300 
NATIVE POTTERY. 
[chap. X. 
After the disgusting naked tribes that we had been 
travelling amongst for more than twelve months, it was 
a delightful change to find ourselves in comparative 
civilization : this was evinced not only in the decency 
of clothing, but also in the manufactures of the 
country. The blacksmiths were exceedingly clever, and 
used iron hammers instead of stone; they drew fine 
wire from the thick copper and brass wire that they 
received from Zanzibar; their bellows were the same 
as those used by the more savage tribes—but the 
greatest proof of their superior civilization was ex¬ 
hibited in their pottery. 
Nearly all savages have some idea of earthenware; 
but the scale of advancement of a country between 
savagedom and civilization may generally be deter¬ 
mined by the example of its pottery. The Chinese, 
who were as civilized as they are at the present 
day at a period when the English were barbarians, 
were ever celebrated for the manufacture of porcelain, 
and the difference between savages and civilized 
countries is always thus exemplified; the savage 
makes earthenware, but the civilized make porcelain 
—thus the gradations from the rudest earthen¬ 
ware will mark the improvement in the scale of 
civilization. The prime utensil of the African savage 
is the gourd; the shell of which is the bowl presented 
to him by nature as the first idea from which he is to 
model. Nature, adapting herself to the requirements 
of animals and man, appears in these savage countries 
to yield abundantly much that savage man can want. 
Gourds with exceedingly strong shells not only grow 
wild, which if divided in halves afford bowls, but 
great and quaint varieties form natural bottles of all 
sizes, from the tiny phial to the demi-john containing 
five gallons. The most savage tribes content themselves 
with the productions of nature, confining their manu¬ 
facture to a coarse and half-baked jar for carrying 
water; but the semi-savage, like those of Unyoro, 
affords an example of the first step towards manu- 
