40 



CHAP. III. 



BLACK TEA DISTRICTS WHERE THE BEST KINDS ARE FOUND 



AND CULTIVATED WHAT SITUATIONS ARE THE MOST FAVOUR- 

 ABLE — -EXPOSURE AND NATURE OF THE SOIL ACCOUNTS 



GIVEN IN CHINESE WORKS — BY EUROPEAN MISSIONARIES 



THE VARIOUS OPINIONS AS TO THE MOST SUITABLE SOIL 



EXAMINED — ATTEMPT TO RECONCILE SOME OF THESE DIF- 

 FERENCES SOIL THE MOST SUITABLE — ANALYSIS OF TEA 



SOILS FROM CHINA AND JAPAN. 



The teas generally known to foreigners may be 

 divided into two classes, the black and the green ; 

 and as the manipulation of these differs essentially, 

 it will be advisable to treat of each by itself. The 

 black tea, which forms eight-tenths of the tea im- 

 ported into England, is grown in the district of 

 Kien-ning-fu, in the province of Fo-kien. The 

 mountains of Vu-ye (or Bohea, as corrupted by 

 Europeans) are situated in a particular division of 

 that district, distant about two leagues from the 

 little town of Tsong-gan-hien, lat. 27° 47' 38", ac- 

 cording to observations made on the spot by the 

 Jesuit missionaries, between the years 1710 and 

 1718.* 



A Chinese manuscript thus describes the teas of 

 this district: — " Of all the mountains of Fo-kien, 



* Translation of Du Halde, vol. i. p. 10. 



