Chap. XVI. DESCRIPTION OF SILK COUNTRY. 343 



and followed by hundreds of the natives, all 

 anxious to get a view of the foreigner. But 

 except the inconvenience of the crowd I had 

 nothing to complain of, for all were perfectly civil 

 and in the best humour. 



I spent the next few days in the vicinity of 

 I^an-tsin, and as it may be considered the centre 

 of the great silk country of China, I shall endea- 

 vour now to give a description of the cultivation 

 and appearance of the mulberry trees. 



The soil over all this district is a strong yellow 

 loam, well mixed and enriched by vegetable 

 matter ; just such a soil as produces excellent 

 wheat crops in England, The whole of the sur- 

 face of the country, which at one period has been 

 nearly a dead level, is now cut up, and embank- 

 ments formed for the cultivation of the mulberry. 

 It appears to grow better upon the surface and 

 sides of these embankments than upon level land. 

 The low lands, which are, owing to the formation 

 of these embankments, considerably lower than 

 the original level of the plain, are used for the 

 production of rice and other grains and vegetables. 

 It is therefore on the banks of canals, rice fields, 

 small lakes and ponds, where the mulberry is 

 generally cultivated, and where it seems most at 

 home. But although large quantities of rice and 

 other crops are grown in the silk districts, yet the 

 country, when viewed from a distance, resembles a 

 vast mulberry garden, and when the trees are in 

 full leaf, it has a very rich appearance. 



