112 ]'K<>('KKl>IN<;s OF TIIK AXA1 < ).M 1CAI, AND ANTH KOl'OIXMilCAl, 



Weaving, basket-making and mat-making are done by the men, 

 ] tottery by the women. Next year I hope to be able to show you 

 native cloth, baskets and mats. 



In connection with house-building I omitted to mention that 

 some of the older houses exhibit ornamental designs on the outside 

 walls panels with curved corners, the centre being filled in with 

 a sort of diamond-shaped pattern (Figs. 2 and 5J). 



" Tie tie " is the name of the string or twine used by the natives. 

 It is a thin wiry creeper found in the forest on certain trees. Five 

 or six strands make a very strong rope capable of lasting a long time 

 as damp does not affect it. 



Pottery is made in most villages, generally from two kinds of 

 clay but sometimes from a mixture of both. One clay is red, the 

 other which is finer is bluish-grey, not unlike the blue clay of 

 Staffordshire. The coarser pots are made from the first ; the dishes 

 for food and those for boiling water and cooking purposes are made 

 from the second. The pots are of various shapes, the shape depending 

 upon the use the pot is to be put to. The most ornamental are those 

 intended for water-carrying and for holding water for drinking pur- 

 poses in the house. The pots are moulded with the hand then 

 dried in the sun before being put into the kiln. When baked 

 sufficiently the kiln is allowed to cool, then the pots are taken out 

 and dyed black with a vegetable dye obtained from the seeds of 

 a shrub. Then they are polished with very fine sand and a cloth. 



The metals in use are gold, iron, brass and bronze. Most of the 

 gold and brass ornaments are cast in moulds made thus : The de- 

 sign is made of bamboo pith ; this is surrounded with clay then 

 heated until the pith is destroyed, then the molten metal is poured in 

 through a hole left for the purpose. 



In Laye villages there is usually to be found a primitive forge 

 and a blacksmith. They make and repair farm implements, knives, 

 cutlasses for cutting paths through the bush, and in former days 

 instruments of torture such as iron thumb-rings for hanging a man 

 up by the thumbs. The ring is double, one for tying the rope to, the 



