79 
kurry (? Tetranthera quadriflora); Soom (Tetran 
thera sp.); Soonhalloo (Tetranthera macrophylla); 
Digluttee (Tetranthera diglottica); Pattee-hoonda 
(Laurus obtusifolia). The coeoon is large, and the 
silk which is coarsely reeled, varies from white 
to fawn colour, that produced frora the' worm 
reared on the Champa (Michelia sp.) being the 
whitest and most esteemed. Fifty thousand 
cocoons (a good yield for an acre of ground) are 
estimated to yield upwards of 12 seers of silk, valued 
at frora 31 to 12 rupees per seer. The silk forms 
one of the chief exports of Assam, and leaves the 
country principally in the shape of thread, most of 
it going to Berhampore. The total quantity pro 
duced in the provinee may be estimated at from 600 
to 700 maunds, of which the greater portion is 
generally reserved by the Assamese for their own use. 
11. Attacus Ricini (Eria silkworn). Worms, cocoons, 
moths, &c. Assam. 
The Eria or Arindy silkworm (Attacus Ricini) is 
reared in Assam, and certain districts to the South 
west of that provinee. 
The worms which are reared chiefly in the houses 
of low caste Hindoos, Mekirs, and Cacharees, are 
fed principally on the leaves of the castor oil plant 
(Ricinus communis), and yield seven or more broods 
in the year. The silk is generally of a light rust 
colour, sometimes white, and is carded, not reeled 
in consequenee of the resinous nature of the binding 
matrix of the coeoon. 
The use of the silk is chiefly local. 
The district of Durrung alone produces 1,000 
maunds annually, which is valued at 2 to 3 rupees 
the seer. 
B.—WOOL. 
Pashm, or Shawl-wool, properly so-called, is a I 
downy substance growing next the skin and under 
the thiek hair of the goats inhabiting Tibet and 
other elevated regions to the north of the Himalayas. 
It is obtained in the following manner :—the hair of 
the goat is first cut short with a knife in the direction 
of its growth, or from the head towards the tail; a 
kind of comb is then passed in the reverse direction, 
and brings away the finer wool almost unmixed with 
the coarse hair. It is cut onee a year, and if not 
shorn as the summer commences the animals tliem- 
selves rub off the wool. The Pashm is of three 
colours, white, drab, and dark grey. 
It comes almost entirelyfrom Yarkand and Chang- 
than (Chinese Tibet). From the former country is 
brought the fine Turfani wool, which is the most 
valuable. By ancient custom and engagements the 
export of tliis wool, until recently, was exchisively 
confined to Kashmir, it being a monopoly of the 
Maharaja of that country, and all attempts to convey 
it to otiier countries were punished by confisoation. 
In like manner it was considered illegal in Rodokh 
and Changthan to allow a trade in shawl-wool 
except through Ladakh. Prior to 1867 none of the 
fine Turfani pashm was allowed to pass through the 
Maharaja’s territory into the British provinces. The 
Amritsur and Ludianah looms were consequently 
worked chiefly with a fine sheep’s wool from Kerman, 
called wahab shahi, which, however, by no means 
comes up in softness and other qualities to the 
shawl-goat’s down. 
A considerable amount of pashm from Changthan 
always comes down to the Punjab, but this is much 
inferior to that of Turkistan. In these days a good 
deal of shawl-wool is brought by different paths on 
sheep to Rampur, and sent from thence to the Kash 
mir colonies of the Punjab, Rampur being a great 
mart for the reception and forwarding of wool; but 
even now, wben free importation of shawl-wool is 
allowed, the cheaper Kermani wool still holds its own 
with the Punjab weavers, hence the greater part of it 
still goes to Kashmir. This is one of the reasons for 
the inferiority of the shawls made in the British pro 
vinces to the beautiful fabrics of the Kashmir 
valley. 
This industry was seriously affected by the late 
Franoo-German war, and pashm of all kinds sank in 
value. Lately, however, the trade has revived, the 
supplies in the market being now insufficient. 
In 1870 the amount of pashm or shawl-wool im- 
ported into Leh in Ladakh was as follows :— 
Pure white pashm from Yarkand 198 maunds ; 
pure white pashm from Changthan, 794 maunds, 
valued (at the current rate of Rs. 60 per maund of 
80 lbs.) at Rs. 59,526; black pashm to the extent of 
92 maunds, valued at Rs. 40 per maund, at Rs. 3,680. 
In the same year the amount of pashm exported from 
Ladakh to the Punjab was as follows : via Kullu, 
12 maunds, and via Kashmir, 24 maunds. 
Sheeps’ wool is largely used in the textile manu- 
factures of India, and in addition constitutes an 
important article of export. Nevertheless the quan 
tity of wool actually produced in India itself is com- 
paratively small. The native looms of the Punjab 
are therefore supplied to a great extent with wools 
imported from beyond the frontier; the wool also 
which is exported from India is almost entirely of 
non-Indian origin. 
Of the wools imported into India the finest is that 
which comes from Tibet, the cold climate of that 
region conferring on the fleece the peculiar fineness 
of quality found in the shawl-wool of the Tibetan 
goat. Large quantities of wool are imported into 
Leh in Ladakh from Changthan. 'The most impor 
tant varieties of wool imported from the N.W. 
frontier are ;— 
Ist; that of the Rumba, a large-tailed sheep com 
mon in Cabul, Peshawur, and other neighbouring 
districts. It is used in the manufacture of the finer 
sorts of Chogas, an outer robe or cloak with sleeves 
worn by Aflrghans and other Mahomedans of the 
Western frontier. The trade in this wool is very 
extensive, both by the Peshawur and other routes; 
the export trade of Karrachee and Bombay is sup 
plied more especially from this source. 
2nd. Wahab Shahi or Kirmani Wool, a beautiful 
white soft wool produced at Kirman, a tract of 
country in the South of Persia by the Persian Gulf. 
Its principal use appears to be the adulteration of 
genuine Pashm or goats’ wool of which Kashmere 
shawls are made, and in the manufacture of a 
spurious kind of shawl cloth. It is largely used in 
Persia in the fabrication of “ janewars,” which have 
superseded the use of Kashmere shawls in that 
country. 
The wool is soft and delicate, long in the staple, 
and much more easily and quickly worked than the