X PREFACE. 



am too sensible, even at the present moment, of 

 their great imperfection ; but this arises not from 

 any want of perseverance or diligence on my part, 

 but from the peculiarly unfavourable situation in 

 which foreigners were formerly placed at Canton. 

 They were thus disposed as the best mode of re- 

 cording and keeping together, in an intelligible 

 form, the facts and materials I had collected. It 

 was my wish to try some experiments on other 

 leaves, which I have since done, as subservient to 

 the development of the particular theory which I 

 then entertained, and which I believe I have now 

 successfully established. 



On my return to England circumstances induced 

 me to lay aside for a time my investigation relative 

 to this subject. In the year 1839 the publication 

 of the Parliamentary Papers on the " Tea Cultiva- 

 tion " at Assam attracted my attention, and di- 

 rected my thoughts once more to this pursuit. 



Since this period I have systematically and re- 

 gularly pursued my inquiries, but for a long time 

 without much success. No more publications 

 issued from the India press relative to the cultiva- 

 tion of tea. Mr. Bruce's report of the manufacture 

 of black tea is minutely and well described, but it 

 contained nothing novel to me. My endeavours to 

 obtain information from Java were equally fruit- 

 less ; I consulted M. Guillemin's account of the cul- 

 tivation of tea at the Brazils ; and also Yon Siebold's 



