Note 2 — S

Writing in the eighteenth century, Sonnerat remarks that the weaver fixes his loom under a tree before his house in the morning, and at night takes it home. And this observation holds good at the present day. Weaving operations, as they may be seen going on at weaving centres in many parts of Southern India, are thus described by Mr. H. A. Stuart.2 “The process of weaving is very simple. The thread is first turned off upon a hand-spindle, and then the warp is formed. Bamboo sticks, 120 in number, are fixed upright in the ground, generally in the shade of a tope or grove, at a distance of a cubit from one another, and ten women or children, carrying rātnams (spindles) in their hands, walk up and down this line, one behind the other, intertwining the thread between the bamboos, until 1,920 threads of various colours, according to the pattern desired, are thus arranged. For this work each gets half an anna—a small remuneration for walking four miles. To form a warp sufficient for eight women’s cloths, forty miles have thus to be traversed. In weaving silk cloths or the finer fabrics, the length of the warp is less than sixty yards. As soon as the threads have been arranged, the bamboos are plucked up, and rolled together with the threads upon them. Trestles are then set out in the tope, and upon them the warp with the bamboos is stretched horizontally, and sized by means of large long brushes with rāgi starch, and carried along by two men. This having dried, the whole is rolled up, and placed in the loom in the weaver’s house. The weaving room is a long, narrow, dark chamber, lighted by one small window close to where the workman sits. The loom is constructed on the simplest principles, and can be taken to pieces in a few minutes, forming a light load for a man. The alternate threads of the warp are raised and depressed, to receive the woof in the following manner. Two pairs of bamboos are joined together by thin twine loops, and, being suspended from the roof, are also joined to two pedals near the floor. Through the joining loops of one pair of bamboos run half the threads, and through those of the other run the other half. Thus, by depressing one pedal with the foot and raising the other, one set of threads is depressed, and the other raised so as to admit of the woof thread being shot across. This thread is forced home by a light beam suspended from the roof, and then, the position of the pedals being reversed, the woof thread is shot back again between the reversed threads of the warp. In this way about three yards can be woven in a day.” Further Mr. J. D. Rees writes as follows.3 “As you enter a weaver’s grove, it appears at first sight as if those occupied in this industry were engaged in a pretty game. Rows of women walk up and down the shady aisles, each holding aloft in the left hand a spindle, and in the right a bamboo wand, through a hook at the end of which the thread is passed. Alongside are split bamboos reaching as high as their hips, and, as they pass, they unwind the thread from the spindle by means of the wand, and pass it over each alternate upright. The threads, thus separated, are subsequently lifted with their bamboo uprights from the ground, and, while extended from tree to tree in a horizontal position, are washed with rice-water, and carefully brushed. The threads are now ready to be made into cloth, and the actual weaving is carried on by means of primitive hand looms inside the houses.”