of Cacheniire and Boutan. 



241 



i 



IfTf who has been in the habit of observing, knows that the 

 Hindus are indebted for the beauty of their hair, which is 

 exceedingly long, to the frequent use of bathing and ablu- 

 tions; and they are also less subject to colds than the Eu- 

 ropeans, whenever bathe their heads. 



The Cachemirian wool is divided into two kinds : that of 

 the young sheep, which is called aroiiel; and that of the old, 

 distinguished by the name of duaujiie. The fleeces of the 

 lambs, till the age of two years, or eighteen months, are 

 sold separately ; they are employed only for making a kind 

 of fur to winter caps. 



The first of these kinds is a little shorter than the other; 

 it is produced by sheep from the age of three years, when 

 the shearing oHha touss begins, to that of seven or eight. 



The duaume is longer, a little less greasy, vveaker, and 

 less silky; it is employed for making the Cachemirian cloths, 

 v.hich have been imitated by the English. We also have 

 attempted to make them in our manufaclories ; and they 

 are known in Europe by the improper name of Casimir, 

 whereas the real name ought to be Cachemir. 



I have already remarked, that the wool, before it is shoruj 

 is washed on the animals. These two kinds of wool are each 

 sub-divided into two sorts, that of the back and that of the 

 belly : but before they are employed in commerce, or spun, 

 they are subjected to certain operations, by which they are 

 improved. These operations, so useful and beneficial, are not 

 practised in Europe. They are first exposed to the vapour of 

 a slight ley, composed of nearly fifty pints of water, about 

 ten or twelve pounds of the ashes of the leaves of the banana 

 tree, or of a clayey barren and white earth, which is easily 

 reduced to powder,' and which by the Indians is called ole. 

 They are then washed with the farina of a small cylindric 

 bean, called mmmgue, known in botany by the name of 

 mango. The shawls in India are washed with the same 

 farina. 



The first of these processes consists in exposing the wool 

 for seven or eight hours to the vapour of the ley, that it may 

 be penetrated by it. The wool is heaped up, without being 

 pressed down, upon an earthen ware dish ; it is washed in 

 running water, and dried in the open air. 



When this operation is terminated, the wooJ is subjected 

 to another : it is left to soak in an earthen vessel, and each 

 •flock is rubbed several times in the same manrier as linen is 

 by our washerwomen. It is thc^n repeatedly rinsed in pure 

 water, or in a river, to free it from the farina with which it 

 has been washed. These processes render the wool more 



Vol. XVIII. No. 71. Q pliable 



