The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-01-24
SOME AFRICAN ARTISANS.
THE INDUsTRIBs THEY CARRY ON
IN THE FRENCH CON0O.

white woman who HAS Lived Among
Them Tells How They Make Cloth,
Fashion Canoes and Pottery, and Carve
Ivory-They DO Not Lack Ingenuity.
"African natives In the French Congo are sup
posed by many 10 be dull and without lnge-
nuity. but have found that they are great
deal smarter than many persons In America
think" white woman who has lived In Afri-
ca said to SUN reporter; The coast tribes
are certainly without much ambition. but their
association with Europeans Is TO blame for
this. and also the rum which white men
sell TO the poor Africans. Rum makes the ma
tives stupid and lazy. Servants, hunters. and
traders are found among tho natives Of the
coast. The servants In the French Congo
were In demand all along the coast from the
Sierra Leone to st. Paul de Loanda. until the
French forbade the natives to leave the colony.
"A rev days Journey into the Interior where
the Inhabitants still exist In their native state
we find an entirely different state Of things.
Busy men and women are the usual thing In
the towns. aud we soon learn that the natives
are quite skilful In spite o. the many disadvan-
taEcs which surround them. We find weavera.
blacksmiths. house builders. potters. canoe
makers. hattcrs, and carvers among the inte-
roir trltes. The weavers are busy. folk because
very little European cloth Huds its way into the
interior. Nearly all the cloth used is OF ma
tive manufacture. This cloth is made either
from fine grass from the leaves OF e. .
bamboo palm. The latter Is used more fire.
auently by the people among whom l have
lived. They say II Is softer and more pliable.
The bamboo leaves are cut before they unfold
when still very light green in color. The I'M
der part OF the leaf is split of and then dried
In the sun. When nearly dry these pieces are
eplit again by m sans OF small knife until
| they resemble coarse thread OF u straw color.
OF Them nre dyed red o. black. The red dye is
ma lie from redwood The natives tako piece
OF the wood and rub II Nth n stone. wetting
| the wood during the process. Paris Of the
s,oae and wood are rubbed of and these
formed Into u small brick and then dried. The
| dye Is then ready for use. The black dye Is a
kind OF mud found on the hanks Of che rivers.
| BY means OF the oolored threads stripes and
| squares OF color are introduced into the weav-
| Ing. After the threads are all ready the warp
| Is put into the loom. The length OF the warp Is
about twenty-seven inches. Then the weaver
| crosses the warp by the. wool. one thread be-
| ing pulled through at a time. This leaves, the
ends sticking out on both sides. When the
| cloth Is finished II measures twenty Two inches
by twelve inches and has fringe on all sides.
| \ native spends whole day weaving one Of
these pieces.
| After quite n number are IN abe the weaver
turns himself into tailor. lie cuts the fringe
from these pieces and sews them together
| with u needle made Of bamboo and some
Unread like that used In the weaving. The
stitches are rather coarse, but they answer the
purpose very we'll. and do nc, spoil the looks
OF the cloth in.the least. A native clio h meas
ures two and half BY one or one and half
| yards. Sometimes n nice twisted fringe is'put
along the centre seam to hide the sewing This
is only for very nice dress or for his Majesty,
the King OF the tribe. The hner pieces Of cloth
| seldom fall into the hands Of the Europeans.
becarse the native knows u good thing. and
does mot sell everything. not sven for rum.
''Blacksmitts are found in the regions where
iron abounis. The iron ore Is taken from the
ground by the natives and melted In crude
furnaces made Of clay. The charcoal nre Is
kept sufficiently hot by means OF bellows made
of 'goatskin and wood. after the iron is ex-
tracted the blacksmith has chance - show his
skill. lie has sma anvil; and with piece Of
| iron f,r-a hammer he 9, on busies himself max
ing axes. AIDES. hammers, and knives The
patiys axes arc rather small. about two inches
wide and six inches long and pointed at one
end. This point Is inserted into handle
end c is made red hot. and then driven into the
handle. This axe answers nicely for Telling
trees, The AIDES, too. arr NOT half the SIZE Of
ours. but the native canoe makers use them to
good advantage and do very good work vi
them. The hammers are shaped like wedge
| only rounded of and narrowed OF ono end.
They arc usel without a handle. The knives
are in size from cutlass to a small pocket
carved very nicely. These knives hold their
edge very well and are handy tools.
brnnHn ss ,h pu' naive inda.tries We Sanno,
call these builders carpenters because there is
50 very little wood about the house. Only the
upright posts and the ridge poles OF wood.
The bamboo walls and the mud hoo- require
the most work and skill The house Is IL feet
by 10 feet and i Get high on the sides. AFRO and
Til house IL u ycranda three feet wide on
thee sides and from Ave To seven feet in front.
, The sides and back are closed In BY walls SO
that this yeranda can be used for a storeroom.
IN, front rart Is used for n sitting room dur
ing the hot season. when the house would be
,, When the natives want to build q house
+ they 90 to the bamboo swsmps and get as many
. bamboos are cut twelve Zee, long for the side
: walls and ten feet for the front and back.
/, about All Inch wide. the inside white and
r p'hy mart is only cut doSn the middle. max
, narrow outside strips are spread in the sun t.
1 dry. which takes from two 20 four weeks. The
Part a"s. .y s" ssss,o .h: l'Afs
a | these pity strips are ready they are cut Int,
5 lengths ~ ths height of the walls and fastened
i The pieces are spread on a level place on tn,
8 ground and then tied together with three rows
a OF sewing. When this Is done these walls az,
n nut aside until the narrow sirius are ready
. These strips, whe9 they are dry. are sorapet
S. n SHlTn s HIT ioSy they
i all OF the same width. The natives use busi
r rope IA thin vnel 10 sew the walls THIS busi
r rnp' IL tied into bundles and Put to soak in tn
z river for some days until tho bark ruhs or
o some of IL Il colored red and black for tn,
a fancy stitches
after all is ready tho pithy wall is set VI
!. | against nome posts ana secured 10y roDes. an,
a the hard strips are fastened npon IL. Thi
o cakes NJ least four men, two Mt each en-. OH
Z inside. and one outside. often more work II
~ It. but always an even number. The men Oi
. either side OF the wall hold bamboo strip II
d place. then A small hole In punched through
u the plth. and a piece OF bush rope Ia passe,
" through from the back. Another hole Is rfas
II alongside or the urs; and another rope Is In
l. serted. tho ends of the two being fastened u
the back. In front the bush rope. In bot
places, which a,e about two inches from enc
other, II pRSsed over the bamboo and then rn
through u huis above the strip Nav ~ III
back The rope II eros eel over the STRIP. ell
10 there, and then passed through to e.fron
again to ftSten the next bamboo TIL. from
and back walls are served In the same way
AID ter all is securely fastened some fanc
n stitches with the colOrsd rome are nut On INT
10 the whole front looks like piece OF lace work