t 



160 ORIENTAL COMMERCE. [Coast of Concan. 



those with coloured grounds and handsome rich borders and flowers, are 

 most esteemed ; the plain white shawls, being closely imitated in England, 

 are seldom in demand. According to Mr. Strachey, not more than 80,000 

 shawls are made, on an average, at Cashmere, in one year. 



Squills, Srilla Mariiima, commonly called sea onions, are knotty, 

 crumpled, bulbous roots, like the onion ; they are large, conical, consisting 

 of fleshy scales, thin at each edge, surrounded by others dry and shining. 

 They should be chosen plump, sound, fresh, and full of juice, and care should 

 be taken that they are free from worms ; having the outward skin taken oft* 

 of a red colour, with hut little smell, full of a bitter clammy juice, nauseous, 

 acrid, and bitter, and if much handled, ulcerating the skin. 



Tcrbith is the cortical part of the root of a species of comv>lwlus y in 

 oblong pieces of a brown or ash colour on the outside, and whitish within. 

 At first it makes an impression of sweetness on the taste ; but when chewed 

 for some time, betrays a nauseous acrimony. The best is ponderous, not 

 wrinkled, easy to break, and discovers to the eye a large quantity of resinous 

 maUer. Freight, 16 Cwt, to a ton. 



Zedoary, the root of the Curcuma Zedoarla (Nirbisi, Hind, and San.), 

 is produced in Ceylon and Malabar, and brought in oblong pieces of a 

 moderate thickness, and two or three inches long ; or in roundish pieces 

 about an inch in diameter, externally wrinkled, and of an ash colour, but 

 internally of a brownish red ; its smell is agreeable, and its taste aromatic 

 and somewhat bitter; it impregnates water witli its smell, a slight bitterness, 

 a considerable warmth and pungency, and a yellowish brown colour* Chuse 

 such roots as are heavy and free from worms, rejecting those which are 

 decayed and broken. Freight 16 Cwt. to a ton. 



SECTION XIV. 



COAST OF CONCAN. 



The W. side of the Peninsula of India is generally called the Malabar 

 Coast. This appellation belongs properly to the S. part, for the whole 

 extent comprehends three provinces, viz. Concan, Canara, and Malabar. 

 The Coast of Concan is the northernmost, extending to Cape Ramus. 



