se cloths, especially
in white cloth, generally of a fine quality. The process of weaving these
cloths, called inappropriately "Kerman shawls," is identical with that of
the loom described at the village of Bambis in Chapter XXXVI. The
material used for the best quality is the selected fine wool, growing
next to the skin of goats. These dyed threads are cut into short lengths
and woven into the fabric by the supple and agile fingers of the children
working, packed tight together, at the looms. Some of the best cloths,
not more than ten feet in length, take as long as a month per foot in
their manufacture, and they realise very high prices, even as much as
nine or ten pounds sterling a yard. The design on the more elaborate ones
is, as in the carpets, learnt by heart, the stitches being committed to
memory like the words of a poem. This is not, however, the case with the
simpler and cheaper ones, which are more carelessly done, a boy reading
out the design from a pattern or a book.

[Illustration: Tiled Walls and Picturesque Windows in the Madrassah,
Kerman.]

[Illustration: Sirkar Agha's Son, the Head of the Sheikhi Sect, Kerman.]

The carpet factories of Kerman are very extensive, the process being
similar to that already described in a previous chapter.

CHAPTER XLIII

The Madrassah--"Peace on Abraham"--The _Hammam_--Trade
caravanserais--The Hindoo caravanserai--Parsees--Ancient
fortifications--The Kala-i-Dukhtar, or virgin
fort--Speculation--The Kala-Ardeshir--A deep well--Why it was
made.

A visit to the Madrassah on the north side of the bazaar was extremely
interesting, it being the best preserved building of that type I had so
far seen in Persia. The Consul and I were shown round it by the Son of
Sirkar Agha, the head of the Sheikhi sect, a most dignified individual
with long black cloak and ample white turban, and with a beard dyed as
black as ink. He conversed most intelligently and took great delight in
showing every nook of the building.

The college is only some ninety years old. Its courts, its walls, its
rooms, its dome, are most beautifully tiled all over, and, strange to
say, it is kept in good repair and the gardens are well looked after.
There is a handsome lecture-hall, with four strong receptacles high up in
the corners of the room, and fret-work at the windows, not unlike
Egyptian _musharabeahs_. Four very high ventilating shafts are
constructed over the bui