Brazil at the Dawn of the Eighteenth Century

Chapter V: How Sugar Is Refined in the Molds and How It Is Treated in the Refinery

101 chapter v y How Sugar Is Refined in the Molds and How It Is Treated in the Refinery The molds are brought into the refinery and put on boards with holes cut to hold them. The plug that was placed in the bottom of the molds in the cooling shed is removed. With a pointed iron rod two and a half palmas long, they are pierced with blows using a small wooden hammer. Once they are pierced, the molds are arranged and placed on the boards, which are called “those with holes” [drainboards]. They pierce each mold and make sure it is secure. They are left for fifteen days with no clay covering them. They begin to refine themselves, and the drops fall from the holes in the bottom. The first mel that flows from the molds into the channels goes into a tank. This mel is inferior and at wintertime it is given to the slaves. Each slave is given one kettleful, and two are given to each couple. This is the best minimal amount and is also the best comfort they have. However, others cook it or sell it to those who make white batido5 sugar from it, or distill it into rum. After the fifteen days have passed, the clay can safely be applied and it is done in the following way. Four female slave refiners carve with metal carvers in the middle of the face of the loaf (which is the top) of the dry sugar. They quickly smooth it out with small wooden hammers and cover it with the first layer of clay. The clay is removed from the copper pots with large ladles. The pots come full from the trough where the clay was kneaded to the correct consistency. The slaves use their palms to spread the clay over the face (top) of the mold until it is two fingers deep. The second or third day, they pour half a ladle or a cup and a half of water over the top of the mold. In order to avoid directly hitting the clay and making a hole in it, the slave catches the water poured from the right hand with her left hand. The slave holds her hands over the clay and spreads water equally over the surface. The 102 The Cultivation of Sugar slave then uses her right hand to very lightly spread the water over the clay in such a way that her fingers do not disturb the clay on the face of the sugar. This treatment is called “humidifying,” “sprinkling,” or “giving it washings,” or also “giving it humidity.” The first layer of clay gets only one of these and remains on the face of the mold for six days, when it is dry and is then removed. The face is then dug again in the middle just as was done the first time and it is covered again with the same care and a second layer of clay is applied. It will remain on the mold for fifteen days and will receive six, seven, or more treatments of humidifying, depending on the quality of the sugar. Stronger sugar needs more applications, since it resists the water refining it. Sometimes it requires nine or ten applications. If the sugar has not congealed as much and is weak, it takes the water directly and is refined right away. When this is the case the planter is not pleased, since he would rather have stronger sugar than one refined so quickly. Also, in the summer, it is necessary to have more washings. That is, they must be done every two or every three days, depending on how hot it is. It is important to apply these washings before the heat causes cracks to open in the clay. In the winter, the first layer of clay is left for six days. Some do not give it any washings other than what the clay alone provides, especially during rainy days. However, once the first layer is removed and the second is in place, it is given six, seven, or eight applications every three days depending on the quality of the sugar and on the results of these washings. As the sugar is being refined, it is also getting whiter in degrees. That is, it is getting whiter at the top, less so in the middle, very little toward the bottom, and not at all at the feet, which are called cabu­ chos. This darker...