*■? 



134 



An Account of Tipper Kdsh-kdr. 



[No. 2, 



totle in his Natural History. His account, however, does not tallv 

 with the silk -worm known in Europe ; and it is probable that he had 

 another species in view, though his commentators are by no means 

 agreed on this point. He tells us that the web of this insect was 

 wound off by women, and afterwards woven ; anil names a certain 

 Pamphyle, of Cos, as the inventress of this art. Whence then was 

 the raw material derived ? The Grecian philosopher does not express- 

 ly inform us, but Pliny,* who has translated his works, and perhaps 

 had a more accurate copy before him than we possess, speaks of 

 Assyrian,! that is, Asiatic silk, and •interprets in this manner the 

 obscure expressions of Aristotle. The Grecian women, he says 

 1 unravel the silken stuffs imported from Asia, and then weave them 

 anew ; whence that fine tissue, of which frequent mention is made by 

 the Koman poets under the name of Coan vests.'' A celebrated scholar 

 understands this passage as implying that all the Asiatic garments 

 described as silken, were in fact only half composed of silk, and sup- 

 poses that the Grecian women separated the two materials of which 

 they consisted, and that the cotton woof having been withdrawn, the 

 texture was filed up with silk alone." % 



Kash-kar is, by no means, a poor country ; in many places it is well 

 sheltered ; and the climate, on the whole, is temperate, but, in winter, 

 it is severe. The soil is rich and fertile, producing much grain, in- 

 cluding great quantities of rice. European fruits, such as apples, pears, 

 apricots, plums, peaches, etc., are produced in great quantities, as well 

 as excellent grapes, from which vast quantities of wine are made ; for 

 the Kash-karis, although professing Muhammadanism, are, like their 

 neighbours, the Si'ah-posh Kafirs, and the people of Gilgitt, notorious 

 for their wine-bibbing propensities. 



The herds and flocks, particularly the latter, constitute the chief 

 wealth of the inhabitants of Kash-kar and the neighbouring petty 

 states, and for which they have been celebrated from remote anti- 

 quity^ 



* Pliny, XL C. 22 and 23'. 



t Bakhtra and the regions between the Indian Caucasus and the Indus were 

 Included in the Assyrian empire. 



% Foster, De Bysso Antiq. p. 16. 



§ " In the mountains also of northern India, the district of Belur (Bilauris- 

 tan), or vicinity of Cashmire, were found then, as at present, large flocks of 

 sheep which constituted the wealth of the inhabitants." Gtesias : XIII. 22. 



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