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Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2118, 22 April 1920, Page 1

The Wakamba, the leading Bantu tribe in Uganda, are the most highly civilised black race in Africa. They had a decimal system of calculation when first discovered by white men. They also understood iron- working, and had a considerable knowledge of music. ; , . •

The. Chinese made artificial cinnabar long before Europe was a civilised country, and to this day there ai’e trade secrets in the vermilion industries which no European has yet been able to fathom. If all the land of the globe were scraped off down to the level of the sea and thrown into the ocean it would fill only one-thirtieth part of the enormous abyss which is occupied by the waters. At the sides of the famous pitch lakes of Trinidad the pilch is hard and cold, but at the centre it is almost constantly boiling. All efforts to ascertain the depth of the lake have been unsuccessful. The Shah of Persia possesses perhaps the most valuable pipe in (lie world. It is the Persian official pipe, and is smoked only on stale .occasions. It is set with rubies and diamonds, and is valued at £IOO,000. •In the thirteenth century a law had to be passed in Britain compelling the people to cut down all trees and shrubs for a distance of 200 feet from all roads running between market towns, so that robbers should not.hide and waylay travellers.