TEA. 



129 



lodging at St. Theresa, siiSciently contiguous to all the establishments I meant ■ 

 to visit, and further recommended hy having a small garden attached to the 

 house, where I could dei^osit the gro-s^dng plants of tea, and sow seeds. During 

 the month of Xovemher, except when hindered by slight indispositions inci- 

 dental to the Brazilian climate, I pursued my researches, and principally in 

 the charming valleys of the Tijuka and Gavia mountains, where, together with 

 colfee, their principal product, the most valuable plants of the equatorial region 

 are cultivated. 



In the middle of Xovember I had an opportunity of observing the method 

 pursued when culling the tea, which is performed by black slaves, chiefly wo- 

 men and children. They carefully selected the tenderest and pale-green leaves, 

 nipping off with their nails the young leaf bud, just below where the fii'st or 

 second leaf was unfolded. One whole field had akeady undergone this opera- 

 tion ; nothing but tea shrubs stripped of theii' foliage remained. The inspector 

 assured me that the plant received no injury from this process, and that the 

 harvest of leaves was to become permanent by carefully regulating it, so that 

 the foliage should have grown again on the first-stripped shi'ubs at the period 

 when the l-^^aves of the last plant were pulled off. About 12,000 tea shrubs are 

 grown in this garden : they are regularly planted in quincunxes, and stand 

 about one metre distant from each other ; the greater number are stunted and 

 shabby looking, probably owing to the aspect of the ground, which lies low, 

 on the level of the sea, and exposed to the full rays of a burning sun ; perhaps 

 the quality of the soil may have something to do with it, though this is appar- 

 ently similar to what prevails in the province of Rio Janeiro. This soil, which 

 is highly argillaceous, and strongly tinged with tritoxyde of iron, is formed by 

 the decomposition of gneiss or granite rocks. The flat situation of this tea 

 ground is unfavorable to the improvement of the soil, for the heavy rains 

 which wash away the superfluous sand from slanting situations, of course only 

 consolidate more strongly the remaining component parts, where the land lies 

 perfectly level, and thus the tea plants suffer from this state of soil. 



The kindness of M. de Brandao, director of the Botanic Garden, induced him 

 to invite me, shortly after I had seen the above described tea-ground, that I 

 might inspect all the operations for the preparation of tea. I found that the 

 picking of the leaves had been commenced very early in the morning, and two 

 kilogrammes were pulled that were 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 leaves in all directions, till their external dampness was 

 quite evaporated, and the leaves acquired the softness of linen rag, and a small 

 pinch of them, when rolled in the hollow 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 them on a hurdle, formed of strips of bamboo, 

 laid at right angles, where they shook and kneaded the leaves in all directions 

 for a quarter of an hour, an operation which requires habit to be properly per- 

 formed, and on which much of the beauty of the product depends. It is 

 impossible to describe this process ; the motion of the hands is rapid and very 

 irregular, and the degi'ee of pressui'e 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 

 essential that the tea be perfectly divested of the moisture, w-hich is acrid, and 

 even corrosive, the bruising and kneading being especially designed to break 

 the parenchyma of the leaf, and permit the escape of the sap. 



When the leaves have been thus twisted and rolled, they are replaced 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 dessication, and much neatness and. quickness -o-f hand were re- 

 quisite, that the manipulators might neither bum themselves nor allow the 

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



