376 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, 



this country by the Lords Arlington and Ossory; and 

 yet, from a period earlier than any to which the mem- 

 ories of any of the existing generation can reach, tea 

 has been one of the principal necessaries of life among 

 all classes of the community. To provide a sufficient 

 supply of this aliment, many thousand tons of the 

 finest mercantile navy in the world are annually em- 

 ployed in trading with a people by whom all dealings 

 with foreigners are merely tolerated; and from this 

 recently-acquired taste, a very large and easily- 

 collected revenue is obtained by the state. 



The tea-plant is indigenous to China or Japan, 

 and probably to both. It has been used among the 

 natives of the former country from time immemorial; 

 and, from the age of Confucius, has been the constant 

 theme of praise with their poets. It is only in a 

 particular tract of the Chinese empire that the plant 

 is cultivated; and this tract, which is situated on the 

 eastern side, between the 30th and 33d degree of 

 north latitude, is distinguished by the natives as ' the 

 tea country.' The more northern part of China 

 would be too cold; and further south the heat would 

 be too great. There are, however, a few small plan- 

 tations to be seen near to Canton. 



The tree or shrub whence the tea of commerce is 

 derived, is the Thea of botanists. There is only one 

 species of this plant; and although it has been said 

 by some writers that there are two varieties, differing 

 in the breadth of their leaves, this assertion is as con- 

 fidently denied by others, who affirm that the differ- 

 ences discernible in the qualities of the dried leaves 

 are owing to the period of their growth at which they 

 are gathered, and to some variations in the methods 

 employed for curing them. 



The Chinese give to the plant the name of tcha or 

 iha. It is propagated by them from seeds, which 

 are deposited in rows four or five feet asunder; 



