CEYLON BRANCH— ROYAI* ASIATIC SOCIETY. 103: 



gneans of the channel D., and thus the process is repeated till 

 abcut the beginning or middle of September. After two crops 

 have been obtained frcm a bed it is, hcwever, allowed to dry 

 and is well beaten rs at first, li e average size of a Kahtchu- 



ttie tt py be 40 or £0 feet square, that of a small bed 15 

 to 20 feet in length by 8 to 12 in breadth, but ro paiticular 

 attention is paid to these pn portiors. Not mere than three or 

 four crops are procured in a season, and at epch, the produce 

 <6f a small prn will under favourable circumstances, be aloufc 

 eight or ten bushels, but does not on the whole average ore 

 fcalf this. The salt remains in the cadjan huts under a guard 

 paid by Government, but at the risk of the manufacturers un- 

 ~til it can be received over. When this time arrives it is re- 

 moved to the Itrge stores 1. 1., placed at convenient intervals, 

 weighed, and deposited. These stores are in some instances 

 formed of cadjans, sometimes of masonry, and sometimes alto- 

 gether of timbtr, and of these latter some were placed over pits 

 four or five feet in depth, while others were raised on dwarf 

 pillars to prevent injuries frcm water. The cadjan stores re- 

 quire constant repair and are seldom quite water tight, the 

 mortar of the masonry cms soon becomes disintegrated by the 

 action of the salt, the timber stores over pits were found in- 

 convenient and damp, those on pillars, unnecessarily expensive^ 

 it being observed that white-ants do not attack timber saturated 

 with salt; plain wooden structures placed on somewhat elevated 

 sites appear therefore the most suitable, and will probably be 

 universally adopted. 



With regard to the various expenses incurred in this ma- 

 nufacture, the following remarks may be made. The propri- 

 etors hire for each set of beds from two to three labourers 

 called wahracouddies, whose duty it is to form and level the pans,, 

 supply them with water, collect and heap the salt, and lastJy g 

 to carry it to the Kottoos ; in return for this service they re- 

 ceive one-half of the salt, but as the proprietor usually makes 



