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Rh which is deeply mystical and imaginative, has for its central idea the dangers of bigotry and superstition, and the necessity of intuitive religion to progress and culture. It is a work full of opulent colour and crowded life, no less than of philosophy and spiritual beauty. Shorthouse’s work was always marked by high earnestness of purpose, a luxuriant style and a genuinely spiritual quality. He lacked dramatic faculty and the workmanlike conduct of narrative, but he had almost every other quality of the born novelist. He died at Edgbaston on the 4th of March 1903.

 SHOSHONG, a town in the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, formerly the chief settlement of the eastern Bamangwato. It is about 200 m. N.N.E. of Mafeking and 30 m. N. of Shoshong Road Station on the Cape Town–Bulawayo railway. The town is situated 3000 ft. above the sea in the valley of the Shoshong, an intermittent tributary of the Limpopo. The site was originally chosen as the headquarters of the Bamangwato as being easily defensible against the Matabele. At the time of the declaration of a British protectorate in 1885 Shoshong had 20,000 to 30,000 inhabitants, including about twenty Europeans. Being the meeting place of trade routes from south and north it was of considerable importance to early explorers and traders in South-Central Africa, and a mission station of the London Missionary Society (preceded for many years by a station of the Hermannsburg Lutheran Missionary Society) was founded here in 1862. Owing, however, to the scarcity of water at Shoshong, Khama, the chief of the Bamangwato, and most of his followers removed about 1890 to Palapye—50 m. N.E. of Shoshong—and later to Serowe to the north-west of Palapye. Like Shoshong, these places are built in valleys of tributaries of the Limpopo. Shoshong was not entirely deserted and has a population of about 800 (see ).  SHOTTS, a mining and manufacturing parish of Lanarkshire, Scotland. It comprises eight villages, parts of two others, and the town of Cleland (including Omoa) and is served by the North British and Caledonian railways. Pop. (1891) 11,957; (1901) 15,562. The parish contains large ironworks, tile, fire-clay and brick-works, and quarries, and includes the Lanark district asylum and a fever hospital. The curious name of Omoa is supposed to have been given to his property by some soldier or sailor who had settled here after the wars in Honduras, of which Omoa is a seaport. Matthew Baillie (1761–1823), famous for his researches in morbid anatomy, and Janet Hamilton (1795–1873), the poetess, were born in the parish of Shotts.  SHOULDER (in O.E. sculder, cognate with Ger. Schulter, Dutch schouder, Swed. skuldra, &c; the root is unknown), the name of that part of the body of man and animals where the upper arm or fore-leg articulates with the collar bone and shoulder-blade (see ).  SHOVEL, SIR CLOUDESLEY [or as he seems to have spelt the name himself] (c. 1650–1707), English admiral, was baptised at Cockthorpe in Norfolk on the 25th of November 1650, and went to sea under the care of his kinsman Sir Christopher Mynns. He set himself to study navigation, and, owing to his able seamanship and brave and open-hearted disposition, became a general favourite and obtained quick promotion. In 1674 he served as lieutenant under Sir John Narborough in the Mediterranean, where he burned four men-of-war under the castles and walls of Tripoli, belonging to the pirates of that place. He was present as captain of the “Edgar” (70) at the first fight at Bantry Bay, and shortly afterwards was knighted. In 1690 he convoyed William III. across St George’s Channel to Ireland; the same year he was made rear-admiral of the blue, and was present at the battle of Beachy Head on 10th July. In 1692 he was appointed rear-admiral of the red, and joined Admiral Russell, under whom he greatly distinguished himself at La Hogue, by being the first to break through the enemy’s line. Not long after, when Admiral Russell was superseded, Shovel was put in joint command of the fleet with Admiral Killigrew and Sir Ralph Delaval. In 1702 he brought home the spoils of the French and Spanish fleets from Vigo, after their capture by Sir George Rooke, and in 1704 he served under Sir George Rooke in the Mediterranean and cooperated in the taking of Gibraltar. In January 1704 he was named rear-admiral of England, and shortly afterwards commander-in-chief of the British fleets. He co-operated with the earl of Peterborough in the capture of Barcelona in 1705, and commanded the naval part of the unsuccessful attempt on Toulon in October 1707. When returning with the fleet to England his ship, the “Association,” at eight o’clock at night on the 22nd of October, struck on the rocks near Scilly, and was seen by those on board the “St George” to go down in three or four minutes’ time, not a soul being saved of 800 men that were on board. The body of Sir Cloudesley Shovel was cast ashore next day, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. It is said that he was alive when he reached the shore at Porthellick Cove, but was murdered by a woman for the sake of his rings.

 SHOVEL (O.E. scofl, from root of scufan, to shove, push, cf. Ger. Schaufel, also Schüppe, scoop), an implement or tool, consisting of a broad flat blade with edges or sides turned up fixed to a wooden handle terminating in a bow like a spade. It is used for lifting or removing such loose substances as coal, gravel and the like.  SHOVELER, formerly spelt and more anciently  a word by which used to be meant the bird now almost invariably called  (q.v.), but in the latter half of the 16th century transferred to one hitherto generally, and in these days locally, known as the Spoon-billed Duck—the Anas clypeata of Linnaeus and Rhynchaspis or Spatula clypeata of modern writers. All these names refer to the shape of the bird’s bill, which, combined with the remarkably long lamellae that beset both maxilla and mandible, has been thought sufficient to remove the species from the Linnaean genus Anas. Except for the extraordinary formation of this feature, which carries with it a clumsy look, the male Shoveler would pass for one of the most beautiful of this generally beautiful group of birds. As it is, for bright and variegated colouring, there are few of his kindred to whom he is inferior. His golden eye, his dark green head, surmounting a breast of pure white and succeeded by underparts and flanks of rich bay, are conspicuous; while his deep brown back, white scapulas, lesser wing-coverts (often miscalled shoulders) of a glaucous blue, and glossy green speculum bordered with white present a wonderful contrast of the richest tints, heightened again by his bright orange feet. On the other hand, the female, excepting the blue wing-coverts she has in common with her mate, is habited very like the ordinary Wild-Duck, A. boscas. The Shoveler is not an abundant species, and in Great Britain its distribution is local; but its numbers have remarkably increased since the passing of the Wild-Fowl Protection Act in 1876, so that in certain districts it has regained its old position as an indigenous member of the Fauna. It has not ordinarily a very high northern range, but inhabits the greater part of Europe, Asia and America, passing southwards, like most of the Anatidae towards winter, constantly reaching India, Ceylon, Abyssinia, the Antilles and Central America, while it is known to have occurred at that season in Colombia, and, according to Gould, in Australia. Generally resembling in its habits the other freshwater ducks, the Shoveler has one peculiarity that has been rarely, if ever, mentioned, and one that is perhaps correlated with the structure of its bill. It seems to be especially given to feeding on the surface of the water immediately above the spot where diving ducks (Fuligulinae) are employing themselves beneath. On such occasions a pair of Shovelers may be watched, almost for the hour together, swimming in a circle, about a yard in diameter, their heads turned inwards towards its centre, their bills immersed vertically in the water, and engaged in sifting, by means of the long lamellae before mentioned, the floating matters that are disturbed by

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text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Shoshong

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Shoshong


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Shotts

title: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Shotts


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Shoulder

title: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Shoulder


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Shovel, Sir Cloudesley


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Shovel

title: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Shovel


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 The history of Rhodes during the Persian wars is quite obscure. In the 5th century the three cities were enrolled in the Delian League, and democracies became prevalent. In 412 the island revolted from Athens and became the headquarters of the Peloponnesian fleet. Four years later the inhabitants for the most part abandoned their former residences and concentrated in the newly founded city of Rhodes. This town, which was laid out on an exceptionally fine site according to a scientific plan by the architect Hippodamus of Miletus, soon rose to considerable importance, and attracted much of the Aegean and Levantine commerce which had hitherto been in Athenian hands. In the 4th century its political development was arrested by constant struggles between oligarchs and democrats, who in turn brought the city under the control of Sparta (412–395, 391–378), of Athens (395–391, 378–357), and of the Carian dynasty of Maussollus (357–340). It seems that about 340 the island was conquered for the Persian king by his Rhodian admiral Mentor; in 332 it submitted to Alexander the Great. Upon Alexander’s death the people expelled their Macedonian garrison, and henceforth not only maintained their independence but acquired great political influence. The expansion of Levantine trade which ensued in the Hellenistic age brought especial profit to Rhodes, whose standard of coinage and maritime law became widely accepted in the Mediterranean. Under a modified type of democracy, in which the chief power would seem to have rested normally with the six, or heads of the executive, the city enjoyed a long period of remarkably good administration. The chief success of the government lay in the field of foreign politics, where it prudently avoided entanglement in the ambitious schemes of Hellenistic monarchs, but gained great prestige by energetic interference against aggressors who threatened the existing balance of power or the security of the seas. The chief incidents of Rhodian history during this period are a memorable siege by Demetrius Poliorcetes in 304, who sought in vain to force the city into active alliance with King Antigonus by means of his formidable fleet and artillery; a severe earthquake in 227, the damages of which all the other Hellenistic states contributed to repair, because they could not afford to see the island ruined; some vigorous campaigns against Byzantium, the Pergamene and the Pontic kings, who had threatened the Black Sea trade-route (220 sqq.), and against the pirates of Crete. In accordance with their settled policy the Rhodians eagerly supported the Romans when these made war upon Philip V. of Macedon and Antiochus III. of Syria on behalf of the minor Greek states. In return for their more equivocal attitude during the Third Macedonian War they were deprived by Rome of some possessions in Lycia, and damaged by the partial diversion of their trade to Delos (167). Nevertheless during the two Mithradatic wars they remained loyal to the republic, and in 88 successfully stood a siege by the Pontic king. The Rhodian navy, which had distinguished itself in most of these wars, did further good service on behalf of Pompey in his campaigns against the pirates and against Julius Caesar. A severe blow was struck against the city in 43 by C. Cassius, who besieged and ruthlessly plundered the people for refusing to submit to his exactions. Though Rhodes continued a free town for another century, its commercial prosperity was crippled and a series of extensive earthquakes after 155 completed the ruin of the city.

In the days of its greatest power Rhodes became famous as a centre of pictorial and plastic art; it gave rise to a school of eclectic oratory whose chief representative was Apollonius Molon, the teacher of Cicero; it was the birthplace of the Stoic philosopher Panaetius; the home of the poet Apollonius Rhodius and the historian Posidonius. Protogenes embellished the city with his paintings, and Chares of Lindus with the celebrated colossal statue of the sun-god, which was 105 ft. high. The Colossus stood for fifty-six years, till an earthquake prostrated it in 224 Its enormous fragments continued to excite wonder in the time of Pliny, and were not removed till  656, when Rhodes was conuered by the Saracens, who sold the remains for old metal to a dealer, who employed nine hundred camels to carry them away. The notion that the colossus once stood astride over the entrance to the harbour is a medieval fiction. During the later Roman empire Rhodes was the capital of the province of the islands. Its history under the Byzantine rule is uneventful, but for some temporary occupations by the Saracens (653–658, 717–718), and the gradual encroachment of Venetian traders since 1082. In the 13th century the island stood as a rule under the control of Italian adventurers, who were, however, at times compelled to acknowledge the overlordship of the emperors of Nicaea, and failed to protect it against the depredations of Turkish corsairs. In 1309 it was conquered by the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem at the instigation of the pope and the Genoese, and converted into a great fortress for the protection of the southern seas against the Turks. Under their mild and just rule both the native Greeks and the Italian residents were able to carry on a brisk trade. But the piratical acts of these traders, in which the knights themselves sometimes joined, and the strategic position of the island between Constantinople and the Levant, necessitated its reduction by the Ottoman sultans. A siege in 1480 by Mahomet II. led to the repulse of the Turks with severe losses; after a second investment, during which Sultan Suleiman I. is said to have lost 90,000 men out of a force of 200,000, the knights evacuated Rhodes under an honourable capitulation (1522). The population henceforth dwindled in consequence of pestilence and emigration, and although the island recovered somewhat in the 18th century under a comparatively lenient rule it was brought to a very low ebb owing to the severity of its governor during the Greek revolution. The sites of Lindus, Ialysus, and Camirus, which in the most ancient times were the principal towns of the island, are clearly marked, and the first of the three is still occupied by a small town with a medieval castle, both of them dating from the time of the knights, though the castle occupies the site of the ancient acropolis, of the walls of which considerable remains are still visible. There are no ruins of any importance on the site of either Ialysus or Camirus, but excavations at the latter place have produced valuable and interesting results in the way of ancient vases and other antiquities, which are now in the British Museum. Rhodes was again famous for its pottery in medieval times; this was a lustre ware at first imitated from Persian, though it afterwards developed into an independent style of fine colouring and rich variety of design.

See Pindar, 7th Olympian Ode; Diodorus v. 55–59, xiii.–xx. passim; Polybius iv. 46–52, v. 88–90, xvi. 2–9, xxvii.–xxix. passim; C. Torr, Rhodes in Ancient Times (Cambridge, 1885), Rhodes in Modern Times (Cambridge, 1887); C. Schumacher, De republic Rhodiorum commentatio (Heidelberg, 1886); H. van Gelder, Geschichte der alten Rhodier (Hague, 1900); B. V. Head, Historia Numorum (Oxford, 1887), pp. 539-542; and Baron de Balabre, Rhodes of the Knights (1909). (E. H. B.; ; M. O. B. C.)  RHODESIA (so named after Cecil Rhodes), an inland country and British possession in South Central Africa, bounded S. and S.W. by the Transvaal, the Bechuanaland Protectorate and German South-West Africa; W. by Portuguese West Africa; N.W. by Belgian Congo; N.E. by German East Africa; E. by the British Nyasaland Protectorate and Portuguese East Africa. It covers an area of about 450,000 sq. m., being larger than France, Germany and the Low Countries combined. It is divided into two parts of unequal size by the middle course of the Zambezi.

Southern Rhodesia, with an area of 148,575 sq. m., consists of Matabeleland and Mashonaland, the Western and eastern provinces, while the trans-Zambezi regions are divided into North-Western Rhodesia (or Barotseland) and North-Eastern Rhodesia.

Physical Features.—Rhodesia forms part of the high tableland which constitutes the interior of Africa.south of the Congo basin. Hydrographically the greater part of the country belongs to the basin of the (q.v.), but in the N.E. it includes the eastern head streams of the Congo, and in the S. and S.E. it is drained by the tributaries of the Limpopo, the Sabi and the Pungwe. The Limpopo forms the boundary between Southern Rhodesia and the Transvaal. The northwestern regions, drained by the upper Zambezi and its affluents, are described under, and North-Eastern Rhodesia, together with the adjacent Nyasaland Protectorate, under. The highest portion of the tableland of Southern Rhodesia runs from the S.W. to the N .E. and forms a broad watershed between the tributaries of the Zambezi flowing north and the rivers flowing south and east. It is along this high plateau that the railway runs from Bulawayo to Salisbury and onwards to Portuguese East Africa. The elevation of the railway varies from 4500 ft. to 5500 ft. There is a gradual sloping away of the plateau to the N.W. and S.E., so

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Rh

Ðā wæs on burgumBēowulf Scyldinga, lēof lēod-cyning,longe þrāge folcum gefrǣge(fæder ellor hwearf, aldor of earde),oþ þæt him eft onwōc hēah Healfdene;hēold þenden lifde, gamol ond gūð-rēouw,glæde Scyldingas. Ðǣm feower bearnforð gerīmed in worold wōcun,weoroda rǣswa Heorogār, ond Hrōðgārond Hālga til; hȳrde ic, þæt Elan cwēn[Ongenþēowes wæs]

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Rh that only a small portion of Southern Rhodesia is under 3000 ft. The eastern boundary, along Portuguese East Africa, forms the edge of the tableland; the height of the edge is accentuated by a series of ridges, so that the country here assumes a mountainous appearance, the grass-clad heights being reminiscent of the Cheviot Hills of Scotland or the lower Alps of Switzerland.

Geology.—The geology of this region is very imperfectly known. Metamorphic rocks extend over immense areas, but these and the other formations are to a great extent hidden beneath superficial deposits. Conglomerates and banded ironstone rocks are found in the metamorphic areas around Bulawayo and the borders of Katanga; but to what extent these represent the different formations older than the Karroo and newer than the Swaziland schists (see ) has not been satisfactorily determined. Certain gold-bearing conglomerates, are regarded as the equivalents of the Witwatersrand series, but the main sources of gold are the veins of quartz and igneous rocks developed in the metamorphic series. The Karroo formation is well represented, and covers extensive areas in the Zambezi basin. The Dwyka conglomerate appears to be developed in the Tuli district. The coal-bearing strata of Tuli and Wankies are certainly of Karroo age. They have yielded the fossil remains of fishes Acrolepis molyneuxi, the fresh-water mollusc Palaeomutela, a few reptilian bones, and species of Glossopteris among plants.

The age of a widely distributed series of red-white sandstones, named by Molyneux the Forest Sandstone, remains uncertain. Molyneux considers them Tertiary, but it is not improbable that sandstones of various ages from Karroo to those of Recent date are represented. They contain numerous interbedded sheets of basalt, but it is doubtful if any of these are of so recent a date as Tertiary. Rocks of Karroo age occur round Lake Bangweulu, and contain numerous fossil plants and a few small shells. The age of the wide, thick sheet of basalt, through which the Zambezi has cut the Batoka gorge between the Victoria Falls and Wankies, remains uncertain.

Climate.—As Southern Rhodesia extends between 16° S. and 22° S., and is thus within the tropics, it might be expected that the climate would be trying for Europeans, but owing to the elevation of the country the temperature is rarely too high for comfort. Another factor that renders the climate equable is that the rainy season coincides with the summer months, and the winter months are dry. The nights are always cool, so that the climate approximates to the ideal. On the high tableland which forms the great proportion of the country the temperature in the shade rarely reaches 100° and there is just sufficient frost in the winter to be useful to farmers. The winter months are June, July and August, and the hottest months are the spring months of September, October and November, just before the rains begin. A temperature of 110° is sometimes reached in the low-lying district of Tuli (elevation 1890 ft.) and in the Zambezi valley. There is a striking difference between the minimum temperatures on the ground and those registered 4 ft. from the ground. The latter rarely reach freezing-point, but the ground temperature is sometimes as low as 24°. Hoar frost is most noticeable in the vleis and low-lying areas. The period known as the rainy season extends from September to March, but the greatest amount falls in the last three months of that period. The mean annual rainfall for various stations in the eastern half of Rhodesia ranges from 24 to 44 in., the greatest rainfall being along the eastern border. For the western half the mean ranges from 19 to 27 in., but in the south-west corner it is much drier, the rainfall so far recorded never reaching 18 in. There is a sufficiency of rain for all summer crops, but winter crops, such as wheat, must be assisted by irrigation. Malaria is prevalent in certain districts during the wet season, but this is now preventable and the country is very healthy, children, especially in towns and on the high veld, growing sturdily. The death-rate amongst Europeans is only about 15 per 1000.

Fauna.—Rhodesia is rich in the larger gramivorous animals, especially in antelope, which number about twenty-five varieties, including kudu, eland, hartebeeste, roan, sable, wildebeeste and impala. The most common are the duiker, the steenbok and the rietbok. Other herbivorous animals found in the country are the buffalo, giraffe, zebra, elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros (black and white), warthog, and various baboons and monkeys. The buffalo is now rare, having been almost exterminated by the rinderpest in 1896. The carnivora include the lion, leopard, cheetah, and various wild cats, foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs. There are at least five varieties of the mongoose. Amongst the rodents are squirrels, dormice, rats (eleven kinds), the porcupine, the Cape hare and the rock hare. Of insectivora the ant-eater, the ant-bear, the hedgehog and various shrews may be mentioned. Bats number eleven varieties. Snakes are numerous, the most important being the python, the puff-adder and the cobra. Crocodiles and iguanas are found in most of the rivers, and chameleons and lizards are very common. Rhodesia abounds in beetles, butterflies and moths, and new varieties are frequently discovered in the wet season. Mention ought to be made of white ants (termites) and locusts. The ants are a serious pest, attacking all cut timber resting in or on the ground. They gradually envelop the dead wood in a mound of earth and, consume it wholly, so that all poles and house-timber have to be carefully protected either by chemical preparations or by raising them clear from contact with the earth. The mounds which the white ants erect often reach a height of many feet. There are several kinds, the black-headed nipper ant, chiefly found in the west, being the most destructive. Locusts are particularly dreaded in their wingless state, when they clean off every green leaf, every bit of vegetation, as they march on in their hundreds of thousands. The rivers are not very plentiful in fish, but occasional sport is afforded by barbel, bream and tiger-fish.

Birds to the number of about 400 varieties have been found in Rhodesia. The largest of these are the ostrich, the secretary-bird, the paauw, the koorhaan, cranes (three varieties), storks (four), vultures (six) and eagles (eight). The chief birds that attract sportsmen, besides the paauw and the koorhaan already mentioned, are the guinea-fowl (three kinds), partridge and francolin (seven kinds), wild goose, duck and teal. Some of the most interesting birds are the weaver-birds (eighteen), the ox-peckers, which find their food on the backs of cattle, the kingfishers (eight), the hornbills (five), the parrots, lovebirds, the polygamous widow birds—whose females are of insignificant appearance, but whose males develop a brilliant plumage and lengthy tails during the

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text: Beowulf (Wyatt)/Beowulf 00

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The decipherment of the cuneiform inscriptions of Western Asia is worthy of being included among the great achievements of the nineteenth century. Only a hundred years ago it was still possible to maintain that there was no such thing as cuneiform writing, and that the mysterious figures that went by that name were merely a grotesque form of ornamentation. We propose to recount the method pursued by the long succession of scholars who in the end succeeded in solving the perplexing problem that was presented to them. Few, if any, of those who, in the beginning of last century, occupied themselves with the subject, could have imagined the brilliant discoveries that would result from their tedious labours. In these pages we shall be chiefly occupied with the inscriptions of the Achaemenian kings. They were the first to be discovered and studied, and they possess the peculiar advantage of being, with few exceptions, trilingual. They are, in fact, generally found in three parallel columns, and it was seen that the characters and no doubt the languages also varied in each. It was observed that the writing in one of the columns was much simpler than in the others; the number of


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168 . . . The day is come when to one or other thy way must lead,— loss of life, or lasting glory ever with earth-dwellers, Ælfhere’s son! Nowise can my words bewail, O friend, that ever I saw thee, when swords were at play, shamefully shrink from shock of battle with warrior foe, and flee to the wall to shield thy body,—though blades enow hewed on thy harness from hostile throng! Nay, further ever the fight thou hast urged, and I feared thy fate, so far thy venture, lest thou too wildly shouldst war, and seek, in clash of contest, combat mortal with another man. Have mind now on honor, on glory of war, while God is with thee! Fear not for the brand: the bravest of weapons, ’twas given to help us ! On Guthhere, therefore, beat down his boast; this battle he sought, and stirred up strife in spite of justice; the sword he claimed, and the caskets of treasure, wealth of rings: now, wanting them all he shall flee from this fight to find his lord, hasten homeward, or here shall he die if he. ..


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X different signs being limited to about forty-two. It was assumed that they were alphabetical, whereas there could be little doubt from their great number that the signs in the other columns were syllabic or ideographic. Notwithstanding the comparative simplicity of the former, it was not till forty years had been devoted to their study that the riddle was successfully solved. At length the sound of each letter was fully established, and the words they combined to form were found to belong to a language, akin to Zend, to which the name of Old Persian is now given. From its analogy to Zend and Pehlevi it was a comparatively easy task to assign correct or approximately correct meanings to the words, and to arrive at the sense of the short sentences that occur on the monuments. The first stage in the progress of decipherment was reached in 1845, when Professor Lassen of Bonn published a tentative but fairly correct translation of the whole of the inscriptions then accessible, belonging to the first or Persian column. This success was no doubt a matter of great interest to the philologist; but the inscriptions themselves were found to be almost wholly wanting in historical importance. They were nearly all taken from buildings at Persepolis or elsewhere, and they simply commemorated their erection by Darius or by Xerxes or by Artaxerxes Ochus. They are uniformly conceived in the same set form of words, from which at the most some deductions might be drawn as to the relations existing between the Persian and his god Ormuzd. Two of them indeed were varied by a list of the provinces included in the Empire. It is true the


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Rh inscription at Behistun was not included in this collection; but even it adds little of importance except with reference to the revolt of the Magian impostor. The publication of this inscription by Major Rawlinson, in 1846, marks the successful termination of the task of deciphering the first column, and a complete mastery over the Old Persian language had then been obtained.

It was correctly supposed that the other two columns contained translations of the same Persian text; and the knowledge now acquired of the latter could not but afford an invaluable key to unlock the difficulties of the others. The decipherment of the inscriptions in the second column was attended by even less interest than the first. The language was ascertained to be Scythic, but nothing was found written in it except what was already known from the Persian. It, however, gave rise to a very heated controversy as to who the people were by whom it was spoken, which for a time enlivened an otherwise extremely dull subject. The decipherment of the third column, however, at length led to very important consequences that amply compensated for all previous disappointments. It was clearly recognised that the writing closely resembled inscriptions found on bricks that had been picked up from time to time on the site of Babylon; and hence the third column received, even in the beginning of the inquiry, the distinctive name of the 'Babylonian Column.' Only very few specimens of these unilingual inscriptions in the Babylonian character were collected during the first half of the century, and no progress was made in their decipherment. Meanwhile, however,


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 breeding season, when they are on guard over their harems of from ten to fifteen wives—the sunbirds, with their long curved beaks that search out the nectar of flowers, and the honey-guides, which, with their agitated “chuck, chuck,” lead the wayfarer to bees’ nests with expectation of joining in the plunder. The small birds of Rhodesia are usually very brilliantly coloured, the most distinguished being what is known as the blue jay, with its bright, iridescent, light blue plumage.

Flora.—The vegetation of the territory is luxurious and mainly subtropical, but in the lower valleys the flora assumes a tropical aspect. The country is well wooded and in this respect differs from the high tablelands farther south. The trees as a rule attain no greater height than about 20 ft., but in some districts, such as South Melsetter and Wankies, there are remains of forests of large timber. The small growth of the trees is said to be due to the annual veld fires, and it is noticeable that native trees that are protected attain a much greater height. As a rule the wood is either very hard or very soft, so that timber for building has still to be imported, although the existing timber is useful for mining purposes. One of the hardest woods is the so-called Rhodesian teak (native Ikusi), which is about 50% harder than real teak (Tectona grandis). The trees most commonly met with are mapane, used for poles; umkamba, resembling mahogany; m’lanji cedar, chiefly found along the eastern border; umsasa, used for firewood; impachla, the native wisteria. Among other trees are the baobab with enormous very soft trunk, the fruit being a large nut containing citrate of magnesia, which natives use to make a cooling drink; the umvagaz—or blood-wood—which issues a blood-coloured juice when cut, and the umkuna, or hissing tree, which hisses when an incision is made. The barks of the umsasa, the umhondo, and the umgosa are much used by natives for binding fibres in making huts and are also used for tanning. The bark of the baobab yields a fine fibre which natives use in making excellent game nets and fishing nets. The native fruit-bearing trees are the fig (many varieties), the mahobohobo or umjanje, resembling the loquat, the Kaffir plum, very sour and totally different from the Kaffir plum of Cape Colony, and the Kaffir orange. Among the shrubs the proteas, or sugar bushes, with their nectar-stored flowers, are the most frequent. The mimosa thorn, although more of the nature of a tree, grows in dense masses, chiefly in the western province.

The period of the year when flowers begin to bloom is rather remarkable. After the long spell of dry weather, lasting from five to seven months, and before any rain has fallen, blooms appear all over the veld. Most of such flowers are those of bulbous plants or plants with large roots that have been stored with nourishment during the previous growing wet season. The flowers are sustained by this stock of food until the rains appear again to replenish the roots. Even grass sprouts green over the earth before the rains appear, and the hard-baked veld is pierced by the shoots of the gladiolus, the orchid, the asparagus, the solanum, the convolvulus and many other flowers. When the rains are far advanced, the annuals shoot rapidly and make a second show of bloom. A peculiarity of the early spring shoots on trees and shrubs is that they have not the green tints of the colder regions, but are all shades of brown and orange and red and yellow.

One of the chief features of Rhodesia is the vast stretches of grass-covered veld, the grasses varying from a few inches to 15 ft. in height and numbering about 100 different varieties. Along the rivers are to be found palms, tree ferns, bananas, dracaenas and other hot climate plants. Rubber, indigo and cotton are indigenous and there are groves of lemon trees, but these were most probably introduced by early settlers. Tobacco, which grows luxuriantly, may also have been introduced.

Inhabitants.—In Southern Rhodesia about half the European population, which in 1909 was approximately 16,500, is British born or born of British parents, and about one-third is South African born. There are about 11,500 males and 5000 females, and the population is equally divided between the urban and rural areas. In rural areas the chief occupations are mining and agriculture. Industrial pursuits, including mining, engage about 25% of the population, 8% are employed in agriculture, and 15% in commerce. Mashonaland has 7500 white inhabitants, and Matabeleland 9000. There are about 2000 Asiatics in Southern Rhodesia.

The Natives of Rhodesia belong to the Bantu-Negro stock and are roughly divisible into two groups; those long settled in the country, and the Amazulu, who during the 19th century left Zululand and, passing through the more southern regions, overran Rhodesia and settled in Matabeleland. The (q.v.) are mainly settled in North-West Rhodesia. In Southern Rhodesia, in spite of incursions from Portuguese territory and from the north, the natives can be still clearly divided into Mashona and Matabele, living in the eastern and western provinces respectively. The name Mashona is not used by the natives but is useful as distinguishing the allied tribes of the eastern division from the Matabele in the west. The languages of the Mashona tribes are allied and are distinct from that of the Matabele (or Zulu), but it is uncertain whether these Mashona tongues should be regarded merely as different dialects, or languages as different as those of the various nations of Europe (but see ). The tribes round Salisbury and extending as far as Marondella in the east and about 100 m. north are clearly branches of the Vasezuru people, that is, the people from “higher up,” the “higher up” being a region in the south-east. Their history can be traced from about the beginning of the 18th century; but there is a great lack of tradition amongst this class of native, which is distinctly inferior in type to the Matabele in the west.

Farther north there are the Makorikori and the Mabudja or Mabushla. It would appear that the country in which these people now dwell was formerly in the possession of the Barotse, and some of the present chiefs obtained their positions by permission of the Barotse. Previously, according to Portuguese documents of the 16th and 17th centuries, the Makaranga or Makalanga now located in the south round about Victoria had possession of the country as far north as the Zambezi. Their language is allied to that of the present inhabitants, but in many respects is widely different and of late has become more so owing to intercourse with the Matabele. Along the eastern border two more tribes can be differentiated, namely, Umtasa’s people in the north and those speaking the Chindawo language in the south. Their languages are merely variants of the language spoken in the Salisbury and Mazoe districts.

All the tribes in the eastern province have very similar habits and customs. Their huts are circular with a wall a foot or two high, made of poles and daga (mud) surmounted by a conical thatched roof. They thus differ from the beehive huts of the Zulus. They are built indiscriminately together and are not surrounded by stockades. The whole family dwells in the same hut along with dogs, goats and fowls, and sometimes even with cattle, though there are usually separate kraals for their cattle. The kraals are as a rule filthy, but the inside of the hut is kept clean. There is a special place for a fire, and a raised portion of the mud floor on which to sleep, but no furniture. Their mealie fields are usually some distance from the place of abode, but their tobacco gardens are near their huts. Their main object in life seems to be to grow sufficient grain for food and beer. The grain they store in granaries, resembling small huts, placed on rocks or on stakes, out of the reach of white ants and secure from the depredations of animals. They amuse themselves occasionally by making earthenware pots which are very soft and easily broken, or by engaging in iron-work or brass-wire work for ornamentation. In the south they are quite clever in making watertight baskets from rushes grown by the Sabi river. In their religious beliefs spirits play a great part. Above all there is a wague idea of a Supreme Being whom they call Mwari. They have a fixed belief in the spirits of their ancestors, the spirits of the witch-doctors, the spirits of the Matabele, the spirits of old women, the spirits of the foolish, the spirits of baboons, &c. Every occurrence is attributed to the influence of a spirit, and if the occurrence is an evil one a feast and dance of propitiation are held. Feasts of thanksgiving are also held on such occasions as the gathering of the first-fruits, the harvest festival, or on the return from a long and dangerous journey. Of the tribes already mentioned the most advanced are Umtasa’s people and the Makaranga. The probable connexion of the tribes now inhabiting Mashonaland with the architects of the ancient stone buildings which are scattered over the country is discussed in the section Archaeology. Of these ruins the most extensive are situated near Victoria and are known as (q.v.).

In the western province the Matabele, or rather Amandabele, are the descendants of the Zulus who trekked under the

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xii the study of the third column proceeded with the help of the Persian key; and at length the energy of scholars was stimulated by the sudden discovery in Assyria of multitudes of unilingual inscriptions written in a very similar character to that of the Babylonian and the third column. M. Botta began his excavations at Khorsabad, in 1843, and Mr. Layard at Nineveh, in 1845-6, and from that period there was no lack of material. The walls, and even the floors, of the newly discovered palaces were covered with long inscriptions which were afterwards found to record the great achievements of their Royal founders. But of far greater interest and importance than these were the numerous inscribed tablets found in what was called the Library of Assurbanipal. The first stage in the progress of this branch of the subject was reached in 1852, when Major Rawlinson published a complete transliteration and translation of the third column of the Behistun inscription, followed soon afterwards by translations of a few of the unilingual inscriptions recently found. The mastery he had obtained of the language of the third column by means of the Persian key enabled him at length to dispense with its assistance, and to pass on to the unilingual inscriptions where he had no such guide. He found that the language belonged to the Semitic family, and it came as a surprise to the learned world of that day to learn that the polytheistic nations of the Euphrates Valley spoke a kindred language to the Hebrew, and belonged presumably to a kindred race. It was thus shown that the three languages of the Persian inscriptions were


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 Rh much to the popularity of his administration. The ceremony was the first wedding of a president in the White House, and his daughter, Esther, born in 1893 during his second term, was the first child of a president to be born in the president's official home. The home life of Mr. Cleveland and his wife and children at the White House and in New York, at Buzzard's Bay and later at Princeton, has been happy, unostentatious, and sheltered from publicity as far as he could effect that desired end. "Those who are selected for a limited time to manage public affairs" he said in his first inaugural address "may do much by their example to encourage, consistently with the dignity of their official functions, that plain way of life which among their fellow citizens aids integrity and promotes thrift and prosperity."

His amusements have been duck shooting and fishing, which for years he has enjoyed with the genial actor, Joseph Jefferson; and he plays billiards for exercise.

The tariff message of 1887 gave the Democratic party its issue and its candidate in 1892, when Cleveland, in spite of minor dissatisfied factions, on the first ballot, was a third time nominated for president. He was elected by a majority of 110 electoral votes, his plurality of nearly 500,000 on the popular vote carrying with it Democratic majorities in both branches of congress and complete Democratic control of federal affairs for the only two years since 1861.

In August, 1893, President Cleveland called congress in special session, stating that while tariff reform had lost nothing of its immediate and permanent importance, the financial conditions of the country should at once and before all other subjects be considered. The repeal of the Act of 1890, which had been a somewhat timid concession to the free silver theory, and the establishment of the gold standard, were recommended. The Democratic representation in congress, especially from the West and South, was pronounced for free silver, and the essential reestablishment of the gold standard was effected only after a long and bitter struggle. It was the great substantial achievement of President Cleveland's second administration, as civil service reform had been of the first.

The tariff bill, passed by the Democratic Congress, was so far from meeting the views of President Cleveland that he declined to approve it, allowing it to become a law without his signature. Without doubt, the most exceptional act of his two administrations, in its moral courage, was his message of December, 1893, concerning


text: Twenty years before the mast/Chapter II

title: Twenty years before the mast/Chapter II


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Rh leadership of the famous Mosilikatze up through the Transvaal, whence they were driven by the Boers. Mosilikatze died in 1868, and his son Lobengula, after a fight with a brother, assumed sway in 1870. His people were divided into three main sections: the Abezansi (who were the aristocrats), the Abenhla and the Amaholi. The Amaholi or Holi were the inhabitants of the land at the time of the invasion and thereafter were practically in the position of bondsmen and rarely allowed to possess cattle. The great spirit of the Holis was the Mlimo, who was practically the spirit of the nation. Among the Holi tribes are the Abashangwe, the Abanyai, the Batonke (near the Zambezi), the Abananzwa of the Wankie district, the Ababiro of the Tuli district, and the Abasili, a nomadic tribe chiefly subsisting on game. There is a small tribe in the Belingwe district called the Abalemba, which would appear to have been in touch with the Arabs in early times. Their customs include circumcision and the rejection of pork as food.

The natives in Southern Rhodesia number about 700,000, and of these 10,000 work on the mines and 20,000 are engaged in farm, railway and household work under Europeans.

Chief Towns.—Salisbury, which lies 4880 ft. above the sea, is the capital of Southern Rhodesia, being the seat of government, and is situated in the eastern province (Mashonaland). There are about 1700 white inhabitants and 3000 natives. It is the commercial centre for an extensive mining and farming district. The principal buildings include churches, public library, hospital, schools, banks, post office and numerous hotels. There are a considerable number of government offices, and the administrator and resident commissioner live here. The only industries are a brewery and a tobacco factory for grading and packing the tobaccos of the local growers.

(q.v.), situated 4469 ft. above the sea, is the largest town and is in the western province, Matabeleland. It is 301 m. by rail S.W. of Salisbury, and 1362 m. N.E. of Cape Town. The population is some 4000 Europeans and about the same number of natives. The town has the advantage of a good pipe water supply and a service of electric light. It was the ancient capital of the Matabele king, Lobengula. There is a Government house which is occasionally occupied, and was the residence of Cecil Rhodes. It is from Bulawayo that the World’s View, the burial-place of Rhodes in the Matopo Hills, is usually visited.

The other towns are Umtali, on the eastern border, pop. 800 whites, railway works, centre for numerous large and small gold mines; Gwelo, the central town, about midway between Salisbury and Bulawayo, 370 whites; Victoria and Melsetter in the south, centres of farming districts. Victoria, near which are the famous Zimbabwe ruins, is reached by mail cart (80 m.) from Selukwe, and Melsetter by mail cart (93 m.) from Umtali. There are also small townships at Hartley, Selukwe, Enkeldoorn and Gwanda. Bulawayo and Salisbury are managed by town councils, the other towns have sanitary boards.

Communications.—The Rhodesian railway system connects the chief towns and mining centres with one another and all the other South African countries. The main line is a continuation of the railway from Cape Town through Kimberley and Mafeking. It runs from Mafeking in a general N.E. direction to Bulawayo, whence it goes N.W. to the Zambezi, which is crossed a little below the Victoria Falls. The bridging of the river was completed in April 1905. Thence the railway is continued N.E. (92 m.) to Kalomo, Barotseland, and onward to the Katanga district of Belgian Congo. The section from Kalomo to Broken Hill (261 m.) was completed in 1907, and the extension to the frontier of Belgian Congo (126 m.) in 1909. This main line forms the southern link in the Cape to Cairo railway and steamboat service. From Bulawayo a line goes N.E. by Gwelo to Salisbury and thence S.E. to the Portuguese port of Beira. From Bulawayo another line (120 m. long) runs S.E. to the West Nicholson Mine. From Gwelo a railway (40 m.) goes S.E. to Yankee Doodle, and from this there branches a line (50 m. long) in an easterly direction to Blinkwater. From Salisbury a line runs N.W. to Lomagundi (84 m.). The last-named has a 2 ft. gauge. The other railways are of the standard gauge of South Africa—3 ft. 6 in. The distances from Bulawayo to the following places are:—Gwelo, 113 m.; Salisbury, 301 m.; Umtali, 471 m.; Beira, 675 m.; Mafeking, 490 m.; Kimberley, 713 m.; Cape Town, 1362 m.; Port Elizabeth, 1199 m.; East London, 1260 m.; Bloemfontein, 800 m.; Johannesburg, 931 m.; Pretoria, 977 m.; Lourenço Marques, 1307 m.; Durban, 1238 m. (the last four places all via Fourteen Streams, a junction 48 m. N. of Kimberley), and Victoria Falls, 282 m.

About 4000 m. of roads have been built and are maintained by government. The telegraph and telephone system is very complete, there being for the whole of Rhodesia about 8000 m. of wires. This total includes the police telephone wires and part of the African Transcontinental system, and is served by about ninety telegraph offices. In Southern Rhodesia there are about eighty post offices. A post office savings bank was brought into operation on the 1st of January 1305. Over 2,500,000 letters, post-cards and parcels are despatched annually.

Agriculture.—The country is well adapted for agriculture. Chief attention has been paid by farmers to the growing of maize, the annual produce being about half a million bushels. It is a very easily grown cereal, especially in such a fertile country as Rhodesia, and is extensively grown by natives, but the improved methods of the whites easily secure a yield of from twice to eight times that of the native. The average yield by European farmers is about eight bags of 200 lb per acre, but ten to fifteen bags is quite a common crop. Wheat, barley and oats are grown with success under irrigation in the winter time, but the moisture with attendant rust is too excessive for these crops in summer. Tobacco promises to be a great source of wealth to the territory. Both the Turkish and Virginian tobaccos have been raised and cured and put on the market, where they were easily disposed of. They are of better quality than those grown elsewhere in South Africa. In 1908 only about 500 acres were under cultivation, but there are large tracts of land suitable for this industry.

Fruits of very extensive variety thrive in Rhodesia; they include plums, bananas, grapes, guavas, paupaus, figs, loquats, pine-apples, Cape gooseberries, mulberries, tree tomatoes, rosellas, granadillas, all kinds of citrus fruits. The most flourishing are the citrus fruits and the Japanese plums, but in the higher altitudes pears and apples are also very successful. Vegetables of nearly all kinds can be grown, especially potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus, sweet potatoes, yams, &c. Coffee produces as much as 4 lb of beans to the shrub in certain parts.

Cattle thrive well in Rhodesia, and stock-raising promises to be the chief agricultural industry of the future. During the early period of European occupation rinderpest and at a later date East Coast fever decimated the country, but the prevention of these diseases is now thoroughly understood and, since the rinderpest of 1896 swept away large herds, cattle have been increasing rapidly in number. There is hardly any portion of the territory which is not suitable for cattle, and the rapid natural increase indicates a speedy prosperity in cattle ranching. Goats and woolless sheep number about 800,000 in the territory. Donkeys and mules thrive, but horses are very liable to horse-sickness towards the end of the rainy season.

Mining.—When Rhodesia was first opened up to European occupation, attention was immediately called to the large number of gold workings made by unknown former inhabitants of the country. These workings were only carried on to a limited extent, being stopped probably by the presence of water and the lack of suitable machinery. European enterprise has resulted in the discovery of a large number of mines situated in widely scattered areas. The chief mines are the Globe and Phoenix, the Selukwe and the Wanderer in the Gwelo district; the Giant in the Hartley district; the Jumbo in the Mazoe district; the Ayrshire in the Lomagundi district; the Penhalonga and the Rezende in the Umtali district, while there are numerous smaller mines in the Gwanda, Insiza, Gwelo, Hartley and Umtali districts. The output of gold increased in value from £308,000 in 1900 to £2,623,000 in 1909, about one-third of this being produced by small workers whose individual output is not over 1500 oz. a month. As efforts have been restricted mainly to extracting the ore indicated by ancient workings, it is probable that many gold reefs still await discovery. The mineral wealth of Rhodesia is very varied and includes silver, of which 262,000 oz. were produced in 1909; coal, 170,000 tons (1909), and lead, 965 tons. Extensive discoveries of chrome iron have been made in the Selukwe district. There is a steady export of this metal, of which the output in 1909 was over 25,000 tons. Besides these, small quantities of copper, wolframite and diamonds have been exported, while scheelite and asbestos have been discovered in payable quantities.

Commerce.—Taking the average for a series of years ending 1908, the total imports amounted to about £1,500,000 per annum, 55% of which were manufactured articles, including £250,000 textile goods and wearing apparel, and £120,000 machinery. Imports of food and drink amounted to £330,000. In 1909 the imports amounted to £2,214,000, the chief items being food and drink (£122,000), machinery, animals and cotton goods. Exports consist almost entirely of minerals. In 1909 they were valued at £3,178,000. Included in the total is £342,000 goods imported and re-exported.

Administration.—The administration of Rhodesia is carried on by the British South Africa Company under an order in council of 1898, amended by orders in council of 1903 and 1905. The company is called upon to appoint for Southern Rhodesia an administrator or administrators. The company also appoints an executive council of not fewer than four members to advise the administrator upon all matters of importance in administration. An order in council of 1903 provided for a

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Rh representatives, of the Aryan, Turanian and Semitic families. The difficulty of the task that remained was still very great, for it was found that Babylonian and Assyrian were not exactly the same language, but differed from one another at least as much as two strongly marked dialects of the same speech. The decipherer also was greatly impeded by varieties in the method of writing. Two very different systems prevailed in each country, so that there were in fact four different methods of writing the signs to be mastered; and when we consider that the language is written by means of several hundred signs, it was no trifling matter to find that each might be multiplied by four. For a long time, no doubt, the knowledge of Babylonian and Assyrian remained very imperfect, but the labours of many scholars, reacliing over fifty years and working upon the extensive materials gradually accumulating, have cleared up most of the difficulties, and both are now almost as well understood as any other ancient language.

With so much work still in hand, it was extremely disheartening to learn from Major Rawlinson that he had descried yet another and totally different language in certain inscriptions sent to him from Southern Babylonia. The intelligence was confirmed shortly afterwards by the discovery in the Library of Assurbanipal of large numbers of tablets that served as phrase-books for the acquisition of this newly found language.


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Rh he wrote to his brother that his policy would be "to make the matter a business engagement between the people of the State and myself, in which the obligation on my side is to perform the duties assigned me with an eye single to the interests of my employers." Disinclined to the pomp of an inauguration, he walked, with a friend, from the governor's house to the Capitol, on January 1, 1883, to take the oath of office. Grover Cleveland's love of work, his dislike for display, and his determination to perform scrupulously each duty as it presented itself, regardless of possible consequences to his political future, throughout his career have appealed to the good sense rather than to the imagination of the country. The independence of the executive, and its equality of responsibility with the legislative branch, have found in him their firmest defender of recent years.

In one of his earliest acts as governor, disapproving a bill to reorganize the fire department of Buffalo in the interests of Democratic partisanship, he said: "I believe in an open and sturdy partisanship which secures the legitimate advantages of party supremacy, but parties were made for the people, and I am unwilling, knowingly, to give my assent to measures purely partisan, which will sacrifice or endanger their interests." Governor Cleveland's course was a consistent development of the policies he had carried out as mayor. His acts frequently aroused partisan resentment, but they appealed to the popular appreciation of fair play and independence.

The national political situation in 1884 was not dissimilar to the situation in New York state in 1882. The nomination of James G. Blaine divided the Republican party on issues partly personal and partly political. Samuel J. Tilden declined to be a candidate for the Democratic nomination and the Tilden forces in his own and other states supported Cleveland as the exponent of Tilden policies. These forces, his great majority as governor, and his courage in two responsible executive positions, brought the Democratic leadership to him. The ensuing campaign was exceptionally bitter, and the result very close, turning on New York state, which gave Cleveland barely one thousand plurality over Blaine.

With the inauguration of President Cleveland on March 4, 1885, the Democratic party, after a lapse of twenty-four years, resumed control of the federal administration. In both branches of congress the party had long been represented by men of commanding ability and wide experience in national affairs. Relatively the new


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Candia

title: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Candia


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14 was untried and he had but a limited acquaintance with the national leaders of the party. Its rank and file not unnaturally expected that after their long exclusion from power the entire personnel of administration would be changed, or, as bluntly put, there would be a "clean sweep." The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Law was barely two years old. That it is now the fixed policy of the country is due in large measure to the firmness of Grover Cleveland during 1885. As governor he had recommended and was first to enforce the Civil Service Reform Law of New York state. The passage of that law had been helped by Theodore Roosevelt, then an assemblyman. In his inaugural address, President Cleveland declared "Civil service reform should be in good faith enforced." The pledge was followed by performance through his two administrations, and although this embittered some of the leaders and many of the followers of his party, it thoroughly uprooted the "spoils system." Again he was aided in this work by Theodore Roosevelt, then a United States civil service commissioner. The brunt of the struggle for this foundation of good government was borne by Grover Cleveland.

The keynote of his annual message of 1887 was "the simple and plain duty which we owe to the people, is, to reduce taxation to the necessary expenses of an economical operation of the Government." The message was devoted exclusively to tariff reduction. Mr. Cleveland was not a profound student of economic questions. The abstract issue between free trade and protection did not then especially interest him. He saw in excessive revenues, produced by a relatively high tariff, a temptation to extravagance, and as an administrator he recommended the obvious remedy. The tariff message of 1887 had two immediate effects. It raised economic questions again after nearly two generations to the first place in American politics, and it imperiled the reelection of President Cleveland, a risk consciously faced. Cleveland was defeated in 1888 by 65 electoral votes, although he had 100,000 plurality on the popular vote. New York state again decided the result.

Upon the inauguration of President Harrison, Mr. Cleveland removed to New York city and quietly resumed the practice of the law. On July 2, 1886, he had married Miss Frances Folsom, the daughter of his former law partner, a young lady whose personal beauty, affable manner and graces of mind and character added


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xiv Farther investigation showed that it belonged to the Turanian family; and it has received the names of Akkadian and Sumerian. Some vears later the cities of Southern Babylonia were more thoroughly explored, especially Tello, by M. de Sarzec, and the number of inscriptions in this language largely increased. They are found written in a linear or archaic character that evidently preceded the use of cuneiform. The conclusion was soon reached that this Turanian language was the original language of Southern Babylonia, and that the cuneiform writing developed from its ancient script. But still more surprising was the discovery that not merely the writing but the religion and literature of later times descended from this ancient source. An immense collection of tablets has been made from the various libraries of Babylonia and Assyria, upon which a large and varied literature is inscribed. It consists of epic poems, legends of creation, astronomical books, legal judgments and contracts. In the field of religion it comprises magical incantations, hymns and penitential psalms. But it was found that all the most important part of this literature wassimply translated from the Sumerian, and that Assyrian literature proper is limited to the dry and monotonous records of the kings. It is not the least interesting result of these studies to have shown that the Turanian race lies at the back of the civilisation of Western Asia. From them the Semitic races of the valley of the two rivers derived their law, their religion, the legends of their faith, their heroic literature, their science and art, and all the chief elements of their culture. Scarcely less surprising was


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 legislative council consisting of the administrator, who presides, seven nominees of the company approved by the secretary of state, and seven members elected by registered voters (the number of registered voters in 1908 was 5291). In 1907 it was agreed to reduce the company’s nominees by one, so that the elected members should form the majority of the council. The secretary of state appoints a resident commissioner, who sits on both executive and legislative councils without vote. The duty of the resident commissioner is to report to the high commissioner upon all matters of importance. Ordinances passed by the legislative council are submitted to the high commissioner for consent or otherwise, but may be disallowed by the secretary of state.

For the administration of justice there is a High Court with two judges having civil and criminal jurisdiction. There are seven magistrates’ courts throughout the territory. For the administration of native affairs there are appointed a secretary for native affairs, two chief native commissioners, twenty-eight native commissioners and six assistant native commissioners. Natives suffer no disabilities or restrictions which do not equally apply to Europeans except in respect of the supply of arms, ammunition and liquor. Native commissioners may exercise jurisdiction in native affairs not exceeding that exercisable by magistrates. The company has to provide land, usually termed Native Reserves, sufficient and suitable for occupation by natives and for their agricultural and industrial requirements.

Revenue.—The administrative revenue of Southern Rhodesia was at first much less than the cost of administration. The figures for 1899–1900 were: revenue, £325,000; expenditure, £702,000. Since that date revenue has increased and expenditure decreased, and from 1905–6 (in which year the revenue exceeded £500,000) the cost of administration has been met out of revenue. For 1909–10 the revenue was approximately £600,000, the two main items being customs duty, £190,000, an native tax, £200,000. The native tax is £1 per head for every adult male and 10s. for every wife after the first.

Education.—Besides a few private schools, there were in 1909 34 schools for Europeans, 26 of which were wholly financed by government, the remainder being aided. The aided schools are as a rule connected with some religious body, and aid is given to the extent of half the salaries of the teachers and half the cost of school requisites. Loans are also given to assist in school building. A system of boarding grants has been instituted to enable children in the outlying districts to attend school. Education is not free except for poor children, but the fees in government schools do not exceed £6 a year. In 1910 several schools had reached the stage of preparing pupils for matriculation at the Cape University and similar examinations. The number of pupils in 1909 in European schools was 1212, being more than double what it had been four years previously. The education of natives is in the hands of various religious bodies, but financial aid is given by government to native schools which comply with certain easy conditions. In 1909, 80 native schools with an enrolment of 7622 pupils earned grants.

Military Forces.—The military force in Southern Rhodesia is styled the British South African Police, and numbers about 40 officers, 400 non-commissioned officers and men, and 550 native police. The force is under a commandant-general, who, with the subordinate officers, is appointed by the secretary of state, and is under the direct control and authority of the high commissioner. The commandant-general is paid by the British parliament. The offices of commandant-general and resident commissioner were combined in 1905.

The Southern Rhodesia Volunteers, in two divisions, eastern and western, under command of colonels, number altogether 86 officers and 1700 non-commissioned officers and men.

Medical.—There are, including cottage hospitals, ten hospitals in towns and townships, and thirteen district surgeries have been established.

Archaeology.—Between the Zambezi and the Limpopo, and extending from the coast to at least 27° E., may be found the traces of a large population which inhabited Southern Rhodesia and Portuguese East Africa in bygone times. Apart from numerous mines, some of which are being successfully reworked at the present day, ruins of stone buildings have been found in several hundred distinct places. Few of these have been explored systematically, but investigations in 1905, though confined to a small number of sites, determined at least the main questions of date and origin. The fanciful theories of popular writers, who had ascribed these buildings to a remote antiquity, and had even been so audacious as to identify their founders with the subjects of King Solomon or of his contemporary the queen of Sheba, are now seen to be untenable. J. T. Bent’s Ruined Cities of Mashonaland (1892) is now interesting only for its illustrations, and his theories are obsolete. Positive archaeological evidence demonstrates that the “Great Zimbabwe” itself, the most famous and the most imposing of the misnamed “Ruined Cities,” was not built before medieval times, and that the earliest date which can be assigned to any of the sites explored is subsequent to the 11th century A.D. Moreover, the complete identity of custom, revealed no less by the details of the dwellings than by the type of the articles found within them, proves that the tribe that built these structures was one closely akin to if not actually identical with the present Bantu inhabitants of the country.

These ruins, even when stripped of their false romance, are of extreme interest; but their nature and appearance have been much misunderstood, and the skill and intelligence required for their erection have been grossly overestimated. It should be clearly stated, therefore, that the methods of the old Rhodesians evince their complete ignorance of all the devices employed in the architecture of civilized peoples. They have not attempted to solve the problems of supporting weight and pressure by the use of pillar, arch or beam; the ingenuity of the builders goes no further than the dexterous heaping up of stones. Indeed, their most finished and elaborate work must be compared with nothing more ambitious than the dry-built walls which serve to enclose the fields in certain parts of England. The material is the local granite or diorite obtainable in the immediate neighbourhood. Stone-hewing has not been practised; and was unnecessary, since the natural flaking of the boulders provides an abundance of ready-made slabs which need only be detached from the parent rock and broken to the required size. At most the blocks thus obtained have been very roughly trimmed with one or two blows, and any apparent regularity in the fitting has been obtained merely by judicious selection. Mortar has seldom been used; the courses are never laid with any approach to exactness; walls merely abut on one another without being bonded, and the same line often varies greatly in thickness at different parts.

The main principle of the ground plan is invariably circular or elliptical, though it is carried out with a conspicuous lack of symmetry or exactness. Straight lines are unknown, and even accidental approximations to an angle are rare. This is eminently characteristic of the Bantu, whose huts are commonly built in circular form. Indeed, it is the round Bantu hut which has been the original model for even the finest of these stone constructions. The connexion between the two, however, goes beyond mere resemblance. The stone walls are always accompanied by huts; they are mere partitions or ring-fences enclosing and structurally inseparable from platforms of clay or cement on which stand the remains of precisely the same dwellings that the Makalanga make at the present day. Buildings such as those at Dhlo Dhlo, Nanatali and Khami in Matabeleland, or at Zimbabwe in southern Mashonaland, are merely fortified kraals; remarkable indeed as the work of an African people, but essentially native African in every detail, not excepting the ornamentation.

The best-known and the most attractive of the Rhodesian ruins are those situated in the more central and southern region. In the north-east, however, the remains are even more numerous, though the single units are less remarkable. Over the whole of Inyanga and the Mazoe region are distributed hill-forts, pit-dwellings and entrenchments which are more primitive in character though of the same generic type as those found farther south. The inhabitants of these northern districts were occupied more in agriculture than in gold-mining, and one of the most striking features of their settlements is the

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Rh the discovery of the immense antiquity of the Sumerian civilisation. The evidence derived from the cuneiform documents, combined with the results of the excavations carefully conducted at Nippur by Dr. Peters and others, have carried back the beginnings of Sumerian history to an almostincredible antiquity, sometimes estimated at 6000. From the written documents now in our possession, we are able to reconstruct the records of Southern Babylonia from about 4000, and an entirely new page in the history of the human race has been opened. We can trace the beginnings of civilisation among the lagoons of the Persian Gulf, the rise of a great commerce with the Mediterranean, with Egypt, and possibly with India; the descent of the Semitic nomads into the rich cities created by the industry of the Turanian population; the foundation of a Babylonian Empire reaching across to the Mediterranean at a period still anterior to the reputed age of Abraham. We can note many incidents in the struggle for the possession of Syria in which Egypt for a time remained the victor. We assist at the foundation of the infant kingdom of Assyria some 2000 years after our records begin; all the events of its rise and fall are engraved on our imperishable books of stone, and many incidents in the writings of the Jews have received illustration. Finally, on the fall of Assyria we see the old Empire of Babylon recover from its partial eclipse and flourish for a time under the great Nebuchadnezzar. Then follow the rise of Persia and the extinction of the great


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xvi Semitic Empires, events on which our cuneiform records have thrown new and important light. Considering that the existence of the old Babylonian. Empire was previously entirely unknown; that our knowledge of the Assyrian Empire hitherto depended altogether on a few passages in the Hebrew Scriptures, and some absurd legends collected by Herodotus and Ctesias; that the very existence of a second Babylonian Empire seems to have entirely escaped the knowledge of the Greeks, we are in a position to estimate the gain to the range of our historical information. The inscriptions have also shown the origin of many myths popular in ancient times; and of legends that even still enter into current theology. They have exhibited the Semitic people in the new light of a polytheistic race, and they have illustrated the important position filled by the Turanians at the dawn of civilisation.

It was only natural that the accuracy of many of these results should have been somewhat strenuously contested. M. Renan, for example, could not be induced to believe in the polytheism of the Semitic race, though the images of their gods began to crowd the Louvre in bewildering numbers. M. Halévy disputed the very existence of the Sumerian race and language, and the controversy he excited has not even yet wholly died away. Others cannot reconcile themselves to the subordinate position of the Semite to the Turanian in laying the foundations of all modern culture, and they still endeavour to show that the two races were at least contemporary workers from the earliest times, and contributed equally to the great result. All this is perhaps


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Rh irrigation system. There are no aqueducts such as Europeans or Arabs might have built, but water furrows have been carried on admirably calculated gradients for miles along the hill-sides. The amount of labour which has been expended on the great villages between Inyanga and the Zambezi is astounding. On one site, the Niekerk Ruins, an area of fully 50 sq. m. is covered with uninterrupted lines of walls; It is an interesting question which may be solved by future explorations whether these settlements do not extend north of the Zambezi. Intrenchments like those of the Niekerk Ruins have been reported from the south-east of Victoria Nyanza, and Major Powell Cotton has published a photograph from the Nandi country which exhibits a structure precisely similar to the hill forts of Inyanga. (See also ; .)

History.—There is evidence that from the 10th or 11th centuries onward the lands now forming Rhodesia were inhabited by Bantu-negroes who had made some progress in civilization and who traded with the Arab settlements at Sofala and elsewhere on the east coast (see Archaeology above). From the 15th century, if not earlier, until about the close of the 18th century, a considerable part of this area was ruled by a hereditary monarch known as the Monomotapa, whose zimbabwe (capital) was, in the earlier part of the period indicated, in what is now Mashonaland. Some of the Monomotapas during the 16th and 17th centuries entered into political and commercial relations with the Portuguese (see and ). The Monomotapa “empire” included many vassal states, and probably fell to pieces through intertribal fighting, which greatly reduced the number of inhabitants. In the early years of the 19th century the tribes appear to have lost all cohesion. The people were mainly agriculturists, but the working of the gold-mines, whence the Monomotapas had obtained much of their wealth, was not wholly abandoned.

The modern history of the country begins with its invasion by the Matabele, an offshoot of the Zulus. Mosilikatze, their first chief, was a warrior and leader who served under the Zulu despot Chaka. Being condemned to death by Chaka, Mosilikatze fled, with a large division of the Zulu army. About 1817 he settled in territories north of the Vaal, not far from the site of Pretoria; and in 1836 a treaty of friendship was entered into with him by the governor of Cape Colony. In the same year a number of the “trek Boers” had crossed the Vaal river, and came in contact with the Matabele, who attacked and defeated them, capturing a large number of Boer cattle and sheep. In November 1837 the Boers felt themselves strong enough to assail Mosilikatze, and they drove him and his tribe north of the Limpopo, where they settled and occupied the country subsequently known as Matabeleland, In 1868 Mosilikatze died. Kuruman, son and recognized heir of the old chieftain, had disappeared years before, and though a Matabele who claimed to be the missing heir was brought from Natal he was not acknowledged by the leading indunas, who in January 1870 invested Lobengula, the next heir, with the chieftainship. Those Matabele who favoured the supposed Kuruman were defeated in one decisive battle, and thereafter Lobengula, whose kraal was at Bulawayo, reigned unchallenged. At this time the Matabele power extended north to the Zambezi, and eastward over the land occupied by the Mashona and other Makalanga tribes. North of the Zambezi the western districts were ruled by the (q.v.), while the eastern portion had been overrun by other tribes of Zulu-Xosa origin, among whom the Agoni were the most powerful. The explorations of David Livingstone, Thomas Baines (1822–1875), Karl Mauch, and other travellers, had made known to Europe the general character of the country and the existence of great mineral wealth. Lobengula was approached by several “prospectors” for the grant of concessions; among them two Englishmen, Baines in, 1871 and Sir John Swinburne in 1872, obtained cessions of mineral rights, but little effort was made to put them in force. In 1882 President Kruger, who was then bent on extending the boundaries of the Transvaal in every direction, endeavoured to make a treaty with Lobengula, but without success. The Warren expedition of 1884 to (q.v.), while it checked for a time the encroachments of the Transvaal Boers, and preserved to Great Britain the highway to the north through Bechuanaland, also served to encourage colonists to speculate as to the future of the interior. At this time, too, the struggle between the nations of western Europe for the unappropriated portions of Africa had begun, and while the Boers, foiled in Matabeleland, endeavoured to get a footing in Mashonaland, both Portuguese and Germans were anxious to secure for their countries as much of this region as they could. In 1887 a map was laid before the Portuguese cortes showing the territories in Africa claimed by Portugal. They stretched across the continent from sea to sea, and included almost the whole of what is now Rhodesia, as well as the British settlements on Lake Nyasa. To the claim of a transcontinental domain Portugal had succeeded in gaining the assent of Germany and France, though Germany, which had secured a footing in south-west Africa, still dreamed of extending her sway over Matabeleland. By the instructions of Lord Salisbury, then foreign secretary, the British representative at Lisbon informed the Portuguese government that except on the seacoast and on portions of the Zambezi river there was not a sign of Portuguese authority or jurisdiction in the districts claimed by them, and that the British government could not recognize Portuguese sovereignty in territory not effectively occupied by her.

This protest, so far as southern Rhodesia is concerned, might have been ineffective save for the foresight, energy and determination of Cecil Rhodes, who had been instrumental in saving Bechuanaland from the Boers, and who as early as 1878 had conceived the idea of extending British influence over central Africa. At this time gold prospecting was being feverishly undertaken all over South Africa as a result of the discoveries at Barberton and on the Rand, and Lobengula was besieged for all sorts of concessions by both Portuguese and Boers, as well as by other adventurers from all parts of the world. If the country was to be secured for Britain immediate action was necessary. Sir Sidney Shippard, who had succeeded Rhodes as commissioner in Bechuanaland and who shared his views, kept up a friendly correspondence with Lobengula, while at Bulawayo Mr J. S. Moffat was British resident. At the end of 1887 Sir Sidney urged the high commissioner, Lord Rosmead (then Sir Hercules Robinson), to allow him to conclude a treaty with Lobengula, but unavailingly, until Rhodes, by taking upon himself all pecuniary responsibility, succeeded in obtaining the required sanction. On the 11th of February 1888, Moffat and Lobengula signed an agreement, whereby the Matabele ruler agreed that he would refrain from entering into any correspondence or treaty with any foreign state or power without the previous knowledge and sanction of the British high commissioner for South Africa. Shortly after the conclusion of this treaty, representatives of influential syndicates directed by Rhodes, in which Alfred Beit and C. D. Rudd were large holders, were sent, with the knowledge of the British government and the high commissioner, to negotiate with Lobengula, and on the 30th of October of the same yearhe concluded an arrangement with Messrs Rudd, Rochfort Maguire and F.R. Thomson, by which, in return for the payment of £100 a month, together with 1000 Martini-Henry rifles and 100,000 rounds of ammunition, he gave the syndicate complete control over all the metals and minerals in his kingdom, with power to exclude from his dominions “all persons seeking land, metals, minerals or mining rights therein,” in which action, if necessary, he promised to render them assistance. The position of the envoys was one of considerable danger, as Lobengula had around him many white advisers strongly antagonistic to

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 Rhodes’s scheme. The arrival at Bulawayo of Dr L. S. Jameson, who had previously attended Lobengula professionally, and who strongly supported Rudd and his companions, appears to have been the factor which decided Lobengula to sign the concession. This concession once obtained, Rhodes proceeded with rapidity to prosecute his great enterprise. He extinguished the claims of earlier concessionaires by purchase (giving, for instance, £10,046 for the Baines and Swinburne grants), and united all interests in the British South Africa. Company, with a share capital of £1,000,000.

Following the example of Sir George Goldie in West Africa and of Sir William Maekinnon in East Africa, Rhodes determined to apply to the British government for a charter for the newly formed company, whose original directors were, in addition to Rhodes and Beit, the duke of Abercorn, the duke of Fife, Lord Gifford, Albert (afterwards 4th earl) Grey and George Cawston. In applying for a charter (in April 1889) the founders of the company stated their objects to be the following: (1) To extend northwards the railway and telegraph systems in the direction of the Zambezi; (2) to encourage emigration and colonization; (3) to promote trade and commerce; (4) to develop and work minerals and other concessions under the management of one powerful organization, thereby obviating conflicts and complications between the various interests that had been acquired within these regions, and securing to the native chiefs and their subjects the rights reserved to them under the several concessions. In making this application the boundaries in which they proposed to work were purposely left somewhat vague. They were described to be the region of South Africa lying immediately north of British Bechuanaland, north and west of the South African Republic, and west of the Portuguese dominions on the east coast. The government, having ascertained the substantial nature of the company’s resources and the composition of the proposed directorate, and also that they were prepared to begin immediately the development of the country, granted the charter, dated the 29th of October 1889. From this date onward the company was commonly known as “the Chartered Company.”

A few points in the charter itself deserve to be noted. In the first place, it gave considerable extension to the terms of the original concessions by Lobengula. In short, it transformed the rights of working minerals and metals, and preventing others from doing so, into rights practically sovereign over the regions in which the company’s activity was to be employed. These rights the crown granted directly itself, not merely confirming a previous grant from another source. By Article X. the company was empowered to make ordinances (to be approved by the secretary of state), and to establish and maintain a force of police. A strict supervision was provided for, to be exercised by the secretary of state over the relations between the company and the natives. The British government reserved to itself entire power to repeal the charter at any time that it did not consider the company was fulfilling its obligations or endeavouring duly to carry out the objects for which the charter was granted. The sphere of operations of the company was not stated with any greater precision than had been indicated in the application for the charter; but by agreements concluded with Germany in 1900, with Portugal in 1891 and with the Congo State in 1894, the international boundaries were at length defined (see, § 5). The agreements, while they took the British sphere north to Lake Tanganyika, disappointed Rhodes in that they prevented the realization of the scheme he had formed by the time the charter was granted, namely, for securing a continuous strip of British territory from the Cape to Egypt—a scheme which was but an enlargement of his original conception as formulated in 1878.

Much, however, had happened before the boundaries of the British sphere were fixed. While the railway from Cape Town was being continued northward as rapidly as possible, the determination was taken to occupy immediately part of the sphere assigned to the company, and Mashonaland was selected as not being in actual occupation by the Matabele but the home of more peaceful tribes. A pioneer force was sent up in June 1890 under Colonel Pennefather, consisting of five hundred mounted police and a few hundred pioneers. Accompanying this force as guide was the well-known traveller, F. C. Selous. The work of transport was attended with considerable difficulty, and roads had to be cut as the expedition advanced. Nevertheless, in a few months the expedition, without firing a shot, had reached the site of what is now the town of Salisbury, and had also established on the line of march small forts at Tuli, Victoria and Charter. Archibald Ross Colquhoun was chosen as the first administrator. He had not long been in office when, in May 1891, difficulties arose with the Portuguese on their north-west frontier, both parties claiming a tract of territory in which a Portuguese trading station had been established. The result was a skirmish, in which a small company of British South Africa police were victorious. In 1891 Dr Jameson, who had joined the pioneer force, was appointed administrator in succession to Colquhoun. The Boers for several years had been planning a settlement north of the Limpopo, and they now determined, in spite of the Moffat treaty and the British occupation, to carry out their object. An expedition known as the Banyailand Trek was organized under the leadership of Colonel Ferreira, and two large parties of Boers proceeded to the banks of the Limpopo. Information of the intended trek had been conveyed to Cape Town, and Sir Henry (afterwards Lord) Loch (the high commissioner) at once sent a strong protest to President Kruger, informing him that any attempt to invade the Chartered Company’s territories would be an act of hostility against the British Crown; and Kruger issued a proclamation forbidding the trekkers to proceed. Meanwhile, however, a party had already reached the Limpopo, where they were met by Jameson in command of the British South Africa Company’s forces. He told them that they would not be allowed to proceed except as private individuals, who might obtain farms on application to the Chartered Company. Colonel Ferreira was arrested and detained for a few days, and the expedition then broke up and dispersed.

The pioneers, who were granted farms and mining claims, having been settled in Mashonaland, Rhodes recognized the extreme importance of giving the country a port nearer than that provided by Cape Town. On his initiative proposals were made to Portugal, and the treaty concluded in 1891 between Great Britain and Portugal provided that a railway might be built from Beira in Portuguese territory to Salisbury, on condition that Portugal received a duty not exceeding 3% on the value of the goods imported. The treaty further stipulated for the free navigation of the Zambezi and the construction of telegraphs. Prospecting operations were at once started, and various gold mines were discovered containing traces of old workings. Fresh gold reefs were also opened up. The prospects of the country seemed promising, and although a good deal of fever occurred in the low-lying valleys under the conditions of camp life, the health of the community soon improved as more suitable habitations were erected. In two years a white population of 3000 people had settled in the newly opened country.

Though the company was now free from international rivalry it was soon faced by serious native trouble. The first pioneers had deliberately chosen Mashonaland as their place of settlement. Ever since the advent of Mosilikatze north of the Limpopo the unfortunate Mashonas had been the prey of the Matabele; they therefore, readily accepted the British occupation. The Matabele, however, were loth to abandon their predatory excursions among the Mashonas, and in July 1893 a large impi (native force) was sent into Mashonaland, and entered not only native kraals, but also the streets of the new township of Victoria. An attempt was made to preserve the peace, but it was evident from the attitude taken by the Matabele that nothing short of the authority which only superior force could command would settle the question. The Matabele were

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