APPENDIX. 263 



brought from the field, are placed over a steaming apparatus for 

 a few seconds, the steam permeating the mass and wilting the 

 leaves ; this gives them a dark green color, and enables the leaf 

 to be rolled or doubled up, so that there is less liability to crumble 

 when fired. They are then thrown upon large paper pans, be- 

 neath which a gentle charcoal fire is maintained. They are here 

 toasted or fired for several hours, varying somewhat with the de- 

 gree of heat maintained, during which they are constantly rolled 

 and stirred with the hands, so as to make the leaf as compact as 

 possible. This completes the curing process, so far as the natives 

 are concerned. The tea is then placed in large baskets, to await 

 the sorting process. This is more or less carefully done according 

 to the market for which the tea is destined and the number of 

 grades which are desired. This process, as well as much other work 

 connected with tea culture, is principally done by women and chil- 

 dren. A small quantity of dried leaf is placed on a smooth tray 

 or table before the sorters, who with a pair of eliopsticks dex- 

 terously pick out the stems and coarse leaves, which are thrown 

 aside as refuse. In the finer qualities they also separate the large 

 from the small leaves, the latter being the most highly esteemed, 

 and bringing much the highest price. After the tea is thus as- 

 sorted it is sifted, to extract the dust and broken leaves, and packed 

 to be sent to market. The finer qualities are generally placed in 

 large earthenware jars, such as we sometimes see in the American 

 market, but by far the larger portion is placed in chests holding 

 from seventy-five to one hundred pounds. Some of the smaller 

 tea farms often sell their product to the larger~farmers or small 

 country merchants, who pack it as above and send it to mar- 

 ket. In passing along the narrow roads I occasionally saw quan- 

 tities of tea packed in paper bales, being thus taken to neighbor- 

 ing merchants, who make a business of purchasing for shipment 

 to the larger markets at the seaports and elsewhere. 



We now come to the important part of the preparation of tea 

 for the foreign market. At the principal shipping ports are estab- 

 lished numbers of foreign houses, which make a business of buying 

 the tea as it comes from the natives, and preparing it for export. 

 These firms possess large warehouses, called " go-downs," which 

 are provided with numbers of stone or mason-work furnaces, in 



