for packing, while the wearing apparel, which, from its greater strength and cheapness, had little to fear from the fraudulent competition of Manchester heavily-sized goods, has now to a great extent been undersold by the mechanical productiveness of the mills of Bombay and Ahmedabad, the profits of which are for the most part carried away out of the country by the English and other European merchants of Western India. In this way the native caste weavers suffer a direct loss, without compensation of any kind.
But at Kaira the river water is very pure, and most excellent for dyeing, and therefore its painted cloths at least keep up their good name ; and besides a widespread home demand for them, they are exported to other places, even so far as Siam. Some of these printers are men of capital. May their tranquil river ever keep its natural pureness for them.
Printing in gold leaf and silver leaf on cotton cloth and silk is very common in Gujarat. The cloth is first stamped with a deeply- cut hand-block dipped in gum ; and then a layer of gold or silver foil is laid on, and sharply rubbed into it. The rubbing takes away the foil from the surface of the cloth, except where it has been fastened by the gummed pattern. Then the foil is so thoroughly beaten into the cloth that it may be roughly used without giving way. This industry also continues in a thriving condition.
Another mode of decorating silk or cotton is by knotting bandhna, which gave its name to the old bandana pocket-hand- kerchiefs. To knot the silk or cotton, the undyed cloth is sent to a draughtsman, or chitarnar , who divides the whole surface into one-inch squares. Then it goes to the knotter, or bandnari generally a young girl, who picks up a little cloth at each comer of the squares, and ties it into a knot with packthread, the number and position of the knots being fixed by the pattern it is desired the cloth should take. After being thus knotted all over, the cloth is sent to the dyer, who dips it into the colour required for the ground of the pattern ; after which the knots
