May 1, 1900. J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
76? 
AGRICULTURAL COURTSHIP. 
A potato weut out on a raasb, 
And sought an onion bed ; 
" That's pie for me !"' observed the squash, 
And all the beets turned red : 
" Go 'way !'' the onion, weeping cried. 
"Your lover I cannot be; 
The pumkiu be your lawful bride — 
You cautelope with me." 
But onward still the tuber came 
And lay down at her feet ; 
''You cauliflower by any name, 
And it will smell as wheat ; 
And I, too, am an early rose ; 
And you I have come to see ; 
So don't turnip your lovely nose 
But spinachat with me." 
"I do not carrot all to wed, 
So go, sir, if you please !" 
The modest onion meekly said, 
''And lettuce, pray, have peas! 
Go, think that you have never seen 
Myself, or smelled my sigh ; 
Too long a maiden I have been 
For favours in your rye 1" 
"All, spare a cuss!" the tuber prayed, 
" Sly cherryshed bride you'll be ; 
You are the only weeping maid 
That's currant now, with me!" 
And as the wily tuber spoke 
He caught her by surprise. 
And, giving her an artichoke. 
Devoured her with his eyes. 
— Exchange.'] 
«. . 
PLANTING AND MINES ALONG THE 
ZAMBESI AND THE OPHIR OF 
SCRIPTURE. 
Dr, Carl Peters read a paper on March 7tli be 
fore the Society of Arts. We quote as follows:— 
Macombe'a country is situated in the Portuguese 
sphere of interest, but up to this time it is practi- 
cally independent. He gave me the right of start- 
ing a store in his country, and I think that this 
is well worth having, as he is rich in gold, ivory, 
wax, and india-rubber, and a well-managed store is 
sure to pay. Altogether I think this part of Africa, 
from an industrial point of view, must have a future. 
The advantage of the navigable Zambesi leading to 
it cannot be valued highly enough. When the Mas- 
honaland railwiiy has been finished as far as Tete, 
you will soon perceive that as the Zambesi trade 
turns towards Mashonaland, the trade of Mashona- 
land will turn towards the Zambesi, and seek an 
outlet at the Indian ocean. The country of Macombe 
is well adapted for plantations along the Zambesi. 
The sugar-cane grows abundantly on the banks of 
the Zambesi, and 1 think that tine tobacco may be 
grown all over the country. At the western side 
of the country, we discovered a mountain range 
called Baraouro, which rises up to 4,01 '0 feet, and 
is well watered. Here tea, cocoa, coffee, and other 
cultivations may be stvrted, and in this part Euro- 
pean settlers will find a healthy climate. The south 
of the country towards the Pungwe is again a big 
forest, full of game, an Eldorado for the hunter. I 
will not here enter on the question whether we have 
in the Fura district, the real spot of the ancient 
Ophir, as this question is only indirectly connected 
with the natural wealth of Macombe's counry. I 
personally have reasons which I will bring forward, 
that King Solomon's gold expeditions were directed 
to this part of the world. On the Zambesi .Solo- 
mon's people could find all the goods, which are 
mentioned in the Bible as freight of the Ophir 
ships — gold, ivory, gum-trees, and guineafowls, as well 
as apes. Up to the Fura district was a continual 
water connection from the Red Seii. Merchants 
could sail up the river as far as the Lupata Gorge, 
and it is quite likely that they heard from the natives 
at the mouth of the Zambesi of the existence of 
this alluvial district. The likeness of the names, 
Fura and Afer, is perhaps not decisive, but still very 
remarkable. So also is the fact that Fura today has 
the same meaning in the Makalauga language as 
Ophir had in the ancient Semitic laoguiges, "hole" 
or ''mine." The existence of ancient Semitic ruins, 
as well as the survival of the old Semitic religious 
[deas in the population are also remarkable. What 
1 am inclined to consider a strong evidence in favour 
of my Ophir theory, is the fact that when the 
Portuguese arrived in South Africa Arab tradeis told 
them that up the Zambesi river was the gold land 
of Afur, our Fura of today, and this was identical 
with King Solomon's Ophir. Now the Arabs were 
the natural deoendants of the ancient Sabsean con- 
quistadores, and a continuity of tradition from the 
ages of their ancestors on this point is not at all 
surprising. I think critical scholars will agree with 
me that this is, indeed, a very strong argument. 
The Chairman Sir Owen Burne said while public 
attention was entirely centred on Sauth Africa, and 
the war going on there. Dr. Peters had taken them 
a trek up north to the Zambesi, and given them a 
most interesting and instructive paper. He had 
pointed out in a convincing manner that our modern 
name of Africa was practically the Latin adjective 
form of the ancient Semitic word " Ophir " or Afer 
as it was termed in South Arabia, and had shown 
that the links between Asia and parts of Equatorial 
Africa were numerous in ancient times. It seemed 
also to him (the Chairman) that the few specimens 
of the Blacombe language, as given by Dr. Peters, 
had a certain resemblance both to Arabic and He- 
brew, and this bore out a growing opinion rendered 
highly probable by the accurate researches of M. 
D'AnviUe and Mr. Bruce that the ancient fleets of 
King Solomon after passing the Straits of Bab el- 
Mandeb did not sail on to Ceylon or India, as many 
had hitherto thought, but held their course along 
the south east coast of Africa, as far as the Zambesi 
and the kingdom of Sofola, whence they drew their 
rich stores of gold and silver. It seemed to be prob- 
able also, as suggested by Dr Peters, that from 
these same localities the Queen of Sheba collected 
those quantities of precious metals and stones which 
she presented in such abundance to King Solomon. 
tSo theclaimof Ceylon to include the Ophir and Tar- 
Shisii of Scripture is strongly disputed. — EdT". .4.] 
Ru.ssiAN EiiUiT. — Mr. P. Stclierbina, horti- 
culturist, of Simplieropol, Crimea, Russia, lias sent 
us some elaborate and beautifully prepared tables, 
showing the qualities of the best sorts of Cherries, 
Plums, Apricots, and Peaches, as observed during 
eighteen years. The first column contains the 
name of tlie variety, then cotne eleven columns 
showing the degree of hardihood ; 2, the vigour 
of the tree ; 3, its fertility ; 4, its size ; 5, its 
quality; 6, its lirniness ; 7, its market value. To 
each of these an allotted number of points is 
assigned, and these numbers are added together 
in a column of tetals. In addition the time or 
season in which the fruit is available its form 
and colour, are given in separate columns, but 
these are not numerically assessed. To give one 
example we may say that Grosse Mignoniie Peach 
has for the column above mentioned 8 points, 8 for 
vigour, 8 for fertility, 10 for size, 9 for quality, 8 
for firmness, 9 for market value (not otherwise de- 
teriniced), forming a total of 60 points ; while Early 
Beatrice gets only 55. Madeleine rouge has the 
highest number of points, viz., 73. Eighty-three 
kinds of Cherries are thus tabulated ; forty-five 
Plums, and twenty-live Apricots. Some of the 
sorts are not known in this country, and that 
circumstance added to the length of the tablet 
makes it undesirable for us to publish them as 
full length. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 
