ROAD TO OPHIR

An autobiography of a wanderer through Africa takes a leisurely course from the author's earliest experiences on his own (not too auspicious) to his decision to keep an archeological find from the experts and provides a specialized view of all sorts of mining. Stuck in Zambesi at 18, he made his way to his job on a tobacco plantation with Champagne Charlie Thorburn and muffed his chances when a small collapse threatened; there was work with his father in Sabie and the old mines, with Boers in the Eastern Transvaal, with the Sugar Plum mine in Rhodesia which was marked for its informality and unorthodox techniques; then to Tanganyika for alluvial gold diggings, to Uganda for copper and tin under Sir Robert Williams, and back finally to Chiromba, his amazing encounter with Mohe, the Healer, and his discovery of The Road. A feeling for the many odd fellows he runs across, the bearers, guides and cooks that are part of his travels, and a sense of the past when his mining experiences link him to old engineers, architects and miners. Unhurried and unassuming.