■ 

 THE GATHERINGS. 97 



and unfit for Pao Cliong or Padre Souchong ; though 

 they will, nevertheless, do for Siao Poey and Ta 

 Poey, or fine Souchong." And it may here be 

 observed, that the Chinese universally agree, that 

 such teas as are made under any unfavourable 

 circumstances of soil, quality of the leaves, or state 

 of the weather, cannot, by any manipulation, be 

 rendered of superior quality. The leaves, therefore, 

 which are gathered in unfavourable weather are 

 made with less care ; and such as are gathered after 

 or during much rain undergo some difference in 

 the mode of manipulation. 



A further difference is also occasioned by the 

 selection of particular shrubs, and of the best or 

 most succulent leaves at the time of gathering. 

 It is said to be a common practice among those 

 merchants who are in the habit of frequenting the 

 habitations of the Priests or Bonzes, to contract for 

 the produce of certain known shrubs. These are 

 labelled according to their supposed resemblance in 

 flavour to particular flowers*; and at the season of 

 Tsing Ming in the early part of the year, they repair 

 to these plantations, where they prepare the tea 



* I was informed try Puankhequa, an intelligent and highly 

 respectable Hong merchant, that sometimes teas are marked 

 scented (hoa-hiang), not because they are really scented, but on 

 account of their supposed resemblance to the odour of certain 

 flowers. It is moreover stated in the Canton Chy (a statistical 

 work on Canton) that some teas resemble the odour of the 

 Yu-lan, Mo-ly, and Chu-lan flowers. Some teas are, however, 

 artificially scented with these flowers, which will be found ex- 

 plained under the article on " Scenting." 



H 



