Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c26.16

c26.16

We may now turn to the preparation of the thread and laying of the warp. Cotton was extensively grown on *hēn* (‘chenas’) or dry fields in Kandyan districts, so much that cotton yarn could be traded thence to Anurādhapura and those parts where cotton was not so much grown; as we gather from Knox, who himself traded in cotton yarn, on the occasion of his escape. The cotton is of two sorts, a large kind which lasts several years, and a dwarf, annual sort (*bāla kapu*).