— 198 — 



person should provide him with wild tea plants which were said to grow 

 near Rungpore. In 1824, his brother, C .A. Bruce, participated in the 

 military expédition against the Burmese invasion, and, coming in the same 

 région, he got the plants, which he transmitted to captain Scott, Chief 

 Commissioner in Assam. In 1826, this gentleman sent some leaves of a 

 plant (an other one?) in Manipur to dr. N. Wallich, director of the Calcutta 

 Botanic Garden, and this botanist in his turn declared the plant to be 

 indeed closely related to China tea, but not the genuine tea plant itself 

 (according to Linné's diagnosis), so that it could not yield the celebrated 

 beverage. In 1833, however. C. A. Bruce persuaded Scott's successor, 

 cap. JENKINS, to re-exaniine the matter, and lient. Charlton was directed 

 to explore the neighbourhood of Sadiya, with the resuit that the tea plant 

 was discovered for the second time (1834). Leaves, flowers and fruit 

 having been sent to Calcutta, Wallich was bound to admit that this was 

 genuine tea. Indeed, Charlton had learnt that the natives near the Chinese 

 frontier had long been familiar with the préparation of a primitive sort 

 of tea from its leaves. 



Some officiai documents with respect to this rediscovery, illustrated 

 with the plate reproduced hère in Fig. 4, are to be found in the „Journal 

 of the Asiatic Society of Bengal". 2) The subséquent quotations hâve been 

 borrowed from two letters from Charlton to Jenkins dated May 17<^, and 

 November S^^ 1834, respectively : 



„So much I recollect, the leaves were about two inches in iength 

 „and one in breadth [that is: 50 by 25 mill.], alternate, elliptic-oblong 

 „and serrate." 



„The tree I now find is indigenous to this place (Sadiya) as well 

 „as Beesa, and grows wild every hère and there, ail the way from this, 

 „about a month's journey, to the Chinese province Yunnan where I am 

 „told it is extensively cultivated. One or two people from that province 

 ,,have assured me, that the tea tree grown there exactly resembles the 

 „species that we hâve here^); so 1 think there can be no longer any doubt 

 ..of its being bonâ-fide tea. What a pity there is no means of communi- 

 „cation between Sadiya and Yunnan." 



It may be observed in passing, that thèse remarkable assertions might 

 induce us to believe that this „indigenous" tea had leaves as small as 

 the China plant. The picture cited above (Fig. 4) does not however 

 represent very small leaves; but it is true that their shape and size bear 

 some resemblance to the Yunnan tea as represented in Fig. 8 and 10 which 



') See also ttie commentary of Alph. de Candolle 1835. 



2) N. Wallich 1835. „The Singphos and Kamtees are in the habit ofdrinking an infusion 

 „of the leaves which 1 hâve lately understood they prépare by cuttingthem into small 

 ,, pièces, taking eut the stalks and fibres, boiling and then squeezing them into a bail 

 „which they dry in the sun and retain for use". (Charlton to Jenkins, May 17 th 1834) 

 This procédure is obviously qiiife the same as that in use with the Burmese to prépare 

 their leppett tea! Compare chapters 11 and 111. According to W. Griffith (1847, p. 15) 

 however, a roasting process is in use with the Singphos. 



^) Italics are mine. 



