6 TEA 



duced by steeping the leaves of the tea-plant in hot 

 water. 



You are, I am sure, feeling very curious as to the 

 circumstances under which tea-leaves were found to 

 contain nourishment. On this particularly interesting 

 question history throws no light, so we are free to 

 romance. Let us imagine that we are in the heart of 

 a tropical forest, thousands of miles away from any 

 centre of civilization. For provisions, we are entirely 

 dependent on forest supplies. When we are hungry 

 we must go a-hunting with bow and arrows, or make 

 search for roots and fruits ; when we are thirsty, we 

 must try to find our way to a river or creek. There is 

 no one to tell us which roots and fruits are good to eat, 

 which are poisonous ; in sampling a new variety we 

 may meet our death, or we may discover a fresh product 

 that is very tasty and nutritious. But the pangs of 

 hunger are keener than our fear of poison, and as, 

 thanks largely to instinct, we go on eating this, that 

 or the other day after day without coming to any 

 serious harm, we get more and more courageous, and 

 find means of making our fare more and more varied. 

 And this life we are leading makes us hit upon numerous 

 devices for adding to comfort or avoiding discomfort. 

 For instance, we are very thirsty ; for hours we have 

 been forcing our way through a thick tangle of under- 

 growth, searching in vain for water. In desperation, 

 someone picks a leaf, puts it in his mouth, and finding 

 that he gets some relief by chewing it, advises the rest 

 of us to follow his example. 



We have had but a mere peep at life in the wilds, but 

 it is enough to add to our enjoyment of tea, for it 

 suggests that the leaf of the tea-plant was found to 



