126 ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BOTANY OF [ Thea. 
plant will thrive under the Line, and the green tea even in the open air.in England, 
especially in Devonshire; so that Desfontaines recommended its cultivation in ithe 
south of France. Dr.Wallich has already remarked, “ that a very slight acquaintance 
with the character of the countries where the attempts were made to introduce the culti- 
vation of the tea-plant, is sufficient to account for the total failure of them. "—(Observ. 
on the Cultiv. of the Tea-plant, App. Report of the East-India Committee.) 
The most southern limit of the regular tea country being 27° of N) latitude, and its 
having been calculated that in tropical countries every 396 feet of vertical ascent is 
equivalent to 1° of latitude, we require at the Line an elevation of 10,692 feet, at the 
tenth parallel 6,732, and at the 20th an elevation of 2,772 feet, to.attain a temperature 
equivalent to that of open flat countries in 27° of latitude; but the tea-plant is even in 
that latitude fond of a hilly country. ‘‘In Penang, situated between 5° and 6° N. of the 
Equator, where the highest hill does not exceed 2,500 feet in elevation, vand every 
feature of the vegetation is tropical,” Mr. Brown, as we are informed by Dr.Wallich, 
‘‘ established a tea-plantation at Glugor, and procured Chinese to superintend the under- 
taking ; but it is not surprising that though the plants grew well, the leaves were not 
' well flavoured.” Neither was success to be expected in Java or Ceylon, where there is 
little contrast of seasons, and the vegetation in both is tropical; but in all, as well as in 
Calcutta, the plants thrived well. At Rio Janeiro, in 23° of S. latitude, we are informed 
by Dr. Abel, that many Chinese plants were growing in full vigour, as the tallow-tree, 
the wax-tree, Ligustrum lucidum, and Camellia sasanqua; and that the tea-plant had 
been successfully cultivated, and effectively manufactured. But the vegetation and 
seasons are so tropical, that the situation cannot be considered favourable, and the culti- 
vation has since been given up, it is reported, in consequence of the expence of labour, 
but the produce is said also to have had a bad flavour. At St. Helena, in 20° of N. 
latitude, the tea-plant also grows vigorously; but here the country is elevated, and 
enjoys the equability of an insular climate, with a range of the thermometer from 
64° to 78°. The English oak and Scotch fir, with the common furze, grow in the 
open air as luxuriantly as Araucarias, Mimosas from New Holland, and Furcrea gigantea 
from South America, with some Nepal plants; and alongside of them may be seen 
plantains, arborescent Cassias, Ficus indica and religiosa, the banyan and peepul- 
trees of India. 
But in the Himalayas, where so great an analogy exists in latitude, elevation, soil, 
climate, and the course of the seasons, as well as considerable identity of vegetation, 
there cannot in my mind be a doubt of success in introducing the cultivation of tea, with 
the strongest probability of all its properties remaining unchanged, as every requisite 
is so similar to what it experiences in its native country. It is not an unimportant 
consideration, that the cheapness of labour exceeds even that i in China, where, I am 
informed by Mr. Reeves, about eightpence a-day is earned in the tea countries; but in 
India and its mountains women and children get about a fourth, and able-bodied 
labourers not more than one-half that sum. But even supposing that the finest flavoured 
teas 
