374 



WOEK-PEOPLE. 



Chap. XVIIT. 



zag movement of the machine throws the threads 

 in that way on the wheel, and I believe this is 

 considered a great improvement upon the Canton 

 method, in which the threads are thrown on in a 

 parallel manner. 



The water in the pan into which the cocoons 

 are first thrown is never allowed to boil, but it is 

 generally very near the boiling point. I fre- 

 quently tried it and found it much too hot for 

 my fingers to remain in it. A slow fire of char- 

 coal is also placed under the wheel. As the silk 

 is winding, this fire is intended to dry off the 

 superfluous moisture which the cocoons have im- 

 bibed in the water in which they were immersed. 



During the time I was in the silk country at 

 this time I was continually visiting the farm- 

 houses and cottages in which the reeling of silk was 

 going on. As silk is a very valuable production, 

 it is reeled with more than ordinary care, and 

 I observed that in almost all instances a clean, 

 active, and apparently clever workman was en- 

 trusted with the care of the reeling process. 



The old temple at Hoo-shan, which I visited 

 again on my way down, was in a state of great 

 excitement and bustle. The quantity of silk pro- 

 duced here was very large, and all hands were 

 employed in reeling and sorting it. The priests 

 themselves, who generally are rather averse to 

 work of any kind, were obliged to take their 

 places at the wheel or the fire. But as the silk 

 was their own they seemed, notwithstanding their 



