| caption: |
salt-springs; cotton; pottery; baskets |
| text: |
If, as with the metals, the hill-man was dependent for his salt on the supplies of that necessary which he might procure from abroad, he would constantly suffer from its want, but, by a pretty general distribution of salt-springs throughout the hills, a beneficent Providence testifies his goodness to their inhabitants. Besides his salt, condiments, other than pepper and ginger, which he raises plentifully, are not required by the hill-man. In average seasons, he can raise for himself a sufficiency of rice, his herds, and the chace (sic) supply him with animal food, and all that he wants more is clothing to defend him from the vicissitudes of the seasons. The quantity of clothing required is not much, but little as it is, it has necessitated the cultivation of cotton and the manufacture from it of cloth. In making cloth, the Chote, Pooroom, Aimole, Murring, and some of the Tangkool tribes surpass all the rest. All of them make earthen vessels for cooking in, and their baskets and other articles, made either of strips of bamboo or (75) cane, are made ingeniously, and are admirably adapted to the purposes for which they are made. |
