502 Voyage of the Novara, 



silk produced in China, or about 6,000,000 lbs., is exported 

 annually, of which by far the largest quantity, perhaps as 

 much as nine-tenths, goes to England and Erance. In 1843- 

 44, the total export from all China was only 5100 bales. 

 In 1859, the export of raw silk from Shanghai alone was 

 75,652 bales ! 



Besides the raw silk there are annually exported from 

 China a large quantity of silk-stuffs pianufactured in China, 

 crape shawls, &c. &c., to the value of from £400,000 to 

 £500,000, the majority of which find a market in the United 

 States. 



The social condition of the Chinese silk-spinner, is not less 

 deplorable and poverty-stricken than that of the workmen of 

 Europe, who are similarly engaged in the preparation of this 

 costly article of luxury. As in Lyons, in Spitalfields, or 

 among the Silesian Mountains, the Chinese silk-weaver lives 

 and dies in the most abject misery, and the delicate and 

 beautiful fabrics of his loom are produced in a wretched hut 

 of such mean dimensions, that he is sometimes compelled to 

 dig a hole in the soil in order to find room for the treadle. 

 However, the Chinese weaver appears in so far better off 

 than the same handicraftsman in Europe, that he has 

 less to dread from the severity of the climate, and can pur- 

 chase more food, even though his remuneration be smaller, 

 than the weaver can possibly do in Europe, owing to the 

 much higher price of even the commonest necessities of life. 



The recent revolution in Chinese foreign relations will ex- 



