1 is made of
the same material as the furnace itself, and when kneaded into shape
is supported on a wooden framework. On it is piled a supply of
charcoal, which is raked into the furnace when required.
The blowing apparatus is singularly ingenious, and is certainly as
economical of manual labor as a blowing arrangement depending on
manual labor well can be. A section of the bellows forms the portion
to the right of Fig. 1, showing tuyere forming the connection between
bellows and furnace. It consists of a circular segment of hard wood,
rudely hollowed, and having a piece of buffalo hide with a small hole
in its center tied over the top. Into this hole a strong cord is
passed, with a small piece of wood attached to the end to keep it
inside the bellows, while the other end is attached to a bent bamboo
firmly fixed into the ground close by. This bamboo acts as a spring,
drawing up the string, and consequently the leather cover of the
bellows, to its utmost stretch, while air enters through the central
hole. When thus filled, a man places his foot on the hide, closing the
central hole with his heel, and then throwing the whole weight of his
body on to that foot, he depresses the hide, and drives the air out
through a bamboo tube inserted in the side and communicating with the
furnace. At the same time he pulls down the bamboo with the arm of
that side.
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