ready) for the final firings; of these, there are usually three, the tea 
being placed in baskets over slow charcoal fires. Firing by the Chinese 
method is a great art, and though laborious is undoubtedly superior to 
the machine firing, as is evident by the superior keeping powers of 
China tea. The repeated firings are to insure the expelling of all 
moisture from the leaf, slowly, without destroying the flavor and 
substance of the tea. 
The leaf is then carefully bulked, and after again being lightly 
fired, is packed while still warm into the well-known lead-lined China 
“half-chests; it is now ready for transporting to the market in 
Hankow. 
From the Kimun side of the Wooling Shang range, a number of 
small rivers flow westward into the Poyang lake, which in turn con- 
nects with the Yangtsze River. This is the route by which the 
Keemun teas reach Hankow, and which we followed. The first part 
of the journey from Keemun to Jowchow, at the entrance to the 
Poyang lake, is done in ver) small boats propelled by oars, as the 
river is very shallow— only a few packages of tea can be carried in 
each. When, however, the Lake is reached, the small boats transfer 
their cargoes to big junks which have a capacity of several thousand 
SCENE AT JOWCHOW—ENTRANCE TO POYANG LAKE 
