The provinoa of Bengal, and the eastern side of the Peninsula, are the principal seats of the cotton manufac ture. The vicinity of Simoga, a town in the Mysore Ra jah's dominions, 1:,2 miles to the north-west of Scringapa tam, is the limit of the manufacture of cotton to the west ward, in this part of India ; and, with the exception of a particular kind of chintz made at Poonah, and painted with gold and silver, there are as.fine cotton cloths made on the western side of the Peninsula. On the eastern side, the Madras investment of cotton piece goods for the East ln dia Company is provided from Cape Comorin and Ganjam, in the Northern Circars, a distance of about 1500 miles. The principal part of this investment is provided in the Northern Circa, s In Bengal, this manufacture, in almost all its branches, flotn ishes very extensively. It also extends into the provinces of Oude, Allahahad, particularly the Benares district, Bahar, and Orissa.
There are such varieties in the fineness and other qua lities of the cotton goods, especially of the calicoes manu factured in India, that it would carry us beyond our proper limits to particularise each kind; and, indeed, most of them are scarcely known in Europe, or merely known by their Indian appellations. Coarse cotton cloth is manufactured in different parts of the province of Agra. In the centre of the Do*, there is a kind very coarse and common, which is dyed red with cheap materials. The coarsest sort of blue handkerchiefs are manufactured near Calcutta. The greater part of the return cargo carried annually from the northern parts of Bengal to Bootan consists of coarse cotton goods, which are the staple commodity of Rungpoor. The cotton goods made in the more southern parts of India, in general, arc not coarse, though there are goods of this description manufactured in the Northern Cir cars, both to the north and south of the Godavery these are either plain or coloured with chay root, which grows in most perfection on the pure sands annually overflowed by the Krishna. There is also a manufacture of coarse cotton cloths at Arcot.
Dacca, in the eastern quarter of the province of Bengal, has long been celebrated for the manufacture of the finest muslins. In this district there is grown a kind of cotton, called Banga, which, though not of a very superior quality, is necessary to form the stripes of such muslins ; and this circumstance may have contributed to the perfection of the fabric at Dacca. The manufacture, however, is in a de clining state, owing to several causes. Before the fall of the imperial government, those delicate and beautiful fa brics were held in such estimation, not only at the court of the emperor, but amongst all the higher orders of nobility in India, as to render it a matter of difficulty to supply the demand for them. The almost entire cessation of this de mand must have greatly contributed to injure this manu facture. But, besides this cause, another must be sought
for the perfection to which the muslin manufacture of Bri tain has recently been brought. In consequence of the falling off in the demand, many of the families who pos sessed the hereditary knowledge of manufacturing these very fine muslins have given lip the business. So minute is the labour bestowed upon them, that a weaver will re quire five or six months to execute a piece. Besides those very fine muslins, plain muslins of an inferior quality, as well as flowered, striped, and checkered muslins, are manu factured in the district of Dacca, and in the northern parts of Bewares. The manufacture of muslins in pieces, chiefly for turbans, is carried on to a great extent in the Cuttack district of Orissa. Dimities of various kinds and pat terns, and cloths resembling diaper and damask linen, are made at Dacca, Patna, Taunda, and other places. Chintzes are manufactured principally in tire district of Benares, and in the country around Patna and Calcutta ; in Hindos tan Proper, and at Masulipatam in the south of India. This last place has long been famous for this kind of manufac ture, which is in great demand at Bombay and in Persia. Masulipatam and Madras are also celebrated for their palampores, the ground-work of which is formed of the plain long cloth, chiefly wrought in the island of Nagur and its vicinity.
The first process necessary to prepare the cotton for be ing manufactured to separate the wool from the seed ; the cotton encircles a black seed, and advances perhaps half an inch upon it. To separate them, the natives of Hindostan make use of three cylinders that go different ways. As these move closely together, when the cotton is introduced between them, the wool is drawn out, and the seed is left behind. This simple machine is found in every house, and is worked either by the spinner, or even by children. The second process is performed by a sort of bow, something like what the batters use in Europe to pre pare the wool for making hats. One end of this is fasten ed to the ceiling; the workman holds it by the middle, while, at the same time, with a piece of wood that has a pad at the end of it, he stretches the cat-gut string of the bow. This, by its elasticity, beats the cotton, separates the dust and seeds that may remain after the first process, swells it out, and, in short, answers the purpose of carding, and puts it in a state to be spun. It is remarkable, that this process is performed, in a country where there are so many species of Hindoos, by Mahornedans, called Chou lies, of the sect of Ali. They are of Arabian descent. There are one or two such persons in every village of the Northern Circars, who perfot ms two operations, that of cleaning cotton, and of spinning the warp.