ANCIENT STONE WORKS. 265 



change in them, so great a change, indeed, that 

 unless seen it could not have been believed. So 

 much for a little wholesome correction, and impart- 

 ing the information that, the white man is the 

 superior, and therefore must and shall be master. 



On the second day we entered what is desig- 

 nated the province of Manica ; it is a hilly country, 

 abundantly watered, and is said to be very rich in 

 gold. It is asserted by many that this province of 

 the Matabeles is the " Ophir " alluded to in the 

 Scriptures. 



Having wandered off" a few miles to the westward 

 of the route taken by my attendants, I came across 

 undoubted evidence that civilised people had once 

 dwelt here, for the crest of a hill was surrounded 

 by a stone wall, in which were situated three look- 

 out towers. This masonry was, however, now in 

 ruins, but its contour much reminded me of the 

 Genoese works that overlooked Balaclava harbour. 

 I am not sufficiently skilled as an antiquary to fix 

 any date for the erection of this work, so it may 

 really have been constructed by Phcenicians, or any 

 other of the enterprising nationalities that existed so 

 long ago, that even history gives us little information 

 about them. 



However, here was a work of labour that could 

 not have been executed in a short space of time, 

 and only by the aid of innumerable labourers. I 

 have little doubt but that gold, and gold alone, had 



