THE SALTWORKS. 179 



boiling within the huts ; but the salt so obtained is darker 

 in colour and less pure. The skill of the women consists in 

 mixing the earth and water in the right proportions just before 

 the filtering begins. 



Bad weather and continued rain greatly interfere with the 

 salt manufacture, for the soil then becomes saturated with 

 moisture, and in that state is not suitable for the extraction of 

 salt. At such times the people break down the sides of the 

 ravine, for they also contain a high percentage of saline matter. 

 It is, of course, self-evident that this continual drain upon the 

 layers of the ravine-bottom must result in its gradual lower- 

 ing. At the present time the walls have an average height of 

 thirty to fifty feet, showing the extent to which human agency 

 has utilised the saline deposits contained in the soil. 



It would be interesting to know whether the yield of salt 

 undergoes any proportionate variation as the ravine gets deeper ; 

 for this would decide the question whether the salt, as the 

 native workers maintain, comes from the water of the hot springs 

 or not. I am myself inclined to think that these springs 

 have no connexion with the supply of salt except that of 

 opening up the layers of earth in which it is contained. The 

 rocks from among which the springs issue are primitive rocks ; 

 the salt itself must lie in the alluvial soil, just as it does at 

 Rejaf and at Gondokoro. At all events, the people of Kibiro 

 affirm that when the water of the springs is cooled by heavy 

 rains, and the soil is consequently charged with moisture, they 

 are unable to carry on the process for the extraction of the 

 salt. But the same is true at Rejaf, where no hot springs 

 exist. It is much more reasonable to suppose that the rain 

 washes the salt out of the soil, and consequently the saline 

 liquor is too thin to deposit much salt. 



The salt of Kibiro is coarse-grained, and mostly of a 

 rather dark grey colour, which is due to the process of 

 manufacture. It has a faintly bitter after- taste — a fact also 

 noticed by the Negroes. 



Kabrega once sent me as a present of especial value a packet 

 of salt of a dark grey colour, but very pure in saline properties, 

 which he obtained from Hamgurko, on the river of Usongora 

 (the Dueru). The bitter taste that characterises the salt of 



