498 WHO BUILT THE RHODESIAN RUINS? 



which they afterwards wash in bowls, and all that is not gold melts in 

 the water and is carried off, the gold remaining in the bottom of the bowl, 

 and thus they collect it. This gold from the stones is called by the 

 Kaffirs " niatuca"; it is inferior, and of few carats hneness. All the other 

 gold they call '' dahabo," whether it be in powder or in pieces.* 



In this kingdom of Abutua (north-west of the kingdom of Monomo- 

 tapa) there is also a quantity of fine gold, but the natives do not trouble 

 to seek it, or dig for it, as they are at a distance from the Portuguese, 

 who might buy it.f 



Close to the town of Alasapa is a very high and grand mountain 

 called Fura. . . . On the summit of this mountain some fragments of 

 old walls and ancient ruins of stone and mortar are still standing, whioli 

 clearly show that once there were houses here and strong dwellings, which 

 are not to be found in all Kaffraria, as even the king's palaces {casas dos 

 reis) are built of wood, covered with clay, and thatched with straw. The 

 natives of these lands, especially some aged Moors, assert that they have a 

 tradition from their ancestors^ that these houses were anciently a 

 factory of the Queen of Sheba, and that from this place a great quantity 

 of gold was brought to her, it being conveyed down the rivers of Cuama 

 to the Indian Ocean, which they navigated in ships, keeping along the 

 coast of Ethiopia to the Red Sea, which they entered and pursued their 

 course up it until they reached the shores bordering on the lands of 

 Egypt, where they discharged all this gold, and thence it was conveyed 

 by land to the court of the Queen of Sheba, who, they said, was the queen 

 and mistress of a great part of Ethiopia above Egypt ; and by the Red 

 Sea, she send her fleets for the gold of these rivers. 



I have very little doubt of this, as it is the opinion of some of our 

 most serious writers, who say that the Queen of Sheba was mistress of 

 that part of Ethiopia which is above Egypt; such authors as the glorious 

 St. Jerome, or the prophet Zephaniah ; Origan, on the book of Canticles ; 

 and Josephus, on his book upon Jewish Antiquities. § And besides this, 

 even at the present time there is a most noble city in Ethiopia which was 

 formerly called Sheba, situated on an island formed by the river Nile, 

 which is much renowned and talked of among the notable things of that 

 region, both on account of its fertility and because it is densely populated, 

 and frequented by men of various nationalities. The name of this city of 

 Sheba was changed to Meroe by a king called Cambyses, in memory of a 

 sister whom he greatly loved. 



Pliny, Strabo, Josephus, and St. Jerome, and many other writers 

 make mention of these matters, from which one may infer that there is 

 solid foundation on what is said concerning the Q'.ieen of Ethiopia, 

 having a factory on this mountain of Fura, whence the gold was con- 

 veyed to her. 



Others say that tliese are the runis of the factory of Solomon, when 

 he had his factors, who procured a great quantity of gold from these 

 lands, conveying it down the same rivers to the Indian Ocean, which they 

 navigate_d until they entered the straits of the Red Sea, disembarking on 

 the shores of Arabia, close to Suez, whence the gold was conveyed by land 

 to Jerusalem, a journey of about 80 leagues or less. They say, further, 

 that the gold of Ophir which was brought to Solomon was from the 

 place called Afura and Ophir, and that there is little difference between 

 Afur and Ophir which name has been corrupted by the changes of time 

 or the ages between that period and the present. 



I know not what foundation they have for saying one thing or the 

 other. I can only say that there is a quantity of fine gold in the lands 

 around this mountain, and that it could be sent thence by these rivers 

 in those times as it is now by the Portuguese and was in former days 



*Rccords of S.E. AfHca,9, 21S-X9. Cf. Avahk dahab, " gold." '^ 

 fibid.. 7, 274. 



t Not to be weighed, I presume, against native tradition. 

 § I do not know whether anyone has taken the trouble to verify 

 these references ! 



