Carpentry is rudimentary and the craft akin to iron-working. The artisan, known as the “Enad” or smith, whatever his caste, is a person of standing in the community: he is a man whose advice is sought in council though he rarely becomes a leader. In the olden days the “Enad” is said even to have had a peculiar form of grave to distinguish his resting-place from that of other men, but however this may have been, there is nothing now to show that the smith of Air ever belonged to a separate race or caste. To-day the smith is only respected for his skill. The position is usually hereditary and includes the duties of the blacksmith, jeweller, carpenter and farrier, with the same set of tools for all these trades. His adze is an acute-angled crook of wood with a socketed iron cutting edge bound on to the point of the short limb; the form dates back at least to the Neolithic period of civilisation. The axe is equally primitive: the cutting edge, instead of having a socket, ends in a point which is fitted into a hole bored through the club head of a wooden haft. With these two tools, a few hammers, usually of European shape, tin-shears, pincers, files and chisels, the “Enad” contrives to turn out some remarkably fine work. Using only his adze he will cut spoons with a pointed bowl at a slight angle to the flat handle, or round ladles, from a solid block of “Aborak” wood. They are then ornamented with geometric patterns burnt on the handles around the edge. The Air “Enad” does not smelt iron, for all the presence of ironstone in the hills and magnetite sand in the river-beds. The only iron-working done is quite simple bending, beating or tempering on an anvil shaped like a huge horseshoe nail planted in the ground. A goatskin bellows closed by two wooden slats and a clay nozzle are used as in the Southland. The iron is heated in a hearth in the sand filled with charcoal. A certain number of inferior iron knives are forged, but the Tuareg of Air must be regarded as having hardly yet reached the iron-working age of evolution.
The Agades blacksmith-jewellers melt down silver coins heated in small clay crucibles. They lose a lot of silver by oxidation, but the work is remarkably well finished, considering the primitive nature of their tools and the heavy hammers employed. The wooden household furniture will be described later; so far as there is any at all, it is well made, but rough. The principal skill of the smiths is displayed in making and decorating camel riding saddles and certain U-shaped luggage rests, to which particular reference will be made hereafter.
The Tuareg riding saddle, or “tirik” (“t’iriken” in the plural) in Temajegh, or “rahla” in Arabic, is a highly efficient production, combining comfort with extreme lightness. It consists of a circular seat over an inverted V frame which fits across the withers of the camel. High above the seat are a broad, tall cantle shaped like a Gothic arch and large cross pommel. The whole saddle weighs perhaps 10 lbs. at the most. Its equipment includes a quilted saddle cloth over the withers and a single plaited leather girth two inches broad. No iron is used in the saddle, except for two rings which pull by diagonal straps from the underside of the seat over the flat Ʌ shaped frame of the saddle. The girth is permanently attached to these straps at one end, the other end is lashed to the ring on the off-side straps by a leather thong. The seat, cantle and pommel are made of separate pieces of wood held together by raw hide, which is pulled over them wet and dried in place; the violent contraction of the hide holds the component parts together as firmly as if they were screwed or dovetailed. The broad Ʌ sides which fit over the withers are of soft tanned leather stretched over a rectangular frame: the upper part is covered with leather over hide and wood. The common saddle has dark red leather over the seat and cantle and black leather over the cross pommel and along the edges of the cantle. The elaborate decoration of the more ornate patterns is invariably the same. In this variety the seat and edging are of red and black leather as previously described, but the back of the cantle and the front of the cross pommel are covered with pale green leather, on which is applied a geometric decoration of horizontal and diagonal strips of stamped and fretted silver or white metal, with red cloth showing through the holes. Every example I saw had the same green leather background on the front of the pommel and back of the cantle. I observed no instance where the ornament was on a different background or where green leather without the silver metal design had been used. Where the design comes from I have no idea; it is remarkably well executed and dignified without being so barbaric in splendour as the horse saddles of the Sudan. Every element of the construction and ornament is traditional and rigidly adhered to. I can offer no suggestions regarding its origin, but can only note its presence. Some symbolism is probably involved.
PLATE 25
LEFT: BRIDLE STAND AND SEAT
CENTRE: CAMEL RIDING SADDLE WITH PLAITED GIRTH AND THONG
ABOVE: PLAITED LEATHER CAMEL BRIDLE AND LEATHER HOBBLE
RIGHT: WOODEN ARCH OF CAMEL PACK SADDLE
Where a man can afford to have a leather bridle he usually dispenses with the running noose which, when rope is used, is slipped over the camel’s lower jaw behind the front teeth. The leather bridle is fitted to a head collar consisting of an arched iron nose-piece with a curved iron jowl-piece attached to one side by a brass or copper link ring. The bridle is fastened to the other end of the jowl-piece and runs through a ring on the nose-piece itself, so that any pull on the bridle closes the former on to the latter, compressing the jaws of the camel. The nose-piece is kept in position by a horizontal band of plaited leather attached to the ends and passing round the back of the camel’s head below the ears. The top of the arched nose-piece is usually shaped into a loop on to which a crest of black ostrich feathers may be attached.[213] As an alternative or in addition to this equipment the riding camel often also has a nose-ring in the left nostril for a light rope or leather bridle. The nose-ring is the mark of a good riding camel, but is sometimes not employed for guiding the animal, as its use necessitates light hands to avoid injuring the beast.