OPHIR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 169, 31 May 1872, Page 6

OPHIR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

It seems that there' is * reason v to be-

lieve that, the,locality'jfrom whicli Solomon nearly 5000 years ago, obtained. ' through.'Phoenician navigators, so much;' gold, ivory, and precious stoneSj has* at last been rediscovered, as it appears !, from letters of/Professor,,* Peterina'nn,. „ .celebrated geographer.; p,£ G-otha, to .his ~, scientific friends.* - <■■< , >-, .- The Portuguese'in"'the'l6th century [ found ancient relics' of' gold '"inine's ' near' Sofala> together', with,/ruins, 'of,, , buildings, which, according tp ,the traf- ■ ditions of the natives, originated from .. the Queen' of iSheba.' ■ 'Even written works were said to exist there from ' that remote period when"the buildings ? were r constructed.- After the Phoenician • the svoyages'were continued by the ; Arabs to Sofala, for gold, such voyages at that time occupying often three years. The Berlin missionaries at the out-stations of the Trans-Vaal had heard of these ancient extensive struc- - tures within the last few years, but it was reserved to the well-known traveller C. Manch, actually to reach the locality towards the end of 1871. The -, first- ruins were found at Zimbabye in 20deg 14m south and 31deg 48m east, therefore about 200 miles due west of the harbour of Sofala. Herr Manchfound alluvial gold at once. The ruins',,, are in some instances 30 feet high, 15 feet thick, and 450 feet in diameter. 1 : All hitherto seen were built of cut, ' .granite [!], without the use,of mortar,,'., and the ornamentations- are in, the:--Phoenician style. The present'aborgines of the spot' occupy the country only since forty , years, and,, keep these relics sacrecL \. Iron implements have also been found.

Other ruins at no' great 1 distanced the N. W. had ■ not yet been visited-' Among them is an obelisk:, according to the sayings of l tlie natives. } ,The country is -lovely, , with elevations 4,000 feet above-the 1 sea. It is well watered, fertile, and-densely populated jby industrious and peaceable''tribes, " j who cultivate rice and.corn,- and ,pos- ,' jsess cattle, sheep and goats. ,It-is re-. i jn&rka'ble that a locality, comparatively • so r.r:ar -to Del ago; should have remained so long concealed to "commerce." "The dianioGds v Selas of. South Africa at,no dis-; tance Hvill give additional access *to T ' these nlysterious regions.3t is right to the foregoing • that : .in an article, in a German paper Kiepert expressed'\doubt? about' the surmisedidentity of the a Jicient-buildings and mines discovered by Manch .with those,. of ancl he declares himself, from a linguistic po?ut of view,-in favour of Lassen's- opinion, acpording.,to v which , Ophir must b-e- fought in India, probably abkira, the final exploration of this new archaeological region lead to, the " discovery of the latter js'l-a glorious contribution to knowledge,'historical"philological, and geographical. "——■— wmm\ ■ll '..hit i-j'.i 11 ,~r—m^m

Advices' from jSW^igator's' G-'roup state that the American war ; steamer Narraganset had.taken possession of Titiula in the name\ f»£ the tTnited ' States, and it was. the general' belief*' that ,the whole .gron© should be an-., nexed. The Captain Hayes was found there, wttM the brig Leonora, and of the Narra- * ganset arrested him fbif ounces committed against the United States laws, but, after a' formal iLVqa-ry released him. . !_j ' - •

• "Mr.". member for Bath, in addressing h:y constituents on his return from concluded his remarks by saying :--"-" Prior to my late journey I wai familiar.with, theo- '• riessas to other forms of* government different from.our own, ;but I never,, saw or heard so much of Yheir practical working as.lhave dcitoin theTTni-*, . ted States. It would be Aacandid ,not to acknowledge that, y-hile seeing much to admire, I have be;an most de-cidedly-confirmed in • thoj convictionj which , happily, prevails almost universally, that nothing coulil ibe more unwise than to lift the anc-b/o* of monarchy in old -England. ■ T;he ! frequent changes, the*perpetual excrement,,the, disgraceful rowdyism so \ common, in ' .America 'are alone 'sufficiV.m !6 ' warn us against substituting''a BlepM. ilic : fo'r a Monarchy. -./_s ... ~ f «.:'■:.„