54. 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. IV. 
and his wife rushed out, and begged us to enter their 
humble dwelling. We did so, chairs 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 
wonderful English doctor, he came over to Chusan, and 
soon received his sight. 
Many of the inhabitants of Chusan and the neigh- 
bouring 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 saturated, 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 of 
purifying the salt. In Chimoo Bay the natives evaporate 
