INDIA. 



91 



' r 



h b < ... 



_vh of the piect, the weaver is under the ne- 



\ of working in the open air. In the morning he 

 fixe* his loom under a tree before his house, and in the 



.:ig he takes it home. It consists merely of two 

 rollers, placed on four pieces of wood, which are fixed 

 in the ground, and two sticks which traverse the warp. 

 One of these is supported by two strings tied to the 

 tree under which the loom is placed, and the other by 

 two strings fastened to the foot of the weaver. By 

 means of these he can easily remove the threads of the 

 warp when be is throwing the woof. 



The weavers are of a respectable caste, and many of 

 them are cultivators of land. The demand for their 

 tk* woven work ha* greatly increa-ed since the British gained pos- 

 -. -:.': rffQnOMtan, i:i r..r."-.,iu-mv ol the 1 ir-c in- 

 vestments of the East India Company. A* soon a* an 

 order for an investment from the Court of Director* ar- 

 rive* in India, the Board of Trade there make* a calcu- 

 lation of the turns required for the providing of the 

 good* allotted to each factory. Under the Madras pre- 

 sidency there are eleven factories, most of which |>n- 

 t kind* of good*. It is calculated that aH 

 these factories are- capable of producing goo-K to the 

 amount of 2* lack* or pagodas, or one million Sterling. 

 The actual demand varies from 5 lacks to -.'4. If the 

 weaver* do not live near a factory, native agent* are 

 employed to engage them, convey the money to he ad- 

 vanced to them goods in, and *ave the Com- 

 pany from all r. '> Where the weaver* live near a fao 

 the contract i* made with them directly ; and it i* 

 not uncommon for all the weaver* inhabiting a village, 

 pertiap* to the number of 100, to become *ecurity 

 jointly, for the due performance of the contract,' * 



red into by each. An advance in good* or mo* 

 ney is always made t* the weaver, and this he retain* 



1 three-fourths of hi* contract are com- 

 pleted ; the original advance, if in cotton, i* then wurk- 

 < There are four kind* of goods, for each of 

 which there i*a iLamUrd price t and if, on inspection, 

 any are found, from deficiencic* in length or breadth, 

 or inferiority of Quality, not equal to the fir*t cU 

 are reduced to tot *econd, third, or fo . dif. 



frrence of 5 per cent between each number. It fre- 

 v happens, that a weaver, r.' g his ad- 



'oney, retort* to the weekly market* all over 

 mtry to procure material* for hi* web) and after 

 _ procured what will suffice for one piece of doth, 

 i he re*t of the money in a cock-fight, or any 

 other jpe>c* of gambling that i* going OB m the mar- 

 ket. The practice of making advance* to the weaver 

 has rxUud ever nent of the Kaat In. 



It' the weaver doe* nut ti his 



good* at the periods specified in the contracts, a peon 

 is placed in hi* house, who receive* nbaiatraee-raoney, 

 at the rale of one am* per day from him ; it wa* a pre- 

 valent practice under the native government* to place 

 peon*. The monthly profit* of the weaver vary from 

 three to five rupee*, according to the price of thread, 

 the quality of the doth manufactured, and hi* o 

 durtry, experience, and skill. 



own in- 



The good* arc generally bleached at the station when 

 they are manufactured. The water* of the Nerbuddah 

 arc said to pa***** a peculiar property of bleaching 

 cloth* to a pure white. Most of the piece* are twice 

 Matched. Other* are not bleached at all, but arc dip 



r>a .mi t nat i s^*f & l^ _ L. . I 



ped in cocoa-nut <!. 

 d, 



in order that they may be the 

 arc alao *ometimes washed, or 

 ater, with a view to gire them 



smoothness, and the appearance and feel of closeness and PutUij 

 strength. '""V" 



The coloured cotton stuffs are prepared in different Painting 

 ways, all of which are as simple and rude us the pre- "J dyin 

 vious processes. The most common method, formerly, old mod*. 

 was for the dyer and his family to wear next their skin, 

 for a week or more, the cotton cloths as they came from 

 the bleachfii-lcl. The next steps were to macerate them 

 in water, impregnated with goats' dung ; to wash them 

 frequently in pure water ; and to expose them to the 

 noon-day sun. They were next soaked in buffalo's 

 milk, curdled by some astringent plant, and were again 

 exposed to the sun. After these preparations, and hav- 

 ing been rendered smooth by pressure and friction, they 

 were ready for the mordaunts. These consisted chiefly 

 of a liquor, made by dissolving iron in sour palm wine, 

 and of rice-water. Such part* of the cotton cloth as 

 were intended to be figured, or spotted black,* were 

 washed with these mordaunts. The next mordaunt 

 was alum-water, applied to the places which were to be 

 red, generally by children. The pieces were then ex- 

 posed to the hottest sunshine, in order that the parts in 

 which these mordaunts had been used might be render- 

 ed thoroughly dry. Before the dying process was per- 

 formed, they Were freed from all the impurities that the 

 buffaVs milk, &-c. might have left in them, by being 

 soiked in pits of water. 



Tht- following is an account of the modern practice, Modern 

 a* it communicated to Mr. I'arkes by a gentleman practice. 

 who had spent some time in India. " The finest chintz 

 counterpane*, which the natives call palampons, are 

 'lured at Madras. These are woven in one 

 piece, from two to four yards square ; and are printed, 

 or rather painted, with various designs, and in various 

 colour*. Their method is to draw their pattern first on 

 hect* of paper ewn together, of the size of the intended 

 palampon, and then t it the jaine in the paper 



with a sharp in* 1 -, the paper pattern 



i* smoothly fixed upon the cloth, which is prcviou<ly 

 damped, and a - 



of black powder, is rublx i order to 



force a part of the powder through the jiin hole*, and 

 completely mark out the pattern. 



.c pattern being thai fetched upon the cloth, 

 the paper is removed ; and when the outline of the va- 

 riant figure* i* drawn with a pencil, the piece is consi- 

 dered to be ready for receiving the coli 



e colour u then laid on with a brush, made with 

 a tough root of a particular kind of tree, or with the husk 

 of the cocoa-nut ; and when this dries, the piece of cot- 

 ton u given to a woman to wear, or to use in the family, 

 till it be very much dirtied, in order that it misfit ne- 

 cessarily undergo a thorough washing, which i* thought 

 requisite to prove the goodncn and permanency of the 

 colour. Another colour is then laid on in the same 

 manner, and the piece is agnin nbinitted to the same 

 trial of wearing and washing. This is repeated for eve- 

 ry colour that u employed ; and when any one of these 

 colours i* found to be deteriorated by this treatment, 

 it is printed afreih, and so are all the rest, till the work- 

 man is satisfied that all the colours are actually per- 

 manent. 



' This tedious process is adopted, however, onlr 

 when the manufacturer means to warrant the article ; 

 but in all cases, even in those pieces which will not 

 bear washing, the colour* are laid on by a brush as be. 

 fore mentioned." Parke*' Chemical Ettayi, vol. ii. 

 p. 94 98. 



