Travels in India (Tavernier) 73.3

73.3

This done they allow it to rest for some days, and when they see that all has sunk to the bottom and that the water is clear above, they open the holes made round the tank to allow the water to escape. Next, the water having been drawn off, they fill baskets with the slime, after which, in a level field, each man is to be seen near his basket taking this paste in his fingers, and moulding it into pieces of the shape and size of a hen’s egg cut in two—that is to say, flat below and pointed above. But as for the indigo of Ahmadābād, it is flattened and made into the shape of a small cake. This is to be particularly remarked, that the merchants, in order to escape paying custom on useless weight, before sending the indigo from Asia to Europe are careful to sift it, in order to remove the dust attached to it, which they afterwards sell to the people of the country, who make use of it in their dyes. Those who are employed to sift the indigo observe great precautions, for while so occupied they hold a cloth in front of the face, and take care that all their orifices are well closed, only leaving two small holes in the cloth for the eyes, to see what they are doing. Moreover, both those who sift the indigo and the writers or sub-merchants of the Company who watch them sifting, have to drink milk every hour, this being a preservative against the subtlety of the indigo.