220 NOTE ON A WEST AFRICAN " STRIKE-A-LIGHT. 



The Soosoos are a tribe whose territory lies on the 

 Mellicourie River to the north of Sierra Leone. 



At the time of my uncles' residence in this country, where 

 they acquired plantations and property, the Soosoos were an 

 independent people. Owing to the outbreak of a tribal war, my 

 uncles had to abandon their possessions, and the country was 

 subsequently seized by the French. It now forms part of the 

 hinterland of Sierra Leone, under French dominion, which has 

 been so detrimental to the welfare of the colony. 



The Soosoos are Mahomedans, and in accordance with the 

 tradition that Mahomet was a shoemaker, they are enthusiastic 

 workers in leather, making therefrom objects of all descriptions 

 which they ornament elaborately. 



Strike-a-lights similarly formed, of a bag with an iron blade 

 attached, have been in use generally over Central Asia, also in 

 Norway and Sweden ; specimens of these are to be seen in the 

 Pitt-Rivers collection at Oxford, so that it is possible the idea of 

 this African form may have been introduced to the Soosoos by 

 Arab traders, or even by Europeans. There is no reason to 

 doubt, however, that this particular object is of native manu- 

 facture, although possibly the gun flints were imported from 

 Suffolk or Germany. It is possible also that the iron portion 

 may have been imported, although there is not so much reason 

 to suppose this, as iron is so generally worked over the whole of 

 Africa. I merely suggest this because among the collection 

 made by my uncles is a " Charmed Koran " written in Arabic 

 characters and adorned with elaborate coloured diagrams, but 

 all on paper of English manufacture and ruled for cash. 



It is on account of the iron portion of this object that I am 

 bringing it before the notice of the Essex Field Club, because it 

 so closely resembles, both in shape and size, a small iron object 

 that has been met with among relics of the Romano- British 

 period in this country. 



I have figured six examples (Figs, i, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7) from 

 General Pitt-Rivers' Excavations in Dorset and Wilts, vols. 11. and 

 III., where he describes them as "Objects of unknown use, 

 perhaps Strike-a-lights or for fastening two pieces of wood 

 together." Fig. 4 is an example from a cave near Settle, 

 Yorkshire, and is now preserved in the British Museum. 



