THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



[July 1, 1864. 



548 



SILK TRADE OF BEYROUT. 



" The most prominent feature connected with this fishery has been 

 the unprecedentedly high prices given for the oysters ; those of the 

 North Modregan having sold at rates varying from 155 to 115^ rupees 

 per 1,000 (for 8,726£. 18s.), and the oysters of the south-east Modregan 

 at 180 to 92 rupees (for 27,954Z. 14s.). Circumstances generally favoured 

 this result. But the principal causes were, that the oysters themselves 

 had yielded a most valuable out-turn, and that there exists now a very- 

 great demand for pearls in the various markets of India and China. 

 The following statement shows the result of this pearl fishery from 

 1855 to 1863: 





No. of Oysters fished 



Average Price 



Total 



Years. 



for Government. 



per 1,000. 



Produce. 







£ a. d. 



£ s. 



1855 



5,012,108 



2 4 



10,922 



1856 



Nil. 



— 



— 



1857 



24,380,308 



16 8£ 



20,550 15 



1858 



12,353,049 



1 19 



24,120 



1859 



6,391,549 



4 10 



48,215 19 



1860 



2,733,954 



13 4 



36,681 12 



There was no fishery in 1861 and 1862. The annual expenditure 

 incurred by the Government for the fishery is about 4,000Z. 



SILK TRADE OF BEYROUT. 



That there is not much to see at Beyrout is a fact which will 

 be corroborated by everyone who has had the ill-fortune to spend a 

 summer there — as was the lot of the writer of this article. One visit 

 will suffice to perfectly explore the dark, straggling bazaars. One excur- 

 sion to the Dog River serves to make the scene of the conflict between 

 the Druses and Maronites familiar to the tourist. Nor will the Damas- 

 cus Road present any greater attraction. The extensive manufacture of 

 silk, however, in and near Beyrout, renders it easy to acquire a know- 

 ledge of the processes by which the raw material is successfully trans- 

 formed from the cocoon to the costly fabric for exportation, and finally 

 into the role de bal. In June (the laying season) the silkworm-moths 

 deposit their eggs. These the Syrian peasants carefully collect and store 

 in bags, which are sewed through at regular distances to prevent the 

 lower eggs being crushed by the superincumbent weight. When all the 

 eggs, so insignificant in appearance, so valuable in reality, have been 

 safely stored in the manner described, the bags are sent from Beyrout 



