ZINJ, a lost city located in the Virunga region of Zaire. Famous for its diamond trade, the caravan route to the city was fiercely guarded by merchants as a secret passed down only between father and son. After the mines were emptied of their valuable gems, Zinj was abandoned and consumed by the jungle. Beginning in the seventeenth century, various expeditions searched for the city but met with tragedy. In the twentieth century an expedition of twelve people and one gorilla launched by Earth Resources Technology Services met with greater success, a gesture soon made futile by the eruption of a nearby volcano, Mukenko. The eruption left the city buried under nearly a half-mile of lava.

The buildings of Zinj are constructed of limestone, their doors and windows shaped in the curve of the half-moon. Little is known of the inhabitants except information gleaned from bas reliefs scattered throughout the city. The citizens of Zinj can be described as tall blacks with round heads and muscular bodies, fond of wearing long colorful robes. They were wealthy to the point where even servants would wear jewels. Daily activities of the citizens included hunting, mining and trading their gems at market. The bas-reliefs also depict scribes keeping records and children at play.

The mines were guarded by an unknown species distantly related to the gorilla called the kakundakari. They have gray fur and light yellow eyes, and stand roughly four feet six inches tall. The animals were trained by the people of Zinj to use stone paddles to crush the skulls of trespassers, a skill passed down through the generations among the wild kakundakari living in the area. Because of these murderous tendencies, visitors are warned that expeditions to the area usually suffer numerous casualties. The city and its surrounding land are known by the locals as kanyamagufa, the place of bones.

Though the mines have been depleted of unflawed gemstones, they are still rich in type IIb diamonds, used as semiconductors in highly sophisticated computer systems.

(Michael Crichton, Congo, New York, 1980)