IRON FURNACES. 147 
they told me to put my hand in his ; every one did the same , 
he then pronounced prayers for the success of our journey, and 
when he had finished, each passed his hand over his face. 
After quitting" the brother of our guide we travelled 
through an uncultivated country, but which nevertheless 
appeared to be fertile. In the next village I came to, I had 
great difficulty to resist the importunities of a Negro, who 
had been several times on business to St. Louis ; he absolutely 
insisted on my remaining at his house all night. At a little 
distance from the village where this hospitable man resided, 
we saw four furnaces for smelting iron ; they were of a conical 
form, and six feet high. Pvlaka told me that on one occasion 
one of these furnaces had produced but little, they had only 
drawn from it an immense quantity of scoria. The iron 
manufactured in this country is of excellent quality ; the 
Negroes of the interior do not employ any other, it is so 
abundant : they hammer their vessels, and do not cast them, 
which proves the malleability of the metal, a fact which is 
still doubted. The ore used in these furnaces is taken from 
hills situated near a village called Quieliom, which lies to 
the south-west. After passing through a small wood, we 
entered the village of Ouarenicour, where we halted. 
March 12. Accustomed to make long journeys, Maka 
stimulated my Marabout by his railleries, and we marched 
quicker and longer at a time. He had bought all his accoutre- 
ments in Foota Jallon, and he was enthusiastic in praise of that 
u 2 
