CARBONATE OF SODA FROM IMPURE MINERAL ALKALI. 
365 
Ihe iiisiht lari/e vessels uughi iiol to come under 7 
fallioms, for it is latliei Sleep in some pans, and 
from that deplli tliesonndimisdecrease veiy rapidly. 
Land and sea breezes {>eiieraUy prevail witb cold 
clear weaiber, but the wind sometimes Irlows very 
fresh from the N. li. and the aimospbere is ob- 
scured Ity clouds of dust. Tin? fine season is over 
lori'i lietoie it terminates on the Malabar Coast, 
and the navigation becomes very dangerous. Eaily 
in February the Westeily winds set in with con- 
siderable violence, and for the fust foitnight the 
weather is al\va 3 s very tempestuous ; strong gaies 
are also someiinies encountered in this inooili, and 
there is a heavy tutnulittous sev continually i mining, 
which breaks acioss ibe mouths of most of the 
Uivers. In 1833 the Shannon Scliooner was cauttht 
in one ihai lasted 13 tiottrs, ami cause the destruc- 
tion of 10 or 1 2 laige boats which weie wrecked on 
diffeient pans of the coast. Slioit inteivals of fine 
weaihei occur afterwards until the middle of March, 
but after that dale the mouths of the Indus may be 
considered closed for the season. 
Besides the Munnejah or main river there is only 
one branch, the Hiijamree, now available fm the 
purpose of opening a communication with the up- 
per part of Ihe Indus : a iriaonometiical survey of 
it has heeti completed, and the former has been 
caiefiilly examined from Hyderabad to its month. 
The mouth of the Hiijainree opens like a funnel, 
and with the exception ttf that part where tire river 
lakes its course aloui; the tight bank, is occupied 
hy a broad flat, paitially covered with water: Ibis 
form^ a couiiuuatiou of the bank every where ex- 
tending from the coast which is here rather more 
than a mile in breadth. The best cbannel for cross- 
ing it runs in a N N. E. direction towards the 
North point of the river, and is COO yards wide: 
at the entrance iheie ate heavy breakers on either 
side, and at high water no greater depth is iVuind 
on the bar which is about half a mile insid^, than 
13 feel. Besides this channel, there is another that 
crosses the bank in an liasterly line three or four 
hundred yards above it, but it is extremely shal- 
low, and can only be used by the smallest Ixiais in 
moderate weather. About ibis mouth, which is 
situated in 218’ 20) ; North Latitude, the land is 
eniirely destitute of objects that could lie pointed 
out as tnaiks to guide Hie navigator, and wiibout 
the assistance of a Pihti a stiaiiger would have 
some diiliculiy in finding it: Ihe Cutcla boatmen 
never attempt to steer for it until they have seen 
the Noiib point of the Ricliel, which being covered 
with mangrove jungle is visible some distance, 
and enaltles them lo ascertain their position coi- 
lectly, I’heie is however no danger in aitproach- 
iti'g it during the fine season, for the soundings 
decrease witb the greatest regularity up to the 
edge of the shoals, and the breakers on them are 
visible when in 4 or 5 faihoms water. 
(JTo be continued.) 
THK CINNAMON TRADE. 
The following from the Ceylon Observer is the 
official Statement of the Government Stock of 
Cinnamon on hand, and that of the Export for the 
year ending 31st August 1836, it will be seen that 
the quaiitiiy of the spice shipped during that time 
was about 5,818 bales, being within about 182 bales 
of vihai is said by Government to have been export, 
ed annually during the monopoly. If the high 
■ prices that have lately been given for all sorts of 
Cinnamon, and the increased sale of the first quality 
be taken into consideration, we conceive that the 
state of the Tiade will soon, iiicontestibly, prove 
the erroneous views once maintained by those who 
would have preserved the 'peculiar monopoly of 
this A I tide fiom the idea that the abolition of it 
woud have luined the revenues of the Colony and 
even the Trade itself. From the manner in which 
the Government Sales are conducted they still* 
however, approach too nearly to a monopoly. A 
certsin number of bales are monthly put up to 
Auction at an upset price, and however great the 
demand may be no more will then be disposed of. 
Government are still almost the sole producers 
and proprietors of the ailicle, of which they might 
biiiig a much greater quantity into the market from 
their piesent stock, and continue to do so were 
common attention paid lo their Gaidens. Instead 
of doing this and disposing of a much larger quan- 
tity at a somewhat reduced lale, with their usual 
short-sighted policy they content themselves with 
selling a small quantity at a high pilce upon which 
they afterwards levy an exorbitant duty. How fre- 
quently has it been shewn that by this conduct they 
offer a bonus to foreigners to cultivate the spice, 
and in support of this conclusion we have lo slate 
another instance in the Dutch, who have now also 
become competitors in the cultivation of Cinnamon, 
of which they have grown excellent qualities at 
Java. 
Natural productions of India. 
To the Editor of the A^ra Ukhbar. 
Sir,— 1 lespectfully beg to offer for publication 
Ihe following memorandum on the refining of 
Carbonate of Soda from the impure inineial Alkali 
found in abundance throughout the Western Pro- 
vinces, and more especially in the vicinity of the 
Jumna, and which I am strongly inclined to lielieve 
must become a substance of great mercantile im- 
poilance and value, as soon as its properties, and 
extensive consumption in medicine, the arts, and 
manufactutes, become more fully known and ap- 
pieciated. 
If this specimen of the application of practical 
Chemistry merit approval, it mav be followed l>y 
some others executed with the view to facilitate 
I lie preparation of the indigenous productions of 
the Country, 
JOHN DOUGLAS, Apothecary, 
Landour, 30t/i Sept. 1936. 
My attention having been drawn last cold season 
to the aitiindant and inexhaustible supply of impute 
Caiboiiateof Soda CRae ka Muitee) found in the 
state of efflovesence on the surface of the ground 
throughout the vvesteru Provinces, and in particu- 
lar to the practicability, of refining it in the most 
advantageous and economical manner, so as to ren- 
der ii most suitable as an article of commercial 
speculation and export, I beg to hes)>eak an in- 
dulgent coiisideiation for the following metno- 
raiidum on the subject, the result of my observations 
and experiments. 
Regarding the natural phenomena which attend 
the formation of this mineral it may be briefly 
premised.— 
That, on an examination of those localities where 
it is found efflorescent in the greatest purity and 
whiteness, a superficial stratum of Cartiouate of 
Lime is almost invariably to be found in it under 
Ibe shape of kunkur, and tbe water in the kucha 
wells in the immediate neighbourhood is sali-ne 
and bitter, in short, it is generally so strongly 
impregnated with muriate of Soda as to be made 
available by the native salt makers for the manu- 
facture of Hie coarsest qualities of coiiniiy salt. 
On a consideration of these circumstances it 
may be inferred that a mutual process of decompo- 
sition is continually, and imperceptibly going for- 
ward between the Muiiate of Soda aiiri Carbonate 
of Lime promoted, and modified more or less by 
the influence of the solar heat, the Caibonate of 
