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Show ‘made of baked clay. There is a great deal of pottery manufacocibn this province, as there is an abundance of clay suitable for th purpose:The Bengal vats, round in shape, resembled a gigantic rose bowl ite pottery vat that I measured was forty-two inches, th height twenty-two inches, and the opening thirty-four inches across. Thes clay vats were imbedded in the ground to about one-half their height an formed an easily cleaned and cff ent vat for papermaking ‘The largest sheets of paper made near Autsahai were double foolsca in size. A yellow paper, specimen No. 22, of bright, pleasing tone, has lon been manufactured in Bengal and has found meagre use for religious purposes, including weddings and other ceremonies; only small quantities o this citrine-coloured paper are used in India, and its employment in India religious rites s insignificant compared to the almost universal use of pape in Chinese religious ceremonies. The dye used to colour the Indian yello paper is rendered from the root of the turmeric tree (faldi) (Curcum longa), the same xoot employed in India in making curry (kari). T workers in the Dacca district of Bengal received from four to six annas day, and each vatman, working twelve o sixteen hours, was supposed t mould seventy-five to a hundred sheets of paper. During the dry seaso nine to twelve families find their livelihood in papermaking, but throughout the entire year only four or five families remain at work. Aside fro making paper, each family hasa few cows which give a very limited amoun of milk. The papermakers of Dacca, like those of all other parts of India know only poverty and privation Even after the papermaking demonstration had been completed an the lowly descendants from the ancient Kaghazi families had departe from the cottage, the round of entertainment was not over. With dignit and deference I was taken to the village dispensary, damp and cheerless where the indigent people of the district received simple surgical attention and where medicines were dispensed. The villagers felt justly proud tha Digital image © 2005 MarriottLibrary Universit of Utah, All rihts reserved |