COINAGE AND MANUFACTURES. 
87 
Indian reds, or " Kudunduguru," were utterly refused, 
as only taken in uncivilised northern countries ! 
" Kutu ninazee," cocoa-nut leaves, at last passed 
muster, and milk was procured for our tea. It was 
a regular strike in the market. All this rubbish of 
beads was merely the equivalent to coppers. Silver 
was represented by webs of unbleached calico, 30 to 
32 yards long, 1 yard wide, and weighing 10 lb., 
stamped in blue, " Massachusetts Sheeting." The man 
who got this stamped portion — " Keerole," or looking- 
glass, as they called it — was thought a considerable 
swell, and took care to show it across his loins. 
Sovereign coinage consisted of coils of brass and 
copper wire, thicker than that used for telegraphic 
purposes, and converted into bracelets by the natives. 
The blacksmith is never allowed to work inside the 
village, perhaps because he has ample space outside, 
and it is considered safer — not that his caste pro- 
hibits it. 
The nodules of ore are generally smelted in the forests, 
and brought in a lump to the smith, who, .by means 
of stone anvils and stones as sledge-hammers, converts 
it into a long rod ; and finally, by a hand- vice, and 
grease from a small pot he carries, it is tied between 
two posts and drawn till it becomes a thread. It is 
now fit, after being once heated, for being twisted 
neatly with the finger and thumb round a few hairs 
from the tail of a cow, or the thicker hair of a giraffe. 
In this state it is worn in rings ornamenting the ankles 
of men and women, fifteen of them costing one string 
of beads, value a halfpenny, and fifteen copper or brass 
ones being double price. Iron hoes, adzes, grass-hooks, 
small knives, pincers, &c, are all made up by the 
