MANUFACTURE OF TAPER FROM TIIE^BARK OF TREES. 257 



with the top of the terrace. An arched hole is then 

 dug into the face of the ground below each vat 

 where the fire is placed. When the strips are suffi- 

 ciently softened, a quantity enough for one sheet 

 of paper at a time is taken and well beaten by 

 a woman with a wooden mallet in each hand. 

 After having been turned about and'beaten for some 

 time, the pulp, to which the strips are now reduced, 

 is put into a bamboo-joint four or five inches in 

 diameter, nearly full of water, and the fibre is 

 thoroughly disintegrated by rapidly working up and 

 down in it a stick about a foot long, having little 

 cross-pins at the bottom end like the plunger of 

 an old-fashioned churn. When this is completed— 

 which is the work of about a minute— a wooden 

 frame, with muslin tightly stretched [over it, is laid 

 on a shallow tray about an inch deep full of water, 

 and the contents of the bamboo are poured into it. 

 The pulp settles on the muslin, its even distribution 

 being obtained by tapping the cloth with the fingers. 

 The frame is then gently lifted out of the tray, and 

 the water allowed to drain away. There is now a 

 fairly even layer of wet pulp upon the frame, which 

 is put in the sunshine to dry. Afterwards the paper 

 is stripped off the cloth, its detachment being assisted 

 when necessary by an instrument like a large clumsy 

 paper-knife. It requires no sizing, and is ready for 

 use. 



