48 



ing-cloth where it is left until the following day. Then 

 the substance is put under the press (a kind of case, in 

 the sides of which holes are made covered with linen) in 

 order to extract all the water that it might yet contain. 



The indigo is now cut in tablets which are laid 

 on long wooden benches for 25 days in order to dry. 



The last manipulation the tablets have to undergo 

 before being ready for sale is their polishing after leaving 

 the mould. By this means they become of a brilliant pur- 

 ple colour. ^) 



§ 6. The production of indigo in the isle of Java 

 was as follows, viz: 



1895 600911 K«s. 



1896 616673 „ 



1897 779738 „ 



1898 852663 „ 



1899 658301 „ 



1900 614347 „ 



1901 613018 „ 



1902 601884 „ 



1903 721756 „ 



1904 622063 „ 



1905 331222 „ 



1906 289900 „ 



1907 144086 



1) For the Natal indigo some manufacturers work with warm water; they 

 than use whitewash, the exess of which they remove by acidified water. 



