264 
VISITS TO MADAGASCAR. 
CHAP. X. 
for cutting fuel and some large knives for use on the journey 
were also purchased in the market, and were not only credita¬ 
ble to the native workmen, so far as appearance and finish were 
concerned, but wore remarkably well. Every time I passed 
through the market, I had noticed the numerous articles of 
ironware exhibited, and the reasonable prices at which they 
were sold, as a hopeful sign of advancing civilisation. Besides 
weapons of war, implements of husbandry, lamps and other 
articles of household use, the last time I passed through the 
market, I was so struck with their several kinds of tools, and 
handsaw files, that I made a small purchase for the sake of 
encouraging the workmen. 
Iron of excellent quality abounds in the central provinces, 
around the capital, where it is found near the surface, and so 
rich is the ore in one of the mountains, Ambohimiangavo, that 
it is called the iron mountain. The ore is so abundant at 
the surface, that the soil has seldom been penetrated more than 
a few feet in depth, so that at present no idea can be formed 
of the riches of the country in this valuable metal. The na¬ 
tives have been for many generations accustomed to the use of 
iron. Their smelting furnaces, which are primitive and rude, 
are always fixed near a stream, and the ore when gathered in 
large pieces is broken small, and the earth or other extraneous 
substances removed by frequent washings. The sides of the 
furnaces, usually sunk two or three feet in the ground, are 
made of stones, covered outside with clay, a small quantity of 
fuel at the bottom is kindled, and the furnace filled with ore, 
either mixed with charcoal or in alternate layers, and then 
covered at the top with a thick coating of clay. The blast is 
supplied by two pairs of pistons, working in wooden cylinders, 
generally a part of a small tree hollowed out. From the 
bottom of each cylinder a tube formed by a bamboo or an old 
gun-barrel is inserted into a hole through the stones round 
the furnace. After the contents of the furnace have been 
