Down the side of Makuma Kopje, where Mogabe’s kraal is situated, come

young men in twos and threes, some of them with musical instruments,

such as Makalanga pianos, a flute, and a one-stringed harp with gourd

attached to increase the sound, and of course all are singing. These

on descending Makuma disappear in the ten-foot grass which fills the

valley till they are near the camp. Other young men come from Chenga’s

kraal in the opposite direction two miles away. These latter are the

boys to work. Our best workmen come from Chenga’s, for Mogabe’s men

have not been improved by tips and favours from visitors to the ruins;

besides, belonging to the kraal of the paramount and dynastic chief,

they deem themselves to be somewhat superior to all direction or

reprimand by white men. Though Mogabe’s people know “how to be happy

though Makalanga,” Chenga’s people seem to be even more genuinely

contented with their environment.

By 7 a.m. the camp is in full life, and all the boys are present with

at least a dozen brothers and followers. The trap-owners have returned

with rats, small birds, and possibly a rock-rabbit. A boy is given a

note to take to Victoria, seventeen miles distant. He places the letter

and his pass in a cleft stick, holds it out in front of him, and is

off. He will be back in camp an hour after sundown, perhaps bringing a

load of 35 lbs. on his head. A thirty-four miles’ journey is preferred

to a day’s work in the temple, so that there are always willing runners

into Victoria. There are eggs, poultry, milk, honey, melons, pumpkins,

rice, and sweet potatoes for sale or barter for salt, and these can

always be obtained for half the original price asked for them.

Then there are burns to be dressed, quinine to be administered, or

a lung-sick boy to be dosed. The “Parade State of the Malingering

Brigade” is carefully kept down to the lowest possible limit. One is

amazed at the way the boys bear their injuries. A severe wound which

would put an ordinary European on the sick list is to them a mere

trifle, and without flinching they will take a burning stick from

the fire and rub it up and down inside a gaping flesh wound till the

bleeding has ceased. Should any one of them meet with serious injury,

the rest will laugh immensely as if it were a huge joke. In this

respect they are very callous. Toothache, a cold, or a slight touch

of fever renders them most pitiable objects. The soles of their feet

resemble hides, and one or two large thorns which would completely lame

a European is a matter almost too insignificant for them to notice.

They think nothing of standing on hot burning embers while lighting

their pipes at a fire. On cold nights they sleep near a fire and will

roll into it, but they are such remarkably sound sleepers that it is

not until the next morning they discover they have been burnt. How

they manage to save their skins from thorn scratches is a mystery, for

all day they are walking with naked bodies through bushes and thorn

creepers. Yet their skins are beautifully smooth and glossy, and are

always without the slightest scratch.

But the pots of _rapoka_ meal under the euphorbia trees are now being

stirred, and each pot has its circle of men to whom dyspepsia appears

to be utterly unknown. Sometimes the boys bring a sack of dried

locusts. Locusts are esteemed as a dainty, and make an occasional

change in the menu, or possibly small red beans, or monkey-nuts, or

toasted mealie cobs are feasted upon. While the meal is being devoured

one could hardly imagine there was a native within a mile. The

stillness of skoff-times (meal-times) in camp serves the purposes of a

well-regulated chronometer. Teeth-cleaning is their first business of

the day. On rising from sleep and after each meal this is religiously

performed. Each takes a mouthful of water and rubs his teeth vigorously

with a forefinger, using what water is still remaining in his mouth

to wet the skin of face, neck, breast, and hands, squirting it out

in doles as required. To hurry them back to work before their teeth

had been cleaned would cause them to regard the _Baba_ with looks of

genuine horror.

At 7 a.m. the ganger, a man who has worked in the ruins for Bent,

Willoughby, and Schlichter, comes to the hut door to report that the

men are now ready to start work. Then follows the roll-call, each

raising his hand and passing on one side to a separate group as his

name is read out. A boy absent for two days on account of alleged

sickness is reported to have gone to a distant kraal to attend a “beer

dance” where he danced the whole night through. A fine is entered

against him. Makalanga split on one another in a fashion which English

schoolboys would never permit. Our fines are rarely enforced, but the

mere entering them in the book has a most wholesome effect.

One feature in the roll-call generally strikes visitors as interesting,

that is, the rhythmic sound of the names of the boys. To an Englishman

these names would appear to be more suitable for girls than for men.

In fact, all the names of the men are pretty, so pretty that it

seems inappropriate to apply them to great fellows like some of our

labourers. But like their ideally graceful and poetic gestures, while

pronouncing each other’s names they unconsciously manage to throw into

the pronunciation a delicate softness, rhythm of intonation, and charm

of expression that are rather fascinating to the European listener. An

Englishman totally unacquainted with the local language, and wrongly

pronouncing the names, could not rob them of their poetry.

The roll completed, all set off in Indian file either to the Elliptical

Temple or the Acropolis, singing in chorus in a Tyrolese style, one man

giving the recitative, which is almost always of a purely extempore

and local character. When once within the ruins, blankets are thrown

off and the forty boys make, with a background of light-coloured,

lichen-draped walls, a dark mass of humanity, for, save their

insignificant aprons fastened with a bark string to their waists,

and their necklaces of blue beads and amulets, and brass bangles on

arm and leg, they are practically naked, and the sun shines on their

glossy chocolate-tinted skins as on burnished metal. The Makalanga have

exceedingly strong social instincts, and prefer to work together in one

mass even in a small area. To separate them into small gangs would mean

little or no work done.

On wet days, or for a few succeeding days, the work is confined to

carrying out blocks, which have either fallen from the walls or been

piled up by the long succession of archæologists and gold relic

collectors who have worked within the ruins. These are carried held

up high over their shoulders at arms’ length, or else on the tops of

their heads, where natives carry anything from the size of a pill-box

to a 40 lb. load. They never carry anything with arms downwards. In

fine weather, leaf mould full of roots and seeds, and past excavators’

soil-heaps are removed outside in boxes, the narrow entrances

precluding the general use of wheelbarrows. Relics would be lost in the

wet and clayey soil were it removed in wet weather. All the boys work

_en masse_, each picks up his box or block, and when all are loaded up

they start in one unbroken line for the débris heap outside, singing

choruses with recitatives all the way out and on their return. The

boxes are carried on one shoulder, a knobkerrie being used as a lever

over the other shoulder to hold up the back of the box. The procession

of boxes seems interminable—“Milkmaid,” “Armour Beef,” “Lime Juice

Cordial,” “Highland Whisky,” “Raisins,” “Coleman’s,” “Mazawattee,”

supplemented by buckets, but above all by “Nectar Tea.” Each box has a

branded notice uncomplimentary to ships’ boilers. But “Nectar” is the

great triumph of Zimbabwe.

It is a huge box, carried on two short poles, with “Nectar Tea”

emblazoned on its sides in blue and white. It courtsies and bobs

its way to and fro in a most stately fashion, and after it has left

the pile which is being removed, a great reduction in the débris

remaining can be noticed. The boys have no particular affection for

this omnibus. They are believed to _bulala_ (knock about) this box on

purpose to ruin it, for several times a day they will bring it with no

sorrow on their faces with the information that the box is _meningi

gura_ (plenty sick), each time fatally _gura_, but a few nails cure it

of its injuries. Long may “Nectar Tea,” in the interests of archæology,

continue to courtesy and bob its way through the western portal of the

Elliptical Temple.

[Illustration: CARRYING OUT DÉBRIS FROM ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE]

[Illustration: A NOONTIDE SHELTER. WEST ENTRANCE TO ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE]

The boys when working well will in a day do about as much work as a

quarter of the same number of English labourers. They are inclined to

be industrious when the _Baba_ is in sight, but they immediately drop

down on their haunches with knees up the moment his back is turned.

This is a moral certainty. Then singing ceases, for when working they

are always singing. Any excuse for a passing diversion is immediately

seized upon. On the shout of _inyoga_ (snake) they drop their tools at

once, seize their knobkerries and jump into the jungle heedless for the

time being of thorns and creepers. In respect of snakes they are not

cowards. Inside the bush a perfect pandemonium is going on which never

ceases till either the snake, generally a python or a black mamba, has

been slain or has escaped into some pile of ancient blocks.

Another day, after a brief absence from the temple, I found about forty

women and girls from Mogabe’s kraal had arrived in the temple to watch

their sons, brothers, and sweethearts at work. This they frequently do.

The boys on this occasion, believing _Baba_ to be further off than he

really was, were chasing the dusky Cleopatras up and down the parallel

passages, in and out of the enclosures, and dodging them round the

base of the Sacred Cone. One burly Junoesque, bead-and-bangle-bedecked

mother was having a most delirious and frantic ride round the temple

courts in our only wheelbarrow, which is an iron one. As the barrow

bumped along at full tilt against the stones it would each time

shake her up terribly. The shrieking, screaming, and laughter of the

girls and the yelling of the boys made the temple ring with a noise

sufficient to make the priests of the ancient Phallic cult whirl in

their graves with horror. But—_Baba!_ and in thirty seconds the boys

were all hard at work with most pious looks on their faces, and singing

a well-known mission hymn. These great, fine-grown, frank-looking

fellows, with their enviable ivories and provokingly pleasant smiles,

are far worse than little children to manage. Their characters are

perfectly riddled with frivolity, and their minds astonishingly

mercurial. Every incident they notice is to them humorous, even the

preservation work at the ruins is regarded by them as a sheer waste

of time. Not one of them if he tried hard could keep silence for two

minutes together. He must either talk, laugh, sing, whistle, or perform

some absurd antic. Their utter guilelessness and naïve simplicity are

in many respects both surprising and entertaining. To blame them before

their fellows kills what little spirit they possess for work, while

praise, even though barely merited, will cause them to redouble their

efforts. To be in the slightest degree friendly or familiar with them

is to completely destroy one’s influence over them; the granting them

any favour is regarded by them as an undoubted sign of the donor’s

weakness, and of the virtue of gratitude they are absolutely destitute.

One wonders at the dual character which each possesses. In some

respects a Makalanga is more moral than many a European, while in

others the depth of his immorality cannot be plumbed. In some matters

they are as pure-minded as Adam and Eve in the Garden, and know not

that they are naked. In their hands their women’s virtue is safe. But

contact with the “educated native,” especially a Cape Kafir, before

their minds are prepared to receive even the most elementary education,

works on them untold mischief.

But the boys may be divided into two classes, one industrious and

honest, the other lazy and thieving. These diverse characteristics

appear to run in separate families. M’Komo stole Mrs. Theodore Bent’s

honey. Three of his nephews in my employ stole meat, sugar, tobacco,

or anything else in the _kya_ (hut) they took a fancy to. Another

nephew proved to be a veritable Iago in a _moocha_ (a small leathern

apron worn by men), and was always making mischief, not only among the

boys, but also between the boys and the _Baba_. Of course these members

of this family, notwithstanding its exalted connections, were warned

off the camp, and are not allowed to be seen visiting it. Brothers of

unsatisfactory boys are never taken on the works, but should there be

any vacancy at the end of a month, and the supply of labour is greater

than our demand, the places are offered to the brothers of trustworthy

boys, and these always prove a great success.

But to return to the Temple. About eleven o’clock the _kya_ boy arrives

with half a dozen wee picaninnies carrying kettle, tea-pot, etc. The

_kya_ boy comes in for an amount of chaff from the gang. They call

him a “Moccaranga shentilman,” because, for two hours in the morning

and for the same time in the afternoon, he can _lala_ (rest), seeing

that he starts work at 5.30 a.m. and is not free till about 8 p.m.

Further, he has perquisites in the shape of meat, tobacco, and tips

from visitors, and also in a diluted form acts as a sort of _baas_

(master). But the _kya_ boy takes all the chaff in good part, and gives

back quite as much as he receives. The picaninnies, armed with bows and

arrows, indulge in target practice, and make it ruinous to stick up

lunch biscuits at forty paces.

Probably Mogabe with his headmen will arrive to watch the boys working,

and then I know what to expect. It is bound to come. After a long

silence he remarks that he is glad to see the _Baba_. Another long

silence, and then—“A _Baba_ always gives presents to his children.” I

assume a complete indifference to his remark. Mogabe is diplomatic, but

his diplomacy is very thin. After a long pause he observes—“The _Baba_

will make me a present of money.” I inform him I have none to give.

Another long pause ensues, then, pointing to a hatchet, he remarks—“The

_Baba_ will give me this.” I explain that the hatchet is the property

of the Chartered Company, and not mine to bestow. He fails to see the

point of my statement, and bluntly says so. He pauses to consider what

else he can ask for, and after a long cogitation says “Salt, _Baba_.”

At last Mogabe is reasonable, and I instruct the _kya_ boy to fetch him

half a cup of salt. Mogabe is profuse in his thanks, and his speech is

floreated with eulogies of the _Baba_.

Now my turn begins. Mogabe and the elders of his headmen have a sixty

years’ knowledge of the ruins, and he is acquainted with everything

that took place at Zimbabwe during the time of Chipfuno his brother,

who was the previous Zimbabwe chief. Pointing to a gap in an obviously

ancient wall which had been rudely filled in with blocks, I ask him

who filled up the gap. After a long consultation with his headmen, he

says that the Makalanga did it to keep in the cattle, for this part of

the temple was used as a cattle kraal, and that was when Chipfuno was

a young man. Another gap was filled up when Chipfuno was a young man.

I then hand him over some pieces of pottery with geometrical patterns

not at all crudely executed, which we have just unearthed, and ask

him if the Makalanga made them. For ten minutes he and his headmen

are closely examining the pottery, noting the quality of the clay,

the correctness of the pattern, and the glaze on both sides. Yes, the

Makalanga made it, but not the Makalanga who are now alive, nor their

fathers’ fathers. The pottery was of Makalanga make, but _meningi dara_

(very old). The assertion he emphasises by gesture, manifestly meaning

a great age. Mogabe thus confirms the expert opinion of antiquarians

that this class of pottery was made by the mediæval Makalanga. Mogabe

comes to see us at every place we work at, and his opinion on “finds”

belonging to recent generations of Makalanga may be taken, so old hands

affirm, as perfectly reliable. The information so obtained is valuable

both as to later walls and to articles found.

Sometimes the chiefs Baranazimba or Chenga arrive at the ruins, and an

_indaba_ (conference) as to “finds” and built-up entrances always takes

place, but the weekly _indaba_ with Mogabe always commences with the

same old rigmarole. It is a sheer waste of time to discuss anything

ancient with them, for since the new jail at Victoria has been built

they all solemnly declare that the _marungu_[22] (white men) built

the ruins for a “Tronk!” All their old poetic explanations as to the

presence of the ruins, such as they were built “when stones were soft”

or “when days were dark,” have now gone to the winds. The ruins were

prisons!

But the _kya_ boy has arrived with the salt, and Mogabe is happy. He

wraps the salt up in the corner of his blanket, and is off to his kraal

at once. When any _marungu_ arrives in a Cape-cart at the camp Mogabe

is down the side of his kopje a few minutes afterwards, and arrives

there also. It is the same old story, only then the visitor is given

_his_ opportunity of demonstrating his liberality. “I am glad to see

the _Baba_. A _Baba_ always gives presents to his children.” Mogabe,

like his fellows all over South Africa, is a born beggar, and yet he

possesses seventy head of cattle, is rich in wives, grain, and labour,

rules over a large area of country, receives a monthly allowance

from the Government as chief, and a further allowance for warning

unauthorised prospectors for ancient relics from the ruins.

Mogabe’s day has gone. Still, notwithstanding his true Kafir fawning

nature, there is something about the aged chief one cannot help

respecting. He is intelligent, and he looks it, and his face, if

white, would be taken for that of an educated European, for, like most

Makalanga, he has little or nothing negroid in his features. Before

the advent of the Chartered Company he was constantly at war with

his neighbours, sacking villages, kidnapping women and children, and

generally murdering. His last fight was in November, 1892, when he

engaged the Amangwa people, the battle taking place just outside the

western wall of the Elliptical Temple. His own people seem to somewhat

neglect him, except in some tribal arrangements and in affairs in which

he represents the Native Department. Formerly it was the rule that he

ate first and his people afterwards; now he comes into our camp at

skoff-times and asks the boys for some of their _rapoko_, porridge,

and if they should happen to be mindful of his presence they will pass

him a handful, but sometimes he sits there unheeded. He has now sold,

perhaps for a mere song, the famous necklace of Venetian beads which

Bent failed to induce him to part with. But there is a look in his eyes

that gives one the impression that the old man does not at all relish

the benefits of civilisation, and that he is pining for a return of the

good old days of blood-shedding.[23] Mogabe’s biography would be worth

writing.

But Mogabe is in my good books, for he gave me permission to move some

Makalanga graves made in certain of the passages on the Acropolis. Bent

merely told Chipfuno that he was going to move the selfsame graves,

and he at once withdrew all the labourers, and this not only caused

Bent considerable difficulty, but he was not afterwards allowed to

open the passages. Twelve years later Mogabe gives his consent on the

understanding that he is given half a cup of salt, that the remains

were to be properly re-interred, and that the boys who did the work

should be allowed to go to their kraals to purify themselves. This

purification is no mere excuse, but is an actual cleansing of those

engaged in this particular undertaking. The boys informed me that until

they had washed they could not eat, and that their fellows would keep

away from them. The bones were not touched by hand, but were moved with

two sticks. Once I picked up a solid copper bangle, which must have

come, judging by the presence of scattered human bones, from some grave

disturbed years previously by some excavator for relics. The boys were

genuinely horrified when I touched it, but more so when I put it on my

wrist. They said I must take it off at once and wash myself, and this

horror at what I had done possessed them for several days and was a

constant theme of conversation.

_Tjiya!_ (cease work!) is sounded, and the boys take up the cry, and

spring like chased buck helter-skelter through the western entrance

into the hot, sultry atmosphere, singing, laughing, yelling, and

caterwauling, just like boys let out of school. The relentlessly

broiling heat and glare of noontide make one long for the beautifully

cool shade of the huts.

Arrived at the camp, some of the boys lie at full length on the hot

boulders and so take sun-baths, others resume their own carving

or other work, some make music, or play with dollasses, or fence,

while the majority gather round the various sets of game-holes and

play _isafuba_, but there is a camp rule, found by experience to be

necessary, that _isafuba_ cannot be played until the cooks state that

the pots have commenced to boil. So fascinating is this game that

formerly we found the cooking operations often became neglected.

_Isafuba_ is one of a group of games, the origin of which is explained

on pages 79, 80 of _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_. In our camp are

several sets of game-holes; one set has four rows of sixteen holes

each, and another two rows of twelve holes. This last is generally

patronised by the picaninnies. Some of the _isafuba_ games have

different moves, numbers of holes and counters, and the games vary

slightly in different districts.

From two to five players sit on each side. Each of the partners on

either side appears to have an equal right of moving the counters. The

two lines of holes near each set of partners is not intruded upon by

the counters of the opponents, but opponents clutch up the counters of

the opposite side when such counters have no counter either in the hole

behind or in front, and this snatching up of counters is governed by

rules which in some moves closely resemble those of chess, while double

counters in a hole are as influential as kings in draughts.

Some of the moves strongly remind one of “fox and geese,” each side

moving in turn, and later in the game, when the holes are full of

counters, each side chases the other along parallel lines of holes to

the end of the set. This chasing is a cause of great excitement, and

is concluded in a perfect babel of shouting, each player as he moves a

counter in the chase calling out _in-da!_ and when the final hole is

reached, _ga!_

Always while in camp there is a perpetual shouting of _in-da! in-da!

in-da!_ followed by the triumphant shout of _ga!_ The subject of heated

discussion during the game is as to the amount of cheating the other

side has effected, and the tumult caused by the discussion of this

topic, especially with an extraordinarily talkative people like the

Makalangas, can only be but partially imagined. The perpetual _in-da!

in-da! in-da!—ga!_ trespasses into one’s dreamland. After a week of

this never-ceasing _in-da!_ the sets of holes were ordered to be

removed to a more reasonable distance from the hut door; still, one

cannot even now escape this perpetual and monotonous din. Yet in all

their excited disputations they have never once got beyond mere words.

The picaninnies sometimes join in at the larger sets, but a prompter

always assists them.

It is the custom for the losers, and not the victors, to record the

state of the series of games. This is done by placing large stones,

one for each game lost, on the side where the losers sit. The losers

invariably have to provide the stones. When all the large stones within

arm’s reach have been used up as records and the losers have to get

up to fetch a stone, there is general laughter in the camp, even from

those who are not immediately watching the game. The stakes are for

“sisspences,” or for _doro_ (native beer), but both winners and losers

share alike. Towards the end of a month, when wages are becoming due,

the game causes increased excitement, and plenty of _doro_ is brewed by

speculative villagers to meet the probable demands of the boys.[24]

The two most pernicious vices of the Makalanga are their inveterate

love of _I’daha_ (wild hemp) smoking, and of _doro_ drinking.

The former acts as opium, and incapacitates for work, dulls the

intellect, destroys every atom of will-power, and tends, if persisted

in, to shorten life. An _I’daha_ smoker is readily known by the glazed

look in his eyes, and by his miserable appearance. On our arrival here

_I’daha_ pipes were introduced into the camp, but they were very soon

destroyed, and the smoking of _I’daha_ is now an offence punishable

by dismissal without _mali_ (money). This rule has effected a great

improvement in the general tone of the men and in their capacities for

work. So injurious to brain and health is this vice that in some parts

of South Africa _I’daha_ smoking is prohibited under a penalty. One of

the most distressing features of this practice is the painful fit of

loud coughing which always follows the use of the pipe.

_Doro_, brewed from _rapoko_ (a red millet), is drunk very extensively

by the Makalanga in this district, seeing that this part of the country

yields grain in such enormous quantities. But the natives do not regard

_doro_ as a mere beverage. At new and full moons, or at the rising or

setting of the Pleiades, which determine the sowing and harvesting

seasons, _doro_ is provided by the native farmers in lieu of wages, and

on these occasions it is drunk most extensively by people of all ages.

The men delight in gulping it down in quantities with the avowed and

deliberate intention of getting drunk as soon as possible. The state of

stupefaction induced by _doro_ is one of their most exquisite delights.

On Saturday mornings the one topic of conversation of the gang is as to

how much beer they will drink on _I’zhuba Kuru_ (Sunday), how soon they

will get drunk, and what they will do when they are drunk. On Mondays,

in spite of their “large heads” and sodden appearance, discussions take

place as to who were the most drunk. The one who lost most control of

himself is considered a hero. In their opinion the man who was most

intoxicated honours himself, and can afford to boast.

Even those who are in many other respects the most hopeful young men

equally delight in getting absolutely intoxicated. The lads from eight

years of age imbibe _doro_ most copiously, while boys of twelve get as

drunk as their seniors. The brains of the natives are so small that the

_doro_ acts upon them speedily, and two hours’ drinking will undo all

the benefit of two years’ contact with civilisation. Then all their

innate savage nature reasserts itself in every violent form, and their

swaggering insolence, inspired by _doro_, is intolerable. But the evils

of _I’daha_ smoking and _doro_ drinking are not of modern origin,

but are ingrained in their blood and bone by many past centuries of

devotion to these practices.

The rarefied air of these highlands conducts sound over long distances,

and triangular conversations are constantly in progress between the

villagers at Mogabe’s kraal, our boys at the camp, and those working

on the Hill Ruins, though each point is at least a third of a mile

distant from the others. These conversations are carried on without

the slightest straining of the voice or even shouting, the secret

apparently being the slight raising of the voice and speaking very

distinctly and very slowly. From their vantage position on the hill

the boys are always on the look-out for natives passing and repassing

between the villages. While the passing natives are, as one would

believe, outside the hearing limit a conversation with the boys has for

some time been in progress. Our boys will give the usual salutation,

and if this be replied to all well and good. But should it not be

replied to, or not promptly, the boys will at once start in chorus to

slang the passer-by and all his relatives, commencing with his mother.

So long as the passer-by is within earshot, so long do these slanging

matches continue. Each boy endeavours to cap each previous remark with

something more pungent, and as he succeeds the rest cheer him. Natives

state that the sound of their voices travels quickest and furthest in

the early mornings.

[Illustration: THE CAMP MESSENGER, ZIMBABWE]

[Illustration: LABOURERS AT THE ELLIPTICAL TEMPLE, ZIMBABWE]

The visits of _marungu_ to the ruins are highly interesting occasions

for the natives. The news of any approaching arrival is shouted down

from Mogabe’s kraal a third of a mile away, for from Mogabe’s Kopje

there is a four miles’ view of the road from Victoria. Long before the

Cape-cart or horsemen can enter our valley from over the ridge between

Rusivanga and Mogabe’s kopjes it is known where we are working, how

many visitors are arriving, the description of vehicle, and if there

is a lady in the party. Arrivals always attract a score or more naked

picaninnies, who accompany the conveyance from the ridge at the foot

of the Rusivanga down to the camp. But such visits are infrequent, and

three weeks or a month pass without a white man arriving at Zimbabwe,

and when, after such intervals, they do arrive, their faces look

strange _because they are white_, while the sound of the English

language is strikingly odd. On some rare occasions as many as three

camps of visitors have been fixed up on the outspan. A patrol of the

British South Africa Police calls about once a month, and the troopers

generally introduce themselves with some such salutation as “Well,

still alive? Not murdered yet?”

Humorous incidents are not absent in the work of excavation in the

ruins. For instance, after working for some hours in a trench near

the Sacred Enclosure, and passing all soil over boards and through

fingers in the search for relics, a common clay pipe of English make

was found intact at a depth of over 3 ft. At another spot, after hours

of careful but unrewarded work in a trench, at a similar depth a very

late brand of soda-water bottle was found. Both these finds delighted

the boys infinitely more than had they unearthed a cartload of phalli

or other prehistoric relics of value. In some respects the boys are

extremely practical. The question “_aliquid novi ex Zimbabwe?_” can in

two senses be answered in the affirmative. Such modern articles found

“at depth” afford only another proof that the soil in the interior of

the temple, as stated elsewhere, has been turned over and over again by

archæologists, and also by unauthorised prospectors, for ancient gold

and other relics.

After _tjiya_, when the day’s work is done, there is still an hour or

so of daylight left, and this is usually occupied in wandering among

the kopjes or along sequestered valleys, keeping an eye open for fresh

traces of the ancients, or in examining and measuring some one of

the minor ruins which stud the valley, or in calling at a village to

arrange for labour, or in looking out for buck and guinea-fowl for the

pot.

Meanwhile the sun is setting in a gorgeous west, and the golden glow

is already fading on the temple walls. Then come the shadows of night,

and these settle down rapidly. By the time the hut is reached the _kya_

boy has lit the candles, laid the table, and is ready with the skoff.

The boys are sitting round their fire or finishing a game of _isafuba_

in the semi-darkness. Their evening meal is being cooked. One of them

has brought a gourd of _doro_, and another a pot of fat, in which each

handful of porridge is dipped before being eaten.

Sitting on the stoep of the hut at this time of the day is a perfect

rest. The air is agreeably cooled by a light breeze, which is laden

with the scent of verbena. The night is calm and peaceful. Large

bats fly swallow-wise, fire flies dart in all directions, glow-worms

shine steadily in the grass, and birds, frogs, and insects join in

mild choruses. The call of a boy in our camp to some companion up on

Mogabe’s Kopje is repeated half a dozen times by the precipices of

Zimbabwe Hill, where the echoes die out in a series of sharp raps.

The large full moon rises serenely from behind the trees on Beroma

Range, and bathes the country in delicate soft light, imparting a

greenish-grey tint to the mist-veils which fill the gorges, throwing

a deeper suggestion of mystery and awe over the wide expanse of bush

where the lion holds his court.

The boys, having finished their meal, now indulge in post-prandial

rhetoric, and dialectic ping-pong. The ruddy glow of the fire reddens

the huts and shines on the naked bodies and limbs of the crowd, making

them resemble polished ebony, while as their tall and well-proportioned

figures with kingly walk pass and repass in the flickering lurid light

they appear to resemble shades from across the Styx. Such a scene is

at least Dantesque, and to many might seem weird. But the boys are

as happy as their hearts can wish. Their joviality is irrepressible.

Harmony from their instruments, rhythmic chants, peals of laughter,

wild recitatives, constant talking, with perhaps a wrestling match and

a war-dance executed in simulated form thrown in, fill up two hours,

by the end of which they are all under their blankets, sleeping and

snoring as only natives can.

“Porridge,” the _kya_ boy’s under-study, and eight years old, has

brought in the hut door, which also acts as drawing-board and stoep

table, and has gone to the kitchen-hut, where he rolls himself up in

his tiny blanket.

An occasional bark of a baboon or wolf, or yelp of jackal, or hoot of

owl, is heard in addition to the usual nightjar and frog choruses. The

sounds of the village drums, and of singing and dancing at Mogabe’s

or Chenga’s kraal, where the full-moon feast is being celebrated, are

wafted down to us. The night is perfectly lovely, but for Havilah Camp

the day is past and over.

But the moon—itself a dead world—looks down upon the ruins of a dead

city and on the graves of a forgotten race, as it has done ever since

the stern policeman Fate ordered these ancients to “Pass on!”

CHAPTER IV

ZIMBABWE DISTRICT

_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.

[Illustration: THE CHIPO-POPO FALLS, NEAR ZIMBABWE]

[Illustration: RAPPING THE MOJE-JE-JE, OR “MYSTIC BAR,” ZIMBABWE]

• • • • •

_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.

[Illustration: FINGER ROCK, “MORGENSTER,” NEAR ZIMBABWE]

[Illustration: I-BAKU (THE CAVE), CHICAGOMBONI, ZIMBABWE, WHEREIN ADAM

RENDERS, THE REDISCOVERER OF GREAT ZIMBABWE, LIVED FROM 1868 TO 1871]

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

Phœnician 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.

[Illustration: THE BIRD ROCK, NEAR ZIMBABWE]

[Illustration: VIEW OF MOTELEKWE RIVER NEAR GOBELE’S KRAAL]

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.

CHAPTER V

ZIMBABWE NATIVES

1. NATIVES AND RUINS

It may easily be imagined that researches as to the origin of the ruins

cannot be furthered by inquiries instituted among the present native

peoples as to any history or tradition concerning these structures.

The chief value, however, of such inquiries is that they enable us to

realise in what conditions both the ruins and the district have existed

during the last few centuries. But such inquiries only take us back

to a period of two hundred years short of that time when Portuguese

writers referred to these buildings.

The migratory character of the South African natives is well known.

Not only whole nations move, but the tribes among themselves move

also, thus making it exceedingly difficult to trace their migrations

except for a few generations back. The Portuguese historians of the

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries referred to the Makalanga nation as

occupying this country with their centre at “the Great Zimbabwe,” where

resided the Monomotapa, or supreme chief, and where was “the mightie

wall of five and twenty spans thick.” Three hundred years after this

was written we find a dense population of Makalanga (“the People of

the Sun”) still occupying Southern Mashonaland and forming the great

bulk of its inhabitants.[27] In this respect, though their various

tribes have frequently changed localities, the Makalanga as a general

rule have not followed the migratory custom of South African peoples.

Makalanga are to be found in both Matabeleland and Mashonaland, but

mainly in the latter province, where the Chicaranga language, which Dos

Santos in 1602 described as “the best and most polished of all Kafir

languages which I have seen in this Ethiopia,” is still the language

of the nation. Makalanga are also to be found in Barotseland, whither

the Barotse[28] and their dependents the Makalanga migrated, in 1836–8,

just previously to, and at the time of, the Matabele invasion of what

is now known as Matabeleland.

[Illustration: A MAKALANGA, ZIMBABWE]

[Illustration: THE CAMP WATCHMAN (KUMURI)]

But for nearly four hundred years the historical relations and the

very existence of the Makalanga and their history were forgotten. From

being a powerful and semi-civilised people (see _The Ancient Ruins of

Rhodesia_, chapter x.) they have become a people of no account—mere

“Makalaka,” as the people of the present Bechuanaland scornfully

called them in reference to their present slavish position. To their

successive conquerors they have always been but “dogs of slaves.”

So far as the purely local natives are concerned, the following notes,

based upon a series of conferences of the oldest native authorities

held at Zimbabwe during 1902 and 1903, at which Mr. Alfred Drew,

Native Commissioner, the Rev. A. A. Louw, Dutch Reformed Mission

near Zimbabwe, and Dr. Helm, Medical Missionary, and other admitted

authorities on native language and customs, have taken part, will

explain the local occupations for almost if not more than one hundred

and fifty years. The local Makalanga, Barotse, and Amangwa are

agreed upon the correctness of the statements here recorded, and the

information so obtained has also been verified by the above-named

gentlemen in other quarters.

(_a_) In this portion of Southern Mashonaland the Makalanga have

formed, since long before 1570, the greatest portion of the population,

especially in the Zimbabwe district. This is both history and also

well-rooted tradition among the natives, going back for very many

generations.

(_b_) The Makalanga have been subject to several successive conquerors,

of whom the Barotse in Mashonaland and the Matabele in Matabeleland

were the last. They have only very indistinct traditions as to their

previous conquerors.

(_c_) The Barotse occupied both provinces, establishing central

strongholds in all districts. They collected tribute from the

Makalanga, and this was taken every year from all the centres to the

_Mambo_ or _Mamba_, the dynastic chief, for the time being, of the

Barotse. And these Mambos resided at Thabas Imamba. Both Makalanga

and Barotse were, and still are, most excellent builders with stones.

[Mr. Drew minutely cross-examined the natives with regard to the

situation or identity of Thabas Imamba]. This is the fixed belief of

every Barotse who is questioned on the subject, and the old men say

it is also within their own knowledge. Before this fresh evidence

was obtained, the authors of _The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia_ had

published a similar statement on the strength of evidences secured in

Matabeleland. Mr. Neal also stated that no ruin in Rhodesia showed more

evidences of extensive and prolonged occupation than did the ruins on

Thabas Imamba.

(_d_) Jerri’s people (Barotse) never lived at or near Zimbabwe, as

white men had believed they had, but they left what they called “The

Great Buildings of Stone” (Khami) west of where Bulawayo now stands

in 1836–7, and moved to Jerri Mountains, seventy miles south of

Zimbabwe. They left Khami immediately before the Matabele arrived.

On passing through Zimbabwe they encamped for one night only on a

hill one mile west of the ruins. There are many old men who remember

these circumstances, while the general local belief is that Jerri’s

people lived at Khami Ruins, which are well known to the natives here.

[It has always been contended that this tribe of Barotse resided at

Khami for very many generations, but there are very many evidences in

support of this established belief, which are now in hand, and are now

forthcoming.]

(_e_) The head kraal of the Zimbabwe Barotse was at the foot of the

south-east side of the Rusivanga Kopje, and not on the summit, where

the walls and the remains of very substantial huts are old Makalanga.

The Barotse also had a large kraal on the north-east side of the

Bentberg overlooking the Elliptical Temple. [The present Barotse

headmen claim the pottery in the débris at these places as having

been made by their people some four or five generations back, if not

earlier.]

(_f_) The Zimbabwe Makalanga did not reside in the ruins, as this in

later generations was opposed to their traditions, but they used the

ruins up to ten years ago as cattle kraals and places for carrying on

their copper and iron-smelting operations, for offering sacrifices,

and for burial-places. Once they occupied them as residences, but

possibly the fear of the ruins at night caused them to desert them as

residences, probably owing to the increased number of graves which they

contained. The Barotse did not appear to have been inspired by this

fear, for they have occupied ruins all over the country.

All the remains of native huts and many of the native articles found

in the ruins must be at least six generations old, if not much older.

When the present Mogabe Handisibishe took up his residence on the

north side of Zimbabwe Hill, in the ruins of the Acropolis, there had

been no Makalanga occupations for many generations previously. All

the remains of Makalanga huts found on the Acropolis, and round the

faces of the hill, and outside the area occupied by Mogabe’s kraal,

belong to Makalanga, who had ceased to occupy them for very many years

previously. When Mogabe arrived these remains were considered by his

people to be exceedingly old.

(_g_) The present Zimbabwe Makalanga originally came from Masungye, in

the direction of the Lower Sabi. Mogabe is the dynastic title of each

succeeding chief of this tribe. The Mogabe-Molinye moved to Jena and

finally to the Beroma country, in the neighbourhood of Zimbabwe. The

succeeding Mogabe, a son of Molinye, moved up from Beroma to Mangwa

(Morgenster), four miles south of Zimbabwe, from which place he drove

out the Amangwa people, who occupied the Zimbabwe district and the

country for a considerable distance round about. The next Mogabe,

Chipfuno, a son of the previous Mogabe, settled at Wuwuli, five miles

south of Zimbabwe, and later his younger brother, Handisibishe, the

present Mogabe, succeeded Chipfuno in the dynastic rule. Handisibishe

is seventy years of age, but Chipfuno was much older.

The connection between the present Zimbabwe Makalanga and the Zimbabwe

ruins only dates back authoritatively for some sixty or seventy years,

but their opinion as to the age of the native remains at the ruins, as

found by them when they arrived, added to a similar account based on

the longer residence of the Barotse and Amangwa, and on their history

and traditions, enables investigations to be carried back at least

eight generations.

(_h_) The oldest known natives who have resided at Zimbabwe are the

Amangwa, who were driven out by Mogabe Handisibishe. These were

originally a tribe of pure Makalanga, but by marriage with their

erstwhile over-lords, the local Barotse, many of their people have

acquired some of the distinctive features of the Barotse, while a large

proportion are still in every respect true Makalanga. These people now

reside in Nini district, eight miles south-west of Zimbabwe, their

nearest kraal being Bingura’s, which is two miles distant. They can

speak with regard to the state of the ruins as they were conditioned

some generations ago. They state they never occupied the Acropolis

ruins except when Amaswazi raiding parties were in the district,

and then only as a temporary refuge, and that many large walls have

completely fallen down. The Amangwa were once a numerous and powerful

people. Their kraals were built in the valleys, close to the ruins and

on the nearest kopjes.

[Illustration: MAKALANGA “BOYS” FENCING, ZIMBABWE]

[Illustration: MOTUMI MONGWAINE ]

Mogabe Handisibishe took advantage of a famine in the Zimbabwe district

when he attacked them, and perpetrated great cruelties on their women

in order to make them divulge where the relics from the ruins were

hidden, but the Amangwa did not yield on this point. It is curious

that so many relics of prehistoric value have been found in the Nini

district where the Amangwa now reside. The wooden bowl, carved with the

zodiacal signs, the soapstone cylinder, etc., were discovered in Nini,

and the best native authorities affirm that the Amangwa still have

relics in their possession.

(_i_) The correct name for Zimbabwe is _Zim-b[=a]b-[=gw]i_, meaning

“buildings or houses of stones.” The natives never apply the name

_Zim-bab-gwi_ to the Elliptical Temple, but always speak of it as

_Rusingu_, “the wall.” _Zim-bab-gwi_ is only applied to the ruins on

the hill.

(_j_) The natives have no recollection or tradition with regard to the

Monomotapas, the dynastic chiefs of the mediæval Makalanga who resided

at Zimbabwe.

(_k_) Barotse, Amangwa, and Makalanga have built walls in and near the

ruins. They state that their ancestors used to construct excellent

walls. [Mr. Drew, N.C., is of opinion that the Barotse now build better

walls than do the present Makalanga. The Makalanga were always famous

as good builders with stone.]

(_l_) The natives show little or no interest as to the original

builders of the ruins. Some will say they were built by white men for

prisons, others will affirm the ancestors of their tribe built them.

Some tribes make definite claims to have built them, but Mr. Drew

considers these claims to be only poetic expressions conveying the idea

that such tribes had lived for so very many generations in the ruins

that they knew of no occupiers before them, and so imagine that their

ancestors must have built them. Of course, their claims to have built

minor walls within the ruins are, in many instances, obviously well

founded.

(_m_) The natives assert, when pressed as to who removed the relics

from the ruins, that large birds came out of the sky, took them, and

carried them into the heavens.

(_n_) “Fuko-ya-Nebandge”—the Mashonaland relic—possesses an unique

history and a weird romance, and is also of great intrinsic value

for such in Rhodesia as revel in researches into the history of past

occupiers of this country. The image is made of pottery, and is

hollow, the head (which has not been discovered) forming the stopper.

It was discovered by Mr. Harry Posselt in a cave near Zimbabwe. It

stands 11 in. high, and is about 16 in. long, and is marked with

geometric exactness with zebra stripes all over its body. The pot is

black, but the stripes are of a dull red colour. The name of it is

“Fuko-ya-Nebandge” (“the king’s favourite adviser”), and for at least

some generations of Makalanga it has exercised a potent magic spell

over the minds of the natives. It has now been secured for the museum

at Bulawayo.

The following is Mr. Posselt’s account of its discovery:—

In 1891 he was encamped at Fern Spruit, south of Victoria, near which

point are some hills. His Mashona boy informed him that among these

hills could be heard by anyone going near them the sound of cattle

bellowing, girls talking and singing, and that up on the hills was

a pot full of beads, but the local natives were too much afraid of

venturing up there in search of the pot, as it would mean certain

death. He did not ascend the hills, but his drivers and leaders went

up, but heard and saw nothing unusual. Until 1899 he had quite

forgotten the incident, but in August of 1900 he happened to be near

these particular hills collecting labour for the Chamber of Mines, and

conversed with a chief living there. He asked the chief the native

name of the hills, and the chief told him about the pot containing the

beads. He further told him that long ago a native went out hunting

on the hills, and found the pot with the beads in. The chief’s story

was to the effect that the native seeing the pot wanted to take the

beads out, and putting his hand into the pot, the pot got hold of his

hands and he could not shake it off, and he was obliged to carry the

pot poised on his head with his hand still fixed inside it. When he

arrived at the kraal his people prevented him entering it, as he might

bring evil upon the tribe. He was consequently compelled to encamp on a

stream near the kraal until his hand dropped off. He was fed secretly

by some of his people. After his death, instead of being buried in the

usual way, they pushed him with long sticks into a cave.

The pot was left there for some considerable time afterwards, and it

was eventually discovered in another cave in the same hills, and was

regarded, and still is to this day, by the natives as a mystery, and

held in awe by them, and their belief was that if anyone approached the

cave he would die. If the pot changed its colours to dark red it meant

certain death.

After he had secured the pot the natives came from near and far to

see it. One old native then told him of another pot, made like a mare

zebra, and that the “female pot” contained beads that glittered, and

that the pot in his (Mr. Posselt’s) possession was the “male pot.” The

native was ignorant of what gold was. The two pots, so he stated, used

to travel by themselves from their cave to Fulachama, a distance of

eight miles, to obtain water from the stream where they drank, coming

and going so often as to make a path. This Kafir asked where the

“female pot” was, well knowing Mr. Posselt had not found it.

After his discovery he went to a chief who lives close by to where the

pot was found. This chief used to live in Zimbabwe. He said that the

chief who now lives in Zimbabwe was an enemy of his, and had supplanted

him, and that he had all the relics. To compel him to disclose the

place where the relics were hidden he resorted to torture, cutting off

women’s breasts and putting nose reims through men’s noses. Before

the ex-Zimbabwe chief was expelled from Zimbabwe he was in the habit

of offering up sacrifices of black oxen, and on each occasion used to

collect and display relics taken from the ruins. These consisted of

“yellow metal with sharp points” brought down from the top ruin, also a

yellow stick about 3 ft. 6 in. long with a knob on it, also a bowl or

dish, by information most probably of silver. The stick is now stated

to be in the possession of the chief.

2. LOCAL NATIVES (GENERAL)

The Zimbabwe district is very thickly populated by Makalanga. These

formerly lived in natural strongholds on the summits of rocky kopjes

difficult of approach, but now in almost every instance they have

removed their kraals from their almost inaccessible eyries, and have

built their villages on open country, without erecting any fences

whatsoever for their protection. Thus, locally, Mogabe has left his

hill fortress and caves, Baranazimba his strongly defended rocks, Lumbo

his rock-pillar, and now these three kraals, as in many scores of

other instances, are built in open country in absolutely indefensible

positions, with no post, rail, or thornbush to bar approach. At night

one can pass through almost any village unchallenged save by a Kafir

dog. Large stores of corn are in their granaries. Their belongings

are strewn about outside their huts, and everything is open to

the spoiler. But the inhabitants sleep soundly, assured and content,

because they recognise they are safe under the rule of a civilised

Government.

[Illustration: MAKALANGA MOTHER AND CHILD, ZIMBABWE]

[Illustration: THE MOGABE, HANDISIBISHE, CHIEF OF THE ZIMBABWE

MAKALANGA]

Slightly more than a decade since all was most terribly different.

Tribe fought with tribe and village with village. Repeated Amaswazi

and Matabele raids “wiped out” without warning and without mercy whole

populations, capturing slaves, seizing the women, and killing, as was

their practice, the old people and children. None dared to stir from

his rocky fastness to cultivate his little patch of ground. Little

wonder is it that the spirit of these people was broken.

To-day these Makalanga, who are essentially an agricultural race, have

covered the erstwhile devastated country with their plantations, and

converted these parts into the “Granary of Rhodesia,” and the leading

grain-producing district of this part of Mashonaland. Standing on

Zimbabwe Hill either at sunrise or sunset, one sees scattered over the

open country scores of columns of smoke rising from the villages, each

with its large area where the Makalanga work in absolute security,

and one is forced to realise that untold benefit has undoubtedly been

conferred upon the natives by the British occupation.

The Makalanga of Zimbabwe district are considered to be, in

intellectual and physical qualifications, above many of their tribes

elsewhere. In some respects they are marvellously intelligent and quick

to perceive, shrewd, calculating, and clever, while in others they are

astonishingly dull, so that it is almost impossible to get them to

understand the simplest matter. They certainly evince far more feeling

and sensitiveness, are more amenable to direction, and readier and more

anxious to work, and are more honest and reliable than the average

Matabele. Physically, they are as a whole somewhat shorter in height,

are less robust, and have not the weight and strength of the Matabele,

but their vigour and agility give them the greater advantage. Yet there

are very many Makalanga in this district equal to any Matabele in

height, strength, form, and endurance.

More than the French nation among Europeans, the Makalanga are

distinguished for their taste, tact, and courtesy among the Kafir races

of South-East Africa, only in their case the graceful movement, kingly

walk, politeness, neatness, rhythm of speech, and poetic expression,

are not the outcome of study, but are perfectly natural qualities bred

in the race.

The contact of these people for many generations with the Portuguese

is shown in their speech. This is a feature noticeable in all native

tribes in Mashonaland, which were at any time located in or near

Portuguese territory. As stated below, Mogabe’s people originally came

from the direction of the border. The terminations of some of their

words are as distinctly Portuguese as one may hear at Lisbon or Oporto.

Their connection with the Portuguese caused them to follow the rule

common to that and some other Latin nations, viz. the interchange of

_R_ and _L_. _Selukwe_ thus becomes _Serukwe_, _Belingwe Beringwe_,

_Bulawayo Burawayo_, while in almost every word used by their people

further west containing _L_ the latter is substituted for _R_. Locally

they call themselves Mokaranga (_mo_ is a Chicaranga plural prefix),

“the people of the sun.” The Portuguese writers, De Barros (1552), Dos

Santos (1570), and Livio Sanuto (1588), give their name as _Mocaranga_.

_Makalaka_, the name of derision bestowed upon them by the tribes in

Bechuanaland, is known to them, but is never used by them, nor is

_M’Holi_ (slaves), a title which some of the more degenerate Makalangas

in Matabeleland have adopted as their personal and tribal name.

The _totem_ or distinguishing sign of the local tribe of Makalanga is

_moyo_, the heart. Each tribe has its own totem, which may be the leg

of a certain buck or some particular bird. Should a bird or an animal

be the totem the tribe bearing that sign do not eat of the flesh of

such bird or animal, nor will they kill them. A man of one totem must

not marry a wife of a tribe bearing the same totem, but must seek one

of a tribe of Makalanga having another totem. Thus, as they affirm,

“Heart must not marry Heart, nor Lion marry Lion.” This rule enforced

through past ages has no doubt tended to maintain and improve their

physical condition, and accounts for their fine figures, splendid

health and general freedom from illnesses, and the almost utter absence

of deformity and lunacy. A tribe of the Baduma people also bears the

totem of the heart. The sub-tribal totem of the local Barotse[29] is

the lion. The lion, which is also the totem of the local Amangwa, only

includes rapacious animals, such as wild cats, wild dogs, etc. Certain

families in the same tribe or kraal have distinguishing signs, or what

may be termed sub-totems. The totem system also prevailed amongst the

early Semitic peoples prior to biblical times, and was later a feature

of Hebrew history; for instance, “The Lion of the tribe of Judah.” The

totem of the Ephraimites was a bull.

In addition to the animal or bird that may constitute the totem

there are other animals and birds which they venerate, and will not

kill, eat, or touch. The slaying of such creatures is regarded as a

crime against the whole of the tribe. The spirits of dead ancestors,

relatives, and chiefs are supposed to reside in such birds and animals.

The principal bird of local reverence is the _Harahurusei_ (Bird of

God), which is the _chapungo_, a large and beautiful bird, quite black

except its tail, which is red. The peculiarity of this bird is that

it soars overhead exactly as does a bird of prey. The natives assert

that the nest, eggs, or feathers of this bird have never been found

by anyone, nor do they know on what food it lives. A native will not

proceed on a journey if the chapungo appears in the air or settles on

the ground in front of him, but will at once return home. Natives hail

the bird and ask it for favours.

The local natives will not eat the following: Common grey hawk, black

crow, owl, wolf, crocodile, snake, or wild dog. Some will not eat hippo

or eland flesh. They will not kill the chapungo, owl, wild dog, heron,

and certain small birds. But while these are the general practices of

local Makalanga tribes, certain families in different tribes frequently

have additional and special objects of veneration, and any one native

may have some particular object for his own personal veneration. The

tribal custom with regard to not partaking of the flesh of certain

birds and animals is very strictly adhered to, even though natives

starve. To touch such, living or dead, is a defilement, and the remains

can only be moved by using sticks.

Of insects, they eat locusts, two kinds of cricket (_mashu_ and

_zukumge_), a caterpillar (_masonya_), a worm called _mambene_, and

different kinds of ants, including _shua_ and _madjuro_, but especially

flying-ants. All these insects they consider dainties, and cook them in

the soup-pot into which they dip each handful of _rapoka_ porridge. The

soup is made of fat, ground monkey-nuts, and many other ingredients.

The natives are known to draw certain star-pictures in the sky; for

instance, Orion is made out to be “two pigs and a dog.” The three stars

in the Belt form one of the principal subjects of children’s songs.

They, of course, know the Morning and Evening Star, while the Pleiades

in their rising and setting mark the sowing and reaping seasons.

They evidently only see six stars in the latter, as they call them

_Tshimtanatu_, which means anything containing six.

They believe the sun returns across the sky at night when everyone is

sleeping, and that it travels from west to east ready to start over

again at daybreak, but high up in the expanse of the heavens and hidden

from sight by unseen clouds. They ridicule the idea of the earth being

round.

Eclipses of the sun or moon foretell war or some other great calamity.

They most usually say of them that the sun or moon is “rotten,”

frequently that they are “sick.”

They generally believe that each moon dies, and that every new moon

is _new_ in the strict sense of the word. Some, however, think that

it does not die altogether, but leaves a seed or germ, which in turn

grows big and then small until only the seed is left. The rising and

setting of the Pleiades, the new and full moon, are occasions of great

rejoicings, dancing, and beer-drinking.

Sacrifices are still made by local natives. Formerly a large number

of black oxen were killed at one sacrifice, but since the scourge of

rinderpest visited Rhodesia goats have been substituted. The last

sacrifice at Zimbabwe took place in February, 1904. The local natives

sacrificed in the Elliptical Temple, but they have no settled point

within the temple where they hold these ceremonies. The sacrifice was

conducted during the prolonged drought then prevailing. The natives

kept the ceremony private until after it was over, and the rain had

arrived.

Makalanga of several tribes from near and far used to come to the

Elliptical Temple for sacrifices, and these were offered up within the

walls, but at different spots inside; while on several occasions the

ceremony took place just outside the walls. Once every village had

its own ceremony, and these took place in January, black bulls being

offered for males and black cows for females.

The sacrifices now made are to the spirits of departed chiefs, and are

offered on the suggestion of witch-doctors, who receive fees for their

advice, and who, to make money, declare that the spirit of some dead

chief or relative is angry and must be appeased. Some portion of the

meat was taken to the spot supposed to be haunted by the spirit, and

the rest is eaten by those present, the bones being sometimes burnt or

thrown into a river; but recently they have been left about the spot.

Sacrifices were usually offered to secure success in any venture to be

undertaken, or to obtain good harvests. Till recently they practised a

similar rite to that known in Mosaic times, and in this instance also

the animal was not killed, but was led out on to the veld and purposely

lost. If found it was not killed. The natives are aware that this rite

was once observed by their people, but state it is not practised now.

The Makalanga undoubtedly believe in the immortality of the soul, but

they have very vague ideas as to a future life beyond a thorough faith

in the transmigration of souls. They do not conceive the existence of

a Creator or Supreme Being, their highest conception being _M’uali_, a

spirit, who can make their crops a failure and their herds sick, and

to this spirit they offer sacrifices. The _M’uali_, judging by native

account, is not in any way an ennobling spirit, and they are constantly

in dread of him. The witch-doctors in order to acquire wealth for

themselves interpret the wishes of the _M’uali_ in the light of their

own purposes and interests.

With regard to burials the customs, even among the Makalanga, vary

considerably. In some instances the bodies are laid lengthwise and on

the left side facing the north. This seems to have been the original

custom of these people, but it is not now a general one. Burial in

a sitting position is very commonly met with. On the Acropolis,

during the preservation work (1902–3), about fifty Makalanga graves

were found, and the remains in a score of instances were removed.

Practically all were in a sitting position, only three having been

buried lengthways. These were discovered in entrances and passages, the

bodies having been laid on the surface, soil and stones, taken from the

nearest wall, placed round and over them. None of these were very old,

and most were Mogabe’s people. Their bark hunting-nets, assegais, pots,

and other personal belongings, were placed on the top of the grave, and

not inside with the corpse.

The Baduma, who live in Gutu’s country, and also the Barotse, still

embalm or, rather, dry the bodies of their chiefs, and also the dead

of certain families, though generally the bodies are buried lengthways

on their right side, facing the sun. The body is placed in the hut

on a bier made of poles near a large fire, and continually turned,

any blisters which may appear being carefully broken, until the body

is dry. Then it is wrapped up in a blanket and hung from the roof.

Annual sacrifices are made to the spirits, and the bodies are regularly

visited and kept in order by a person appointed for that work. The

rain-makers, who live on the Sabi, also dry their dead.

The manufactures of the Makalanga are fast declining. In very rare

instances may be found villages where bark and cotton are still woven.

Limbo from the stores is so cheap and attractive looking that it has

practically driven out the local article, and the clay whorls used in

spinning cotton are now discarded. Their once famous iron and copper

smelting industries almost disappeared on the advent of cheap and

substantial tools. At one time every village had its blacksmith and

its furnaces and forges, but during the last few years iron-working

has become far less general. Derembghe, near Mr. Nolan’s farm, in the

Victoria district, is the only representative of the old industry.

Pottery is still made, but at Chikwanda, near Arowi and east of

Zimbabwe, the people make pottery of a superior quality. This is also

the case at Mazuwa’s, in Nini district.

The people are essentially a race of agriculturists and cattle

breeders, and dislike working in mines. Though they are most

industrious in their own plantations, yet they will not work for a

white man for more than a month or two in a year, preferring to spend

the rest of the year in absolute idleness. Many are adepts in brass or

copper wire-work, with which they adorn their sticks and weapons. They

are also very skilful in wood-carving, basket-making, and in tanning

and preparing skins.

The Makalanga of this district are certainly above the average

type of natives in the possession of both intellectual and physical

qualifications. Light skins, Semitic noses, fine features, with an

absence of high cheek-bones, small, well-shaped hands—are frequent

features met with among them. The men, who wear but insignificant

aprons, are well proportioned, are as straight as an arrow, and have

athletic figures. Large turquoise-blue beads of glass form the neck

ornament of men, women, and children in this district, and these

contrast effectively with the colour and polish of their skins. Both

men and women frequently wear a narrow band of pink and white beads

round their heads. Brass bangles are worn on wrists, arms, legs, and

ankles, the women and girls wearing these in great profusion.

Women are bare to the low hips, and wear a short skin skirt reaching

almost to the knees. This is most generally adorned with chevron

pattern of pink and white beads. Their stomachs are covered with two

sets of lines worked into the flesh, one set under each breast. This

pattern is very general here, and is identical with the “breast and

furrow” pattern found not only on the fronts of the clay furnaces,

pillows, drums, and granaries, but on the ancient relics and sacred

emblems (phalli) discovered in the ruins. Bent and other writers

believe that these flesh-markings are a survival of the occult idea

of Fertility. There are generally about thirty rows of these lines or

cicatrices, and their regularity is most surprising.

The men are practically bare-skinned, and have their waists, shoulders,

and sometimes each side of their foreheads, marked with a row of bars

in threes, thus: /|\ /|\, and these closely resemble the sign of Light

as seen in the Welsh bardic symbol. These, many natives state, are luck

signs, and they would not be without them, for with them on their skin

they believe they shall always be healthy and strong and have many

wives and children. Other natives state that the flesh-markings on the

men’s bodies are but ornaments to attract the attentions of women,

while others assert they only bear the marks because it is a custom.

Each male has a forelock, some of these being erect and others pendent,

the latter being usually threaded with pink and white beads. These

often reach below the eyes. They are very proud of their forelocks, and

will spend most of their spare time in trying to pull them out longer.

[Illustration: MAKALANGA WOMEN AND GIRLS AT THE MOGABE’S KRAAL,

ZIMBABWE]

Witchcraft still possesses a tremendous influence over the native mind,

although the practice of it is punished by imprisonment, but it is most

difficult to obtain evidences in most cases of offence. Before the

country was occupied by the British the witch-doctors practically ruled

the people, and their influence in many known instances was greater

than that of dynastic chiefs. The inclination of the people is to

revert to the old practices, and fear of punishment alone prevents them

doing so. There is no doubt that some of the infanticides and murders

happening to-day are the results of witch-doctors’ machinations.

Though every native appears to have a good idea of medicine and of

the uses of certain herbs and roots, and to be able to cure simple

complaints, yet the remedies for more serious matters are in the

hands of the medicine-men, who keep all such knowledge to their own

profession.

A rain-maker for a large present would, until recently, kill a child of

one of his many wives, and as long as the mother mourned for her child

the rain was supposed to continue.

The Makalanga undoubtedly possess a keener appreciation of music

and singing than many of the other native races in this part of the

continent. When at work, digging, hoeing, or threshing, they sing

continually, and in one morning they will spontaneously render fully a

dozen different songs and a large number of extempore recitatives and

choruses interspersed, also a few part-songs and catches. They sing

going to and returning from labour, and always sing at their work, and

when they cease singing one may be certain they are idling. There is

far greater harmony and variety of music produced from their pianos,

and their songs are brighter and more spirited, than any music or song

a Matabele can evolve, and the dreary monotonous chant of the latter

is almost entirely absent. The subjects of their songs are numerous,

and comprise many items which only a people who live face to face

with Nature could sing without offending the decencies as regarded by

civilised people, and in these songs the smallest child most lustily

joins. They will sing impromptu songs having reference to the tools

they happen to be using, or to anything they may chance to see. The

Native Commissioner is a great subject of their songs. They have

war-songs, lullabies, songs to the bride, to the child just able to

walk, to the new moon, to the butter they are making, besides a number

of children’s songs.

They also have a large number of proverbs which somewhat resemble those

employed at Home, thus:—

_Translation._ _English Equivalent._

“The grass which is in the belly “A bird in the hand is worth

of the wild ox is his own; that two in the bush.”

which is in his mouth he might

die with.”

“Difficulty makes a plan.” “Necessity is the mother of

invention.”

“Water spilt cannot be gathered “No use crying over spilt milk.”

again.”

“He is strong at the dish”; “He is a good trencherman.”

said of one who does not work,

but knows well how to eat.

“Comes out with holes in his “Escaped by the skin of his

skins (garments).” teeth.”

“A tame dog is the one that “Do not trust one who looks

eats at the skins.” very innocent.”

“Who has thrown out my basket “Who has meddled with my

of seed?” affairs?”

“The short hare cannot eat the “Don’t attempt things too high

tall grass.” for you.”

The natives can make fire (_sika_) very easily. The woods usually

selected for this purpose are _Zumbani_ and _Bg̊ebg̊a_. One piece is

rounded, and the lower point is inserted in a small hole in the other

wood, and then twirled with the palms of the hands round rapidly till

sparks are emitted, and then very dry grass is placed at the bottom

of the rounded stick, when it will light. Should the wood be slightly

damp, a very small pinch of sand is placed in the hole to increase the

friction. The _sika_ sticks can obtain fire almost as quickly as can a

magnifying glass.

On felling a tree in clearing a plantation it is a general custom in

this district for the native to make a small ring of grass and lay it

on the tree stump, and then to spit on the ring and to cover it with a

large stone. Natives state, in explanation of this practice, that their

people have always done it, but they cannot say for what purpose.

The pottery whorls found in very old native huts are known to many

natives, but not to all, for the author has heard natives explaining

their purpose to other natives. These whorls had sticks inserted

top-fashion through the centre hole, and were spun rapidly between the

hands. These were used for drawing the threads from the mass of cotton,

also, some say, in producing fire. The children find them and use them

for tops. The whorls which are found in ruins, and which are doubtless

antique, are made of soapstone and are excellently finished.

The natives decorate the wooden doors of their huts, also the interior

walls—check pattern being general for this purpose. The best decoration

of doors is to be found in Gutu’s and Chibi’s districts.

The native name for Victoria is _Duruben_, or _Durubeni_, sometimes

_Vitori_. _Duruben_ is derived from the Dutch word _dorp_, and _Vitori_

is an attempt to pronounce Victoria. _Campeni_ is the name of the old

township of Victoria, which used to be known as The Camp. Several

isolated settlements of white people towards the south are called by

the natives of those districts _Durubeni_, the termination being that

of the locative case. The hillock in Victoria, near the gaol, used to

be called “_Gòna Zhon_” (“They failed to capture the elephant”). The

open veld about Victoria was called “_Bani ro moteio_” (“The plain

without trees”).

The salutation _Moro!_ or _Morra!_ employed by the natives is simply

a corruption of the Dutch word _Morgen!_ _i.e._ Good Morning! In Cape

Dutch _Morrè!_ is used, and from this the word _Morro!_ was evidently

derived. The natives agree in stating that it is a Dutch word brought

into the country by Dutch hunters and Cape Boys long before the

British arrived. They ridicule all idea of its being of native origin,

and state that in some districts it is not used. The practice of

handshaking on meeting is one which the natives state has been copied

from the white men.

The salute on meeting is by clapping hands. On greeting a man they will

clap the palms with the hands slightly crossed, the forefinger of the

right hand crossing the base of the forefinger of the other; but on

saluting a woman the forefinger is placed to forefinger with wrists

together. The length of time of clapping depends on the position of the

person saluted. On joining a group to talk, eat, or drink the new-comer

claps hands before sitting down and again when the food or drink is

offered him.