THE CARPETS OF THE EAST.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 220, 24 October 1916, Page 4

THE CARPETS OF THE EAST.

It is said that the carpets of India can never excel those of Persia, as the Indian materials are not of the same superior quality as those employed In the latter country. The wool of which many of the best carpets are manufactured is obtained from Kashmir. Sometimes carpets which are mistaken for allk are really of an extremely fine quality of wool known as "pashm." This Is obtained from the goats of Kashmir and grows close to the skin, being protected by the long and coarser wool. Tt is as smooth and lustrous as silk, and Is used for the beautiful soft shawls for which Kashmir Is famous.

Peculiar methods are employed by the Indian weaver In converting his original design into a textile. Instead of working from a coloured drawing or diagram, the weaver has the pattern translated on paper Into rows of symbols, each of which expresses the number of stitches and the colour. With this written "key" In his hand, the head weaver sits behind his subordinates and dictates the pattern to them, one row at a time, all through the breadth of the carpet. These weavers—generally quite small boys—sit In front of the warp strings and tie in the requisite num-; ber of stitches of each colour as callout to them by the reader from his ciphered scrip. The boys, who perform the actual process of weaving the pile, follow day by day the dictations, of the head man, knowing nothing of the pattern they are preparing, but gradually building up in a mechanical way the carpet on the strings before them.