Chap. XVIII. HOOSHAN MONASTERY — SILK- WOEMS. 367 



the least surprise at seeing a foreigner so far from 

 home. He asked me to accompany him home to 

 his temple, and when we arrived there he intro- 

 duced me to his own quarters and desired his 

 servants to set tea and cakes before me. He then 

 led me over all the halls and temples of the 

 monastery, which, although very extensive, were 

 in a most dilapidated condition. They were too 

 much like buildings of this kind in other parts of 

 the country to require any further notice. 



If there was little to notice in these temples 

 with reference to Buddhism and its rites, there 

 were objects of another kind which soon attracted 

 my attention. The halls and outhouses of the 

 monastery seemed to be converted for the time 

 into a place for feeding silk-worms. Millions of 

 these little animals were feeding in round sieves, 

 placed one above another in open framework 

 made for this purpose. So great was the number 

 of the worms that every sieve — and there must 

 have been many hundreds of them — was crammed 

 quite full. In one large hall I observed the floor 

 completely covered with worms. I shall never 

 forget the peculiar sound which fell upon my ear 

 as I opened the door of this hall. It was early in 

 the morning, the worms had been just fed, and 

 were at the time eagerly devouring the fresh 

 leaves of the mulberry. Hundreds of thousands 

 of little mouths were munching the leaves, and in 

 the stillness around this sound was very striking 

 and peculiar. The place too seemed so strange — 



