COST OF TEA AT SEAT OF GROWTH. 353 



occupies one clay — - when they are re-shipped in 

 large vessels which convey them to Canton. The 

 time occupied in the entire transport from the 

 Bohea country to Canton is about six weeks or 

 two months ; and the whole expense is 3 tales, 

 9 mace, 2 candareens the pecul, or 2d. the lb : 

 which amounts to no less than about one-third of 

 the cost of Congou tea at its seat of growth.* 



Eegarding the cost of tea at its seat of growth it 

 will be unnecessary to embarrass the reader with 

 complicated details on this subject. The several 

 items are given in the Appendix. Let it suffice 

 here to state, that the cost of growth and ma- 

 nipulation of Congou tea, of good or average 

 quality, may be estimated at 12 tales the pecul, 

 or Id. the pound avoirdupois, reckoning the tale 

 at 6s. 8c/., or 55. 6d. the ounce of silver. Mr. 

 Pigou about fifty years ago estimated the cost of 

 the same description of tea at 11 tales. The ex- 

 pressions used by Mr. Pigou cast somewhat of a 

 doubt as to the precise amount of cost, but the 

 explanations given in the Appendix seem to justify 

 the conclusion I have adopted. 



Thus the cost of tea to the Hong merchants at 

 Canton during the period of the East India Com- 

 pany's charter may be thus stated : — 



* The foregoing remarks on the cost of transit are taken 

 almost literally, from a paper of mine in the Royal Asiatic 

 Society's Journal for May 1840, entitled : " Observations on 

 the Expediency of Opening a Second Port in China," originally 

 printed at Macao, in 1816. 



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