The Nets Are Tied On To Trees
In Two Long Lines, Which Converge To An Acute Angle, The Bottom Part
Of The Net Lying On The Ground.
Then a party of men and women
accompanied by their trained dogs, which have bells hung round their
necks, beat the surrounding bushes, and the frightened small game
rush into the nets, and become entangled.
The fibre from which
these nets are made has a long staple, and is exceedingly strong. I
once saw a small bush cow caught in a set of them and unable to
break through, and once a leopard; he, however, took his section of
the net away with him, and a good deal of vegetation and sticks to
boot. In addition to nets, this fibre is made into bags, for
carrying things in while in the bush, and into the water bottles
already mentioned.
The iron-work of the Fans deserves especial notice for its
excellence. The anvil is a big piece of iron which is embedded
firmly in the ground. Its upper surface is flat, and pointed at
both ends. The hammers are solid cones of iron, the upper part of
the cones prolonged so as to give a good grip, and the blows are
given directly downwards, like the blows of a pestle. The bellows
are of the usual African type, cut out of one piece of solid but
soft wood; at the upper end of these bellows there are two chambers
hollowed out in the wood and then covered with the skin of some
animal, from which the hair has been removed.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 341 of 705
Words from 94578 to 94844
of 194943
