308 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
made air-tight at one end, and are planted in the earth, 
about a foot apart, in an upright or slightly-inclined posi¬ 
tion, within about eighteen inches or two feet of the fur¬ 
nace; a hole is made in each cylinder, a few inches 
above the ground, into which one end of a bamboo cane 
is inserted, the other entering a hole made in the stone 
or clay wall of the furnace; a rude sort of piston is fitted 
to each of the cylinders, and the apparatus for raising 
the wind is complete. 
No coal has yet been found in Madagascar, and charcoal 
is the only fuel employed in smelting the ore. On this 
account, the furnaces are generally built in those parts, 
of what may be termed the iron districts, that are nearest 
to the forests where the charcoal is made. In the pro¬ 
vinces remote from the capital, charcoal is burnt, and iron 
is worked by the chiefs and their people, or by native 
labourers for their own advantage; but in Imerina and 
in Antsianaka all the iron obtained is for the service of 
the government, hence five or six hundred men are con¬ 
stantly employed by the order of government in burning 
of charcoal for the oundries in the province, and the 
smitheries at the capital. The only return these men 
receive, in the shape of compensation for their labour, is 
exemption from certain taxes levied on other members of 
the community. The charcoal burners, as well as the 
miners and founders, are, however, a sort of government 
slaves; they live in the forests, or near the places where the 
ore is found, and they dare not leave their occupations on 
pain of death. The charcoal, as well as the ore, is brought 
in large baskets, in which it is kept near the furnaces. 
In smelting the iron, they first kindle a fire in the bot¬ 
tom of the furnace; over the fire they spread a quantity 
of charcoal, and then throw in the ore, either mixed with 
