104 ON THE SOUKCES OF THE "CHINA MATTING." 



again soaked four days ; at the third bath one and a half to 

 two taels (or one to one and a half oz.) of sulphate of iron are 

 added, the reeds are kept soaking for six days, and then dried. 

 The process of dyeing green takes from seventeen to twenty- 

 two days.'''= 



*' The loom for weaving matting is very simple. It consists of 

 two uprights, being about five feet distant h'om each other, and 

 connected by cross-bars three feet apart. The warps, being strings 

 made of Chinese hemp, are fastened by one end to a small piece of 

 bamboo passed through the weaving-bar, round the two cross-bars, 

 and fastened by the other end to the small bamboo. Being ready 

 so far, the loom may be used for weaving. The reeds are woven 

 while damp and pliable, in lengths of two yards. A flat bamboo 

 stick of about the length of the reeds, which are fastened on a 

 notch on one end of the stick and thus drawn between the strings 

 of the warp, takes here the place of a shuttle. The woven matting 

 is then dried, first in the sun and afterwards over a slow fire, and 

 as the drying makes the reeds liable to shrinkage, the matting is 

 stretched over a frame, where the irregular parts of the texture are 

 pressed down by hand. The projecting ends of the warps are 

 then trimmed to a uniform length of about three inches, and 

 passed between the reeds of some other piece of the same muster, 

 thus joinmg the pieces of matting, twenty of which make one roll 

 of forty yards in length." 



In conclusion I append a return of the export of matting from 

 Canton during the last eight years, which will give some idea of the 

 importance of this flourishing branch of industry. 



In the table facing (p. 105), drawn up from the official returns of 

 the Imperial Customs, Hong-Kong can, of course, only be regarded 

 as a depot or port of distribution, and most of the matting consigned 

 there is destined for the United States. The export duty is two 

 mace (ten mace = one tael) per roll of forty yards. At present 

 there are three large steamers, built on the American model, with 

 beam engines, two running daily, one on alternate days, from 

 Canton to Hong-Kong ; and these convey cargo at rates which, 

 taking into consideration loss of time, pilotage, and tonnage dues 

 payable by vessels entering the Chinese port, render it more 

 economical for ships to lie in the free port of Hong-Kong, where 

 no dues or duties are levied, and to have their cargoes brought 

 down to them and transhipped. 



* Mr. Dilthey wrote me that in his neighbourhood the matting was boiled 

 once only, for six or seven hours, washed in fresh water, and dried in the sun, 

 after which it was fit for weaving; and he gave this as the process when writing 

 of all the colours. But Dr. Hirth visited the Canton factories, and saw the 

 processes he described. I suspect, therefore, that Mr. Dilthey's informants 

 misled him, either from ignorance, carelessness, or design. 



