42 TEA 



those of China tea, yet the consensus of opinion was 

 distinctly favourable. So far very few engaged in the 

 trade had had an opportunity of tasting British Indian 

 tea, and in order that natural curiosity might be satis- 

 fied, later consignments were put up to public auction, 

 and as a result very high prices were realized. The 

 Asiatic Journal, in referring to the sales, remark- 1 

 that : - 



" The decision of the public. however, lias not been 

 unanimous; Ladies, particularly those of mature 

 age and judgment, whose jurisdiction in all mar 

 connected with the tea-table ought not to be disputed. 

 were enthusiastic in their praises of the new tea, but 

 many of the lords of creation, especially stout gentle- 

 men, whose previous habits had better qualified them 

 for discussing the merits of port wine and bottled 

 porter, compared it somewhat irrelevantly to chopped 

 straw, and some pleased to display their facetiousness 

 by observing that a mixture of gunpowder was 

 wanted to make it go off." 



About this time the principal plantations came under 

 the control of the famous Assam Company, and by 

 1854 the Indian export had risen to a quarter of a 

 million pounds. Planting was then started in Cachar 

 and Sylhet, and in 1858-9 the plantations of Darjeeling 

 were commenced. Since that time the industry has 

 made enormous strides, and several other districts have 

 imitated the example of Assam and planted out large 

 areas in tea. The following extract from The Produce 

 Markets Review, of October, 1865, is interesting, 

 considering the present magnitude of the Indian tea 

 trade : 



" For all the general purposes of commerce China 



was long considered as virtually the only country 



