BOORHANPOOR. 
189 
ing of muslins, brocades, &c. It is said to be very 
superior to that of any other place in India, and the 
process by which it is made appears to be peculiar, 
though very simple. A short description may be 
interesting. A piece of the purest silver is beaten 
into a cylindrical form, about the size of a man's 
finger ; after this is done, the metal is beaten 
out with hammers to a considerable length, that is, 
until it can be passed through an orifice about the 
eighth of an inch in diameter. It is then drawn 
through a successive series of perforations in a 
plate of hard metal, decreasing in size until it 
is reduced to the fineness of a common bobbin 
thread. In this state it is wound upon several 
small reels, which work upon steel pivots, in a bench 
constructed for the purpose ; the ends of the threads 
are again passed through still smaller holes, in a 
similar plate to the former, and are then affixed to a 
large reel, which, being set rapidly in motion, draws 
the wire finer and finer by each repeated operation, 
until it is reduced to the required size. When this 
is accomplished, it is passed to another set of work- 
men, to be flattened ; a part of the process requiring 
great dexterity. The threads being wound upon 
small reels, as at first, are taken, five at a time, in 
the hand of the workman, who draws them gradu- 
ally over a small anvil of highly polished steel, 
hitting them smartly and rapidly with a small 
square hammer, as they are moved. It is evident 
