DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25990#0166
SHAWL-WOOL.
133
Kashmir, to which country, by ancient custom and engagements', the export is exclusively
confined, and all attempts to convey it to other countries are punished by confiscation. In
like manner it is considered in Rodokh and Chan-than as illegal to allow a trade in shawl-
wool except through Ladakh, and in the latter country considerable impediments are
opposed to the traffic in wool from Yarkand, although it is of superior quality and
cheapness. The hair of the goat after it is separated from the wool is made into ropes,
blankets, and bags for home use, and as wrappers for bales of merchandise.
“ Besides the fleece of the domesticated goat, that of the wild goat, under the deno-
mination of Asali Tus, is exported in smaller quantities to Kashmir. It is of a light
brown colour and exceeding fineness, and is worked into shawls, a kind of soft cloth
called Tusi, and linings for shawl-wool stockings ; very few shawls, however, are made
from this materal.
“ In general the pickers of shawl-wool are paid by the hair, but in this case the hair is
considered unfit for making into ropes, &c. Shawls made of this material would be much
softer, lighter, and warmer than those of ordinary fabric. When, without being picked,
the Asali Tus is worked into Tusi it forms a warm, soft cloth of a drab or gray colour
which is much worn in the hills. This article must be always high priced from the
difficulty of procuring the animal that produces it, the wild goat rarely venturing within
gun shot during the day, and being obtained only by snares at night, when they come
down from the mountains to browse'in the valleys.”*
“ On my way to Digar I had an opportunity of witnessing the manner in which the
shawl-wool was extracted from the fleece. After the hair of the goat had been cut short
with a knife in the direction of its growth, or from the head towards the tail, a sort of
comb was passed in the reversed direction, and brought away the finer wool almost
unmixed with the coarse hair. The comb consisted of seven pegs of willow tied side by
side and secured by cross bars ; the pegs were cut ^away at the points to the thickness
of quills and were made slightly to diverge from each other. The operation was roughly
performed, and brought away scales of the cuticle along with the wool. The wool, however,
was at this season easily detached, for it is a curious provision of nature that with the setting
in of warmer weather the delicate woolly clothing nearest the skin of the mountain animals
being no longer needed, becomes loosened in its attachment, and is removed, if not by man,
by the animals themselves. I noticed the yaks at the end of April very busy rubbing
themselves with their horns and bringing off the finer hairs in considerable quantities. In
sheep and dogs the wool rose to the end of the hair, and either fell off or was got rid of
by the animals rolling on the ground or rubbing themselves against trees, &c., and I was
told that the wild goats and sheep relieve themselves in the same manner of a vesture
indispensable to their comfort in winter, but unnecessary and inconvenient in the heat of
summer.”!
* Moorcroft’s “ Travels in Kashmir,” &c., vol. I., p. 346.
f Op. cit., vol. I., p. 410.
133
Kashmir, to which country, by ancient custom and engagements', the export is exclusively
confined, and all attempts to convey it to other countries are punished by confiscation. In
like manner it is considered in Rodokh and Chan-than as illegal to allow a trade in shawl-
wool except through Ladakh, and in the latter country considerable impediments are
opposed to the traffic in wool from Yarkand, although it is of superior quality and
cheapness. The hair of the goat after it is separated from the wool is made into ropes,
blankets, and bags for home use, and as wrappers for bales of merchandise.
“ Besides the fleece of the domesticated goat, that of the wild goat, under the deno-
mination of Asali Tus, is exported in smaller quantities to Kashmir. It is of a light
brown colour and exceeding fineness, and is worked into shawls, a kind of soft cloth
called Tusi, and linings for shawl-wool stockings ; very few shawls, however, are made
from this materal.
“ In general the pickers of shawl-wool are paid by the hair, but in this case the hair is
considered unfit for making into ropes, &c. Shawls made of this material would be much
softer, lighter, and warmer than those of ordinary fabric. When, without being picked,
the Asali Tus is worked into Tusi it forms a warm, soft cloth of a drab or gray colour
which is much worn in the hills. This article must be always high priced from the
difficulty of procuring the animal that produces it, the wild goat rarely venturing within
gun shot during the day, and being obtained only by snares at night, when they come
down from the mountains to browse'in the valleys.”*
“ On my way to Digar I had an opportunity of witnessing the manner in which the
shawl-wool was extracted from the fleece. After the hair of the goat had been cut short
with a knife in the direction of its growth, or from the head towards the tail, a sort of
comb was passed in the reversed direction, and brought away the finer wool almost
unmixed with the coarse hair. The comb consisted of seven pegs of willow tied side by
side and secured by cross bars ; the pegs were cut ^away at the points to the thickness
of quills and were made slightly to diverge from each other. The operation was roughly
performed, and brought away scales of the cuticle along with the wool. The wool, however,
was at this season easily detached, for it is a curious provision of nature that with the setting
in of warmer weather the delicate woolly clothing nearest the skin of the mountain animals
being no longer needed, becomes loosened in its attachment, and is removed, if not by man,
by the animals themselves. I noticed the yaks at the end of April very busy rubbing
themselves with their horns and bringing off the finer hairs in considerable quantities. In
sheep and dogs the wool rose to the end of the hair, and either fell off or was got rid of
by the animals rolling on the ground or rubbing themselves against trees, &c., and I was
told that the wild goats and sheep relieve themselves in the same manner of a vesture
indispensable to their comfort in winter, but unnecessary and inconvenient in the heat of
summer.”!
* Moorcroft’s “ Travels in Kashmir,” &c., vol. I., p. 346.
f Op. cit., vol. I., p. 410.