60 THE INLAND SEA REVISITED. 



candle. The light given by these articles is not good. 

 They require constant snuffing, where no snuffers are to 

 be had, barring those of nature's providing, and make 

 an abominable smell if not so operated on. In short, 

 they exactly resemble the "Purser's Dip," so familiar 

 of old to the naval officer ! The ordinary cotton cloth 

 of the country is also made here to a considerable 

 extent. Girls work away at their looms, stripped 

 to their waists in the hot weather, singing and chatting 

 to the passers-by, getting through their tasks with 

 merry contentment. Excellent rice is grown in the 

 neighbourhood. The cultivation of this staple article of 

 food appears very simple, but in reality a very consider- 

 able amount of labour is necessary for its production. 

 The seed is sown in March, in small square patches ; 

 the fields at the same time are being prepared by hoe- 

 ing, cleaning, and flooding. In May the young plant is 

 six inches high and ready for transplanting, which is 

 usually done by women and girls. Taking bundles of 

 the young rice from the seed-beds, they pass in line 

 quickly over the fields, dabbing little patches of the 

 plant into the hot, wet mud, about eighteen inches apart. 

 Up to their knees in this slush, with nothing but a rag 

 round their loins, these contented creatures sing and 

 chatter over their work all the day long. A few days 



