THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



THE LOVELIEST PRODUCT OF THE DESERT LOOM 

 The Bokhara rug merchant is fully conscious of the superior quality of his offering with its sheen of soft 

 and sober colors. The long-fibered, spotless wool from which it was woven represents years of careful selec- 

 tion ; its soothing reds are from Bokhara itself, its velvety blues from Afghanistan. Its warp and woof 

 chronicle in the language of lasting beauty the desert maiden's labor, whose product is her marriage dower. 



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