188 BRICK OR TILE TEA. 



The tea thus roasted is then mixed with a supe- 

 rior kind of Wo Ping tea roasted in the Wo Ping * 

 country, and brought down in tubs by water car- 

 riage; together with old and low Congou, and 

 sometimes with low green tea. This mixture 

 is regulated according to the quality required. 

 The proportions being determined, the tea is then 

 thrown into a heap or pile as already described, 

 so as to form a mixture of one uniform quality. 



Each Hong merchant has a place fitted up in 

 one of his warehouses for this purpose. The floor 

 is boarded and a little raised above the general 

 level of the floor or ground of the warehouse. 

 This compartment is fitted in front with sliding 

 pannels for the purpose of retaining the tea, which 

 are removed by degrees as the tea is diminished in 

 bulk in the course of packing. Its dimensions 

 are about fifty feet long, twelve broad, and eight 

 high. The tea is weighed in baskets as filled from 

 the heap, to secure a uniform weight in the pack- 

 ing ; and each large or whole chest, as it is termed, 

 contains on an average about one hundred and 

 seventy-two pounds. 



BRICK OR TILE TEA. 



The name of this tea is obviously derived from 

 its form, and might be supposed to furnish a clue 



* N. Lat. 24° 30', Long. 1° 35' west of Peking. 



