BOOK III. CHAP. VII. 679 



in the drying houfe, it fliould be turned three or four times a day to 

 prevent its rotting. The flies muft likewife be driven from it. Care 

 is taken to have it thoroughly dry before it is packed, becaufe, if it 

 is put damp into the cafks for exportation, and headed up, it will 

 Aveat, and inevitably be fpoiled. Good, marketable indigo fhould be 

 of a fine, copperifh, blue colour, deep, and fliining, with a fmooth 

 grain. It ihould break eafily, fwim in water, and burn very freely, 

 leaving fome white cinders behind. 



The faults in indigo generally arife, firft, from too long a putrefaction, 



which gives it a dirty hue ; fo that it looks like black mould, or mud : 



lecondly, from too little beating; and then it has a coarfe grain, and 



a greenifh colour : thirdly, from too much beating, which always 



imbues it with a black caft : fourthly, from a mixture of the particles 



of lime, when the lime-water has not been fufficiently depurated,, or 



when too large a quantity of this water has been let in, which renders 



itgreyifli, and hard : fifthly, for want of lime-water, or when none 



is ufed; by which negled, it never comes to a due granulation, nor 



fettles well, and depofits only an inconfiderable part of the fubftance. 



From all which it appears, that no fmall degree of ikill and attention 



are required in conducing and perfedling this manufacture. And 



hence we may eafily conceive, how the right management of it came 



to be loft in Jamaica, after the planters had for many years difufcd 



it; for much depends on the knowledge gained by a long courfc of 



experience and obfervation, to dire«£l the exa£l degree of fermentation, 



of beating, and application of the lime-temper, as well as the method 



of curing and drying for the market. 



This valuable comm.odity is the principal ingredient known for 

 dying a fine blue ; and no part of the world affords better foil for the 

 culture of Indigo, than the interior parts of Jamaica. Add to which^ 

 that it is not bulky in the carriage: and that a few barrels, of fmalt 

 fize, fuch as a mule may convey through the moft difficult road?, 

 will contain a quantity of it of great value. Fifteen Negroes are 

 efteemed {ufficient to manage and attend twenty acres; and twenty- 

 five Negroes are allowed to fifty. Four Negroes are therefore about 

 equal to five acres ; which proves that it may be entered upon by 

 men of exceedingly fmall capital?. And it is alfo certain, that they 

 will have time for doing other occafional work through the year. 



One 



