Read Online The Lost City of Solomon and Sheba by Robin Brown-Lowe - Free Book Online
Authors: Robin Brown-Lowe
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therefore, have found it very difficult to believe that they were prepared to risk dying for it. Lobengula apparently knew nothing of ancient Ophir and the lost gold mines of Mashonaland and appears to have had little or no interest in the ancient Zimbabwe culture created by the power of gold. Land, slaves, and particularly cattle he would go into battle for, but not gold. This mistake essentially cost him his kingdom.
It has also been variously suggested that Lobengula, like his ancestors, still had a nomadic streak and he had already made plans to move his kingdom north to the Zambesi. That may indeed have been the purpose of extensive raids made to the far north by his impis throughout the time he was dealing with Rhodes. Be that as it may, for this little band of âPioneersâ, soon to be lauded as archetypal Victorian heroes, it was still an enormous gamble to take on Lobengulaâs huge, tactically adept army; indeed, I am certain it was only the Kingâs restraint which saved them. Rhodes may even have assessed this risk and âfactored inâ the real chance of a devastating Matabele attack. Applicants for the âPioneer Columnâ were very deliberately chosen from the sons of the most influential Cape families who would swiftly have demanded revenge and retribution had their scions been massacred by the natives in the north. As with the Zulus, a British army would inevitably have followed such a massacre, just as one did with Cetewayo after Isandhlwana.
Lobengula saw this threat. By clever manoeuvring through the indunas leading his regiments the young warriors were held in check, although it was often a close call. When, for example, the Bechuanaland contingent tried to turn back, the force returned in a panic after running into 2,000 advancing Matabele.
On 1 August the Pioneers spotted the low-lying hills which marked the start of the Shona plateau and Selous rode ahead to see if he could find a suitable pass for the wagons: âMy feelings may be better imagined than described when I say that [having ridden up a promising-looking pass] I saw stretched before me, as far as the eye could see, a wide expanse of open grassy country, and knew that I was looking over the south-western portion of the high plateau of Mashonaland. . . . A weight of responsibility, that had at times become almost unbearable, fell from my shoulders and I breathed a sigh of relief.â They named it Providential Pass.
On 14 August the column debouched onto the plateau and a halt was called for rest and recreation. Selous told them that they were just a short ride from the Queen of Shebaâs much vaunted palace, and King Solomonâs mines were all around them. Virtually every commercial mining operation these prospectors would now set up would be based on the evidence of gold-bearing reefs from ancient workings. In fact over the next decade it would be recognised that there were all but
no
worthwhile reefs which had not, to a greater or lesser degree, been worked by the ancients.
Ophir was theirs.
They laid the foundations of Fort Victoria, which grew into a thriving little agricultural town by the time I stayed there half a century later. A game of rugby was played and Sir John Willoughby led a party to the ruins and spent the day searching for treasure. None was found, but Sir John was captured by the magic of the place and would return to spend a great deal of time here; indeed, he would be the second European to dig seriously among the ruins.
One man,
The Times
correspondent, left the others and made a careful and thoughtful tour, filing the only objective early description of the lost city. Hereafter, Great Zimbabwe would be seen either through the rose-tinted glasses of the Romantics or the clinical gaze of the archaeologists.
The Ruins themselves lie at the base of a striking and precipitous granite kopje, inhabited by one of the Mashona tribes under a chief called Moghabi.
The first feature to
It has also been variously suggested that Lobengula, like his ancestors, still had a nomadic streak and he had already made plans to move his kingdom north to the Zambesi. That may indeed have been the purpose of extensive raids made to the far north by his impis throughout the time he was dealing with Rhodes. Be that as it may, for this little band of âPioneersâ, soon to be lauded as archetypal Victorian heroes, it was still an enormous gamble to take on Lobengulaâs huge, tactically adept army; indeed, I am certain it was only the Kingâs restraint which saved them. Rhodes may even have assessed this risk and âfactored inâ the real chance of a devastating Matabele attack. Applicants for the âPioneer Columnâ were very deliberately chosen from the sons of the most influential Cape families who would swiftly have demanded revenge and retribution had their scions been massacred by the natives in the north. As with the Zulus, a British army would inevitably have followed such a massacre, just as one did with Cetewayo after Isandhlwana.
Lobengula saw this threat. By clever manoeuvring through the indunas leading his regiments the young warriors were held in check, although it was often a close call. When, for example, the Bechuanaland contingent tried to turn back, the force returned in a panic after running into 2,000 advancing Matabele.
On 1 August the Pioneers spotted the low-lying hills which marked the start of the Shona plateau and Selous rode ahead to see if he could find a suitable pass for the wagons: âMy feelings may be better imagined than described when I say that [having ridden up a promising-looking pass] I saw stretched before me, as far as the eye could see, a wide expanse of open grassy country, and knew that I was looking over the south-western portion of the high plateau of Mashonaland. . . . A weight of responsibility, that had at times become almost unbearable, fell from my shoulders and I breathed a sigh of relief.â They named it Providential Pass.
On 14 August the column debouched onto the plateau and a halt was called for rest and recreation. Selous told them that they were just a short ride from the Queen of Shebaâs much vaunted palace, and King Solomonâs mines were all around them. Virtually every commercial mining operation these prospectors would now set up would be based on the evidence of gold-bearing reefs from ancient workings. In fact over the next decade it would be recognised that there were all but
no
worthwhile reefs which had not, to a greater or lesser degree, been worked by the ancients.
Ophir was theirs.
They laid the foundations of Fort Victoria, which grew into a thriving little agricultural town by the time I stayed there half a century later. A game of rugby was played and Sir John Willoughby led a party to the ruins and spent the day searching for treasure. None was found, but Sir John was captured by the magic of the place and would return to spend a great deal of time here; indeed, he would be the second European to dig seriously among the ruins.
One man,
The Times
correspondent, left the others and made a careful and thoughtful tour, filing the only objective early description of the lost city. Hereafter, Great Zimbabwe would be seen either through the rose-tinted glasses of the Romantics or the clinical gaze of the archaeologists.
The Ruins themselves lie at the base of a striking and precipitous granite kopje, inhabited by one of the Mashona tribes under a chief called Moghabi.
The first feature to
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