Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 2.djvu/495

obtained. From the heap as much as can be taken on an ordinary spade is put into a boat-shaped tub open at one end, placed close to the heap, and so arranged that the waste water from the tub flows away from the heap behind, and collects in a shallow pool in front. The water from the pool is collected in a small chatty (earthen vessel), and poured over the heap in the tub, which is continually stirred up with the other hand. All the lighter stuff in this way flows out of the tub, and all the hard stones are every now and then picked out and thrown away. This process goes on until about a couple of handfuls of dark sand, etc., are left in the tub. To this a small quantity of mercury is added, briskly rubbed for a minute or two, and the process of washing goes on, considerable care being taken to see that no particle of mercury escapes, until at last the mercury, with a great many particles of metallic dust attached, is collected in a small chatty — often a broken piece of a pot. The mercury, with the metallic particles in it, is then well washed with clean water, and put into a tiny bag formed of two layers of a piece of rag. The mass is then gently pressed until all the mercury falls into a chatty below, leaving a small flattened mass of dark substance in the bag, which is carefully collected, and kept in another dry chatty. The washing process is repeated until enough of the dark substance — about a third of a teaspoonful — is collected. This substance is then mixed with powdered common salt and brick-dust, put into a broken piece of a pot, and covered with another piece. The whole is placed in a large earthen vessel, with cow-dung cakes well packed above and below. A blazing fire is soon produced, and kept up till the mass is melted. This mass is carefully removed, and again melted with borax in a hole made in a piece of good charcoal, by blowing