46 



Was the genuine cultivated Chinese plant, and far 

 superior to that growing wild in Assam/* 



Dr. Falconer, was, unfortunately, compelled by ill 

 health to leave India for Europe, in the latter end of 

 1842. But the Chinamen had manufactured a small 

 quantity of tea in the autumn of that year, and he had 

 the satisfaction of bringing a sample of it with him 

 to Europe. He was detained, however, by ill health 

 in the south of Europe, and some of the same 

 seasons crop had already reached, and been reported 

 on, when he arrived in London. 



The first specimen, the eminent tea brokers Messrs. 

 "W. and J. Thomson of Mincing Lane, pronounced to 

 be of the Oolong Souchong kind, '- fine flavored and 

 strong. ' This, they added, is equal to the superior 

 black tea generally sent as presents, and better for the 

 most part t than the China tea imported for mercantile 

 purposes? 



Of the second specimen Messrs. Ewart,Maccaughy, 

 and Delafosse, of Capthall Court, reported (8th 

 September 1843) as follows : 



"The tea brought by Dr. Falconer as a specimen 

 of the growth of the China plant in the Himalayan 

 mountains, resembles most nearly the description 

 occasionally imported from China under the name 

 of Oolong. This resemblance is observable in the 

 appearance of the leaf before and after infusion. 



Report by Dr. Forbes Royle on the progTess of tea experiments 

 in the Himnlayas from 1835 to 1847. 



