Teas of Commerce. 249 



get them passed through the Customs as manufactured goods, 

 and not as teas, — a title which they certainly merit, although 

 it must be evident, from a moment's consideration, that the 

 revenue would doubtless be defrauded, inasmuch as the 

 consumer would have to buy them as teas from the dealer. 

 It is to be feared, however, that a market for them is found 

 elsewhere. The Chinese, it appears, will not sell them except 

 as teas, and have the candour to specify them as lie teas ; 

 and if they are mixed with other teas of low quality, the 

 Chinese merchant gives a certificate stating the proportion 

 of the lie tea present with the genuine leaf. This manufac- 

 ture and mixing is evidently practised to meet the price of 

 the English merchant. In the case of the above samples, 

 the black is called by the Chinese, lie flower caper ; the green, 

 lie gunpowder ; the average value is from 8d. to Is. per lb. 

 The brokers have adopted the curious term, gum and dusty as 

 applied to these lie teas or their mixtures, a cognomen which 

 at first I had some difficulty in understanding, from the rapid 

 manner in which the two first words were run together. 



I may subjoin the results obtained from the careful incine- 

 ration of a variety of teas, as they may be interesting, for the 

 purpose of comparison, and illustrate the point I have men- 

 tioned as to these spurious teas being mixed with genuine ones. 



Gunpowder Tea, made in Java, gave 5*0 grains of ash in the 100 parts. 

 Gunpowder, during the East India Company's Charter, 6*5 „ 

 Kemaon Hyson . «... 5.0 „ 



Assam Hyson, . . . . . 6'0 „ 



Lie Gunpowder, No. 1, . . . . 45*5 „ 



No. 2. 



Scented Caper, ..... 5'5 „ 



Lie-flower Caper, . . . . 37*5 „ 



Mixtures containing these lie teas, No. 1, . 22'5 ,y 



Do. do. No. 2, . 11-0* „ 



* To those interested in the natural and economical history of tea, we recom- 

 mend " The Valuable Report on the Government Tea Plantations in Kumaon 

 and Gurwahl — containing an account of the process of manufacture of black 

 and green teas ; method of treating the tea plant ; and a short description of the 

 implements used in the manufacture. By William Jameson, Esq., Superintendent 

 Botanical Gardens, North West Provinces, India. Vide vol. vi.. Part ii. 

 Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, Calcutta 

 l8^8:'--EdU. Phil. Jour. 



