312 CARPET MANUFACTURE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



been seen in Answer II. These women do not and can not devote their 

 entire time and attention to the carpet industry, and they are therefore 

 not very efficient in this handicraft. 



V. DYEING, SPINNING, WEAVING, ETC. 



Cleaning the wool, dyeing, spinning, and weaving it is the exclusive 

 work of women, conducted separately and by independent interests. 



VI. HOW THE PRODUCT IS MARKETED. 



Fairs are periodically held in u Calaat-el-Hosson," i.e., "Hosson-el- 

 Akrad," notably on "St. George's feast" (April 23), on the " feast of 

 the cross" (September 14), in the convent of St. George, and in the con- 

 vent of St. Elijah at Safita, where merchants from Tripoli, Horns, and 

 Hainath gather to make purchases. To these fairs the husbands, 

 brothers, or other relatives of the women operators bring their rugs, 

 where they are readily disposed of at prices much below those that are 

 usually asked of brokers, who sometimes travel to the villages where 

 they are made expecting to secure bargains. As has already been said, 

 the rngs that come from the village of Haidamoor are superior to all 

 others, and command much better prices, sometimes as much as 25 per 

 cent. If carpets or rugs of a special size are desired they must be made 

 to order. The square pic three-quarters of a yard is worth from 

 50 to 60 piasters ($2.20 to $2.64) if made at Haidamoor, and 40 to 50 

 piasters ($1.76 to $2.20) for those coming from other villages. These 

 rates, of course, are subject to changes, according to design, cost, and 

 quantity of wool used, etc. This latter is about 9 rottles, or 19 okes 

 (53^ pounds j 1 oke = 2 pounds) for a carpet 3 pics (2J yards) long 

 and 2 pics (1 yards) wide. 



VII. WHERE THE PRODUCTS FIND CONSUMPTION. 



Unless picked up by tourists in their voyages along the coast, these 

 rugs are exclusively marketed in Turkey by merchants from Tripoli, 

 Horns, and Hamath. 



HISTORY OF CARPET-MAKING IN SYRIA. 



Early in this century a nuuiber of people from the vicinity of Broussa 

 emigrated to the Tripoli and Hamath Mutessarriflates, in Syria. These 

 people were familiar with the art of making rugs and introduced this 

 industry into the various villages in which they settled. The village 

 of Haidamoor became especially celebrated for its rugs, and many 

 specimens remain to testify to the beauty of design and color. Strange 

 as it may appear, however, the present inhabitants of this village, who 

 are the largest producers of carpets in that vicinity, have entirely lost 

 the original designs and coloring introduced by their Turkish ances- 

 tors. 



