fections. In Pottery. dignity of a fine art. Perfection has been reached neither in the substance, as in the porcelain of China, nor in the ornamentation, as in ancient Greece. The clay in many Its imperplaces works up well, but the product remains mere earthenware, and rarely receives a high finish. Sind is the chief Province of India where the potter's craft has risen to a high art; and here the industry is said to have been introduced by the Muhammadans. Sind pottery is of Sind two kinds, encaustic tiles and vessels for domestic use. both cases the colours are the same-turquoise blue, copper green, dark purple or golden brown, under an exquisitely transparent glaze. The usual ornament is a conventional flower pattern, pricked in from paper, and dusted along the pricking. The tiles, which are evidently of the same origin as Tiles. those of Persia and Turkey, are chiefly to be found in the ruined mosques and tombs of the old Musalmán dynasties; but the industry still survives at the little towns of Saidpur and Bubri. Sind ware is made at Haidarábád, Karáchi, Tatta, and Hála. Good pottery is also manufactured across the border, at Lahore and Múltán in the Punjab. Efforts Punjab have been made by the Bombay School of Art1 to foster this Bombay indigenous industry; but, as in other cases of European pottery. patronage, the Indian artisan loses his originality when set to copying alien models. Something, however, has been done in the right direction by reproducing the old designs from the cave temples of Ajanta and Karlí, in the pottery made at the Bombay School of Art. The Madura pottery also deserves mention, from the elegance of its form and the richness of its colour. and Stone sculpture is an art of the highest antiquity in India, Sculpture. as may be seen in the early memorials of Buddhism. Borrowing an impulse from Greek models, the Buddhist sculptors at the commencement of our era freed themselves from the Oriental tradition which demands only the gigantic and the grotesque, and imitated nature with some success. But with the revival of Bráhmanism, Hindu sculpture again degenerated; and so far as the art can still be said to exist, it possesses a religious rather than an æsthetic interest.2 In the cities of Guzerat, and in other parts of India where the houses are built of wood, their fronts are ornamented with elaborate carving. Wood-carving in Western India is said, Wood1 See ante, pp. 121, 368. 2 For Indian architecture, painting, and musical instruments, see ante, pp. 118-121. carving. Inlaying. Ivory carving. European perhaps erroneously, to owe its origin to Dutch patronage; the models of the carvers are evidently taken from the native Indian temples. The favourite materials are blackwood, sandal-wood, and jack-wood. Blackwood (Dalbergia latifolia) is used for those highly decorated objects which have attracted attention in Europe from their excess of elaboration; while jack-wood is made into articles of furniture, more simple and more useful. The supply of sandal-wood comes from the forests of the Western Ghats in Kánara and Mysore, but some of the finest carving is done at Surat and Ahmedábád. From the examples of 17th century Indian carving which I have examined, I believe that the art received a powerful impulse from the Dutch along the Bombay coast. But it existed long before that date, as may be inferred from the patterns and designs, some of which may be seen in the exquisite open carving in marble, or open lattice-work windows in hard stone. The more durable material has survived, and now tells its tale. Akin to wood carving, is the inlaying of the articles known as 'Bombay boxes.' This art is known to be of modern date, having been introduced from Shiraz in Persia towards the close of the last century. It consists of binding together in geometrical patterns, strips of tin-wire, sandal-wood, ebony, ivory, and stag's horn. At Vizagapatam in Madras, similar articles are made of ivory and stag's horn, with scrollwork edged in to suit European taste. At Máinpuri, in the North-Western Provinces, wooden boxes are inlaid with brass wire. The chief seats of ivory-carving are Amritsar, Benares, Murshidábád, and Travancore, where any article can be obtained to order, from a full-sized palanquin to a lady's comb. Human figures in clay, dressed to the life, are principally made at Krishnagar in Bengal, Lucknow, and Poona. The preparation of tea, coffee, and indigo have been industries. already described in connection with agriculture. It remains to give some account of those manufactures proper, conducted by steam machinery, and under European supervision, which have rapidly sprung up in certain parts of India during the past few years. These comprise cotton, jute, and silk, and beer. Cotton mills, 1854-79. The first mill for the manufacture of cotton yarn and cloth by machinery worked by steam, was opened at Bombay in 1854. The enterprise has since grown with scarcely a check, until, in 1879, the total number of mills throughout India was tribution throughout 58, with about a million and a half spindles, and twelve thousand looms, giving employment to upwards of 40,000 persons -men, women, and children. Of this total, 30 mills, or Their dismore than half, were in the island of Bombay, which now possesses a busy manufacturing quarter with tall chimney- India. stalks, recalling the aspect of a Lancashire town; 14 were in the cotton-growing Districts of Guzerat, also in the Bombay Presidency; 6 were in Calcutta and its neighbourhood; 3 at Madras; 2 at Cawnpore in the North-Western Provinces; 1 at Nágpur in the Central Provinces; I at Indore, the capital of Holkar's Dominions; and I at Haidarábád, the residence of the Nizám. basis of This rapid and wide-spread development sufficiently Sound proves that the new industry, though still in its infancy, the manuis being carried on under wholesome conditions, and facture. meets a real demand. It is true that a cloud has recently risen at Bombay, caused partly by competition with European goods recklessly thrown upon the market regardless of profit, and partly by that mismanagement to which joint - stock enterprise is peculiarly exposed. But with the return of prosperity to agriculture, and the consequent revival of the home demand for cotton goods, there can be little doubt that the Bombay mills will start upon a career of renewed activity. Their advantages over the English manufacturer are manifest. The crop of raw material and the market for the manufactured Cheap article are both at their very doors, thus saving a double freight. Labour is cheap, abundant, docile, and not liable to strike. Cheap A certain amount of prejudice exists in favour of their products, partly because of their freedom from adulteration, and partly No adulfrom the patriotic pride naturally felt for a native industry. Lastly, up to March 1879 they had the slight protection of a moderate customs duty of 5 per cent. ad valorem (imposed for fiscal purposes solely) upon imported goods. On the other hand, they labour under not a few countervailing disadvan- The drawtages. material. labour. teration. backs. erection. The cost of erection, including spindles and fitting up, is Cost of said to be about three times as much in India as in England. Thus a mill containing 50,000 spindles, which in Lancashire might be set up for about £1 per spindle, or a total of £50,000, would cost at Bombay about £150,000. On this capital the initial charge for interest would be only £2500 a year in England, calculated at 5 per cent., as compared with £13,500 in India, at the rate of 9 per cent. Again, the cost High of fuel and all stores, which require to be imported from interest. Short staple. Only coarse qualities made. Joint-stock cotton mills. Bombay wages. Statistics cotton England, tells greatly against the Bombay mills. Another important consideration, which it is difficult to estimate in all its bearings, is the quality of Indian cotton, known as 'short stapled,' which does not admit of being spun into the finer kinds of yarn. Consequently the Indian mills can only turn out the lower 'counts' of yarn, and the coarser fabrics of piece-goods, leaving English imports of the higher classes without competition. Adopting the technical language of the trade, the great bulk of the yarn spun in Indian mills consists of numbers 6, 10, and 20 mule twist. Water twist is spun in smaller quantities, generally of number 16. The maximum of either kind is number 30. The mills are capable of spinning up to 40; but as a matter of fact, they never attempt this number, owing partly to the inferior quality of the cotton, and partly to the carelessness of the work-people. As regards piecegoods, the kinds principally woven in the mills are those known as T cloths, domestics, sheetings, drills, and jeans, made entirely from the yarn spun in the same mills. Longcloths, chadars and dhutis, are also manufactured; and recently attempts have been made to turn out drawers, stockings, nightcaps, and towelling. But Manchester still possesses a practical monopoly both of the higher 'counts' of yarn which are used by the hand-loom weavers, and of the superior qualities of cloth. The Indian mills are almost without exception the property of joint-stock companies, the shares in which are largely taken up by natives. The overlookers are skilled artisans brought from England, but natives are beginning to qualify themselves for the post. The operatives are all paid by the piece; and, as compared with other Indian industries, the rates of wages are high. In 1877, at Bombay, boys earned from 145. to £1 a month; women, from 16s. to £1; and jobbers, from £3 to £6, 10S. Several members of one family often work together, earning between them as much as 10 a month. The hours of work are from six in the morning to six at night, with an hour allowed in the middle of the day for meals and smoking. A Factory Act, to regulate the hours of work for children and young persons, and to enforce the fencing of dangerous machinery, etc., is under the consideration of the Government. Besides supplying the local demand, these mills are gradually of Bombay beginning to find a market in foreign countries, especially for Between 1872-73 and 1878-79, the export of twist from Bombay increased from 1,802,863 lbs. manu factures. their twist and yarn. Africa. valued at £97,162, to 21,271,059 lbs. valued at £883,665, or an increase of nearly twelvefold in quantity and upwards of ninefold in value. Within the same period of eight years, the export of grey piece-goods increased from 4,780,834 yards valued at £75,495, to 14,993,336 yards valued at £198,380. The twist and yarn is mostly sent to China and Japan, the piece- Sent to goods to the coast of Arabia and Africa. The figures for the China and coasting trade also show a corresponding growth, the total value of twist carried from port to port in 1878-79 having been £804,996, and of piece-goods (including hand-loom goods), £654,553. The general character of the business may be inferred from the following returns supplied by the Empress Spinning and Weaving Mills Company at Nágpur, which has Nagpur 30,000 spindles and 450 looms at work, and employs about 1600 hands. Their consumption of raw cotton has averaged 1,707,000 lbs. a year; their out-turn has averaged 1,040,000 lbs. of yarn valued at £45,358, and 627,700 lbs. of cloth valued at £30,661. Mr. O'Conor, who has devoted much attention to the matter, thus summarizes his opinion regarding the future of the Indian cotton mills in his Review of Indian Future of Trade for 1877-78:-'Whether we can hope to secure an export trade or not, it is certain that there is a sufficient outlet in India itself for the manufactures of twice fifty mills; and if the industry is only judiciously managed, the manufactures of our mills must inevitably, in course of time, supersede Manchester goods of the coarser kinds in the Indian market.' mills. the trade. The Jute mills of Bengal have sprung up in rivalry to Jute mills. Dundee, as Bombay competes with Manchester; but in Bengal the capital is almost entirely supplied by Europeans. The jute mills cluster thick round Calcutta, extending across the river into Húgli District. One has been planted at Sirájganj, far away up the Brahmaputra, in the middle of the jute-producing country. In 1879, the total number of jute mills in India was Number 21, of which all but 2 were in Bengal; and the number is in 1879. annually increasing. The weaving of jute into gunny cloth is an indigenous hand-loom industry in Northern Bengal, chiefly in the Districts of Purniah and Dinajpur. The gunny is made by the semi-aboriginal tribe of Koch, Rájbansí or Páli, both for clothing and for bags; and, as with other industries. practised by non-Hindu races, the weavers are the women of the family, and not a distinct caste. The mills turn out bags, and also cloth in pieces to a limited extent. The bags vary in of gunny. size, according to the markets for which they are intended. bags. Varieties |