Chapter SKEEN to SLING of S by The Hobson Jobson Dictionary

at Seling, a town on the borders of China.”—Bogle’s Narrative, in Markham’s Tibet, 124.

1793.—“… it is certain that the product of their looms (i.e. of Tibet and Nepaul) is as inconsiderable in quantity as it is insignificant in quality. The Joos (read TOOS) or flannel procured from the former, were it really a fabric of Tibet, would perhaps be admitted as an exception to the latter part of this observation; but the fact is that it is made at Siling, a place situated on the western borders of China.”—Kirkpatrick’s Acc. of Nepaul (1811), p. 134.

1854.—“List of Chinese Articles brought to India. … Siling, a soft and silky woollen of two kinds—1. Shirún. 2. Gorún.”—Cunningham’s Ladak, 241–2.

1862.—“Sling is a ‘Pushmina’ (fine wool) cloth, manufactured of goat-wool, taken from Karashaihr and Urumchi, and other districts of Turkish China, in a Chinese town called Sling.”—Punjab Trade Report, App. p. ccxxix.

1871.—“There were two Calmucks at Yârkand, who had belonged to the suite of the Chinese Ambân. … Their own home they say is Zilm” (qu. Zilin?) “a country and town distant 1½ month’s journey from either Aksoo or Khoten, and at an equal distance in point of time from Lhassa … Zilm possesses manufactures of carpets, horse- trappings, pen-holders, &c. … This account is confirmed by the fact that articles such as those described are imported occasionally into Ladák, under the name of Zilm or Zirm goods.

“Now if the town of Zilm is six weeks journey from either Lhassa or Aksoo, its position may be guessed at.”—Shaw, Visits to High Tartary, 38.