and rolled a third time. As the balls come from the hands of the roller, they are placed in a heap, until the whole batch has been rolled. They are again shaken on the sieves, and set over the fire a little while longer. Sometimes the last-named operation, namely, heating and rolling, is repeated a fourth time, or until the leaves have assumed a dark color. When the whole batch has been gone over in this manner, it is thickly placed in the baskets, which are once more set over the charcoal fire. The operator now makes a hole with his hand through the centre of the leaves, in order to allow vent to any smoke or vapor which may rise from the charcoal, as well as to admit the heat, and then covers the whole with a flat basket. Previous to this, the heat has been greatly reduced by covering up the fire. The tea now remains over this slow fire until it is quite dry, being carefully watched, however, by the manufacturer, who every now and then stirs it up with his hands so that the whole mass may be equally exposed to the heat. The black color is now fairly produced, but afterwards improves. The after processes, such as sifting, picking, and "refiring," are carried on at the convenience of the workmen. Thus it will be seen, with reference to the leaves which are to be converted into black tea, First, that they are allowed to lie for some time spread out in the factory, and before they are roasted. Second, that they are tossed about until they become flaccid and soft, and then left in leaps, and that this also is done before they are roasted. Third, that after being roasted for a few minutes and rolled, they are exposed in a soft and moist state for several hours to the air. Fourth, that they are at last dried slowly over charcoal fires.

The differences in the manufacture of black and green teas are therefore most marked, which will fully account for the variations in color, as well as for the effect produced on some constitutions by green tea.

MODES OF PACKING AND TRANSPORTATION OF THE TEA.

The tea-farms in China are generally of small extent, no single one probably producing more than 600 chests of tea. What are called chops," or parcels, are not made up by the small farmers, but in the following manner: A tea merchant, for instance, from Tsonggan or Tsin-tsun, either goes himself, or sends his agents, to all the small towns, villages, and temples in the district, to purchase teas from the priests and growers. When the teas so purchased are taken to his house, they are mixed together, keeping those of different qualities as much as possible apart. By this means a chop of 620 or 630 chests is made, and all the tea of this chop is of the same description or class; sometimes a chop is divided into two packings, consisting generally of 300 chests each. If it were not managed in this way, there would be several kinds of tea in one chop. The large merchant in whose hands it now is, has to refire it and pack it for the foreign market. When the chests are packed, the name of the chop is written upon each. Year after year, the same chops, or rather those having the same names, find their way into the hands of the

foreign merchant. Some, consequently, have a better reputation, and command a higher price than others. It does not follow, however, that the chop of this year, bought from the same man and bearing the same name as a good one of last year, will be of equal quality; for it is by no means unusual for the merchant who prepares and packs the tea to leave his chests unmarked until they are bought by the man who takes them to the port of exportation. This man, knowing the chop names most in request, can probably find a good one to put upon his boxes; at all events, he will take care not to put upon them a name which is not in good repute.

A chop of tea having been purchased in the neighborhood of Wooe-shan, for instance, by one of these merchants, a number of coolies are engaged to carry the chests northward, across the Bohea Mountains, on their way to Canton or Shanghae, the ports of exportation, by the way of Tsong-gan-hein and Hokow, or rather to the small town of Yuen-shan, a few miles from Hokow, to which it is sent by boat. If the tea is of a common kind, each coolie carries two chests slung over his shoulders, on his favorite bamboo, as indicated in the following cut:

Whenever he rests, either on the road or at an inn, the chests are set down upon the ground, which is often wet and dirty, and consequently they are liable to get soiled. The finest teas, however, to preserve them from injury, are never allowed to touch the ground while on their journey, but are carried on the shoulders of the coolies in the following manner: Two bamboos, each about 7 feet long, have their ends lashed firmly to the chest, one on each side. The other ends are brought together so as to form a triangle. By this means a man can carry the chest upon his shoulders, with his head between the bamboos in the centre of the triangle. A small piece of wood is lashed under the chest to give it an easy seat. The accompanying sketch will give a better idea of this curious mode of carrying tea than any description.

When the coolie who bears his burden in this way wishes to rest, he places the ends of the bamboos upon the ground and raises them to a perpendicular. The whole weight now rests upon the ground,

and can be kept in this position without much exertion. This is very convenient in coming up the steep passes among the mountains, for in some of them, the coolies can only proceed a few yards at a time without resting, and if they had not a contrivance of this description, the loads would have to be frequently put down on the ground. When stopping at inns or tea shops for refreshments, the chests carried in this way are set up against the wall, and rest upon the ends of the bamboos.

Hokow is a large and flourishing town, situated on the banks of the river King-keang, abounding in tea hongs, which are resorted to by merchants from all parts of China. Many of these men make their purchases here without going further, while others cross the Bohea Mountains to Tsong-gan-hien. The teas, having arrived at Hokow, are put into large flat-bottomed boats, and proceed on their journey either to Canton or Shanghae. If intended for the Canton market, they are conveyed down the river in a westerly direction, towards the Poyang Lake. They are conducted to the towns of Nan-chang-foo and Kan-chew-foo, and then suffer many transhipments on their way to the pass of Ta-moey-ling, in that part of the same chain of mountains which divides Kiang-see from Quan-tung. At this pass, the teas are again carried by porters, the journey requiring a day, when they are reshipped in large vessels, which convey them to Canton. The time occupied in the entire transport from the Bohea country to Canton is about six weeks or two months.

If intended for the Shanghae market, the tea boats proceed up the river King-keang in an easterly direction to the town of Yuk-shan. This stream runs very rapidly, and, upon an average, at least four

days are required for this part of the journey. In coming down the river, the same distance is easily accomplished in a day. When the tea chests arrive at Yuk-shan, they are taken from the boats to a warehouse. An engagement is then entered into with coolies, who carry them across the country in an easterly direction to Chang-shan, in the same manner as they were brought from Tsong-gan-hein to Hokow. The town of Yuk-shan, it will be observed, is at the head of a river which flows west to the Poyang Lake, while that of Changshan is situated on an important river which falls into the bay of Hang-chow on the east. Travellers in chairs accomplish the distance easily in a day, but coolies laden with tea chests require two or three days. When the teas arrive at Chang-shan they are put into boats and conveyed down the river to Hang-chow-foo, occupying five or six days. At Hang-chow-foo the chests are transhipped from the river boats to those which ply upon the canals, and in the latter are taken on to Shanghae, which occupies about five days.

In retracing the route which the black teas have to travel on their way from Woo-e-shan to Shanghae, the distance travelled and time occupied will stand thus :

In calculating the time, it will be necessary to allow about four days consumed in changing boats, for bad weather, &c. This will make the whole journey occupy twenty-eight days, which is about the average time.

DYEING GREEN TEAS.

As many persons in this country, as well as in Europe, have a peculiar taste for "colored" green teas, the following account of the coloring process, given by Mr. Fortune, as practised in the Hwuychow green-tea district upon those teas which are destined for the foreign markets, may not prove uninteresting to the American reader. The following is extracted verbatim from Mr. Fortune's Note Book: "The superintendent of the workmen managed the coloring part of the process himself. Having procured a portion of Prussian blue, he threw it into a porcelain bowl, not unlike a chemist's mortar, and crushed it into a very fine powder. At the same time, a quantity of gypsum was produced and burned in the charcoal fires which were then roasting the teas. The object of this was to soften it in order

that it might be readily pounded into a very fine powder, in the same manner as the Prussian blue had been. The gypsum, having been taken out of the fire after a certain time had elapsed, readily crumbled down, and was reduced to powder in the mortar. These two substances, having been thus prepared, were then mixed together in the proportion of four parts of gypsum to three parts of Prussian blue, and formed a light-blue powder, which was then ready for use.

"This coloring matter was applied to the teas during the last process of roasting. About five minutes before the tea was removed from the pans-the time being regulated by the burning of a jossstick-the superintendent took a small porcelain spoon, and with it he scattered a portion of the coloring matter over the leaves in each pan. The workmen then turned the leaves rapidly round with both hands; in order that the color might be equally diffused.

"During this part of the operation the hands of the workmen were quite blue. I could not help thinking that if any green-tea drinkers had been present during the operation their taste would have been corrected, and, I may be allowed to add, improved. It seems perfectly ridiculous that a civilized people should prefer these dyed teas to those of a natural green. No wonder that the Chinese consider the natives of the West to be a race of 'barbarians.'

One day an English gentleman in Shanghae, being in conversation with some Chinese from the green-tea country, asked them what reasons they had for dyeing the tea, and whether it would not be better without undergoing this process. They acknowledged that tea was much better when prepared without having any such ingredients mixed with it, and that they never drank dyed teas themselves, but justly remarked that, as foreigners seemed to prefer having a mixture of Prussian blue and gypsum with their tea, to make it look uniform and pretty, and as these ingredients were cheap enough, the Chinese had no objection to supply them, especially as such teas always fetched a higher price!

"I took some trouble to ascertain precisely the quantity of coloring matter used in the process of dyeing green teas, not certainly with the view of assisting others, either at home or abroad, in the art of coloring, but simply to show green-tea drinkers in England, and more particularly in the United States of America, what quantity of Prussian blue and gypsum they imbibe in the course of one year. To 14 pounds of tea were applied 8 mace 23 candareens of coloring matter, or rather more than an ounce. In every hundred pounds of colored green tea consumed in England or America, the consumer actually drinks more than half a pound of Prussian blue and gypsum. And yet, tell the drinkers of this colored tea that the Chinese eat cats, dogs, and rats, and they will hold up their hands in amazement, and pity the poor Celestials!

Two kinds of Prussian blue are used by the tea-manufacturersone is the kind commonly met with, the other I have seen only in the north of China. It is less heavy than common Prussian blue, of a bright pale tint, and very beautiful. Tumeric-root is frequently employed in Canton, but I did not observe it in use in Hwuy-chow."