60 G. Elliot Smith on 



roamed over the Avhole of India. But the evidence of their 

 presence is preserved only in some places and not in others, 

 because they settled down in the former to collect the gold or 

 copper, the diamonds or sapphires, the pearls or shells. 



To Mr. W. J. Perry belongs the merit of having called 

 attention to the far-reaching significance of the search for precious 

 metals, stones and pearls.^ 



At the same time as these seamen made their way East to 

 India others were pushing down the east coast of Africa. The 

 indelible records of their visit still persist at Zimbabwe (see 

 map Z) in Rhodesia and elsewhere. They settled to exploit gold 

 wherever they found it. The stone-buildings, the terraced hill- 

 sides, the practice of mummification, and scores of other customs 

 and beliefs still remain as an abiding witness to the coming of 

 aliens and as a distinctive label of their identity and epoch. 



In Southern Rhodesia, between the Salisbury-Beira Railway 

 and the Limpopo River, there are numerous remains of an ancient 

 civilization, which have been the subject of the liveliest contro- 

 versies, ever since Carl Mauch, in 1871, called attention to certain 

 large stone temple-like structures of peculiar form. The Zimbabwe 

 ruins have been claimed to be the work of ancient immigrants 

 from Southern Arabia who came to exploit the mineral wealth of 

 Mashonaland, for the purpose of disposing of it in the markets 

 of Ophir to the agents of King Solomon. Others have claimed 

 that the trade was in the hands of the Phoenicians. An excellent 

 summary of the history of this discussion before 1905 will be 

 found in the late Professor A. H. Keane's Introduction to 

 Mr. R. N. Hall's "Great Zimbabwe" (1905). 



In the year of publication of Mr. Hall's book. Dr. David 

 Randall-Maclver made a summary investigation of the ruins on 

 behalf of the British Association, and in the following year 

 published the results in a book entitled " Mediaeval Rhodesia." 



nV. J. Perry, "The Relationship between tlie Geographical Distri- 

 bution of Megalithic Monuments and Ancient Mines," Mem. and Proc. 

 Manchester Lit. and Phil. Soc, Vol. (50, 1915. 



