TO GLAZE POTTERY.--Most savages have pottery, but few know how to glaze
it. One way, and that which was the earliest known of doing this, is to
throw handfuls of salt upon the jar when red-hot in the kiln. The reader
will doubtless call to mind the difficulties of Robinson Crusoe in making
his earthenware water-tight.
Substitute for Clay.--In Damara land, where there is no natural material
fitted for pottery, the savages procured mud from the interior of the
white-ant hills, with which they made their pots. They were exceedingly
brittle, but nevertheless were large and serviceable for storing
provisions and even for holding water over the fire. I have seen them two
feet high. What it was that caused the clay taken from the ant-hills to
possess this property, I do not know.
Pots for Stores and Caches.--An earthen pot is excellent for a store of
provisions or for a cache, because it keeps out moisture and insects, and
animals cannot smell and therefore do not attack its contents.