The men who have been cutting trees all day for charcoal have come the evening meal is ready; porridge of Omahangu grain and cakes of dried, leaves cooked in butter. The scene of the evening prayer is the same as the previous night. Again
the blacksmith's voice rings out again and again Watula, I am here again the great thuds sound out as he beats the ground with his axe shaft; again he addresses himself to the spirits of the ancient Kwanya forgers, and to the spirits of his blacksmith forefathers, asking their blessing on his work.
As on the previous morning, he rises in the early hours of the morning from the row of sleeping figures by the fires and facing East he again invokes the help of the spirits, beating the ground with his axe handle.
Smoking and straightening of the long double sticks of Om'wolo cut and brought in the previous day; chopping off the bark straightening and smoothing them with chopper knife and axe; laying and binding down of grass over them. Charming of the whole site of the forger's camp. Arrival of the bushmen to establish themselves for the whole mining season.
Soon after the sun has risen, men are sent out to burn more wood to charcoal; others are sent to cut stakes for the large cattle pen; the women cut grass of 2 kinds, Kumbwahamba, for thatching the long woods and for making a beer strainer, cutting it with a dagger knife and carrying it in in bundles.
The blacksmith and his helper-pupil heat the long double sticks of Om'wolo in turn over a huge fire, slightly charring the bark. The woods are then straightened carefully; the bark is chipped away with axe end and chopper knife. Great pains are taken to get the woods as smooth and as straight as possible, and the loose ends are carefully cut level. When this work is completed, the woods are placed flat on the ground and two of the flat sleeping woods are laid under each; across the curved end, and across the centre.
Bundles of the flowering pink grass cut by the women are then brought and the thatching begins. Squatting astride the curved end of the wood the thatchers take a small bundle of grass, divide it in half and place the two halves together again head to tail, then place it across the curved end of the wood. More and more similar bundles are put down thickly one in front of each other, working towards the loose end of the double wood, and they are firmly bound down to each of the two parallel woods with a woven stitch formed by splitting the bundles of grass and passing the length of bark several times through each one.
All day the thatchers, a man and a woman, are at work, and by evening they have not quite finished the job.
Meantime the blacksmith charms the confines of the compound which is gradually springing up. He rubs his little son's forehead with the powered wood of ???????, and gives him a little of it in his fist.
Then this ceremony Ehnankelelo L'ovanu, is completed, the place is blessed and will not be disturbed by wild beasts. Any member of the forger's helpers may now build the outer hedge or branches.
Similarly anyone may place the huge stakes of the large cattle pen when once the blacksmith has traced out the site. Holes are dug with the digging tool and the sand is scooped out in the hands; the stakes are dropped in and the sand pushed close up at the foot of the stake.
A beer strainer has been made and set up on the forked sticks, and already beer making is in full swing, made from the germinated flour brought from the home compound.
A fish basket is being made, also by the women, in which the stone will be carried next day.
A cross wood on forked supported has been set up to carry the gourd butter churn, and in late afternoon butter is made; the churn being swung to and fro, to and fro by the little boys.
Late in the evening as the sun sets, the leather strap which binds the gourd onto the wood frame is loosened, and the butter and butter milk are tipped out into wood mill pails. The butter is lifted out and washed; the butter-milk is handed round and drunk fresh from the churn.
During the morning, the bushman Vakwankala, arrived and established themselves in groups under small trees at some 600 yds from the miner camp. Their sheltering 'nuts' would not be built until evening and their few belongings; their butter gourds, their bows and quivers, their baskets and their skins and the pots bought from other tribes, these few things were either hung up in the branches, or piled on the ground.
Babies rolled over each other and strutted about laughing, the women and some men, cracked open the hard almond like shell of the Manyete nut hitting with one axe blade with the nut end on the sharp edge of another which was planted in the ground. One group was smoking; another sat round eating the soft fruity outer coat of the Manhete, which when boiled is delicious. Little girls set off into the bush with baskets on their heads in search of fruits.
Expedition to mine; search for stone and the digging and breaking of it. Sacrifice to the spirits. Fetching of charcoal and carrying back of the stone. Camp is a stir early; puppies are lifted from the newly made hole by the fire; food is prepared to be cooked at the mine; and the blacksmith chalks himself and his little sonand his helpers.
Arrived near the mine there is a halt, loads are put down and everyone else sits down, while two of the men run singing into the bush, “to awaken the spirits”. Once more the caravan sets forth and proceeds a little nearer to the mine, when there is another halt, and this time the blacksmith himself followed by his little son who runs forward singing and stopping in the first likely looking place digs with the long digging tool, picks up a few pieces of stone, and runs back to the party. Luck is with them; stone has been found, and the day's work will now begin.
At once the men begin to dig, clearing the surface sand and loosening the sand in the depths of the shallow hole left by a previous miners, before scooping it out with their hands.
The stone lies in uneven strata some 6 to 9 inches below the surface and large lumps are fairly easily broken with the digging tool, or by part dropping part throwing a heavy granite stone point downwards on the cleared stone. The lumps are lifted out and are broken fairly small by the last mentioned methods before being handed over to the women who sit in the shade of a tree with a flatish granite stone; Ongalo, before them, on which they break up the stone to smallish uneven pieces hitting it with a rounded grain stone, Yo Kutendela, Vokutungita Emamua.
As the men are doing with the large lumps broken from the living rock, so the women also throw out the pieces of yellow stone which have no weight; it is the dark shiny stone that weighs heavy which yields the metal.
Men, women and children are smeared by the blacksmith with the bright reddish yellow powder of the crushed iron stone. A visitor to the mines must have his forehead, feet and legs decorated, or his legs will pain him on his return to his own country.
During this time a man and a woman have been to the charcoal burning place where in a circular clearing in the sand, an apparently very small quantity of charcoal shows the result of 3 days work. They carry conical fish baskets which they fill with charcoal above a few sprigs of leaves which are packed into the pointed base. The basket is planted point downwards in the sand, and is filled high with charcoal which is covered with leaves and then held firm by little sticks which are placed across the mouth and slipped through the sides of the basket below the binding. The woman carries her load on the head; the man, on his shoulder. The remaining charcoal will be fetched the next day.
About 10.30 a.m., there is a break; the stone has been found and work begun, therefore the fast may now be broken and food taken; for the first time today a pipe may be smoked, though snuff which is not taken by the mouth has been permissible since early morning.
The blacksmith sets out carrying a little wooden mug of Oshikundu beer; the youngest of his 3 wives brings up the rear and carrying a flat round basket of Omakuna beans.
In this order they pace round the confines of the ground which the party is mining. The man and little boy from time to time fill their mouths with beer and spit it out facing
Twice they walk round crying out: Tambuleni, take! This is called: Háipe Ovakwamungu okúlia kwávo, to give, A.M. food, theirs - ours?
An offering of food to the spirits
When the porridge and the beans are cooked, the blacksmith walks out to the edge of the mine carrying two stirring sticks; one in his right hand whose tip is smeared with porridge and butter, one in his left hand whose tip is smeared in beans. Facing East, he flings the one stick from him, calling out: Ovakamungu Vaoshilo, tambulen, facing West he throws the other stick and calls Ovakwamungu Vatokélo, tambuleni.
Fetching a lump of porridge he now dances twice more round the confines of the mine throwing little pieces of porridge and always calling out: Tamouleni! Tke!
More work is done, the useless light yellow stone on the top layer has been picked away and that which is now being dug out is heavy and will yield good metal. By now finely dusted with the yellowish brown powder, the women ceaselessly split up the lumps of stone, hitting them with the smooth rounded pounder and brushing off the
pieces from the pounding stone onto the pile of broken stone which is before them.Then sufficient stone has been prepared for the smelting two great baskets are filled and the rest of the stone is piled up ready to be fetched the following day.
A little of this first stone however must be left and an inverted horseshoe shape is made around one of the two lumps of stone on which the other has been split. In the lower centre of this, a little heap of stone is placed which overlaps the bottom edge of the pounding stone.
Food is ready and the whole party sit down to eat before packing up to return to the camp.
In the camp, the thatching of the two double woods has been completed during the day, and on the return of the miners, hasty preparations are made for the smelting which will begin in the early morning.
A rectangular piece of ground just outside the enclosing hedge of the compound is cleared by two women using hoes, and in the corner of this a small shallow rectangular hollow is cut. Here a basket of the stone is emptied over the blacksmith's right foot and then a heap of charcoal similarly over the blacksmith's right foot.
Leaves of Ongai and Omtundungu are placed on the pile of stones, fire is put to them and the two bellows are brought into use, played first by the blacksmith and then by his family who fan the flame to a roaring blaze in which the leaves are consumed. Again some cattle have strayed into the bush but they come in by moonlight about 8.30 p.m., and the blacksmith's prayer rings out into the night; a long and fervent imploration for help in the important work to be undertaken tomorrow.