6 TEA PLANTING IN 



When, therefore, during the recent mutiny, we first 

 heard of this colonization scheme, we were disposed to 

 look with feelings of wonderment upon any man who 

 would voluntarily leave an English home for only a vague 

 prospect of fortune, but with the grim certainty before 

 him of leading in this country a fevered, restless, and 

 unnatural existence. Such persons seemed to belong to 

 that class who are said to " embark for India with 

 reluctance, to remain in it with disgust, and eventually 

 to quit it with eagerness." Since that time, however, 

 our ideas have somewhat changed ; for although we 

 should have been exceedingly offended had anybody 

 questioned our ability to give an opinion on the subject 

 at all, we must in truth acknowledge that we then had 

 only seen the plains, and, with many more, wondered on 

 what earthly grounds " gorgeous " had ever been applied 

 to such an arid, hot, shifting waste. 



After having wandered in the course of duty over a 

 large tract of country, very pleasing to the eye when seen 

 on the " Hall of all Nations" at Calcutta, and after having 

 familiarized ourselves with Lucknow, the red walls of 

 Delhi, the minarets of Lahore, and the valley of 

 Peshawur, we eventually -were lucky enough to be sent 

 to the Fort of Kangra, where we enjoyed the bracing 

 climate and grandeur of the mountains. 



The tea-plant is cultivated in many portions of this 

 district ; a small Government tea plantation exists not 

 more than eight miles from the fort, and twenty-four 

 miles from it there is a very large one. This, myself 



and Lieut. W , a brother officer, were most anxious 



to visit, and, through the kindness of Major S , our 



