Part IL Travels into the A a T. 
85 
In Fer^a, commonly they make the Floors of the Rooms ofjoifts, on which Fioros. 
thev lay planks, and over them a Mat or Store and then a lay of Reeds 
which they cover with Clay half a foot thick ; But they ob(erve to mingle 
Salt with the firft lay of Earth, that the Worms may not get into the Timber Saltmingkti 
underneath. They who will not be at the charge of boards or planks, put with Ciay. 
onely in place of Joifts, pieces of Timber as thick as ones Arm, and over 
them two Marts and then the Reeds which they cover with Clay, ialtingall/J 
the firft lay. 
The Per/z<^«j make their Lime of Stones which they burn as' we doe, and 
when they have taken them out of the Kiln, they break them into fmall pie- 
ces: When they are to ufe it they prepare it in the manner following. They The way of 
fweep a place very clean to fift the Lime in, and when it is fifred they make F^P^ring 
it up in a heap fharp at the top like a Sugar-Loaf ; then they fift Aflies upon 
it, and that in almoft as great a quantity as the lime ; that being done, they 
fweep the adjoyning place very clean and water it, and over the wet, fift a 
very flight lay of Afhes ; then with Iron-fiiovels they throw upon it their 
Lime mingled with Afhes, working and incorporating them well together : 
When they have caft on three or four fhovel fulls, one of them throws upon 
it about a quarter of a Bucket full oî Water or fbmewhat left, and the reft caft 
very faft upon the wet Lime, other Lime mingled with Afhes, fo that they 
give not the Water time to penetrate through that firft lime ; then they throw 
on a good deal of watermore, and then another quantity of lime and afhes, 
and they keep this courfe, untill they have put all the lime which they had 
mingled with Afhes into a heap ; and the water they throw upon it is fo little 
in regard of the quantity of that matter, that it fcarcely appears to be wet. 
After this, they fweep a neighbouring place, and having watéjjpl^ and then 
covered it with a few Afhes as before, they turn over again the mixture thac 
they may well mingle and incorporate the Afhes with the lime ; and fb turn it 
over from one fide to another feveral times, (that's to fay ) nine or ten times. 
But it is to be obferved that after the firit time, they pour no more water 
upon the mixture ; but onely from time to time lightly fprinkle with the hand - 
the outfide of t\iQ heap, to keep it a little humid without appearing to be wet ; 
but every time they caft the heap from one fide to another, they are fure firft 
to fweep the place, water it, and then to fcatter a few Afhes upon the fame, 
and then with their Iron- fhovels they turn the heap. I wondered to fee thefe 
People when they prepared their lime, that they were not afraid to burn 
their feet going bare footed upon that Stuff, nor yet to wrong themfelves 
by receiving into their Mouth and Nofe, the duft of the lime when thev 
fifted it. ' 
When they have thus well mingled the Afhes with the lime, they divide the 
Stuff into feveral heaps, which they fpread a little, giving to each about four 
foot of Diameter, and one foot in thicknefs: After that, four of them fland 
round the heap, and beat the Stuff with fticks. fomewhat crooked, about two 
foot and a half long,the handle they hold them by being two fingers thick with 
a little round knob at theend,to keepthem from flipping through their hands, 
then they grow greater and greater till about the middle where they are as 
big as ones Arm, and round fo far ; and from that place where they bend and 
make an obtufe Angle with the other half, they grow thicker and thicker ac- 
cording as they come nearer the end, and are round on the concave fide, but 
flat on the convex, and about the end are about fix fingers broad : Thefe Clubs 
are of Afti. They beat this Stuff with one hand two and two over againft 
one another, finging T a allah. Ta allah^ and other attributes of God, and 
keeping time to this tune, which feems to be eflential to the trade, they beat 
as our Threfliers do fbmetimes in one place, fometimes in another, ftooping 
at every blow, and nothing but the flat fide of the Club hits the matter. They 
beat every heap fb about half an hour without intermiffion ; and then go to 
another which they beat as much, and continue this exercilè almofl: an hour 
without refting, onely now and then fhifting their hand ; after this, they take 
breath a httle for the fpace of half a quarter of an hour or lefs, and then fall 
to their bufinefs again. In this manner they beat every heap four or five times, 
and every time they leave it, it is all reduced to the thicknefs of about half a 
foot 
