July i, 1886.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



59 



hand, that buyers must expect to pay higher prices 

 than they have lately been doing in this market ; 

 tl-.ere has been so little eneouragenient ou the part 

 of the buyers in this respect, the demand being for 

 cheap and common-class teas to suit the London 

 market. 



Feeights in 1885. 



To London and Continent of Euroiie. — As regards 

 tea, from January 1 up to the opening of the tea 

 market at the end of .Tune, there is nothing of interest 

 to report. The first steamer for Londou direct left 

 Sharp Peak on June 28. The scale of freights was 

 on the same basis as the previous year, namely, £4 

 for the first and £3 10s. for the second boat. After 

 these departures the rate v^as fixed at £3 per ton, 

 at which figure it remained as long as the berth was 

 occupied only by steamers belonging to tlie regular 

 or Conference lines. At the end of July the British 

 steamer "Ascalou" was advertised to load, wiien it was 

 decided by the Conference to reduce their rate to 

 £1 10s. per ton to meet the opposition, and, if pos- 

 sible, to prevent other steamers from cdling. After 

 the departure of the "Ascalou" the freight was ad- 

 vanced to £3, but was again reduced in the middle 

 of August, as another non-Conference steamer took 

 the berth. These tactics were again repeated at the 

 end of November, since when the normal rate of £:^) 

 has been maintained. The feature of the season has 

 been the fact that five sailing-vessels have taken full 

 cargoes from this for London — about 7,000,000 lb., 

 or, say, 10,000 tons of 40 cubic feet — whereas not a 

 single sailing-ship was despatched last year. Many 

 shippers have apparently come to the decision that 

 it is necessary to regu'ate the arrivals on the home 

 market, and have thus to a certain extent reverted 

 to the old mode of shipment. This has, no doubt, had 

 a beneficial effect on the tea trade of this port by 

 strengthening the London market. 



Australian Colonies. — The two principal lines at- 

 tempted to prevent opposition at the beginning of 

 the season by offering shippers the same inducement 

 as is done by the Conference lines to London, to 

 confine their support exclusively to them, namely, a 

 return of 5 per cent on freight paid. This, however, 

 did not take effect, as a third line entered a strong 

 competition, and freights at the opening of the season 

 were £1 10s, per ton, and have remained at this rate 

 throughout. The first steamer got £2 10s. per ton ; 

 second and third, £2; but later in the season the 

 quotation was as low as £1 per ton, consequent on 

 excessive competition. 



America. — The trade from this port, being small, 

 is not of great interest to the shipping. Kates have 

 ruled very low ; the bulk of shipments have gone to 

 New York, transhipped in London, at the very low 

 rate of £1 KXs. under throag'i bill of lading, the 

 competition at other ports having been very keen. 



The value of the tea export trade in 1885 may be 

 estimated roughly at §16,000,000, at 3s. 6M. = 

 £2,833,000. 



PAKHOI. 

 Mr. Consul Allen reports as follows: — - * 

 Exports.— Exports from Pakhoi may be divided 

 into two classes — those whose final destination is a 

 foreign country, and those which are intended for 

 local consumption. The first class, unfortunately, re- 

 quires but a very short list. Cassia and aniseed,'with 

 the oils extracted from tlie phi,nts, head the catalogue. 

 Our foreign merchants in I'akhoi are largely inter- 

 ested in these articles, and export considerable quan- 

 tities to Europe and Bombay. The present export 

 duty on cassia is a little licavy, being six mace on 

 each i)icul, valued by the Customs authoiities at three 

 1aels; in other words, 20 per cent., instead of 5 per 

 c. nt.. the estimated tax on each article of export 

 w'liou the Treaty of Tientsin was made. This tnight, 

 perhaps, be ri^membered shouhl there be a revision 

 of the tariff at any future time, 



TAMSUY AND KELUNG : FORMOSA. 



[Formosa is so rich in soil and so genial in climate 

 aiul the quality of its tea so good, thfit if good 

 government gives protection to life and property 

 the island may prove a formidable competitor to 

 India and even Ceylon in the produce of tea. — 

 Ed.] 



Mr. Consul Giles reports as follows : — * * * 

 The following table shows an enormous increase 

 in the export of tea for 1885 over any previous 

 year : — 



Lb. 



1880 ... ' ... 12,063,450 



1881 ... ... 12,859,4(37 



1882 12,040,447 



1883 13,206,727 



1884 ... ... 13,156,581 



1885 ... 16.364,000 



The quality of the Formosa tea is steadily improv- 

 ing, and American buyers have written in glowing 

 terms respecting the successful issue of the 1885 crop. 

 Ihere is, in fact, every prospect of the Formosa tea 

 trade expanding before very long to little-dreamt-of 

 proportions. 



Since my arrival here in November last I have twice 

 been mto the interior to visit the savages. It is a 

 very interesting trip, and the country in which the 

 savages live is beautiful- beyond description. At the 

 boundary between Chinese and savage territory there 

 are camps of Chinese soldiers to guard the agricul- 

 turists from savage depredations ; and on my arrival 

 the petty m.andarin in command came to meet me, 

 and disappointed the party very much by saying that 

 no savages had " come out," or would come out for 

 several clays, so that we should not be able to see any 

 on that occasion. He then advised us to come again 

 another day, when he promised to send an escort of 

 sokh'ers with us for safety's sake. An hour after this 

 myself and party (which included Mrs. Giles, the 

 first lady who ever crossed the border) were strolling 

 along in savage territory, accompanied by some half- 

 dozen savages, men and women, who were delighted 

 to see us, partly because we showed no signs of 

 wearing the hated pig-tail, and partly because of sundry 

 strings of beads and other various odds and ends, 

 an earnest of which had already been bestowed upon 

 them. We were of course alone. Our chair-bearers 

 had refused to follow, and wisely so, for it is certain 

 death to any Chinaman who shows his half-shaven 

 head on the wrong side of the line. We had a very 

 pleasant ramble, and hoped at one time to reach a 

 savage " village ; " but time was against us, and we 

 were forced to retreat, carrying with us the. evid- 

 ent goodwill of our hosts, while they carried away 

 with them other and more tangible spoil. One of 

 them knew a few words of Chinese, but this vocab- 

 ulary did not run much beyond " Chinaman bad man. 

 You know Chinaman; you good man," &c. They 

 were a pleasant-featured, healthy-looking lot. But 

 they are doomed, and tuat in the near future. General 

 Liu is carrying on operations against them which 

 can only have one end ; he is overwhelming them 

 with numbers. Every now and again he sends iu 

 two or three thousand men, who come back minus 

 one or two hundred, killed by the deadly fire of tlie 

 savage matchlock, and having apparently accomplished 

 nothing, j^teanwhile, there are signs that the savage 

 resources are not without a limit. In one direction 

 eight large "villages" have already submitted, and 

 while 1 write an expedition of no less thau 10,000 

 troops, acting at diffor.nt points, ha- b^-eu organised 

 liy the vigorous ofticial whom even Fiance will have 

 good cause to remember. General Liu has wit enough 

 to see that Formosa, under the civilised rule of China, 

 has a grand future before her. The hills over which 

 the savages are now sparsely scattered would grow 

 tb(insai)ds of tons of that delicate-flavoured tea over 

 which even now New York purchasers are writing in 

 sut^h hopeful terms. So the savages have to go. Tlwy 

 can, if they lik(!, take grants of land, paying no 

 taxes for ft certain number of years, and I)f>ing 



