Concerning
Saltpetre. Saltpetre comes in abundance from Agra and from Patna, a
town of Bengal ; that which is refined costs three times as much as
that which is impure. The Dutch have established a depot at Chaprâ,1
which is 14 leagues above Patna ; and the saltpetre refined there is
sent by river to Hugly. The Dutch imported boilers from Holland, and
employed refiners to refine the saltpetre for themselves ; but have not
succeeded, because the people of the country, seeing that they wished
to deprive them of the profits of refining, would not supply them any
longer with whey, without the aid of which the saltpetre cannot be
bleached, for it is worth nothing at all if it is not very white and
very transparent. A maund of saltpetre costs 7 mahmûdïs.2
Concerning Spices.
Cardamom,
ginger, pepper, nutmegs, mace, cloves, and cinnamon are the several
kinds of spices which are known to us. I place cardamom and ginger
first, because cardamom grows in the Kingdom of Bîjâpur and ginger in
that of the Great Mogul, while the other kinds of spices are imported
from abroad to Surat, where they constitute an important article of
commerce.
Cardamom
is the best kind of spice, but is very scarce, and as but a small
quantity is grown in the place I have indicated, it is only used in
Asia at the tables of the nobles. 500 livres of cardamom are sold at
from 100 to 110 reals.3
Ginger comes in large quantities from Ahmadäbäd, where
1
Choupar in the original (vol. i. 100), Bernier, 440. The crude
saltpetre is obtained in India by lixiviation of the soil on deserted
and even occupied village sites. It consists of the potash nitrate, and
a simple explanation may be given of the chemical reaction which
produces it. The nitrogenous waste of the village being brought into
contact with potash derived from wood-ash, the ammonia is converted
into nitric acid, which combines with the potash, and the salt so
formed permeates the soil. A century ago most of the saltpetre of the
world which was used for gunpowder came from India. Now there are other
sources of supply. See the full account in Watt, Commercial Products, 972 ff.
* i. e. 5s. 3d. for 34 livres.
3 i. e. with the real at is. 6d., £22 10s. to £24 15s. On cardamom see Watt, Commercial Products, 511 ff.
