THE OUTER HIMALAYAH. 21 



the sweepings, and to it the name Bohea is given, as 

 bearing no resemblance to the denominations bestowed 

 on the more favoured kinds. 



As yet the green tea in these unsophisticated regions 

 does not receive the extraneous aids of gypsum and 

 indigo, with which John Chinaman is supposed cun- 

 ningly to adorn his damaged black teas, thus converting 

 an unsaleable article, by an ingenious process, into the 

 finest Gunpowder. For both green and black teas at 

 Holta the leaves of the same plant are used, viz. the 

 Thea viridis, and the young and tender crop of leaves, 

 with the fresh and succulent topshoots are alone 

 gathered. The leaves are best gathered when all dew 

 or rain has evaporated. The green tea is prepared 

 from the most tender, the youngest, and the lightest 

 coloured leaves and buds. Some tea-makers allow 

 them to remain on trays for a time previous to put- 

 ting them into the cooking-pans, but others again carry 

 them forthwith to the pans to secure the highest degree 

 of bloom and aroma. They are not bruised previously 

 to cooking, but in the pans the leaves are rolled and 

 rubbed against the sides and between the palms of the 

 hands, with considerable force. They are also rolled, 

 while hot and moist, on the matting in the same 

 manner as the black. But the cooking of the green 

 tea is more quickly done, and the final heating of it in 

 the baskets over the charcoal fires is so thorough that 

 any rude pressure would cause the crisp and tightly 

 rolled leaf to crumble into dust. It is then put into 

 large boxes until the end of the season, when it is sifted 



