AKT. 14 FIEE-MAKING APPARATUS HOUGH 31 



it in turn to rotate the stick. This article of Mr. Felkin's is com- 

 mended to ethnologists as a model ethnologic study in method and 

 research. 



That veteran and renowned explorer, Doctor Schweinfurth, gives 

 the following : 



The method of obtaining fire, practiced alike by the natives of the Nile lands 

 and of the adjacent country in the Welle system, consists simply in rubbing 

 together two hard sticks at right angles to one another till a spark is emitted. 

 The hard twigs of the Anona senegalensis are usually selected for the purpose. 

 Underneath them is placed either a stone or something upon which a little pile 

 of embers has been laid; the friction of the upper piece of wood wears a hole in 

 the lower, and soon a spark is caught by the ashes and is fanned into a flame 

 with dry grass, which is swung to and fro to cause a draught, the whole proceed- 

 ing being a marvel which might well nigh eclipse the magic of my lucifer 

 matches." 



The Gaboon negro fire set is one of the few observed having no 

 dust channel cut on the hearth. The wood, however, is light and 

 apparently first class for fire making with least effort. It resembles 

 the hibiscus wood used by the Hawaiians and other Polynesians, a 

 most admirable material in which fire could be raised without the 

 presence of the usual slot. The hearth is a peeled stem 1 inch in 

 diameter, with large cavity midway. The drills are smaller stems 

 pared down at the end, as is usual. (PI. 7, Fig. 1, la, Cat. No. 

 164671; Gaboon River, West Africa; A. C. Good; hearth 23 inches long 

 (58.5 cm.), drills, 21.5 and 24.5 inches long (55 cm. and 62 cm.).) 



Dr. W. L. Abbott collected specimens from the Wa Chaga negroes. 

 Mount Kilimanjaro, East Africa, years ago. The hearth is a small 

 worked-out block carefully shaped or rough, as shown in the figures. 

 The hearth has a cord at one end for tying to the drill for con- 

 venience in carrying. The drill is a straight, slender rod, with neatly 

 cut hole at top for the hearth string. (PI. 7, fig. 4, Cat. No. 161824, 

 Dr. W. L. Abbott; drill, 20.5 inches long (52 cm.); hearth, 5 inches 

 long (13 cm.).) 



The use of worm-eaten wood is shown in the Wa Chaga hearth 

 (pi. 7, fig. 2) and is evidence that wood is often conditioned for fire 

 making by insects and fungi. Wa Chaga tinder is macerated bark. 

 (Fig. 2h.) The drill is a peeled branch. (Fig. 2a, Cat. No. 151823.) 

 Collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott in 1891. 



The Somali drill is a workmanlike tool consisting of two smoothed 

 rods of equal length, the drill hole at one end of the rod of larger 

 diameter. It will be noticed that the cut of the drill opens the rod 

 into two V-shape cuts, insuring the perfect collection of dust. The 

 owner of the set pierced the two rods and drew through a slender 

 leather thong to bind them together when not in use. (PI. 7, Fig. 3 ; 



J' The Heart of Africa, vol. 1, pp. 531, 532. New York, 1874. 



