latter did not appear to be cultivated here as it is in many other parts of the country which I had passed through. Eugenias, guavas, and other myrtaceous genera were most numerous-the guava was cultivated extensively for the sake of its fruit. Some evergreen oaks,* with large glossy leaves, were also met with, and were highly ornamental. A deciduous species, not very unlike the English oak, also grew near the tops of these mountains. Azaleas were common, and I found one rhododendron.

The most beautiful bird seen during our journey was the red-billed pie. This bird is scarcely so large as the English species, is of a beautiful light-blue colour, and has several long feathers in the tail tipped with white. It is generally met with in flocks of ten or a dozen, and as they fly across the ravines with their tails spread out they look very beautiful. Several species of jay were also observed, apparently new. Pheasants, partridges, and woodcocks were plentiful and very tame. They did not seem to be molested by the Chinese sportsman. Many other small birds, which I had never seen in other parts of the country, were continually showing themselves, and making me regret that I had no means at hand of adding them to my collections. A small species of deer-the one formerly noticed-was most abundant, and I was told by the Chinese that wild boars and tigers are not unfrequently seen here.

On the third evening after leaving Woo-e-shan we arrived at a bustling little town named She-pa¬ky,

Quercus sclerophylla, Q. inversa, &c.

which was on the main road between Tsong-gan-hien and Pouching-hien. Here we spent the night. Up to this point our road had in many places been very bad, but now we were told it was an excellent one all the way to Pouching-hien, which was only about a day's journey farther on. She-pa-ky is situated in the midst of a fine valley, which is extremely fertile. Rice is the staple production, but I also observed large quantities of nelumbium cultivated in the low irrigated lands. The rhizoma, or underground stem, of this plant is largely used by the Chinese as an article of food, and at the proper season of the year is exposed for sale in all the markets. It is cut into small pieces and boiled, and, like the young shoots of the bamboo, is served up in one of the small dishes. which crowd a Chinese dinner-table. An excellent kind of arrowroot is also made from the same part of this useful plant. Tobacco is also grown extensively in this part of the country, as it is in all parts of the province of Fokien. The hills around this plain were in some parts prettily covered with trees, while in others they seemed uncultivated and barren.

As we approached Pouching-hien we again entered a tea-country, and the shrub was observed growing on many of the lower hills. Whether it be owing to the poorness of the soil, or to an inferior mode of manipulation, I cannot say; but Pouching teas are not valued so highly in the market as those of Wooe-shan. There is no doubt that the plant is the same variety in both districts.

Our road, which had wound amongst hills during

the whole of the day after we left the little town of She-pa-ky, now led us into a wide and beautiful valley, in the centre of which appeared the town of Pouching-hien. A pretty river, one of the tributaries of the Min, passes by its walls; a bridge is thrown over it at this point. The suburbs were rather poor in appearance, and indeed the whole place did not strike me as being one of very great importance. It is more like a country market-town than anything else. I believe it is supposed to contain about a hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. The walls and ramparts are apparently of a very ancient date; they are completely overgrown with weeds and straggling bushes, and are surrounded by a canal or moat, as is the case with many other Chinese towns.

A considerable trade in tea is carried on here. It is packed in baskets and sent across the mountains into Chekiang, from whence it finds its way down the rivers to Hang-chow-foo, Soo-chow-foo, and Ning-po ; but I believe little, if any, is exported. A considerable portion is also sent down the river Min to Foo-chow-foo.

As I had left behind me the great black-tea countries of China, which have been long famed for the production of the best black teas of commerce, this seems a fit opportunity, before proceeding with the narrative of my "adventures," to condense into the next few pages all the information connected with tea which I have gleaned during my journey.

CHAPTER XV.

Some advice to the reader - Botany of the black-tea country - Geological features-Soil - Sites of tea-farms-Temperature — Rainy season Cultivation and management of tea-plantations Size of farms - Mode of packing -Chop names Route from the teacountry to the coast - Method of transport-Distances — Time occupied - Original cost of tea in the tea-country- Expenses of carriage to the coast-Sums paid by the foreign merchant-Profits of the Chinese-Prospect of good tea becoming cheaper-Tüng-po's directions for making tea-His opinion on its properties and uses.

As this chapter is intended for the man of science and the merchant, it may not contain much of interest to the general reader, who, if he pleases, may pass it over and go on to the next. Having been thus fairly warned, he must not blame me if I bring into it some hard botanical names which are necessary to the elucidation of my subject.

It is generally admitted that nothing can give a botanist a better idea of the climate of a locality than a list of the plants which are indigenous to it. This knowledge, in the absence of thermometrical observations, is oftentimes of great value. Fully impressed with the importance of this subject, I took care to jot down in my note-book the more important species of plants which I observed, either wild or cultivated, in the great black-tea country about Woo-e-shan.

On referring to these memoranda, I find the following species enumerated: -the camphor-tree (Laurus camphora), various species of bamboo, the Chinese pine (Pinus sinensis), Cunninghamia lanceolata, the tallow-tree, Vitex trifoliata, Buddlea Lindleyana, Abelia uniflora, a spiræa like Spiræa bella, Hamamelis chinensis, Eurya chinensis, Macartney and other wild roses, brambles and raspberries, Eugenias, Guavas and other myrtaceous plants of a like kind, Gardenia florida and G. radicans, and various species of violets, Lycopods, and ferns. There were, of course, many other genera besides these, but enough have been mentioned to give a fair idea of the vegetation of these wonderful hills.

I have already given some account of the geological features of the Woo-e hills. As it is not unlikely that the success which has attended the cultivation of tea in this part of China may be traced to have had some connection with the peculiar formation and properties of these rocks, I may be excused if I repeat here what I have before said about them.

The rocks consist of clay-slate, in which occur embedded in the form of beds or dykes great masses of quartz rock, while granite of a deep black colour, owing to the mica, which is of a fine deep bluish black, cuts through them in all directions. This granite forms the summit of most of the principal mountains in this part of the country.

Resting on the clay-slate are sandstone conglomerates, formed principally of angular masses of quartz, held together by a calcareous basis, and alternating