8
Stone-Age man. It is very likely, too, that the neolithic
scraper was the pattern selected as most suitable for a
tinder-box flint.
As we find there is still a use for the flint and steel,
it will naturally be asked, why are gun-flints still made?
The answer is a simple one. When the percussion-cap
superseded the old flint-lock musket, enormous numbers
of the latter were thrown on the market and bought up
cheaply by merchants and others. Thousands of these found
their way to Africa, to be bartered with the natives for ivory
and other desirable African produce. Now as a gun-flint
is not good for very long, it follows that a fresh demand
sprang up for gun-flints, and these were, and are made at
Brandon and bought by African firms for export to Zanzibar
and other Ports of communication with the interior of the
"Dark Continent."
In 1886, Mr. R. J. Snare, who has been dead for many
years, informed me that his own output of gun-flints of
all kinds, was as follows—
For 1880 4,500,000 gun-flints
1881 2,832,000 ,,
1882 3,115,000 ,,
1883 4,721,000 ,,
1884 4,793,000 „
1S85 3,203,000 „
To-day, his successor, Mr. Fred. Snare, tells me that
the corresponding annual output is only about one million.
This is only natural when we consider that many of the
African Natives are now working under European influence
(in mines &c). And in addition to this, obsolete guns,
but of a later type than the old Flint Lock, are gradually
displacing the latter, even among such tribes as still
indulge in fighting.
Mr. Fred. Snare, whom I have known for many years,
is not only a most expert flint worker, but he has a wide
knowledge of his subject and is always ready to assist
those who are interested in the manufacture of gun-flints.
Edward Lovett,
1886—1913. Outram Road, Croydon.