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coal, and labour in extra firing, the cost of the chest and packing, and custom-house and export duties.

Such tea as that above referred to is sold by the cultivators and small farmers at about 80 cash a catty, which is equal to 4 taels per picul. The following table will show the total amount of these expenses :

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If these different items are as correct as I believe them to be, it would appear that the profit upon common teas is very small, so small indeed as to make it a matter of doubt whether they will ever be produced at a reduced rate.

It must be borne in mind, however, that all the expenses just enumerated, excepting the original cost of tea, are as heavy upon the common kinds as upon those of a finer quality, for which much higher prices are paid. Take for example the good and middling Ohows, and finest teas, which sold in Shanghae, December 1846, at from 20 to 28 taels, long price; in 1847 at 18 to 26 taels; in 1848 at 14 to 22 taels; and in July 1849 at 16 to 25 taels per picul. Such tea in November 1847 was worth from 1s. to 1s. 4d. per lb. in England.

These fine teas are said to be sold by the small farmers to the dealers at, on an average, 160 cash a

* Long price [1. p.] means that the export duty is included.

CHAP. XV.

catty, a sum

actually paid.

COST AND EXPENSES.

269

probably higher than that which is But suppose 160 cash per catty is

the original cost, the matter would stand thus:

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Total charges, as before, less the cost of tea 5.773

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In round numbers, the whole cost of bringing these fine teas to the port of Shanghae is 14 taels. The average price received from the English merchant during these four years appears, from the above prices, to have been about 22 taels, thus showing a clear profit of 8 taels per picul.

Before drawing our conclusions, however, it may be proper to mention that in the years 1846 and 1847 the trade in Shanghae was chiefly carried on by barter, which was managed through some Canton brokers then resident in Shanghae. Under these circumstances, it was difficult for any one not in the brokers' secret to say what was the exact sum paid to the Tsong-gan tea-dealer. It was probably, however, something considerably less than what it appears to have been by the above statements. Again, it is to be remarked that in 1848, when the prices were from 14 to 22 taels, the Chinese complained that they were ruinously low. But the average of even these prices would be 18 taels, thus showing an average profit of 4 taels per picul. Considering that this large trade is in comparatively few hands, even this, the lowest class of profits, must amount to a very large sum. It seems even a question whether the

Chinese dealers and brokers could not be amply remunerated by a lower price than any yet quoted.

The above statements would seem to show that it is greatly to the interest of the Chinese merchant to encourage the production of the finer classes of tea, those being the kinds upon which he gets the largest profits.

I have now shown in detail the cost of the different classes of tea in the tea country, the distance which it has to travel before it reaches the seaport towns, and the total expenses upon it when it reaches the hands of the foreign merchant. It forms no part of my plan to say what ought to be a sufficient remuneration for the Chinese tea-dealer or broker;* but if the above calculations are near the truth, we may still hope to drink our favourite beverage, at least the middling and finer qualities of it, at a price much below that which we now pay.

While I encourage such hopes, let me confer a boon upon my country women, who never look so charming as at the breakfast-table, by a quotation or two from a Chinese author's advice to a nation of teadrinkers how best to make tea. "Whenever the tea is to be infused for use," says Tüng-po, "take water from a running stream, and boil it over a lively fire. It is an old custom to use running water boiled over a lively fire; that from springs in the hills is said to be the best, and river-water the next, while well-water is the worst. A lively fire is a clear and bright charcoal fire.

*I do not think the small farmer and manipulator is overpaid; the great profits are received by the middlemen.

CHAP. XV. TÜNG-PO'S DIRECTIONS AND OPINIONS. 271

"When making an infusion, do not boil the water too hastily, as first it begins to sparkle like crabs' eyes, then somewhat like fish's eyes, and lastly it boils up like pearls innumerable, springing and waving about. This is the way to boil the water."

The same author gives the names of six different kinds of tea, all of which are in high repute. As their names are rather flowery, I quote them for the reader's amusement. They are these: the "first spring tea," the "white dew," the "coral dew," the dewy shoots," the "money shoots," and the "rivulet garden tea."

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"Tea," says he, "is of a cooling nature, and, if drunk too freely, will produce exhaustion and lassitude; country people before drinking it add ginger and salt to counteract this cooling property. It is an exceedingly useful plant; cultivate it, and the benefit will be widely spread; drink it, and the animal spirits will be lively and clear. nobility esteem it; the beggarly, will not be destitute of it; all use it daily, and like it." Another author upon tea says that

66

The chief rulers, dukes, and lower people, the poor and

drinking it tends to clear away all impurities, drives off drowsiness, removes or prevents headache, and it is universally in high esteem."

CHAPTER XVI.

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Geography of the tea-shrub - Best tea districts of China Names of tea-plants-Black and green tea made from the same variety-My Chinamen asked to make tea from Pongamia glabra —They succeed!-Difference between black and green tea depends upon manipulation — Method of making green tea - Of making black - Difference in the manipulation of the two kinds - Mr. Warrington's remarks on this subject—A familiar illustration — The tea-plant -Inferior teas made from Thea bohea - Best teas made from Thea viridis - The Woo-e-shan variety - The tea-plant affected by climate and reproduction — Tea cultivation in America and Australia - In English gardens.

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THE cultivation of the tea-shrub, although confined, until very lately, to the eastern parts of Asia, is carried on over a large tract of country. Thunberg informs us that it grows plentifully in Japan both in a wild and cultivated state, and Dr. Wallich says that it is found in Cochin China. I have met with it in cultivation in China, from Canton in the south up to the 31st degree of north latitude, and Mr. Reeves says it is found in the province of Shan-tung, near the city of Tang-chow-foo, in latitude 36° 30' north.

The principal tea districts of China, however, and those which supply the greater portion of the teas exported to Europe and America, lie between the 25th and 31st degrees of north latitude, and the best districts are those between 27° and 31°.

The plant in cultivation about Canton, from which

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