124 THE GOAT OF CASHMERE. 



Sixteen thousand looms are there supposed to be 

 inconstant motion, each giving employment to three 

 men, and it is calculated that 30,000 shawls are dis- 

 posed of annually. The wool of Thibet is thought to 

 be the best. Twenty-four pounds weight of it sells at 

 Cashmere, if of the best sort, for twenty rupees, but 

 an inferior and harsher kind may be procured for 

 half the money. The wool is spun by women, and 

 afterwards coloured. When the shawl is made, it is 

 carried to the custom-house and stamped, and a duty 

 paid agreeably to its texture and value. The per- 

 sons employed sit on a bench at the frame, some- 

 times four people at each, but if the shawl is a plain 

 one, only two. A fine shawl with a pattern all over 

 it, takes nearly a year in making ; the borders are 

 worked with wooden needles, having a separate 

 needle for each colour. There is a headsman who 

 superintends and distributes the pattern, and the 

 rough part of the shawl is uppermost while it is ma- 

 nufactured.* 



Two more grotesque looking goats, which have 

 been generally placed as varieties of the domestic 

 breeds, are represented grouped on the next plate, 

 taken also from the figures of Fred. Cuvier. They 



* Tour in the Upper Provinces of Hindostan, by A. D. 

 p. 187. 1823. 



