Travels in India (Tavernier) 10.5

10.5

If those which they export to Poland, where they are in great demand, have not at both ends, at the least, three or four inches of gold or silver, or if this gold and silver become black when crossing the ocean between Surat and Hormuz, and from Trebizonde to Mangalia, or other ports of the Black Sea, the merchant cannot dispose of them except at great loss. He ought to take great care that the goods are well packed, and that damp cannot enter: this, for so long a voyage, requires much care and trouble. Some of these fabrics are all banded, half cotton and half gold or silver, and such pieces are called ornis. They contain from fifteen to twenty ells, and cost from one hundred to one hundred and fifty rupees, the cheapest being not under ten or twelve. Those which are only about two ells long serve ladies of rank for the purpose of making scarfs and the veils which they wear on their heads, and they are sold in abundance in Persia and in Turkey. They make, besides, at Burhanpur other kinds of fabrics, and there is hardly another province in the whole of India which has a greater abundance of cotton. In leaving the town of Burhanpur there is another river to be crossed besides the large one of which I have above spoken; as it has no bridge, when the water is low you cross by a ford, and by boat in the rainy season. The distance from Surat to Burhanpur is 132 coss, and these coss are the smallest in India, a cart being able to traverse one in less than an hour.