The women of Chaura--for the men take no part in the construction of the pots--cleanse and prepare the clay, by washing out the rougher particles and kneading it with fine sand. The operator seats herself on the ground by a slab of wood, on which she lays a ring of coco-palm pinnæ neatly bound together. Upon this ring she sets a shallow dish, neatly lined with a circular piece of plantain leaf. With a lump of clay, the bottom of the vessel to be constructed is moulded in the dish, and upon this basis, by means of ropes of clay, the work is built up, the operator turning the pot round and round, and shaping it with her eye and hand. The vessel is set aside on a platform under the hut for a day or so, to dry: only the smallest kind can be prepared for the kiln without an interval of waiting. The pot when dry is scraped with a shell, and then reversed, and all superfluous material removed by means of a fine strip of bamboo moistened with water, while the fingers, also wet, are gently passed over the inner and outer surfaces in order to smooth them. The pot is then replaced on the platform for ten days more. [Illustration: Chaura Pottery.] The kiln is prepared by sticking bits of broken pottery in the ground, a few inches apart, and on these the pot is set upside down. In the space beneath it, a layer of fine wood ash, and a quantity of coconut-shells and scraps of firewood, are heaped. A wheel-like object, larger in circumference than the pot, is placed on its upturned base, and against this rest sticks of firewood stood on end. When the fire is kindled, two or three women fan the flame, and with wooden pokers prop up and replace the fuel. When the vessel is baked, it is removed with the same implement and placed on dry sand. Coloured stripes are laid on by means of strips of unripe coconut husk pressed against the vessel while hot--the acid juice turning black the moment it touches the heated surface. Finally a handful of moist husk is passed over the inner and outer sides, imparting a light-copper colour to the parts not stained by the deeper dye, and the vessels are stored for a time to season.[62] The pots vary in size, from a capacity of half a pint to five gallons or more, and also in shape, some having a perfectly straight plain lip, while in others the edge is turned out or rounded, but all are alike in having a more or less rounded base. After leaving Teressa, we encountered fresh breezes and squally weather until we anchored in darkness near the shore of Kachal. At daybreak next morning we weighed, and again started--with scarce a breath of wind--for the bay on the west coast where we intended to stay. With Kachal we returned again to the tropical island of common type in these seas, for it is entirely jungle-covered, with no traces of grass-land visible.