The tools and apparatus used by smiths are as follows:
- Stone Anvil—Ihiga ya uturi (even to this day these are brought from Ithanga, where hard metamorphic rocks occur).
- Hammer—Kiriha.
- Pincers—Muhato.
- Bellows—Miura.
- Wooden nozzles of bellows—Ngeruru (made of murumbu wood).
- Clay tuyére—Ngerrua.
- Charcoal—Makara.
- Smith’s fire—Mwaki wa kiganda.
- Smith’s hut (smithy)—Kiganda.
- Pot used to contain water for quenching—Rugio ya uturi.
In former times one section smelted the iron and another forged it; imported iron wire is now so cheap that most of the forgings are made from it.
If a man wishes to enter the guild, he has to be initiated with some ceremony. He must bring a ram (ndorume) which is slaughtered just outside the smithy; the novice is then walked round the anvil. The heart and lungs of the slaughtered animal are held in the smith’s tongs and roasted in his fire, which is fanned by the bellows; the novice eats them and the smith sits on the anvil and anoints the forehead of the novice with a spot of white earth (ira). The carcase of the sacrifice is then split from neck to tail, the right half being eaten by the smiths and the left half by the villagers present. [[169]]
The smiths and the villagers then go to the village of the novice to drink beer, and next morning the smith comes and forges an iron bracelet, which he places on the right wrist of the would-be smith, and, if the smith is married, one on the left wrist of his principal wife. If he has more than one wife, one of his first tasks is to forge bracelets for the others. The head of a smith’s village wears a twisted iron bracelet on his right wrist, the other smiths a plain iron band.
Birth does not confer membership of the guild; the son of a smith has to go through the same initiation ceremonies before becoming a smith.
All smiths are believed to possess magical powers which are alleged to come from the iron they use and are carried on through the spirits of their ancestors (ngoma). These powers are used in many ways; a smith can inflict curses which are of the nature of thahu, and they can bless the weapons they forge.
When a smith has forged a spear or sword he rubs it with a piece of kianduri wood (Swahili msuaki, Bot. Salvadora persica) and addresses the weapon thus: “If the owner of this meets with an enemy, may you go straight and kill your adversary; but if you are launched at one who has no evil in his heart, may you miss him and pass on either side without entering into his body.” This incantation is believed to be a great charm.
After this ceremony the smith’s assistant polishes the weapon with a quartzose stone called ngomongo; the assistant is paid for his work but is not usually a smith. He is often merely the bellows boy, who is called a muruguti.
Some customers bring their own iron and charcoal and bargain for the manufacture of a sword or spear; others buy a weapon which has been made at odd moments and laid by for sale.