IMPROVED BY CULTIVATION. 209 



" There is plenty of common tea ; that which is 

 called Singlo tea is of excellent quality, and there- 

 fore requires a suitable soil, much labour, and is 

 not easy to make."* 



" The hill or mountain where tea is produced 

 is called Singlo mountain. A Bonze of the sect 

 of Fo taught a Kiang Nan man, named Ko Ty, 

 the art of making tea ; and thus it was called 

 Singlo tea. The tea got speedily into great re- 

 pute, so that the Bonze became rich, and aban- 

 doned the profession of priest. The man is gone, 

 and only the name remains. Ye men of learning, 

 and travellers who seek Singlo tea, may now search 

 in vain ; that which is sold in the markets is a 

 mere counterfeit." f 



Thus it appears that the Singlo tea, in addition 

 to its being the only tea named, was obviously 

 esteemed by these writers, and considered the best 

 description of tea produced in the Hyson districts 

 in their days. For it would have been a strange 

 omission in persons professing to make statistical 

 reports of a country, and especially one of so small 

 an extent, had they neglected to speak of a tea 

 which differed essentially from Singlo tea, and 

 more especially if it were superior to it. 



In the Hoa King, a kind of herbal, published 



* Moo Yuen Hien Chy, published in the Dynasty of Sung, 

 a.d. 960—1278. 



f Hieu Ning Hien Chy, published 32d year of Cang Hee, 

 a.d. 1693. 



