That the early inhabitants of many countries in the eastern and central parts of Asia were acquainted with the use of bricks in building, we have abundant proof from the descriptions of intelligent travellers; and there are even grounds for attributing to them a very high degree of mechanical skill both in the making of the bricks and the formation of brick walls. Dr. Kennedy, in his _Campaign of the Indus_, says:--“Nothing I have ever seen has at all equalled the perfection of the early brick-making, which is shown in the bricks to be found in these ruins [ancient tombs near Tatta]: the most beautifully chiselled stone could not surpass the sharpness of edge, and angle, and accuracy of form; whilst the substance was so perfectly homogeneous and skilfully burned, that each brick had a metallic ring, and fractured with a clear surface, like breaking freestone. I will not question the possibility of manufacturing such bricks in England, but I much doubt whether such perfect work has ever been attempted.” Making Bricks by Hand. In the mechanical arrangements for making bricks two very different systems are adopted; the one handicraft, and the other by machinery. The former has always been and still is far more extensively adopted than the latter. In the selection of materials for brick-making, a brown loamy clay, that is, clay which contains a small quantity of calcareous matter, is considered best for ordinary bricks, but the ingredients vary according to the purposes for which the brick is required; and every one must have remarked the difference in colour between the light yellow _marl stocks_, as they are called, employed in the facing of houses of the better kind, and the dark red brick used in Lancashire and other northern counties. The colour also varies with the proportion of ashes or sand employed in the mixture, and with the degree of heat they are subjected to in drying. The general process is, however, much the same everywhere; and we shall describe that used in England, where bricks are always burnt. The proper kind of clay being found, the top vegetable mould is removed, and the earth dug and turned over to expose it as much as possible to atmospheric action, and for this purpose it is left for the winter. In spring, a quantity of fine ashes, varying in proportion to the clay from one-fourth to a fifth, according to the stiffness of the latter, is added by degrees, and well incorporated by digging and raking, water being poured on to render the mass soft. When the union is effected, the clay is carried in barrows to a rude mill, erected near the shed, in which the brickmaker works.