1 OF THE PUNJAUB. 87 .
2 hands of people to whom the results of their
3 inddstry are secured, may be turned to excellent
4 account in a variety of ways. The manufactures
5 consist chiefly of silks and cottons, arms, leatifer,
6 and shawls; all, excepting the latter and the arms,
7 which are the work of Kashmirian hands, very
8 superior to similar workmanship in other parts of
9 India. The arms, which are principally made at
10 Lahore, consist of swords, spears, matchlocks,
11 muskets, pistols, and armour, the latter being
12 composed of helmets or skull-caps, coats of mail,
13 breastplates, gauntlets, and shields. Many of
14 the latter are, however, often manufactured of
15 ‘thick hides, studded, knotted, and plated with
16 iron or brass. Next to Lahore, the chief manu-
17 facturing towns are Urmitzur, Mooltan, Shooja-
18 bad, and Leia. Shawls are made in considerable
19 numbers at Umritzur, but they bear no compari-
20 son in quality with those manufactured at Kash-
21 mir, which once enjoyed so high a reputation in
22 Europe, and which still possess a value in the
23 eyes of women of taste and fashion. Perhaps a
24 brief description, in this place, of the manner in
25 which these beautiful garments are fabricated,
26 will not be without interest or utility.
27 The tame goat, the wild goat, the wild sheep,
28 the yax (a small ox), and some of the hill dogs,
29 supply the wool required in the manufacture
30 of the shawl. This wool, which lies close to the
31 skin of the animal, under the external coating, is