Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia: An account of two years' examination work in 1902-4 on behalf of the government of RhodesiaHall, R. N. (Richard Nicklin)
History
Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia: An account of two years' examination work in 1902-4 on behalf of the government of Rhodesia
Hall, R. N. (Richard Nicklin)
Great Zimbabwe (Extinct city); Zimbabwe -- Antiquities
Slightly to the west of the temple and almost immediately in front
of it are No. 1 Ruins, the walls of which are crowned with aloes and
euphorbias. Less than a hundred yards west of these ruins are the
Ridge Ruins, on a bare granite ridge, on the east side of which was
the camp of Sir John Willoughby, who excavated portions of the ruins
(November and December, 1892). Fifty yards behind the Ridge Ruins is
the Zimbabwe Spring, marked by a group of trees, where most excellent
water can be obtained, even during the driest season. It was close
to these trees that Messrs. Posselt had their camp in 1888–9. Nearer
than Ridge Ruins is the little graveyard where is the granite tomb of
Major Alan Wilson and his party. Just a few yards nearer is Havilah
Camp, where one can just see the natives moving to and fro across the
open spaces between the huts. Behind the Bentberg and further south is
broken country, with Lumbo Rocks, one of the landmarks of the district,
rising from the summit of a rugged hill like a column piled up against
the sky, its lichen mantle showing brilliant red in the sunset. Here
is the line of high ground which separates the plateau of Mashonaland
from the lower valley of the Limpopo River, the incline in the contour
being both steep and abrupt. This also divides the watershed of
the Motelekwe from that of the Tokwe.[17] In this southern view are
scattered many Makalanga kraals, several of which are perched up in
almost inaccessible rocky eyries; also some romantic valleys, kloofs,
and stretches of park-like land studded with patches of thick woods.
[Illustration: GENERAL PLAN OF ZIMBABWE RUINS showing the general
position of each ruin ]
_South-west._—Looking towards the south-west and in the near distance
is the rising ground between the Bentberg and Rusivanga[18] kopjes,
and the native path leading over it to Bingura’s kraal. At the foot of
Rusivanga and 150 yards from Havilah Camp, and on a knoll on which is
a large old tree, was for some time the camp of Adam Renders, known by
the natives as _Sa-adama_, who rediscovered Zimbabwe in 1868, and who
was here visited by Mr. George Philips, the ivory trader of the very
early days, and by Dr. Karl Mauch, the latter of whom gave in 1871 the
first information of the ruins for almost three hundred years. Here
Renders traded extensively for ivory. Previously to Dr. Mauch’s visit
Renders lived at Nini, eleven miles south-west of Zimbabwe.
Beyond the nearer ridge is a deep and wide valley on the near side of
which is Bingura’s kraal, and from this valley the land rises towards
the southern extremity of the Livouri Mountains some ten miles from
Zimbabwe, and in the immediate distance, though much nearer the Livouri
Range, is Providential Pass, through which the hunter, Mr. F. C.
Selous, led the Pioneer Column in 1890. In the same line of view, but
slightly nearer, is where Renders’ first station was located.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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