168 Bibliography. 



still wet with dew. These were deposited in a well polished iron 

 vase, the shape being that of a very broad flat pan, and set on a brick 

 furnace, where a brisk wooden fire kept the temperature nearly up to 

 that of boiling water. A negro, after carefully washing his hands, 

 kept continually stirring the tea leaves in all directions, till their ex- 

 ternal dampness was quite evaporated, and the leaves acquired the 

 softness of linen rag, and a small pinch of them, when rolled in the 

 hollovv of the hand, became a little ball that would not unroll. In 

 this state the mass of tea was divided into two portions, and a negro 

 took each and set tiiem on a hurdle formed of strips of bamboo, laid 

 at right angles, where they shook and kneaded the leaves in all direc- 

 tions for a quarter of an hour, an operation on which much of the beau- 

 ty of the product depends, and which requires habit in order to be pro- 

 perly performed. It is impossible to describe this process: the motion 

 of the hands is rapid and very irregular, and the degree of pressure 

 requisite varies according to circumstances; generally speaking, the 

 young negro women are considered more clever at this part of the work 

 than older persons. As this process of rolling and twisting the leaves 

 goes on, their green juice is drained off through the hurdle, and it is es- 

 sential that the tea be perfectly divested of the moisture, which is acrid, 

 and even corrosive, the bruising and kneading being specially designed 

 to break the parenchyme of the leaf, and permit the escape of the sap. 

 "When the leaves have been thus twisted and rolled, they are re- 

 placed in the great iron pan, and the temperature raised till the hand 

 can no longer bear the heat at the bottom. For upwards of an hour 

 the negroes are then constantly employed in separating, shaking, and 

 throwing the foliage up and down, in order to facilitate the desicca- 

 tion, and much neatness and quickness of hand were requisite, that 

 the manipulators might neither burn themselves nor allow the masses 

 of leaves to adhere to the hot bottom of the pan. It is easy to see 

 that, if the pan were placed within another pan filled with boiling 

 water, and the leaves were stirred with an iron spatula, much trouble 

 might be obviated. Still, the rolling and drying of the leaves were 

 successfully performed ; they became more and more crisp, and pre- 

 served their twisted shape, except some iew which seemed too old and 

 coriaceous to submit to be rolled up. The tea was then placed on a 

 sieve, with wide apertures of regular sizes, and formed of flat strips 

 of bamboo. The best rolled leaves, produced by the tips of the buds 

 and the tenderest leaves, passed through this sieve, and were subse- 

 quently fanned, in order to separate any unrolled fragments which 

 might have passed tlirough with them ; this produce was called Im- 

 perial, or Uchim Tea. It was again laid in the pan, till it acquired 

 the leaden gray tint, which proved its perfect dryness, and any defec- 



