EXAMINED. 269 



leaves of green tea remain so full of juices after the 

 first roasting, in consequence of the low tempe- 

 rature employed, that it becomes necessary to 

 squeeze them between the hands to express their 

 juices before they are found in a fit state for rolling. 

 Thus they agglutinate into a solid mass, which it is 

 necessary to separate and pull to pieces. Still 

 many adhere together, so that more " lumpy and 

 knobby" leaves than usual are thus formed; that 

 is, more hyson-skin, and less hyson, or more inferior 

 and less superior tea. 



With respect to black tea, the low temperature 

 used at Java may be in consequence of more of the 

 aqueous fluids having been evaporated in the 

 process previously to roasting, than takes place in 

 China. The redness of the leaf is carried to excess. 

 There are no teas (at least I have seen none) which 

 correspond with what is understood by black-leaf- 

 con^ou. It may be also that the leaves are smaller 

 and less succulent than the Chinese: especially as it 

 is stated that they give out little or no juice in the 

 act of rolling. In short the first samples of these 

 teas which found their way to England exhibited a 

 complete failure. They resembled what the Chinese 

 term hong cha, i. e. red tea : a tea little used. It has 

 already been explained that the redness of the leaf 

 previously to roasting is not necessary to the red- 

 ness after : also, that the more the aqueous juices 

 are evaporated previously to roasting the less heat 

 is required in that process. 



