Large brass rings for the neck were made in the following way: The
potato-like substance of the plantain root was cut into shape of the
desired circumference and thickness; this model was surrounded with
well-kneaded clay, a funnel-shaped opening being made to let off steam,
to clear out the charred fibre of the plantain root, and to pour in the
molten metal. This mould, when completed, was baked in the fire, and as
it baked the plantain-root model inside was burnt; the ashes were
cleared out and the liquid brass poured in. When cool, the mould was
broken and the brass ring was well polished by scraping and rubbing, and
“herring-bone,” and “lozenge” patterns were cut on it.
Small rings were made for the legs and wrists. A ring was put on each
leg, resting on the ankles; a year or so later another pair of rings was
added to the first pair, and so on, until the rings almost reached the
knees. By gradually adding ring to ring the wearer became used to the
weight, and the ankles became corneous. I once took more than a dozen
rings from the legs of a woman, weighing 60 lbs. in all—30 lbs. of brass
on each leg. When these heavy rings had been removed the woman seemed
top-heavy; her legs were now so light that apparently she had no control
over them, and she crossed our enclosure like a drunken person. I have
seen solid brass necklets weighing from 20 to 28 lbs. each. On one
occasion, while chatting with a chief, I asked him if he buried the
brass rings when his wives died, and he at once replied: “No.”
“How do you remove such heavy, strong rings from the neck of a dead
woman?” was my next question.
He did not reply in words, but he ran his finger round his own neck,
indicating that under such circumstances they cut off the head in order
to remove the rings.
Long spiral leg rings were made in the following manner: A bamboo, from
12 to 15 feet long, was split (bamboo, _Raphia vinifera_, in which there
are no nodes). The pith, to the desired depth and width, was taken out
of one half and the molten brass[12] was poured along this channel. This
gave the operator a long brass rod about the thickness of the index
finger, and this rod was carefully beaten round, scraped, and polished;
and starting from the ankle it was wound round and round the leg nearly
up to the knee, each circumference of the spiral being made a little
larger than the one immediately below it. At the bottom the leglet
impinged on the ankle, which bore the whole weight; but at the top it
had 2 or 3 inches’ play about the calf of the leg. Brass ribbon was made
by beating out the brass rods to the required width, and this ribbon was
used for ornamenting spear and knife handles, the hafts of paddles, and
knife sheaths.
Footnote 12:
Copper (_dikulu_) was known, but I never saw any of it worked, and
only very little worn as ornaments.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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