Cuar. V.] SALT-MAKING. 75 
were set for us, tea was brought, and the worthy 
pair thanked the Doctor in the most feeling 
and grateful manner for his former kindness to 
them. The man had been nearly blind, and unable 
to work for his family, when, hearing of the won- 
derful English doctor, he came over to Chusan, and 
soon received his sight. 
Many of the inhabitants of Chusan and the 
neighbouring islands gain their living by making 
salt on the shores. Large heaps of clay are 
scraped together in winter on the flats close by the 
sea; and when the weather becomes warm in summer, 
these heaps are spread out, and regularly watered 
with sea water several times a day, which quickly 
evaporates and leaves a highly saline mixture. 
When by this means the soil is completely satu- 
rated, the next operation is to make a filter. This 
the natives do by forming a round basin of clay and 
mud; in the bottom of this they put a quantity of 
straw or grass, and some charcoal or ashes on the 
top; they then surround the whole with another 
layer of mud, and place a quantity of the saline 
earth in the centre. Water is then regularly 
poured over this earth, and the particles of salt are 
carried down through the filter in a liquid state. 
A pipe made of bamboo, which had been placed 
below, leads the liquid into a well dug at the side, 
into which it comes clear, pure, and highly saline. 
This mixture is now carried off to pans, where it is 
boiled, until the whole of the water is evaporated. 
I cannot say whether the Chinese have any means 
