Hence it will be seen that, even as late as 1721, it was only rumoured that there were ruins, and that the Portuguese sphere of influence went very little inland. Needless to say, the expedition was never sent, and that the reports were of the vaguest and most contradictory character. Bocarro and Corvo both testify to the fact [28] that the Portuguese, after the disastrous campaigns of Baretto, advanced but little into the country, and were confined almost exclusively to the littoral. Taking the map of this district, and looking at the spelling of the names, it is easy to see how far Portuguese influence extended. They spell the common prefix Inya with an h instead of a y: for example, they write it Inhambane. Also they spell the name Gungunyama, Gungunhama; other nations spell such names with a y, for example, Inyagowe. Hence the h for y clearly marks the Portuguese sphere of influence. These reports of an Eldorado northwards continued, and produced periodical excitements amongst the young colonists of South Africa. The Boers were everlastingly getting up treks with a view to reach it; the vague mystery about King Solomon’s mines existing there, and the palace of the Queen of Sheba, whetted their appetites when they heard these rumours; but still nothing was definitely done until a German traveller of more than ordinary energy penetrated as far as the Zimbabwe ruins in the year 1871. This man was Karl Mauch: he examined them carefully and wrote an accurate account of them, but, unfortunately, he ventured on a speculation as to their origin which at once cast discredit on his discoveries in the eyes of unbelieving archæologists. He maintained that the fortress on the hill was a copy of King Solomon’s temple on Mount Moriah, that the lower ruins were a copy of the palace which the Queen of Sheba inhabited during her stay of several years in Jerusalem, and that the trees in the middle of it were undoubtedly almug trees. The result of this was that the subject of Zimbabwe ruins was in abeyance for nearly twenty years after Mauch’s visit, and was rather accredited as a traveller’s tale until the British Chartered Company took possession of the country and enabled research to be satisfactorily made. Nevertheless to Karl Mauch is distinctly due the honour of being the first to investigate the ruins in modern times. PART III EXPLORATION JOURNEYS IN MASHONALAND CHAPTER VIII DOWN TO THE SABI RIVER AND MATINDELA RUINS It was the report of extensive ruins, ‘larger,’ said a native, ‘than those of Zimbabwe,’ which induced us to make an expedition involving considerable hardships and unknown risks down in the direction of the Sabi River. Our waggons, of course, could not go, as our way would be by the narrow native paths. Previous experience had warned us against depending on the native huts, so for the transport of our tents, bedding, and provisions we had to make considerable preparations.