CLEANING COTTON. 321 



not upon any sound principle of husbandry, for the 

 ripening of the tall grain must interfere with the 

 full development of the lowly shrub, which is 

 seldom more than three or four feet high. A 

 cotton plantation reminded me very much of the 

 appearance of the vineyard in the south of Europe, 

 although the little snowball-like tufts of the burst 

 pods, sprinkle the dark green foliage with numerous 

 white spots. 



My last ahmulahs having been expended, I had 

 to send Walderheros to market again with a dollar, 

 whilst I directed my attention, as all other visitors 

 had departed, to the party now busily employed 

 cleaning cotton, for as soon as the supply was 

 brought from the market, Wallata Gabriel and her 

 sisters, had set about preparing it for spinning. 

 Flat stones, something larger than bricks, with a 

 smooth upper surface, were placed upon the ground, 

 my three factory girls kneeling down before them, 

 each with an iron rod in her hands, about twelve 

 inches long, and three quarters of an inch thick in 

 the middle, and tapering to the extremities. This 

 instrument is called a medamager ; and with it a 

 small quantity of seeded tufts of cotton, being laid 

 upon the near end of the stone, is rolled out ; the 

 seeds, by the pressure being forced before the 

 medamager, until they fall over the farther 

 extremity of the stone. By this simple, but very 

 effectual process a large portion of the cotton was 

 soon in a state fit to be farther cleaned from dust 



VOL. II. Y 



