124 
THE GOAT OF CASHMERE. 
Sixteen thousand looms are there supposed to be 
in constant motion, each giving employment to three 
men, and it is calculated that 30,000 shawls are dis- 
posed of annually. The wool of Thibet is thought to 
be the best. Twenty-four pounds weight of it sells at 
Cashmere, if of the best sort, for twenty rupees, but 
an inferior and harsher kind may be procured for 
half the money. The wool is spun by women, and 
afterwards coloured. When the shawl is made, it is 
carried to the custom-house and stamped, and a duty 
paid agreeably to its texture and value. The per- 
sons employed sit on a bench at the frame, some- 
times four people at each, but if the shawl is a plain 
one, only two. A fine shawl with a pattern all over 
It, takes nearly a year in making ; the borders are 
worked with wooden needles, having a separate 
needle for each colour. There is a headsman who 
superintends and distributes the pattern, and the 
rough part of the shawl is uppermost while it is ma- 
nufactured.* 
Two more grotesque looking goats, which have 
been generally placed as varieties of the domestic 
breeds, are represented gi'ouped on the next plate, 
taken also from the figures of Fred. Cuvier. They 
are 
* Tour in the Upper Provinces of Hindostan, by A. T>. 
p. 187. 1823. 
