m* A JOURNEY FROM MADRAS THROUGH 
CHAPTER 
IV. 
June 2Q, &c. 
Green dye 
for cotton. 
(74 t V cubical inches) of powdered bark o f Muddi root, in 4 Seers of 
Cold water, and in this soak one parcel of thread ; then throw into 
a large pot, the whole of the parcels that have been treated in a 
similar manner. Next day take them to a tank, beat them as usual, 
so as to wash them clean, and then dry them again in fresh infu- 
sions of Mudcli powder. This must be daily repeated, till the colour 
is sufficiently strong; which, if the bark be from the roots of an 
old tree, will require six infusions ; but nine infusions of bark from 
a young plant will be requisite. 
These weavers dye cotton- thread green in the following manner. 
They send it to the Niligaru , who dye it Mam , or a kind of sky 
blue. The weavers then wash it, and put it into two Seers ( 1 37| 
cubical inches) of water, containing \ Seer (5 T VoV oz.) of powdered 
turmeric, five Myrobalans powdered, and the juice of ten limes. 
Here the thread is kept four hours, and the operation is finished. 
The colour is a fine green, but very perishable. It is said that the 
Niligaru have the power of fixing it ; but they keep their art a pro- 
found secret. 
Art of dyeing The Demngas dye cotton cloth of a fine red colour ’resembling 
la or ^Cartha °f the pomegranate flower, and called GulenarL This is done 
mus. with the Cossumba, or flowers of the Carthamus tinctorius. The same 
gives another red colour, called simply Cossumba. Neither of the 
colours are well fixed. The demand for the Cossumba dye being 
much greater than the country can supply, much of it is imported. 
This is always done in the form of powder, which powder is adul- 
terated with the flowers of the Yecada, or Asclepias gigantea ; on 
which account it is cheaper than the flowers produced in the neigh- 
bourhood. The powder is made by drying the flowers in the sun, 
and beating them in a mortar, and will not keep longer than one 
year ; the dowers, if carefully packed in sacks, and well pressed, 
may be preserved for five years. 
The Cossumba colour is given in the following manner. Take 15 
Sultany Seers ( 9 ^ lb.) of pure Cossumba powder, and put it on a 
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