The government, who by then controlled the industry, built four obelisks, each painted a different color, red, white blue and orange (the colors of the Dutch Flag and the Royal House of Orange).
They were erected strategically near areas of the salt lake. The idea was to signal ships where to pick up their cargoes of salt.
A flag of the corresponding color was raised atop a flagpole to signal the ship's captain where to drop anchor.
At each of the obelisks there were huts, where the slaves who loaded the ships lived.
Some of those huts have been preserved at the sites of the Red and White obelisks. These are the huts at Red Slave.
Sitting on the beach very near the water's edge. They are perhaps as wide as two people if they were to lay side by side, almost long enough to accommodate an adult and only about 3 ft from floor to ceiling at it's highest point. The floors are cement and the walls look very much like plaster. \There are openings for window and door.... but nothing to close them to the weather.
Something much less than rudimentary living conditions.
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