WHERE BEST BLACK TEAS ARE FOUND. 41 



those of Yu-ye are the finest, and its water the 

 best. They are awfully high and rugged, sur- 

 rounded by water, and seem as if excavated by 

 spirits : nothing more wonderful can be seen. 

 From the dynasty of Csin and Han, down to the 

 present time, a succession of hermits and priests of 

 the sects of Tao-czu and Fo have here risen up 

 like the clouds of the air and the grass of the fields, 

 too numerous to enumerate. Its chief renown, 

 however, is derived from its productions, and of 

 these tea is the most celebrated. 



" The town to the north of Csong Ngan is called 

 Sing-csun. Here are many houses, as well as 

 markets and fairs, where the merchants or factors 

 (Ke) resort. To the north of Sing-csun is situated 

 the Chung Ling dry Ky (a range of mountains 

 so denominated), the country the most renowned. 

 It is surrounded by many rocks and mountains, 

 most extraordinary in their form, and irregular in 

 their height, extending for more than 50 ly.* 



" In the middle of those designated the Yu-ye 

 mountains there is a rivulet which winds about 

 them (called the Kieu Ivio Kee, i. e. the stream of 

 the nine windings), and divides the range into two 

 districts. Those to the north are called the North 

 Range, and the others to the south the Southern 

 Range. It is here that the priests of the sects of 

 Fo and Tao-czu select the level places upon which 



* The ly is about the third part of an English mile. 



