soft steel. This the natives make into knives and what they call razors, the anvil being a stone, and the hammer a long piece of iron, the bellows very crude—just native pots, with pieces of goat skin and a stick to blow with attached to the top—the blast produced being very weak. These men are improving themselves in many ways, and getting taught by various Europeans in the country, and many men who knew a little of carpentering are taking lessons and endeavouring to extend that branch of their business. Many are engaged in making soap from the fat of animals killed in the market, mixed with a liquid which is obtained by burning plantain peelings, and straining the dust through a grass sieve. Many, again, make banana beer for sale in the markets; but the intoxicating kind is forbidden to be sold by the Native Council, and the European Administration has done its best to help the Council in this decision.
