68 



THE RED DYE-STUFFS OF INDIA. 



cloths dyed : No. 1, with Affghan munjeet or madder ; No. 2, with the 

 munjeet so obligingly-sent by Mr. Macleod from the vicinity of Dhurm- 

 sala, in the district of Kangra. You will observe that the latter is inferior 

 in appearance to the former. The inferiority is chiefly owing to the root 

 having been dug much too early in the season, and probably (in the opinion 

 of the dyer) to the root not containing, even when mature, quite so much 

 colouring matter as the Affghan madder. It strikes me that it may turn 

 out, that, while the Kangra root may prove the same as that of Nepal, the 

 Affghan root will be found closely identical with the European madder. I 

 ought to mention that the same process described below has been adopted 

 in both cases by the dyer. If my surmise be correct, this should not have 

 been done, as I am told, on excellent authority, that the process in Europe 

 for dyeing with the munjeet of Bengal, and the madder obtained from 

 Bombay, and that grown in France, &c, is very different, and the colour is 

 not the same. If you would have the goodness to cause two pieces of 

 similar cotton cloth to be dyed in Calcutta according to the local process, 

 one with part of the Kangra munjeet, and one with Nepal munjeet, a fair 

 comparison might be elicited as to their respective value and appearance as 

 dye-stuffs. 



" I give you the Umritsur mode of dyeing with munjeet, premising that 

 all the ingredients used are carefully weighed in proportion to the weight 

 of the cloth to be dyed ; the weight of munjeet being equal to that of the 

 cloth. The unbleached cloth weighing, in this instance, three chittacks, or 

 fifteen tolas (about six ounces), is first washed in cold water and dried. At 

 evening it is dipped in a saponaceous mixture of one and a-half chittack 

 of till oil (gingellie or sesame) and three-quarters of a chittack of sujee (the 

 impure carbonate of soda that abounds in this part of the country). Being 

 thoroughly imbued with this ley, it is hung up to be dried. It is then 

 washed three or four times successively in water, with a small quantity of 

 sujee, and dried each time. Finally washed in pure water and dried. 



" Two tolas of mace (the gallnut of the Tarnarix dioica, largely used here) 

 are ground to a fine powder, and with two tolas of alum form a mordant, 

 with the assistance of water, in which the cloth is dipped six or seven times, 

 being well wrung and dried each time. Three chittacks of munjeet are 

 pounded fine, and a small quantity of mace added in cold water. This 

 water is heated, in the first instance, to about 130 degrees, when the whole 

 is taken out and hung up. At the second dipping, the water is heated to a 

 higher degree, and on the third dipping is caused to boil for some three- 

 quarters of an hour. The cloth is then wrung, dried, and ready for use, 

 after a final washing in clear cold water. The dye is, of course, fast. 



" I cannot find, on inquiry, that any munjeet from the Kangra Hills has 

 ever found its way into our market, and I believe Mr. Macleod told me the 

 hillmen themselves did not know the use of it ; but I hear that some mun- 

 jeet has occasionally been brought from Kashmere, and is considered good." 



In accordance with Mr. Cope's suggestion, the Society had two pieces of 

 cloth dyed at Calcutta, one with a portion of the Kangra munjeet received 



