496 WHO BUILT THE RHUDESIAN RUINS? 



smoothness and perfection. The distance of the edifice from Sofala 

 in a direct Hne to the west is a hundred and seventy leagues or there- 

 abouts, and it is between 20° and 21° S. lat. -There are no ancient or 

 modern buildings in those parts, the people being barbarians, and all 

 their houses of wood. , 



In the opinion of the Moors, who saw it, it is very ancient, and 

 was built then to keep possession of the mines, which are very old; 

 and no gold has been extracted from these for years because of the 

 wars. Considering the situation and the fashion of the edifice, so far 

 in the interior, and which the Moors confess was not raised by them, 

 from its antiquity and their ignorance of the character of the inscrip- 

 tion above the door, we may suppose this is the region which Ptolemy 

 called Agysymba, where he made his mendional calculations, for the 

 name of the edifice and that of the oificer who guards it has some resem- 

 blance to that name, and one may be a corruption of the other. 



Considering the facts of the matter, it would seem that some prince, 

 who had possession of the mines, ordered it to be built as a sign 

 thereof, which he afterwards lost in course of time, and through their 

 being so remote from his kingdom ; and as these edifices are very similar 

 to some which are found in the land of Prester John, at a place called 

 Acaxumo, which was a municipal city of the Queen of Sheba, which 

 Ptolemy calls Axuma, it would seem that the prince who was lord of 

 the state also owned these mines, and therefore ordered these edifices to 

 be raised there, in the same way as we have built the fortress of Mina 

 and this fortress of Sofala. And as in the time of Ptolemy, through the 

 inhabitants of that land of Abyssinia. Prester John, this land of which we 

 speak, which he calls Ethiopia, beyond Egypt, must have been in some way 

 renowned, by reason of its gold, and the place being well known Ptolemy 

 remained there while making his calculations) of the south.* 



Die.^o de Couto, born in Lisbon 1542, visited India, and was 

 personally acquainted with South-Eastern Africa. His writings 

 attracted the notice of King FiHppe I. of Portugal, who appointed 

 him Chronicler of the State of India, and Principal Custodian of 

 the Archives in succession to-De Barros. He died in 1616. 



The following extracts are (taken from his " De Asia," Decade 

 IX., Chaps. XXIV. and XXV. : 



The governor, Vasco Fernandez Tlornem, did not lose heart and 

 abandon the expedition (to the Manica mines in the kingdom of Tshi- 

 kanga, 1569-70), but in defiance of hunger and thirst, he proceeded to 

 Simbaoe (the "great place" of the Quitive) which was the "Court" 

 (Corte) and which he found abandoned, as Quiteve had retreated with 

 his wives and children into a district which was very rugged and strong. 

 Before entering this city (cidade), the governor commanded it to be 

 set on fire, but the loss occasioned was inconsiderable, as although it 

 was large, it was built entirely of wood and straw. f .... 



It is conjectured that when the Queen of Sheba wished to visit King 

 Solomon at Jerusalem, she went to these mines (of Monomotapa) to 

 obtain gold, which she took with her; in which place there were already 

 kings who, it is presumed, were subject to her; and even at the present 

 day in those parts, at the markets of M'asapa and Nabertura there are 

 great stone edifices, which she commanded to be built for herself, which 

 are called Simbave by the Kafiirs and which are like strong bulwarks.^ 



Antonio Bocarro succeeded Diego de Couto in the office of 

 the Keeper of the Archives and Chronicler of India from 163 1 

 to 1649. There is no reason to suppose that he did not draw his 



■^Records S.E. Africa, 6, 267-8. 

 t Ihid., 6^ 388. 

 tibtd., 6, 390-1. 



