METALLURGY. 



203 



The Ovambo have some slight knowledge of metallurgy. 

 Though no mineral is indigenous to their own country, they 

 procure copper and iron ore in abundance from their neigh- 

 bors, which they smelt in fire-proof crucibles. The bellows 

 employed in heating the iron are very indifferent, and stones 

 serve as substitutes for hammer and anvil. Yet, rude as 

 these implements are, they manage not only to manufacture 

 their own ornaments and farming tools, but almost all the 

 iron-ware used in barter. 



BLACKSMITHS AT WORK.. 



