WHERE MYSTERY IS SUPREME

Southland Times, Issue 23736, 7 February 1939, Page 8

WHERE MYSTERY IS SUPREME

RELICS OF ANCIENT CITY ZIMBABWE RUINS IN SOUTHERN RHODESIA Sixteen miles south of Fort Victoria, Southern Rhodesia’s oldest European settlement, are the Zimbabwe ruins. Here can be seen the relics of a vanished civilization, huge walls, conical towers, narrow, dark, winding passages, buttressed entrances. They are the ruins of some forgotten city, which, until a few years ago, was gradually becoming obliterated by time and nature, hidden by rank, tangled vegetation. Mr A. B. Paterson, of Invercargill, who has just returned from a tour abroad, visited the ruins and retains an unforgettable impression of them.

Great difference of opinion exists about the date of the construction of these buildings. There are two main schools of thought. One ascribes a date of 1200 8.C., and the other from 500 to 800 A.D. But the mystery of the Zimbabwe ruins remains unsolved. This adds enormously to their fascination, Mr Paterson said, and everyone falls under their spell. Zimbabwe lies in a direct line with the port of Safala, which is approximately, 230 miles away. Sofala is known to have been a most important trading post on the East Coast of Africa and the main port used by the ancient people who, from time to time, inhabited Southern Rhodesia. It is considered more than probable, therefore, that Zimbabwe was used as a centre, or depot, for collecting gold, slaves and ivory before despatch to the port. One expert, Mr Paterson said, was of the opinion, that the ruins dated back to not later than 1000 B.C. and were of Indian or Arabian origin. But who built them, what became of the builders and the date of the erection were questions over which the most qualified experts still differed. The ruins form a crazy labyrinth of walls, the main features of the architecture being massive strength, and severe plainness. The buildings are all of plain stone, no mortar having been used except in laying down floors, and in dadoes on lower faces of interior walls.

“An elliptical temple dominates the ruins,” said Mr Paterson, “and the outer wall of this building has qualities which point to its erection having Jbeen carried out by people with a very liigh degree of intelligence. The accuracy with which the camber on the •kalis is worked, considering the irregular shape of it, is outstanding.”