194 TESTING, BLENDING AND PREPARING. 



them when traveling, giving it to their innkeepers to brew 



as they need it. 



* * * * 



In Siam when the water is well boiled they pour it on 

 the leaves which have been put in an earthen pot pro- 

 portional to the quantity they intend to make, the ordin- 

 ary amount being as much as they can take up with the 

 finger and thumb to a pint of water. They cover the 

 pot until the leaves have sunk to the bottom and then 

 serve it up in china dishes to be drank as hot as can be 

 endured without sugar or milk. 



* * * * 



A preparation called Shamma or " residue " is made 

 from the spent or exhausted leaves that is, leaves once 

 used in Beloochistan, and chewed like the pan or betel- 

 leaf is in India and the coca in South America, and is 

 claimed to have the same exhilarating effect in enabling 

 them to stand fatigue and long journeys. 



* * * * 



Tea is prepared for use in Thibet by first grinding the 

 leaves and mixing them with bullock's blood. This 

 compound is then pressed into the form of bricks, dried 

 by a fire-heat and wrapped in sheepskin until required 

 for use, in which form it also serves as a currency through- 

 out Central Asia. A kind of " bouillon " or soup is made 

 from them by boiling in water and adding salt flour, 

 oil, tallow or camel's milk. 



* * * * 



Among the Arabs tea is prepared by first placing a 

 large kettle over a wood fire to heat and then filling it 

 with water, the leaves being t meantime mixed with salt and 

 thrown into the water as it heats. When it approaches 

 the boiling point they are rapidly stewed and lifted with 

 a large ladle until the liquid becomes dark brown, 



