Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/278

236 suspended from the rafters of the weaver's dwelling; the operator usually sits on the ground, with his legs in a hole dug under the loom, where his toes are usefully employed in managing the cords attached to the work. With a rude machine, costing, with all its appurtenances, but a half dollar or dollar, seated on the ground of his clay-built hut, the Hindu weaver produces fabrics of wonderful fineness and elegance, that once were the admiration of the world. Now, however, the great cheapness of the goods made by the aid of machinery and steam in Europe and America, has diminished the demand for Indian cloths abroad, and even threatens in India itself to drive the laborious Hindu from competition with his more ingenious competitors.

From this place we made an afternoon visit to Calumboor, a town of two thousand inhabitants. As our time was short, we walked through the streets, telling the people to meet us at the mundapam, the stone portico usual in Hindu villages. By the time that we had made our circuit and got to the rest-house again, a large audience was assembled. We sat down on the stone floor, with the elders of the town seated before us, and the multitude