“This jar they placed in a furnace, not the most artificial, though not
seemingly ill adapted to give a great heat with but very little fuel.
This they made by digging a round hole in the ground, about 20 inches
wide and full 3 feet deep, cutting an opening in the front sloping down
to the bottom, perpendicular at the sides, about 9 inches wide and about
15 inches long, reckoning from the edge of the circle: this is to serve
to throw in the wood and to allow a passage for the air; at the other
side a small opening about 4 inches by 3 inches is made to serve as an
outlet for the smoke, the bottom of the hole thus made was rounded like
a cup.

“The jar was placed in this as far as it would go, and banked up with
clay all round to about a fifth of its height, except at the two
openings, when all was completed so far as the furnace was concerned.

“Fully one third of the still or jar was exposed to the heat when
the fire was lighted; the fuel was at least 2 feet from the bottom
of the jar.

“On to this jar there was now fitted what is called an adkur, this being
made of two earthen pans with their bottoms turned towards each other,
and a hole of about 4 inches diameter in the middle of each of them, the
lower of these pans fitted the hole in the jar, and was luted with clay,
the upper was luted to the lower one, and had a diameter of about 14
inches, the juncture formed a neck of about 3 inches, the upper pan was
about 4 inches deep, with a rim round the central hole, this formed a
gutter, and by means of a hollow bamboo luted to this, the spirit, as it
condensed, ran off into the receiver.