re lavished on their weapons; and so, if we wish to see
what an African savage can do with iron, we must look at his
spears, knives, and arrows--the latter, indeed, being but
spears in miniature."

The blacksmith, then, is a person of some consequence in his village.
He gives shape and point to the weapons by which game is to be secured
and battles won. All seek his favor.

"Among the Kaffirs, a blacksmith is a man of considerable
importance, and is much respected by the tribe. He will not
profane the mystery of his craft by allowing uninitiated
eyes to inspect his various processes, and therefore carries
on his operations at some distance from the kraal. His first
care is to prepare the bellows. The form which he uses
prevails over a very large portion of Africa, and is seen,
with some few modifications, even among the many islands of
Polynesia. It consists of two leathern sacks, at the upper
end of which is a handle. To the lower end of each sack is
attached the hollow horns of some animal, that of the cow or
eland being most commonly used; and when the bags are
alternately inflated and compressed, the air passes out
through the two horns.

"Of course the heat of the fire would destroy the horns if
they were allowed to come in contact with it; and they are
therefore inserted, not into the fire, but into an
earthenware tube which communicates with the fire. The use
of valves is unknown; but as the two horns do not open into
the fire, but into the tube, the fire is not drawn into the
bellows as would otherwise be the case. This arrangement,
however, causes considerable waste of air, so that the
bellows-blower is obliged to work much harder than would be
the case if he were provided with an instrument that could
conduct the blast directly to its destination. The ancient
Egyptians used a bellows of precisely similar construction,
except that they did not work them entirely by hand. They
stood with one foot on each sack, and blew the fire by
alternately pressing on them with the feet, and raising them
by means of a cord fastened to their upper ends.

"When the blacksmith is about to set to work, he digs a hole
in the ground, in which the fire is placed; and then sinks
the earthenware tube in a sloping direction, so that the
lower end