336 INTRODUCTION INTO BRITISH INDIA. 



veller, Mr. Manning, who penetrated to Lassa, 

 suggested to the directors of the East India Com- 

 pany that we might supply Tibet from Canton by 

 way of Calcutta and Bootan, at a lower rate than 

 the Chinese furnish it by the tedious and expensive 

 route at present pursued over-land, and which I 

 believe to be true. Still more advantageously, then, 

 could it be supplied as a product of India. 



Nor does there appear much reason to doubt, 

 that we may even compete with China in the 

 British, European, and American markets, in the 

 supply of teas suited to general consumption, if not 

 in the highest flavoured teas. 



We will now proceed to examine this latter sub- 

 ject in its different bearings. 



The prominent argument put forth against a 

 successful cultivation of the tea tree in our colonies, 

 has chiefly been the great cheapness of labour in 

 China ; its dearness in our colonies, and an erro- 

 neous supposition that the process of manipulation 

 was a laborious and expensive art. It is un- 

 necessary here to enter into a detailed examination 

 of these supposed impediments, but it may be re- 

 marked in passing, that the successful competition 

 of any agricultural or manufacturing product does 

 not depend entirely or even mainly upon the dif- 

 ference of price of labour in the two countries 

 making the exchange. The relative value of the 

 commodities in the two markets between which 

 the exchange is made is a surer test, for example, 



