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
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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