possible that the produce can be identical in every respect with the parent. Instead therefore of having one or two varieties of tea-plant in China, we have in fact many kinds, although the difference between them may be slight. Add to this, that the seeds of this plant are raised year after year in different climates, and we shall no longer wonder that in the course of time the plants in one district appear slightly different from those of another, although they may have been originally produced from the same stock.

For these reasons I am of opinion that the plants of Hwuy-chow and Woo-e are the same species, and that the slight differences observed are the results of reproduction and difference of climate.

With regard to the Canton plant-that called Thea bohea by botanists-different as it appears to be, both in constitution and habit, it too may have originally sprung from one and the same species.

These changes, however, do not alter the commercial value of those plants found cultivated in the great tea-countries of Fokien and Hwuy-chow, where the finest teas are produced; for, while the tea-shrub may have improved in the course of reproduction in these districts, it may have become deteriorated in others. For this reason seeds and plants ought always to be procured from these districts for transmission to other parts of the world where it is desirable to grow tea.

Of late years some attempts have been made to cultivate the tea-shrub in the United States of Ame

rica, and also in our own Australian colonies.* I believe all such attempts will end in failure and disappointment. The tea-plant will grow wherever the climate and soil are suitable, and, were it merely intended as an ornamental shrub, there could be no objections to its introduction into those countries. But if it is introduced to be cultivated as an object of commercial speculation, we must not only inquire into the suitableness of climate and soil, but also into the price of labour. Labour is cheap in China. The labourers in the tea-countries do not receive more than twopence or threepence a day. Can workmen be procured for this small sum either in the United States or in Australia? And if they cannot be hired for this sum, nor for anything near it, how will the manufacturers in such places be able to compete with the Chinese in the market?

The tea-plants of China are common enough in this country. In the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew they have been growing in the open air for some years. They are also to be met with in many other gardens, and almost in every nursery. They are pretty evergreen bushes, and produce a profusion of single white flowers in the winter and spring, about the time that camellias are in bloom. It is not, however, for the beauty of their flowers that they are grown-although there is much in them to admire-but on account of their being the plants which produce our favourite beverage.

* I shall have to speak of tea cultivation in India in a future chapter.

Those persons in England who possess tea-plants, and who cultivate them for pleasure, should always bear in mind that, even in the tea-districts of China, this shrub will not succeed when planted in low wet land: and this is doubtless one of the reasons why so few persons succeed in growing it in this country. It ought always to be planted on a warm sloping bank, in order to give it a fair chance of success. If some of the warm spots of this kind in the south of England or Ireland were selected, who knows but our cottagers might be able to grow their own tea? at all events they might have the fragrant herb to look

upon.

CHAPTER XVII.

Inn at Pouching-hien-Opium-smokers and gamblers-Value of life in China - A midnight disturbance - Sing-Hoo fights with a jossstick-Difficulty of procuring men next day-Sing-Hoo carries the luggage, and we march-His bamboo breaks - -Scene amongst beggars Description of beggars in China -A "king of the beggars Charity always given—I continue my journey — Mountain passes and Buddhist temples - A border town and Tartar guard-We are inspected and allowed to pass on.

-

HAVING left tea and the tea-hills behind me, I shall now go on with my narrative. When I arrived at the city of Pouching-hien it was nearly dark. It had been raining heavily all the afternoon, and, being wet and uncomfortable, I was glad of the shelter afforded by a Chinese inn. The one which I entered did not appear to be so respectable as I could have wished, and I would have left it and sought another had the weather been better, but as the night was so wet I determined to stop where I was.

The chair-bearers and coolie, who had been reengaged at Woo-e-shan, had now arrived at the end of their journey, according to agreement, and intended returning home again next day. They generally took care to be paid the proportion of their fare at the end of each day's journey, and I now desired Sing-Hoo to pay them the remainder and get rid of them as soon as possible. He informed me he had

done so, but that they intended to remain in the same inn with ourselves for the night.

A hot dinner was at length placed upon the table. Rough and unpalatable as this would have appeared in other circumstances, I was now so accustomed to the Chinese style of living, that what was placed before me seemed tempting enough, and I believe I did full justice to it. My chair-bearers, having received their wages, were now seated at a side-table in another room absorbed in the mysteries of gambling, and Sing-Hoo was quietly smoking his pipe with the landlord. A number of other travellers were also loitering about, some of whom had an appearance which did not produce a favourable impression on me. They were evidently opium-smokers, from the sallow colour of their cheeks, probably gamblers, and altogether such characters as one would rather avoid than be on intimate terms with.

It still continued to rain heavily, and as all out of doors seemed dark and dismal, and all within unin

Tired with the ex

viting, I retired early to rest. ertions of the day, I was soon fast asleep in spite of my suspicious inn and strange companions. It might have been about midnight when I was awakened by the sounds of angry voices, and amongst them I could distinguish those of my chair-bearers and Sing-Hoo. I jumped up with strong suspicions that something serious was about to happen to us. The noise still increased, and, from the scuffle which reached my I feared they were seizing my servant with the intention of robbing us, and perhaps of taking our lives,

ears,

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