INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 283 
the skins of sheep and goats, which are used for covering quivers 
and Sophies, and in making sheaths for swords and knives, 
belts, pockets, and a variety of ornaments. These skins are 
commonly dyed of a red or yellow colour; the red, by means of 
millet stalks reduced to powder; and the yellow, by the root of 
a plant, the name of which I have forgotten. ? ; « 
The manufacturers in iron are not so numerous as the Kar- 
rankeas; but they appear to have studied their business with 
equal diligence. The Negroes on the Coast being cheaply 
supplied with iron from the European traders, never attempt 
the manufacturing of this article themselves; but in the inland 
parts, the natives smelt this useful metal in such quantities, as 
not only to supply themselves from it with all necessary 
weapons and instruments, but even to make it an article of 
commerce with some of the neighbouring states. During my 
stay at Kamalia, there was a smelting furnace at a short dis- 
tance from the hut where I lodged, and the owner and his 
workmen made no secret about the manner of conducting the 
operation ; and readily allowed me to examine the furnace, and 
assist them in breaking the iron-stone. The furnace was a 
circular tower of clay, about ten feet high, and three feet in 
diameter; surrounded in two places with withes, to prevent the 
clay from cracking and falling to pieces by the violence of the 
heat. Round the lower part, on a level with the ground (but 
not so low as the bottom of the furnace, which was somewhat 
concave), were made seven openings, into every one of which 
were placed three tubes of clay, and the openings again 
plastered up in such a manner that no air could enter the 
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