1salt.1 While the salt-water contained in the salt-pits is being
heated by the sun,
if they be flooded with great and frequent showers of rain the evaporation is
hindered. If this happens rarely, the salt acquires a disagreeable2 flavour, and
in this case the salt-pits have to be filled with other sweet water.
if they be flooded with great and frequent showers of rain the evaporation is
hindered. If this happens rarely, the salt acquires a disagreeable2 flavour, and
in this case the salt-pits have to be filled with other sweet water.
Salt from sea-water is made in the following manner.
Near that part
of the seashore where there is a quiet pool, and there are wide, level plains
which the inundations of the sea do not overflow, three, four, five, or six
trenches are dug six feet wide, twelve feet deep, and six hundred feet long,
or longer if the level place extends for a longer distance; they are two hundred
feet distant from one another; between these are three transverse trenches.
Then are dug the principal pits, so that when the water has been raised from
the pool it can flow into the trenches, and from thence into the salt-pits,
of which there are numbers on the level ground between the trenches. The
salt-pits are basins dug to a moderate depth; these are banked round with
the earth which was dug in sinking them or in cleansing them, so that between
the basins, earth walls are made a foot high, which retain the water let into
them. The trenches have openings, through which the first basins receive
the water; these basins also have openings, through which the water flows
again from one into the other. There should be a slight fall, so that the
water may flow from one basin into the other, and can thus be replenished.
All these things having been done rightly and in order, the gate is raised that
opens the mouth of the pool which contains sea-water mixed with rain-water
or river-water; and thus all of the trenches are filled. Then the gates of the
first basins are opened, and thus the remaining basins are filled with the
water from the first; when this salt-water condenses, all these basins are
incrusted, and thus made clean from earthy matter. Then again the first
basins are filled up from the nearest trench with the same kind of water,
and left until much of the thin liquid is converted into vapour by the heat
of the sun and dissipated, and the remainder is considerably thickened. Then
their gates being opened, the water passes into the second basins; and
when it has remained there for a certain space of time the gates are opened,
so that it flows into the third basins, where it is all condensed into salt.
After the salt has been taken out, the basins are filled again and again with
sea-water. The salt is raked up with wooden rakes and thrown out with
shovels.
of the seashore where there is a quiet pool, and there are wide, level plains
which the inundations of the sea do not overflow, three, four, five, or six
trenches are dug six feet wide, twelve feet deep, and six hundred feet long,
or longer if the level place extends for a longer distance; they are two hundred
feet distant from one another; between these are three transverse trenches.
Then are dug the principal pits, so that when the water has been raised from
the pool it can flow into the trenches, and from thence into the salt-pits,
of which there are numbers on the level ground between the trenches. The
salt-pits are basins dug to a moderate depth; these are banked round with
the earth which was dug in sinking them or in cleansing them, so that between
the basins, earth walls are made a foot high, which retain the water let into
them. The trenches have openings, through which the first basins receive
the water; these basins also have openings, through which the water flows
again from one into the other. There should be a slight fall, so that the
water may flow from one basin into the other, and can thus be replenished.
All these things having been done rightly and in order, the gate is raised that
opens the mouth of the pool which contains sea-water mixed with rain-water
or river-water; and thus all of the trenches are filled. Then the gates of the
first basins are opened, and thus the remaining basins are filled with the
water from the first; when this salt-water condenses, all these basins are
incrusted, and thus made clean from earthy matter. Then again the first
basins are filled up from the nearest trench with the same kind of water,
and left until much of the thin liquid is converted into vapour by the heat
of the sun and dissipated, and the remainder is considerably thickened. Then
their gates being opened, the water passes into the second basins; and
when it has remained there for a certain space of time the gates are opened,
so that it flows into the third basins, where it is all condensed into salt.
After the salt has been taken out, the basins are filled again and again with
sea-water. The salt is raked up with wooden rakes and thrown out with
shovels.
Salt-water is also boiled in pans, placed in sheds near the wells from
which it is drawn. Each shed is usually named from some animal or other
thing which is pictured on a tablet nailed to it. The walls of these sheds
are made either from baked earth or from wicker work covered with thick
which it is drawn. Each shed is usually named from some animal or other
thing which is pictured on a tablet nailed to it. The walls of these sheds
are made either from baked earth or from wicker work covered with thick
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