THE LITTLE TEA BOOK 



it, and after a time the whole was 

 taken off the fire and set aside to 

 cool. Half-pint mugs were handed 

 around and the tea ladled into them: 

 the result, a pasty tea forming meat 

 and drink, satisfying both hunger 

 and thirst. 



M. Vambery says : " The picture 

 of a newly encamped caravan in the 

 summer months, on the steppes of 

 Central Asia, is a truly interesting 

 one. While the camels in the dis- 

 tance, but still in sight, graze greed- 

 ily, or crush the juicy thistles, the 

 travellers, even to the poorest among 

 them, sit with their tea-cups in their 

 hands and eagerly sip the costly bev- 

 erage. It is nothing more than a 

 greenish warm water, innocent of 

 sugar, and often decidedly turbid ; 

 still, human art has discovered no 



65 



