TEA. 123 



the tea was known to be fonnd naturally in the north of 

 China. The trial was made with successful results; the 

 Assam Tea Company was formed, and with very great care 

 large quantities of Chinese seed were procured, sown, and 

 successfully reared, so that now the Company have upwards 

 of a thousand acres under cultivation in the favourable situ- 

 ations occurring in the district stretching from Kemaon to 

 the hill tracts acquired from the Seiks. The plants grown 

 are chiefly those raised from Chinese seed ; the remainder 

 are the indigenous plants, supposed to be a distinct species, 

 which has received the name of Thea Assamica. It is a 

 much more vigorous-growing plant than that of China, and 

 has much larger leaves. Chinese tea-curers have been in- 

 duced to settle in Assam, and from each of these plants 

 both black and green teas are made by the Chinamen. The 

 tea of Assam is of a superior quality, and fetches a high 

 price in the market ; being a very strong kind, it answers 

 well for mixing with the low sorts of China tea, to bring up 

 their quality, and for this purpose it is chiefly used. Several 

 large shipments have now been received from India. 



Tea is imported in chests of a peculiar manufacture, al- 

 ways lined with thin sheet-lead, and frequently with a pecu- 

 liar kind of paper, of Chinese manufacture, made from the 



