728 Proceedings of the Royal Society 
about 3J feet high, layers of charcoal and iron ore being alternately 
placed in them. Six, eight, or ten pairs of bellows are employed for 
the blast ; they are worked by men and boys in time to a chant. 
The tools used by the blacksmiths are of a very primitive nature. 
Oblong stones of various sizes are used as hammers, large flat ones 
as anvils, and the tongs are usually merely pieces of green wood 
with a cleft in them. A few iron hammers, files, and tongs have 
been imported from Zanzibar, and the Waganda smiths soon learn 
to imitate European work. Eor instance, they convert flintlock 
guns into percussion guns, and they make brass cartridge cases, 
which, though only cast, are wonderfully true and smooth. The 
bellows which supply the blast for the clear charcoal fires used by 
the smiths consist of two earthen pots firmly bedded in the ground ; 
over the mouths of these a pliable skin is fastened, while to the 
centre of this hollow sticks are tied. A boy holds one stick in each 
hand and works them up and down rapidly and alternately, closing 
the end of the hollow stick with his thumb as he presses it down, 
thus creating a constant blast. There is a hole near the bottom of 
each pot, on the side facing the fire, and through this the blast passes 
through a clay tube which conducts it to the hearth. 
The spears, knives, and arrow-heads are wonderfully well made, 
and they also construct chains, bells, and rings for fingers, arms, 
and legs. The nkumbi or hoe is heart-shaped, with a long flange 
from the broad end, which is firmly tied to a hook-shaped wooden 
handle about 3 feet long. The knives are always curved, the 
blade being about 9 inches long and very thin ; they take a keen 
edge. They are sometimes painted with red oxide of iron procured 
from an ore resembling hsematite. 
Two kinds of axes are made, the one a rude shaped piece of iron, 
which is inserted into a heavy wooden handle and used for felling 
trees, splitting up firewood, &c. The other axe is much more 
elegant; a broad thin blade, almost crescentic in shape, is fastened 
like a knife in the end of a long well-balanced handle of wood. 
The flat part of the blades of knives and axes is covered with a 
thin film of black oxide of iron, except along the cutting edge; 
this prevents rust. 
Mtesa sent a few of his smiths to the English mission to be 
taught blacksmithing, and it was surprising to see what progress 
