Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 19.2.4

19.2.4

There are two sorts manufactured: one kind with the wool of the country, finer and more delicate than that of Spain; the other kind with the wool, or rather hair (called touz) found on the breast of a species of wild goat which inhabits Great Tibet. The tous shawls are much more esteemed than those made with the native wool. I have seen some, made purposely for the Omrahs, which cost one hundred and fifty roupies; but I cannot learn that the others have ever sold for more than fifty. They are very apt, however, to be worm-eaten, unless frequently unfolded and aired. The fur of the beaver is not so soft and fine as the hair from these goats. Great pains have been taken to manufacture similar shawls in Patna, Agra, and Lahor; but notwithstanding every possible care, they never have the delicate texture and softness of the Kachemire shawls, whose unrivalled excellence may be owing to certain properties in the water of that country. The superior colours of the Maslipatam chittes or cloths, painted by the hand [peintes au pinceau], au], whose freshness seems to improve by washing, are also ascribed to the water peculiar to that town. The people of Kachemire are proverbial for their clear complexions and fine forms. They are as well made as Europeans, and their faces have neither the Tartar flat nose nor the small pig-eyes that distinguish the natives of Kacheguer, and which generally mark those of Great Tibet. The women especially are very handsome;