THE 



GEOLOGICAL MAGAZINE. 



NEW SERIES. DECADE IV. VOL. N. 



No. v.— MAY, 1895. 



I. — Notes on the Geology of Mashonaland and Matabeleland. 



By J. A. Chalmers, A.E.S.M., and F. H. Hatch, Ph.D., F.G.S. 



Introduction. 



THE history of the Zambesian territories now known as 

 " Rhodesia " is extremely meagre. Of the country prior to 

 the advent of the Matabele in 1838, little is known, except from 

 the few records, chiefly Portuguese, that have been preserved. Ifc 

 should be mentioned, however, that an interesting link between 

 the Sofala and the Zimbabwi ruins near Victoria exists in certain 

 gold tacks or rivets, possibly used in the manufacture of gold 

 ornaments, which have been found in both these places, while 

 we believe that at intervals along a route to the coast, ruins of 

 towers have been found, that in all probability have been used 

 as stations on the way. 



That Zimbabwi, near Victoria, and similar ruins in other parts 

 of Central South Africa are relics of the greatest antiquity, is 

 generally accepted, and it is also probable that a search after gold 

 was the main object of the adventurous and enterprising people, 

 not South African, who were in possession. The massive structure 

 of the ruins, laboriously composed of regular square granite blocks, 

 not much larger than bricks, together with the general design and 

 elaboration, foreign to Negro creations, impress one with the idea 

 that a masterful invading race dominated the enslaved aborigines. 



One portion of the Zimbabwi ruins of Victoria was probably 

 a temple, the other a stronghold or keep such as might have been 

 necessitated by the partial and unstable nature of the sway exercised 

 by the invaders. 



It is probable that in later times, even within the last century, 

 the Portuguese had settlements in Mashonaland, and that they 

 both carried on mining operations themselves, and traded for gold 

 won by the natives. In the north, at Tete, on the Zambesi, alluvial 

 gold can still be purchased from the natives. The gold is collected 

 by them in reeds. 



DECADE lY. VOL. II. — NO. V. 13 



