Chap. XXXI. AFRICAN IRON. 651 



a friend of mine in Birmingham has made an Enfield rifle of 

 them.* 



The iron ore exists in great abundance, but I did not find any 

 limestone in its immediate vicinity. So far as I could learn, there 

 is neither copper nor silver. Malachite is worked by the people of 

 Cazembe, but, as I did not see it, nor any other metal, I can say 

 nothing about it. A few precious stones are met with, and some 

 parts are quite covered with agates. The mineralogy of the 

 district, however, has not been explored by any one competent to 

 the task. 



When my friend the Commandant was fairly recovered, and I 

 myself felt strong again, I prepared to descend the Zambesi. A 

 number of my men were out elephant-hunting, and others had 

 established a brisk trade in firewood, as their countrymen did at 

 Loanda. I chose sixteen of those who coidd manage canoes to 



* The following remarks are by a practical blacksmith, one of the most 

 experienced men in the gun trade. In this trade various qualities of iron are 

 used, and close attention is required to secure for each purpose the quality of 

 iron peculiarly adapted to it : — 



The iron in the two spades strongly resembles Swedish or Eussian ; it is 

 highly carbonised. 



The same qualities are found in both spades. 



When chilled in water it has all the properties of steel : see the piece marked 

 I, chilled at one end, and left soft at the other. 



When worked hot it is very malleable ; but cold, it breaks quite short and 

 brittle. 



The great irregularity found in the working of the iron, affords evidence that 

 it has been prepared by inexperienced hands. 



This is shown in the bending of the small spade ; the thick portion retains 

 its crystallised nature, while the thin part has been changed by the hammer- 

 ing it has undergone. 



The large spade shows a veiy brittle fracture. 



The iron is too brittle for gun- work ; it would be liable to break. 



This iron, if repeatedly heated and hammered, would become decarbonised, 

 and would then possess the qualities found in the spear-head, which, after 

 being curled up by being struck against a hard substance, was restored by 

 hammering to its original form without injury. 



The piece of iron marked II is a piece of gun-iron of fibrous quality, such as 

 will bend without breaking. 



The piece marked III is of crystalline quality ; it has been submitted to a 

 process which has changed it to IIII ; III and IIII are cut from the same bar. 

 The spade-iron has been submitted to the same process, but no corresponding 

 effect can be produced. 



