This is mr Kioko, who is going to show us how to make a catapult.
First he cuts the lining from the tongue of an old show that I found by the roadside in Tala.
Then he cuts round holes in the leather.
And trims it to shape.
To make the, erm, bit where the stones will go.
Then, he takes a cleft stick …
… and cuts it to size …
… and whittles the ends so that they will not tear the rubber.
Next, he takes some strips of bycicle inner-tube rubber…
… and arranges them over the stick …
… With their long ends hanging evenly over the forked parts.
Then, he takes another strip of rubber …
… and binds the stick with the long strips inside.
Taking care to tie the end tightly.
The second fork needs binding separately with another strip.
When that’s done, the loose ends hang free.
He splits one of the rubber strips…
… in half, to make a really thin strip …
… which he uses to tie the rubber to the leather.
He simply pokes the rubber through the hole in the leather …
… and binds it with his thin strips.
Somehow this is strong enough to allow him to pull the catapult without the leather coming off.
The finished article!
Wait! Don’t let that stupid Mzungu loose with it!
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