MANUFACTURING IRON. 129 



are deposited the stones containing the ore, 

 pounded as small as nutmegs, and the charcoal js 

 also broken small. For bellows they use two 

 circular wooden or ear them bowls, with flat bot- 

 toms, about fourteen inches diameter; into each 

 of which a hollow bamboo, of about two feet and 

 a half long, is fixed, the other ends of them being 

 inserted into the chimney : the bowls are covered 

 with the skins of animals, and in the middle of 

 each, a small slit is made ; the skins are kept 

 always wet, and it is the business of the females to 

 stand on them, and by their resting on each leg 

 alternately, the bowls act as two pair of bellows, 

 or rather as a blacksmith's forge bellows, keeping 

 up a constant stream of air on the fire. 



They hold a small wooden shovel in their hands, 

 with which they supply the chimney with ore 

 and charcoal, and at the same time are often 

 loaded with a child or two at their backs. When 

 the lower part is choked by being full of iron, 

 they take it out in a lump, weighing from sixty 

 to seventy pounds. It is also a part of the fe- 

 males' duty to break the stones and charcoal. 

 When good stones for their purpose, or wood fit 

 for making charcoal, become scarce near their 

 huts, they remove to some other spot, seldom 



K 



