THE OUTER HIMALAYAH. 13 



frontispiece of this little book owes its origin.* On 

 our way we passed a row of small houses, in which live 

 the Chinamen who superintend the cultivation and 

 manufacture of the tea, with their wives and children. 



Their wives are, in this instance, natives of India 

 and followers of the Prophet, and, as usual, our appear- 

 ance was the signal to hide ; so, laying violent hands 

 on their younger children, they dragged them into 

 concealment, where a little struggle between maternal 

 authority and childish curiosity evidently took place, 

 in which the latter conquered ; a small head and little 

 pigtail would gradually round the corner of a post, 

 slowly and with manifest exertion, and a pair of wide 

 staring eyes peer at us. The elder children were 

 anxious to attract observation, and called out " Salaam 

 sahib," in noisy tones. These lads had more the appear- 

 ance of John Chinamen than East Indians, and a pig- 

 tail was, of course, prominent. 



With Mr. E., the overseer of the Government tea 

 plantation, we found Mr. M k n, who had lately 

 settled in the district, and to whom we are indebted for 

 much of the information we have gleaned about tea 

 cultivation in India. 



The Government tea plantation at Holta has been 

 in existence since the year of the Great Exhibition. 

 Shrubs of various ages are to be seen, from the small 

 seedling, just planted out into newly-cleared ground, 

 to the eight-year old, of four feet high, and bushy width. 



* From Lieut. W 's rough sketch Capt. A n, of the Trigo- 

 nometrical Survey, was enabled to design the frontispiece of this book. 

 The Kangra fort and the Holta tea plantation are seen on it. 



