TEA. 125 



native farmer must learn how to make tea as well as how to grow it ; he will then 

 make it upon his own preinisps, as the Chinese do, and the expenses of carriage 

 will he much less than if the green leaves had to be taken to the market. 



But as the zemindars will be able to grow tea long before they are able to 

 make it, it would be prudent, in the first instance, to offer them a certain sum 

 for green leaves brought to the government manufactory. 



I have pointed out the land most suitable for the cultivation of tea, and 

 shown that such land exists in the Himalayas to an almost unlimited extent. 

 But if the object the government have in view be the establishment of a com- 

 pany to develop the resources of these hills, as in Assam, I would strongly 

 urge the propriety of concentrating, as much as possible, the various plantations. 

 Sites ought to be chosen which are not too far apart, easy of access, and, if pos- 

 sible, near rivers ; for, no doubt, a considerable portion of the produce would 

 have to be conveyed to the plains or to a sea-port. 



In my tour amongst the hills, I have seen no place so well adapted for a cen- 

 tral situation'as Almorah, or Hawulbaugh. Here the government has already 

 a large establishment, and tea lands are abundant in all directions. The climate 

 is healthy, and better suited to a European constitution than most other parts of 

 India. Here plants from nearly all the temperate parts of the world are grow- 

 ing as if they were at home. As examples, I may mention myrtles, pomegra- 

 nates, and tuberoses from the south of Europe ; dahlias, potatoes, aloes, and 

 yuccas from America ; Mclianthus major and bulbs from the Cape ; the cypress 

 and deodar of the Himalayas, and the lagerstroomias, loquats, roses and lea of 

 China. 



In these days, when tea has become almost a necessary of life to England and 

 her wide-spreading colonies, its production upon a large and cheap scale is an 

 object of no ordinary importance. But to the natives of India themselves, the . 

 production of this article would bo of the greatest value. The poor paJtarte, or 

 hill farmer, at proscnt has scarcely the common necessaries of life, and certainly 

 none of its luxuries. The common sorts of grain which his lands produce will 

 scarcely pay the carriage to the nearest market town, far less yield a profit of 

 such a kind as will enable him to purchase some few of the necessary and sim- 

 ple luxuries of life. A common blanket has to serve him for his covering by 

 day and for his bed at night, while his dwelling-house is a mere mud -hut, 

 capable of affording lut little shelter from the inclemency of the weather. 

 Were part of these lands producing tea, he would then have a healthy beverage 

 to drink, besides a commodity which would be of great value in the market. 

 Being of small bulk compared with its value, the expense of carriage would be 

 trifling, and he would return home with the means in his pocket of making 

 himself and his family more comfortable and more happy. 



Were such results doubtful, we have only to look across the frontiers of India 

 into China. Here we find tea one of the necessaries of life, in the strictest 

 sense of the word. A Chinese never drinks cold water, which he abhors, and 

 considers unhealthy. Tea is his favorite beverage from morning until night ; 

 not what we call tea, mixed with milk and sugar, but the essence of the herb 

 itself, drawn out in pure water. One acquainted with the habits of this people 

 can scarcely conceive the idea of the Chinese empire existing were it deprived of 

 the tea plant ; and I am sure 1 that the extensive use of this beverage adds much 

 to the health and comfort of the great body of the people. 



The people of India are not unlike the Chinese in many of their habits. The 

 poor of both countries eat sparingly of animal food, and rice, with other grains 

 and vegetables, form the staple articles on which they live ; this being the case, 

 it is not at all unlikely the Indian will soon acquire a habit which is so univer- 

 sal in the sister country. But in order to enable him to drink tea, it must be 

 produced at a cheap rate ; he cannot affi >rd to pay at the rate of four or six 

 shillings a pound. It must be furnished to him at four pence or six pence in- 

 stead; and this can be done easily, but only on his own hills. If this is accom- 

 plished, and I see no reason why it should not be, a boon will have been con- 

 ferred upon the people of India, of no common kind, and one which an en- 

 lightened and liberal government may well be proud of conferring on its 

 subjects." 



