EARLY HISTORY. 15 



following is a free and condensed translation : " On a slow 

 fire set a tripod, whose color and texture show its long 

 use, and fill it with clear snow-water. Boil it as long as 

 would be sufficient to turn cray-fish red, and throw it 

 upon the delicate leaves of choice Tea. Let it remain as 

 long as the vapor arises in a cloud and only a thin mist 

 floats on the surface. Then at your ease drink the pre- 

 cious liquor so prepared, which will chase away the five 

 causes of sorrow. You can taste and feel, but not de- 

 scribe the state of repose produced by a beverage thus 

 prepared." It is again mentioned by Lo-yu, a learned 

 Chinese, who lived during the dynasty of Tang, in 618, 

 who became quite enthusiastic in its praise, claiming that 

 " It tempers the spirits, harmonizes the mind, dispels las- 

 situde and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and clears 

 the perceptive faculties," and according to the Kiang- 

 moo, an historical epitome, an impost duty was levied 

 on Tea as early as 782 by the Emperor Te-Tsing, and 

 continued to the present day. 



McPherson, in his " History of European Commerce 

 with India," states that Tea is mentioned as the usual 

 beverage of the Chinese by Solieman, an Arabian mer- 

 chant, who wrote an account of his travels in the East 

 about the year 850. By the close of the ninth century t 

 however, Tea was found in general use among the Chi- 

 nese, the tax upon it at that time being a source of con- 

 siderable revenue as recorded by Abuzeid-el-Hazen, an 

 Arabian traveler cited by Renaudot in a translation of 

 his work. There is also independent evidence furnished 

 by two other Arabian travelers in a narrative of their 

 wanderings during the latter half of the ninth century, 

 admitting their statements to be trustworthy as to the 

 general use of Tea as a beverage among the Chinese at 

 that period. Moorish travelers appear to have intro- 



