10 



The Emperor Houng-ti, " the Emperor of the Earth,'* 

 who reigned over China more than 100 years, and whose 

 name is rendered immortal for his nohle and; useful 

 deeds he who taught the Chinese to construct bouses, 

 ships, mills, carts, and other works of usefulness he, 

 also, persuaded his first consort, Si-ling-chi, to hestow 

 Her attention on the silk-worms, it being his earnest de- 

 sire that his Empress also might contribute to the wel- 

 fare of the empire. Aided by the women of her house- 

 hold, the Empress Si-lino-chi gathered the silk-worms 

 from, the trees, apd introduced them to the imperial 

 apartments. Tni's sheltered and protected, and abund- 

 antly supplied with the leaves of the mulberry, they 

 yieja^4 Si.ikr superior in-quality to that produced in the 

 forests. ShV also taught them its manufacture, and to 

 embroider. 



Silk and its manufacture, and the weaving, continued 

 to be the principal occupation of the succeeding Em- 

 presses ; apartments being especially appropriated to this 

 purpose, in the Imperial Palace; and soon, from the 

 highest rank of females, it became the occupation of all 

 ranks in China ; and ere long, the Emperor, the learned 

 class, the princes, the mandarins, and courtiers, and all 

 the rich, were attired in the splendid fabrics of silk, 

 until finally, silk became the great and inexhaustible re- 

 source of the wealth of China. 



Prom China it was exported to India, to Persia, to 

 Arabia, and indeed to the whole of Asia. The caravans 

 of Serica performed long journeys of 243 days, from the 

 far coasts of China to those of Syria. Silk was also re- 

 woven and manufactured at a very ancient date, in the 

 island ofKos, situated in the Archipelago, from the sub- 

 stantial fabrics which were received from Seres. It was 

 here that Pamphila first invented and taught her nymphs 

 to unravel, and with her loom to recompose from the 

 precious material, the thin transparent gauze and the 

 other fabrics of an equally extended nature. 



The expeditions of Alexander to Persia, and to India, 



