[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Dark Ages](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages) › [Travellers (1500–1858)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel) › [Les six voyages de Jean-Baptiste Tavernier](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier) › [Travels in India (Ball)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball) › 73.4 # Travels in India (Tavernier) 73.4 Travels in India (Ball) 73.4 - **Language:** English ### [73.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73.4) All these precautions do not prevent those who are occupied for eight or ten days, sifting indigo, from having all that they expectorate coloured blue for some time. I have indeed on more than one occasion observed that if an egg is placed in the morning near one of these sifters, in the evening, when one breaks it, it is altogether blue inside, so penetrating is the dust of indigo. According as the men take paste from the baskets with their fingers steeped in oil, and mould it in pieces, they expose them to the sun to dry. And when the merchants buy the indigo they always burn some pieces in order to see if there is any sand mixed with it. For the peasants who take the paste out of the baskets to separate it into pieces, after they have dipped their hands in oil, place it in the sand, which mingles with the paste and makes it heavier; and when burnt the indigo becomes a cinder and the sand remains entire. The Governors do all they can to stop this fraud, but there are always some who practise it. - [Previous: 73.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73.3) - [Next: 74](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.74) - [Up: 73](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.darkages.travel.tavernier~en-ball.73.4) · Pramāṇa