The other manufactures of Hindostan are not of great extent or value, and may therefore be noticed in a more cursory manner. In all the colder parts of Hindostan, particularly in the elevated districts of the Mysore, the na tives wear woollen cloths, called comelies ; they are worn as they come from the loom, and are of different lengths; some being six or seven feet long by four or five broad; these are of coarser quality ; such as are of a finer texture are about ten feet long by six or seven broad ; these re semble English camlets. Neither of the kinds are dyed, but are of the natural colour of the wool, which, in the fine ones, is almost always a good black ; tha price of the coarser kind is from eighteen pence to two shillings, and the finer from twelve to fifteen shillings. The Chitteldroog district of Mysore is celebrated for the manufacture of ex cellent comelies, that is, of such as keep the natives warm, and protect them from the rain. Flannels well wove, but fulled in a very imperfect manner, are manufactured at Patna. Carpeting, of a very durable fabric, is made in the Churrar district of Allahabad ; and Ellore, the capital of one of the Northern Circars of the same name, is fa mous for carpets of a rich and beautiful texture. The best coin cables are made at Anjengo and Cochin, of the fibres of the laccadine cocoa nut. Canvass is manufac tured from cotton and from the sun hemp ; the former in the neighbourhood of Chittagong, Patna, and some other places, and the latter at Calcutta. In this city there are upwards of 70 looms at work, which can make 150 both monthly at least ; the workmen are paid at the rate of four rupees for every both ; one man, if commonly in dustrious, is capable of weaving one both in ten days, and at that rate might earn 12 rupees a month ; but he seldom finishes his both under 15 days ; some take 17 clays. As soon as a native workman is paid his four ru pees, he quits his loom, and seldom returns till his mo ney is spent. About 200 people are employed in this ma nufactory. The canvass is of the same length, breadth, and weight as the English canvass : it has a dross upon it, which is removed by bleaching and washing. Pack thread is wove into sackcloth in many places, particularly in the northern parts of Bengal, where it is used as clothing by the mountaineers. A coarse, but very strong sackcloth is also made at Bangalore, in the 'Mysore, from the Indian hemp.
Saddles, harness, military accoutrements, and other ar ticles of leather, are manufactured by the natives in Bengal. Leather pantaloons for the artillery, and gloves. are made at Madras, and shoes all over India. The Bombay shoes are reckoned the best. Hyderabad, the capital of Sinde, is noted for its artificers who embroider on leather. Great numbers of brazen water-pots arc manufactured at Bareil ly, in the province of Ddhi. Articles of cutlery, and even brass instruments, are made in some parts in tolerable per fection. The swords made in the Decan, and in the north part of India, are equal in temper, Sec. to the best swords made in any other part of the world. The armourers of Hyderabad, in Sinde, arc celebrated for the excellence of their workmanship ; and at Poloonshah, in the territories of the Nizam, there is a large manufactory of matchlocks, spears, and other weapons. At Muteodon, in the Mysore Rajah's dominions, the glass is manufactured which is used for making the rings which are worn by the Hindoo wo men round their wrists. The quality of this glass is not good, the materials of w hich it is formed not being well sorted, mixed in due proportion, nor fused sufficiently,— in consequence of which it is coarse and opaque. It is made of five colours, black, green, red, bine, and yellow. The black is in the most request, and bears the highest price. The natives obtain the soda that they use in the manufacture in the fields, where it forms , during the hot season. The same fields supply them with sand. The ring makers on the western side of India purchase the greater part of this glass. Vizagapatam is celebrated for its beautiful cabinet work, which is painted and inlaid with ivory and black wood with great elegance and art.
The manufactures of opium and indigo have already been mentioned. About twenty years ago, the cochineal insect was introduced into India ; and cochineal, though of an inferior kind, is now produced in different parts of In dia. The insect is found to thrive best on the indigenous opuntia, which is abundant in Bengal, and in most parts of India. Near Bailura, in the Mysore Rajale.s territories, the husbandman keep the insect on the opuntias, which serve as a fence to their gardens, and make from it annu ally about 1500 pounds of cochineal. Tar is extracted
from teak wood in most of the places where ships are built of it. Rose-water is distilled in many parts. Gazapoor, in the Benares district, has long been celebrated for it. Pa per is manufactured in some parts of Northern Hindostan from the bark of a tree named deal:. It is very strong, and capable of being woven, when gilt, by way of orna ment, into the texture of silks and satins. Saltpetre is manufactured to a great extent in the provinces of Bengal and Behar, particularly in the latter. The export of it is principally confined to the Company's investment, the greater part of which is made in the districts of Hajypoor and Sanur, in Behar. The climate and soil are extremely favourable to its spontaneous production. It is sent to Eu rope in an impure state, but crystallized, put up in bags, each bag containing two bazar maunds, or about 164 lbs. As the Company are obliged to supply the British Go vernment with a certain quantity of it, each Bengal ship of 800 tons, in time of war, generally brings home about 5000 bags. Salt is made from sea water along nearly the whole of the eastern coast, as far as the mouth of the Gan ges, in great abundance. Tumlock and Hiljellee, which lie to the south-west of Calcutta, near the Hooghly, are the principal places where salt is manufactured for the Bengal presidency. The land at these places is regular ly overflowed by the tide ; and, in order to retain the sa line particles, mounds of earth are formed, from which the salt is extracted by filtration and boiling : each mound will yield, on an average, 18,640 libs. of salt, and requires the labour of seven men. The working months are from November to June, during the dry season. On the west coast of India, salt is made in large quantities, on the coast of the island of Salsette. The process is similar to that which is followed in Europe ; but when salt of a superior quality is wished for, it is obtained " by fixing a jagged piece of stick in the water, When first let into the reser voirs, to which, as the water evaporates, saline particles adhere, to the weight of three or four ounces." Salt made from sea water is in high repute among the natives of In dia, principally from religious considerations, especially that made from the waters of the Ganges: but European tables at Bombay, and other places on the western coast, are supplied with a remarkably fine salt from Arabia, " in pieces not unlike a cheese in shape, and sparkling like a sugar loaf." The mechanism of the Hindons is very rude and imper fect, and probably has been stationary for at least 2000 years. The rice mill consists of two round Ilat stones ; rn the lower one there is a hollow, into which the middle of the upper one is inserted; it is turned round by means of a wooden peg, and the flour comes out through a groove in the under stone ; in fact, it resembles the quell) of Scot land. Two Indians with their hand corn mill can grind only 60 lbs. of flour in a day. On several of the streams, however, in Hindostan Proper, particularly on the Ravey, there are water-mills for grinding corn. The mill that is used to extract the oil from the cocoa-nut is very simple in its construction, and, at the same time, answers its purpose extremely well. It is thus described by Son nerat : "The pieces of this machine are, first, the trunk of a large tree sunk in the earth, and strongly fixed, the top in the form of a vase ; secondly, a mortar placed in the mid dle of the trunk, and which, not being very large, goes widening to the bottom ; thirdly, a pestle placed in the mor tar ; fourthly, a cross pole, adapted to the top of the pestle, and which turns it ; this cross pole is composed of equal pieces, tied together with ropes, which, being flexible, are not subject to break; fifthly, a large bar of wood, flat, placed horizontally at the bottom of the machine, and to which the cross pole is fixed. This bar, widening and increas ing towards the extremity, which is fitted to the trunk of the tree, turns on a slope made at the bottom of the trunk, and regulates the machine. Two bullocks, tied to this bar, turn it, and the people along with it. At the top of the trunk is a ledge to prevent the oil from running out. A man stands on the horizontal bar, and turns along with it,— puts back the grains that are falling out,—collects the oil as soon as it rises to the top, and puts it into vases." Sonne rat's Voyage to the East Indies, vol. ii, p. 133.