Our nation drives here a great trade for salt, and have commonly a
man-of-war here for the guard of our ships and barks that come to take it
in; of which I have been informed that in some years there have not been
less than 100 in a year. It costs nothing but men's labour to rake it
together, and wheel it out of the pond, except the carriage: and that
also is very cheap; the inhabitants having plenty of asses for which they
have little to do besides carrying the salt from the ponds to the seaside
at the season when ships are here. The inhabitants lade and drive their
asses themselves, being very glad to be employed; for they have scarce
any other trade but this to get a penny by. The pond is not above half a
mile from the landing-place, so that the asses make a great many trips in
a day. They have a set number of turns to and fro both forenoon and
afternoon, which their owners will not exceed. At the landing-place there
lies a frape-boat, as our seamen call it, to take in the salt. It is made
purposely for this use, with a deck reaching from the stern a third part
of the boat; where there is a kind of bulkhead that rises not from the
boat's bottom but from the edge of the deck to about 2 foot in height;
all caulked very tight.
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