and the Processes used for Dyeing Silk and Cotton. 323 



l^eign, unless some foreign market can be found for the 

 goods. Purnea, very desirous of the re-estabhshment of 

 this city, has forwarded by me the musters of cotton and 

 silk cloth that accompany this account, with a request that 

 they may be presented in his name to the marquis Wel- 

 lesley : and I beg leave to recommend, that the attention of 

 the hoard of trade may he directed to them, with a view of 

 forming some commercial arrangements that may assist in 

 restoring a country which has suffered so much. 



The silk manufacture seems especially favourable for a 

 country so far from the sea and from navigable rivers ; as 

 long carriage, on such a valuable article, is of little import- 

 ance. At present all the <raw material is imported : but I 

 see no reason why it might not be raised in Mysore to great 

 advantage. Tippoo 'had commenced a trial ; but his arbi- 

 trary nlbasurcs were little calculated to ensure success. Some 

 of the mulbcxry-trees, however, that remain in his gardens 

 show how well the plant agrees with this cllnjate. It is 

 true, that the experiments hitherto tried below the Ghauts 

 have not been favourable : but much resolution and patience 

 are always required, to introduce any new article of cultiva- 

 tion ; and I suspect that the climate here, owing to its being 

 more temperate, will be found more favourable than that of 

 the lower Carnatic. 



There is a small duty levied here on every loom ; and it 

 is judiciously diminished to those who keep many, in order 

 to encourage men of wealth to employ their capital in that 

 way. A man who has one loom pays, annually, 3\fanayns 

 {^s. Q\d,) ; two looms pay 5 fanams (3s, 4|£/.) ; and a man 

 who keeps more tl^an tvvo looms pays only ibr each two 

 fanauiSy or Is, Ad. All shopkeepers pay similar trifling 

 duties. 



There is here a set of people called Rungani, who act as 

 tailors, cloth printers, and dyers. Their printcJ cloths ar« 

 very coarse^.aad.the art among them is in a very imperfect 

 stale. The onl) iwo colours th^t they can give in printing 

 are red and black.. Their process is as follows : 



The cloth that is to be printed is kept all night in a mix- 



X 2 ture 



