There are some amusing features connected with the process of making the
very useful article we call indigo. You all know that it is a plant. The
leaves, which are green, are first placed under heavy pressure, and then
steeped from ten to fifteen hours in immense vats, so large that they
contain 2000 cubic feet of water. In very hot weather this water swells
until the surface becomes a frothing liquid, and should a match be
applied, it would cause a loud report, and the flames would leap from
vat to vat, like the will-o'-wisp flitting over marshes. These vats are
filled from immense reservoirs, into which the water has been previously
pumped. They have a time-keeper, who is called "gunta-paree"; he watches
the process closely, and at the proper moment lets the steeped liquor
run into another vessel, called the beating vat. And now comes the
funniest part of it. They put a gang of coolies into the vats, each one
having a long stick with a disk at the end. The coolies immediately
plant themselves in two rows, facing each other; then they commence
throwing up the liquor, which, meeting in mid-air, the two jets fall
confusedly together. This they continue until the excitement grows
intense. Such a screeching and yelling, with splashing of water and
beating of sticks, until their naked bodies fairly glisten with the blue
liquor. Oh, how they twist and contort themselves, until they look like
imps or queer blue demons!
To see eight or ten vats full of these frightful creatures will unnerve
a stranger, but to the planter it is a pleasant sight. As the blue
deepens the coolie's exertions increase. Every muscle is strained, his
head is thrown back, his chest expanded, and his long black hair drips
with the white foam, still he keeps up the measured beat, and his cries
pierce the morning air. Such scenes as I have described continue for
about three hours, after which the coolies are exhausted, and require
rest.
* * * * *
Although the following curious puzzle, kindly sent by our correspondent
E. L. W., is not new, it may amuse many of our little readers who have
never seen it before. Those who are successful in discovering the
answers will have their names included among the solvers of puzzles in
No. 154: