lovely browns and are almost
priceless in value. Sad to say, it remained for an American vandal to
discover a process of "dipping" or "washing" an ordinary rug so as to
imitate these rare originals, and many dealers unblushingly sell these
frauds. To wear imitation jewelry is far less reprehensible. Happily the
trickery is generally distinguishable because the "dip" or stain, whatever
it may be, is apt to run into the fringe or otherwise betray itself. The
wise buyer will reject with scorn any rug, under whatsoever name offered,
which shows no other colouring than various shades of chocolate brown. No
such uniform brown dyeing ever characterized any class of rugs. Even the
brown Bokharas which are in museums show some other tints with their brown
tones.

Good Bokharas, like good Kirmans, are undeniably beautiful and of great
value, but the mere fact that both are considered staples in the rug
trade tends to detract from their artistic value; and that they are so
generally doctored, disguised, and perverted puts them in bad repute.

The Yamoud-Bokharas come in larger sizes than the others of their type;
are not so fine in texture, but thicker and firmer. Their designs are
larger and bolder, and they show a most becoming bloom. They also display
green and even yellow in their colouring, which is not usual in Bokharas.
Their selvedge is beautifully characteristic. In Bokharas proper the
adornment of the selvedge usually is on the warp; as in the Bergamas and
Beluchistans. In Yamouds the selvedge is almost always carried out in wool
with like skill as that given to the rest of the piece.

The Afghans are a coarser edition of Bokharas, and may be mostly
considered for utility. They come in large sizes, and almost square; have
bold tile patternings, and in the finer examples are plush-like and
silky. These are still to be had, but many modern ones are dyed with
mineral dyes, and their bloom is meretricious. The chemist has waved his
magic wand over them, not wisely but too well.

The Beluchistans are somewhat akin to the Bokharas, and like the latter
rejoice in reds and blues in the darker tones, while they display greater
variety in their designs. These are ordinarily crude and simple, but in
the old exemplars they were of considerable variety, and their wealth of
changing colours in sombre shades was rich beyond the dream of avarice.
"Lees of wine," "dregs of wine," "plum," "claret," "maroon,"--these are
terms which hav