250 HISTOUY OF F HI ITS. 



silk stockings from Spain ; but knit silk stockings were 

 not known until they were made by Mrs. Montague, who 

 presented the first pair to Queen Elizabeth. Thus silk 

 has gradually come into use; and it is now so common in 

 this country, that it would be difficult to find a female 

 servant in the streets of London, or any part of the king- 

 dom, who had not some portion of her dress composed 

 of silk. 



Anthonie Jenkinson obtained the assistance of Queen 

 Elizabeth, at the commencement of her reign, to enable 

 him to trade with Persia in raw silk; but his journey 

 thither was attended with very little success beyond an 

 introduction obtained by the Queen's letter, which ran 

 thus : 



" To the right mightie, and right victorious prince, the 

 great Sophie, emperor of the Persians, Medes, Parthians, 

 Hyrcanes, &c. &c. desiring safe pasports for the purpose 

 of making merchandize, &c. dated the 25th day of Aprill, 

 in the yeere of the creation of the world 5523, and of 

 our Lord Jesus Christ 1561, and of our raigne the third." 



In 1579 Christopher Burrough went into Persia, and 

 returned home in 1581. He built a vessel on the Volga 

 at Niezanovogorode, in which he transported several 

 kinds of merchandize as far as Baku. At Niezabad his 

 vessel was stranded and great part of his cargo lost. 

 At Derbend he sold a part of his cargo to the Turks, and 

 bought another vessel to bring home his returns of raw 

 silk ; but either through want of experience, or constrained 

 by necessity, he came to Russia so late in the season as 

 November, which occasioned his ship being cut to pieces 

 by the ice : the cargo, however, was saved in a boat, which 

 floating out to sea with the ice, and being in great danger 

 of perishing, was at length frozen up. The crew left the 

 boat and her cargo, and went in search of assistance ; but, 

 losing their way, their lives were much endangered by 





