6lO AFRICAN IRON. 



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 could manage canoes to convey me 

 down the river. Many more would have come, but we 

 were informed that there had been a failure of the crops 

 at Kilimane from the rains not coming at the proper time, 

 and thousands had died of hunger. I did not hear of 

 a single effort having been made to relieve the famishing 



cf iron are used, and close attention is required to secure for each pur- 

 pose the quality of iron peculiarly adapted to it : — 



The iron in the two spades strongly resembles Swedish or Russian ; 

 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 hammering it has undergone. 



The large spade shows a very 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 de- 

 carbonised, 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 sub- 

 mitted 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. 



