Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 3.djvu/519

 ARTICLES OF IMPORTATION. 503 has already been the entire superseding of all the finer Indian cloths formerly consumed. The only Indian cotton goods now imported are a few coarse cloths, blue and white, called bciftas and gurrahs in the commercial language of our Indian traders, goods in which the labour of manufacture bears but a small proportion to the raw material. The principal descriptions of cotton goods in demand are chintzes or printed cottons, — white cottons, — cambrics, — handkerchiefs, — and velvets. Chintzes, consumed principally by the native popu- lation, constitute, of course, the most considerable article. The selection of these requires some ex- perience ; for in the taste displayed by the natives, both in colour and pattern, but particularly in the first, there is something which, to a stranger, ap- pears fanciful and curious, if it were not universal, and, on this account, national. They have a de- cided aversion to black, and no chintz in which it is a prominent colour will sell, let its texture be ever so fine. The favourite colours are red arid green, and next to these yellow and brown. In short, the colours should be as bright as possible, and the pattern should occupy as much as possible of the ground, but still be very distinct, and not crowded or confused. They ought never to be large, and the favourite figures are running Jlouo- ers. The quality most suitable to the market of the islands in general is what costs at Manchester