washing. There is a theory, also, that
many choice pieces came to San Francisco in the 'seventies and 'eighties,
and are lost to sight and memory somewhere in California. A collector
might well explore this home field.

Too great praise cannot be given to the old Shirvans, with their "palace"
or "sunburst" pattern; to the Chichis, with their mosaic work, worthy of
Saint Mark's Cathedral; to the Karabaghs, with their flaming reds; or to
the Kabistans, with their soft, light tones of colour, made softer still
in contrast with ivory and creamy white. These are the despised Daghestans
which _were_, and for which the collector may now vainly search abroad.

It is not always easy to distinguish between an old--or middle-aged, may
we say?--Shirvan or Kabistan. Many of their designs are common property,
and it is the cleverer weaver who executes them the better. This broad
statement may be made by way of a test: the best of the Shirvans are
rather loosely woven and thin. The Kabistans are of finer weave, are
firmer and heavier, and lie truer on the floor.

Two classes of rugs from the Caucasus have been referred to as Russian,
the Yourucks and Kazaks. There is no authority for the distinction except
in the rugs themselves. They prove their case from their thickness and
iron durability, from their sombre or strong red colouring, and from their
daring crude and simple designs. In their utility they bespeak an article
of warmth and weight, and in their art they represent a barbaric
simplicity like a Navajo blanket. Kazak and Cossack are almost synonymous
terms; and the Cossacks, the Kurds, and the Indians have something of
kinship in weaving, at least. But the Kazak rugs are not all crude, by any
manner of means. If strength is their first characteristic and strong
primitive pigments in rare greens, reds, and blues; and if their patterns
are simple and angular;--none the less, in antique specimens, much
originality was shown in the drawing of their borders, and soft browns and
yellows with ivory white appeared in their colouring.

Of the Shirvans, Chichis, etc., ordinarily offered, there is nothing to be
said. They are cheaply and roughly woven, and made only to sell. They are
disposed of by the thousands at auctions, and piles and piles of them fill
the carpet and department stores. Be it said to their credit that they
will outwear any machine-made floor covering; that they are good to hide a
hole in an old carpet; that they h