, the almug tree or sandal-wood of two kinds, both aromatic, grow along the Zambesi and ou the coast from Delagoa Bay to Mozambique. The whole country is very rich in gold, silver, copper, ana ivory j and precious stones of all kinds have been found there. Splendid pearls have been found at the entrance of the river, and Borne say it equals India for pearl fishing,, Elephants formerly abounded in such numbers that a large trade was carried on in ivory. Great numbers of apes, peacocks, and monkeys are found there. The ruins of the city called Zimboe, visited by Herv Mauch, iB described as having been built of well-dressed stone, with cut surface, of 12ft in length, and little loss in height, and built without lime. The masonry is the same as that at the Pyramid of Cheops. Over the doorway is an inscription no one has been able to decipher, nor has anyone been able to determine the character of the writing,' There are also other ruins, and the remains] of a stone tower, which must have been over 70ft in height. These ruins are called by the natives of the country Zimboa, or royal residence. This is thought to be the country known to Ptolemy as Azizimbs,' There are still the remains of a onoo powerful nation, called the Zimboes, there. Rider Haggard founded his book ' Kicg Solomon's Mines' on these remains. And now the expedition to the northern goldfields, under Mr Cecil Rhodos, to open oat all this country, is already beginning to be of interest, as cable messages report rich gold finds in Mashonaland, and the discovery of gold at Mount Hampton. This most likely is in quartz, and the rich alluvial fields will be found nearer the coast at Manica. Before long all this portion of Africa will be as well known as the Cape Colony. Had Ophir been, as some think, in Arabia, a voyage to that place and back would not have taken three years. And it could have been got at by land ; uhips would not have been required. Overland traffic from the Red Sea, even to Persia and India, was carried on in those days. The Portu> guese fear that railways will be made from the Cape and Natal to the goldfields, and all trade lost to Sofala, hence their dislike to the company Mr Cecil Rhodes is the head, of."