MARKETS AND PACKING AT SING-CSUN. 139 



kind of teas, formerly imported into England as 

 Congou, came from To-pa. 



The Congous are packed in parcels, chops or 



breaks, of about 600 chests, each chest containing 



about 80 lbs. of tea. Each parcel is divided into 



two packings, consisting generally of 300 chests 



each, sometimes 500 or 600 chests, according to the 



size of the packing-house. The teas which are to 



constitute one uniform quality of 600 or even 1000 



chests consist of certain proportions of the three 



gatherings, collected from the produce of various 



farms and different localities. These teas having 



been previously arranged and classed agreeably to 



quality, and noted in a book, a sufficient quantity 



to constitute a packing of 300 chests is now started 



into a heap or pile, and so placed in different layers, 



that, when raked down with a wooden rake for the 



purpose of packing, their several and various 



qualities may all mix and blend together, so as to 



form one uniform quality suited to a fixed and 



settled price. The quantity put into each chest is 



previously weighed, and the packing is performed 



by men with their bare feet. I do not understand 



that the black tea is packed hot ; or that it is 



submitted to any further process of heating or 



drying at the packing houses : it, nevertheless, must 



be perfectly dry. In the event of damage or injury 



to the tea, or the teas not having been sufficiently 



dried, then they doubtless undergo a somewhat 



similar process of drying in sieves in Poey Longs, 



