1*23 



or probably soap stone, which imparts a greater gloss than simple 

 sulphate of lime, and accounts for traces of copper being occasionally 

 found in the ashes of green tea; and also the yellow pigment is of 

 mineral and not vegetable origin. 



By the use of this powder, a ready means is afforded the Chinese of 

 getting rid, in an advantageous manner, of spurious tea leaves, or of 

 damaged black tea. An instance of such a fraud being committed is 

 related by Dr. Davies, in liis interesting work on "The Chinese." 

 Surely, when Europeans are generally aware of these facts, they will no 

 longer give a preference to these spurious painted "blooming" green 

 teas, but be content to receive, and consume them, in the same pure and 

 natural state in which the Chinese themselves make use of them. 



It must not be supposed that the high sounding names, given to the 

 teas of commerce, are by any means generic, or apply in any way to the 

 district in which they are grown, or the peculiar mode of preparing 

 them; they are merely specific tei-ms, given to indicate the variety 

 according to the size of the sieve through which they have been passed. 

 There are five varieties of green tea, of which the largest and coai-sest 

 leaf is Twankay ; it was formerly the principal variety consumed in this 

 country, and amounted to nearly three-fourths of the whole imports. 

 But, since the introduction of uniform rates of duty on all qualities, the 

 demand for inferior qualities has very much decreased, and consequently 

 the imports of -Twankay, from being seventy-five per cent, of the whole, 

 have fallen to scarcely one per cent. But the bulk of the tea, which 

 used to be imported imder the name of Twankay, is now received as 

 Hyson and Gunpowder. 



It is now generally considered by the trade that the public has 

 benefited by reduced rates and a uniform duty, inasmuch as the im- 

 ports of the true Hyson leaf have increased very materially, under the 

 title of Imperial, Gunpowder, and Young Hyson; these kinds now con- 

 stitute seven-eighths of the whole imports. In addition to these there 

 are a number of spurious teas, classed by the trade as ** Canton teas," 

 because they are manufactured to order, at Canton, out of materials from 

 which it would be difficult to extract one grain of tea. 



With regard to these spurious compounds, the Chinese display an 

 amount of candour not common among them; they will only export 

 them luider the very appropriate name of '• Lie teas." And Lie teas 

 they truly are ; for they consist of sand, vegetable matters of a variety of 

 kinds, held together with a mucilaginous substance, and painted, as 

 already described, to imitate black or green tea, as ordered. Samples of 

 this compoimd yield from 30 per cent, to 50 per cent, of ash ; but very 



