208 



MANUFACTUEE OF "CAPER." Chap. X. 



manipulation, wliile tlie upper was crowded with 

 hundreds of women and children engaged in pick- 

 ing and sorting the various sorts. 



On entering one of these hongs or factories, the 

 first thing to which we directed our attention was 

 the tea which was to be made into " caper." I 

 have already stated that this description of tea 

 is produced near a place called Tai-shan, in the 

 Canton province, a few miles inland from the 

 city. Here it undergoes only the first process of 

 manipulation ; that is, it is fired, rolled, and dried, 

 and the colour fixed, but nothing further is done 

 to it. It is then packed up in mat-bags or baskets 

 and sent down to Canton to be made up in the 

 approved manner, and scented for exportation. 

 On examining the tea it presented a very rough 

 appearance, and in the state in which it was, 

 seemed unsuited for the foreign markets. The 

 workmen were busily engaged in remaking it 

 during the time of our visit, and they went to 

 work in the following manner : — 



A convenient quantity^ — about twenty or thirty 

 pounds — was thrown into the drying-pan, which 

 had been heated for the operation. Here it was 

 sprinkled with a basinful of water, and rapidly 

 turned over with the hands of the workman. The 

 dry leaves immediately imbibed the moisture, and 

 became soft and pliable. This softening process 

 prevented them from breaking down into dust, 

 and fitted them, also, to take any form which was 

 considered desirable by the manipulator. The 



