VARIOUS MODES OF STEEPING. 145 



any sudden flood should carry his property away with it ; 

 or sometimes in ponds that have been dug for the purpose, 

 in which the bundles of hemp are made to sink by loading 

 them with earth, which has been taken from the bottom 

 of the pond itself. Hemp which has been steeped in this 

 last-mentioned way is always much more dark coloured, 

 and its fibre is often sold for one-sixth less than the other 

 sort. In those ponds which are not fitted up with stakes, 

 the workmen who set the hemp to steep are obliged to 

 work in the water. 



" Four days after steeping has commenced, it is neces- 

 sary to inspect the hemp, and to try if the fibre comes 

 away easily from the woody part. It is very essential to 

 seize the moment when that change takes place; for twelve 

 hours passed in the rouissoir beyond the necessary time, 

 would considerably injure the quality and the strength of 

 the fibre. About the sixth day the steeping is generally 

 complete ; but that depends greatly upon the weather 

 and the temperature. If a very strong fibre is required, 

 in preference to a very sightly sample, the hemp ought to 

 be taken out of the water as soon as the fibre begins to 

 detach itself, when the hemp-stalk is broken. If, on the 

 contrary, good-looking, rather than strong, hemp is re- 

 quired, it is left in the pond for twelve or eighteen hours 

 longer. 



" The next step to be taken is the washing. A party 

 of women, dressed in wretched rags, step into the pond, 

 and stand upon the bank which has been purposely built ; 

 there they are up to the middle in water. Men (if the 

 pond is staked, but if not, the women themselves) then 

 unfasten the bundles of hemp, and break the bands with 

 which they are tied, in order to separate the bunches from 

 each other. The women then, seizing these smaller 

 bunches with their two hands, and raising them several 

 times as high as their arms can conveniently reach, dash 

 them horizontally with their whole strength upon the 

 water, turning them round a little each time, in order 

 that every part of the bunch may feel the effects of the 

 blow. This operation detaches almost the whole of the 



L 



