DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15174#0363
CHAP. in. CLOTHS.—' VELVETS.-NANKEENS. 347
that a most intelligent merchant of Cabool, whom
I met at Bokhara, was thinking of taking an invest-
ment of it to Lodiana in India, where he could
afford to sell it cheaper than it is to be had there,
notwithstanding the length of the journey! The
finest English broad cloth, which sells in India for
twenty-two rupees a yard, may be purchased for
fifteen in Bokhara; but the merchants who bring it
from Russia say they are losers by it. It is much
more prized than the broad cloth manufactured in
Russia, from its retaining its colour, and lasting
better; and, if the price could be reduced so as to
meet the means of the natives, it would soon sup-
plant the other article. Velvet is brought into Bok-
hara from Russia: it is flowered cotton velvet, and
about two feet broad. There is a demand for it, and
it is not imported from India. The Russians have imi-
tated, with much success, the brocades of India, and
export great quantities of what is called " false
brocade" to Bokhara : it looks nearly as well as that
of Benares, and sells for half the price: it is wove
in narrow webs. There is nothing to prevent the
successful fabric of this article in Britain. The
staple commodity of Russian manufacture exported
to this country is nankeen: it is seldom of a white
colour, for they have imitated the patterns of this
country, which are striped and dark. The article
sells for 1J tillas per piece of forty yards: it is in
general use among the people for their pelisses, or
" chupkuns." I had at first imagined that it was a
Chinese import; but it is brought by the Russian
caravans, and sent as far as Cabool, and even India,
that a most intelligent merchant of Cabool, whom
I met at Bokhara, was thinking of taking an invest-
ment of it to Lodiana in India, where he could
afford to sell it cheaper than it is to be had there,
notwithstanding the length of the journey! The
finest English broad cloth, which sells in India for
twenty-two rupees a yard, may be purchased for
fifteen in Bokhara; but the merchants who bring it
from Russia say they are losers by it. It is much
more prized than the broad cloth manufactured in
Russia, from its retaining its colour, and lasting
better; and, if the price could be reduced so as to
meet the means of the natives, it would soon sup-
plant the other article. Velvet is brought into Bok-
hara from Russia: it is flowered cotton velvet, and
about two feet broad. There is a demand for it, and
it is not imported from India. The Russians have imi-
tated, with much success, the brocades of India, and
export great quantities of what is called " false
brocade" to Bokhara : it looks nearly as well as that
of Benares, and sells for half the price: it is wove
in narrow webs. There is nothing to prevent the
successful fabric of this article in Britain. The
staple commodity of Russian manufacture exported
to this country is nankeen: it is seldom of a white
colour, for they have imitated the patterns of this
country, which are striped and dark. The article
sells for 1J tillas per piece of forty yards: it is in
general use among the people for their pelisses, or
" chupkuns." I had at first imagined that it was a
Chinese import; but it is brought by the Russian
caravans, and sent as far as Cabool, and even India,