— 70 — 



servants— the regular and minute attention they require may 

 have been neglected. Overcrowding and inattention to clean- 

 liness may have produced the malady known under the name 

 of " Jaundice," which was mistaken for the Muscardine." 



" "We know, says Mr. Descroizilles, with what rapidity 

 " frightful ravages are committed, and how irresistible is the 

 " progress of the Muscardme when it has made its appearance 

 " in a Silk worm rearing Establishment. Every thing it has 

 •* touched must be instantly destroyed and burnt — had Mr. 

 " Descroizille's Establishment been infected by it, he would 

 " inevitably have been forced to close it." 



" It is well known, " Mr. Descroizilles adds, and Mr. D'TJ- 

 " nienville himself, admits that, if this branch of industry was 

 " abandoned in Mauritius, the main cause was the want of 

 •' suflGicient capital to carry on and maintain the Silk spin- 

 " ning Establishment which had been created, and not the 

 '' presence of the Muscardme in the rearing EstabUshment of 

 " the Silk worm." 



Nevertheless, granting that the Museardine had really 

 made its appearance here, it is not a necessary consequence 

 that the rearing of Silk worms has become impossible in Mau- 

 ritius- It is owing to the Museardine at least we think so, 

 that the production of silk has fallen off and prices have been 

 enhanced— yet, the culture of silk has not been abandoned — 

 on the contrary, attempts are being made to give it fresh im- 

 petus, and to implant it in the British Possessions, wherever 

 it would be likely to thrive. 



However, the opinion of Messrs. Descroizilles andD'TTnien" 

 ville, as regards the Mulberry tree is not shared by a few, 

 who say that the growth of the tree in Mauritius is stunted, 

 and that it is only a weak shrub when compared with the 

 Mulberry trees cultivated in the south of Europe and even in 

 England. But others say that they have seen Mulberries of 

 vigorous growth in diiferent parts of the Island, and which 

 have maintained their health and vigour for years, although 

 entirely abandoned and having never received any cultivation. 



Some of these persons who express doubt as to the ressources 

 which the Mulberry-tree offers for the rearing of silk-worms, 



