THE HISTORY OF SILK CULTURE. II 



to China, conceived the idea, regardless of the interests of their 

 native country, of watching carefully all the processes of silk 

 culture, and then endeavouring to obtain a supply of silkworms' 

 eggs, and, if possible, transporting them to Europe. Stimulated 

 by the promise of great rewards on the part of the emperor a 

 somewhat necessary provision, for they knew they were running 

 great risks to life and liberty and actuated, so it is said, also by 

 a feeling of resentment that so valuable an industry should remain 

 the exclusive property of " unbelievers," they kept their eyes open, 

 of course saying nothing to any one, and, after a time, thoroughly 

 mastered all the details of silk culture. As winter approached, 

 they managed to obtain a considerable supply of eggs, and well 

 knowing that if they were caught conveying them out of the 

 country they would have to pay the penalty of their lives, they 

 carefully concealed them in the hollow canes which they carried 

 as pilgrims' staves. In this way, they conveyed their precious 

 property throughout the long and tedious journey to Constanti- 

 nople, where at length they safely arrived. 



They at once communicated the success of their attempt to the 

 emperor, who was, of course, delighted, and undertook to establish 

 the art of silkworm rearing amongst his people, promising them 

 every encouragement, if they would give the necessary instructions. 

 So the experiment was commenced. The eggs were hatched, 

 and the young grubs fed on the wild mulberries of the district. 

 They flourished, produced silk, and laid the foundations of a new 

 generation for the following season. This was the beginning of 

 silk culture in Europe, and from this insignificant commencement 

 there sprang the whole of the important industry of silkworm 

 rearing, which, continued from year to year and from generation 

 to generation, has grown to such dimensions that it now gives 

 employment to an enormous number of persons in Italy, France, 

 Spain, Turkey, Greece, and South Russia, and produces an annual 

 supply of raw silk weighing no less than three thousand five 

 hundred tons representing at 15^. a pound, a value in hard cash 

 of ^"5,880,000. 



Thus by the enterprise of two monks, an important blow was 

 struck at the Persian trade, and a valuable addition made to the 

 industrial occupations of Europe ; but the Emperor Justinian, 

 having had so much difficulty in starting the new industry, deter- 

 mined to maintain a firm hold upon it, and therefore, in his turn, 

 confined it to his own district, so that for centuries it was Greece 

 and Constantinople that supplied Europe with all the silk she 

 required. About the beginning of the eighth century, the silkworm 

 was introduced into Spain by the Arabs, but it was not till the 



