268 The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. 



" tracts into one, and I shall probably have to continue doing 

 " the same until one tract shall be made of what now con- 

 " sists of a dozen." Mr. Bruce's substitution of the term tract 

 for what is in reality a mere spot, is most unfortunate ; and yet 

 it does not appear to have been accidental, as he observes, 

 " I have never yet seen the end of Juggudoo's tea-tract, nor 

 yet Kujudoo's or Ningrew's." Now two at least of these 

 localities were visited by the Assam Deputation, and their 

 extent measured and found to be very limited, and not larg- 

 er than an ordinary cottage garden. There may be other 

 two or three similar patches in the vicinity, but it appears 

 to us too great a stretch of the imagination to say, that the 

 plants of these isolated little patches " run over the hills, 

 and join or nearly join" similar little spots in distant parts 

 of the country ; and to infer, from this supposition, that the 

 whole country is covered with tea plants, or tea forests, as 

 they have been very improperly styled. It is easy to imagine 

 how Mr. Bruce makes up the number of tea districts in 

 Assam to 120, when every patch of jungle in which a few 

 plants occur is considered by him a tract, however closely 

 it may be connected with several other similar little clumps 

 of plants in the same vicinity. 



Any one rising from the perusal of Mr. Bruce's report, 

 would suppose that Assam is covered with tea plants, requir- 

 ing no other cultivation than the mere destruction of the 

 surrounding forests. Mr. Bruce thinks fire is as beneficial 

 to the tea plant, as it is destructive to all others; and that 

 the only cultivation or care that plant requires is merely 

 to burn it down to the roots, by setting fire to the forests 

 in which it is so common. In the first or second year 

 after this, Mr. Bruce is of opinion that we shall have nothing 

 more to do than commence the manufacture of tea from 

 an unlimited stock of plants extended over 120 tracts, 

 which those who peruse Mr. Bruce's report, may consider 

 equivalent in extent to as many districts, or even counties. 



Instead of finding Assam one extensive tea garden, how- 



