Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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Next To Tobacco, The Most Important Culture Of The Valley Of
Cumanacoa Is That Of Indigo.
The manufacturers of Cumanacoa, of San
Fernando, and of Arenas, produce indigo of greater commercial value
than that of Caracas; and often nearly equalling in splendour and
richness of colour the indigo of Guatimala.
It was from that
province that the coasts of Cumana received the first seeds of the
Indigofera anil,* which is cultivated jointly with the Indigofera
tinctoria. (* The indigo known in commerce is produced by four
species of plants; the Indigofera tinctoria, I. anil, I. argentea,
and I. disperma. At the Rio Negro, near the frontiers of Brazil, we
found the I. argentea growing wild, but only in places anciently
inhabited by Indians.) The rains being very frequent in the valley
of Cumanacoa, a plant of four feet high yields no more colouring
matter than one of a third part that size in the arid valleys of
Aragua, to the west of the town of Caracas.
The manufactories we examined are all built on uniform principles.
Two steeping vessels, or vats, which receive the plants intended to
be brought into a state of fermentation, are joined together. Each
vat is fifteen feet square, and two and a half deep. From these
upper vats the liquor runs into beaters, between which is placed
the water-mill. The axletree of the great wheel crosses the two
beaters. It is furnished with ladles, fixed to long handles,
adapted for the beating. From a spacious settling-vat, the
colouring fecula is carried to the drying place, and spread on
planks of brasiletto, which, having small wheels, can be sheltered
under a roof in case of sudden rains.
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