Читать книгу Great Zimbabwe, Mashonaland, Rhodesia. An account of two years' examination work in 1902-4 on behalf of the government of Rhodesia онлайн

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But our stay within these massive walls was brief. The writer would have over two years in which to wander in their labyrinthine passages, and to examine their architectural features, and compare them with those of Rhodesian ruins elsewhere, but his friends must start back to Victoria before sunrise next day. On our way to the other important ruins—the Acropolis or Hill Fortress—we visited the grave of Major Alan Wilson and his party[15] who were killed on the Shangani during the flight of King Lo ’Bengula in 1893.

We climbed up the 230 feet to the Acropolis ruins, but our visit here also was brief. We clambered round the summits of the walls of the two temples, which have a score of monoliths still standing, more or less erect, and penetrated some of the most intricate passages. The feeling experienced here was one of intense wonder and bewilderment at the stupendous walls erected at such a height, walls which must have taken years to build, and all of granite blocks. The view from the summit is among the finest in Rhodesia. We watched the sunset glow fading on the white walls of the Elliptical Temple below, and then descended to prepare the huts for the night and arrange the stores in their proper quarters. Later, when the round moon one day off the full was shining, we sat outside the huts watching the effects shown on the western temple on the hill where the monoliths high up above us stood out against the greenish moonlit sky. At 4 a.m. the mules were inspanned in the wagon, and my friends took their departure, leaving me alone among ruins and natives.