Chap. II. OBJECT IN COMING NORTH. 



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CHAPTER II. 



My object in coming north — Difficulty in procuring tea-plants — No 

 dependence can be placed upon the Chinese — ■ Adopt the dress of 

 the country — Start for the interior — Mode of getting my head 

 shaved — City of Kea-hing-foo and its old cemetery — Lakes and 

 " ling " — Mode of gathering the " ling " — Great silk country — 

 Increase in exports — City of Seh-mun-yuen — Fear of thieves — 

 Hang-chow-foo — The " Garden of China" — Description of the city 

 and its suburbs — Gaiety of the people — Adventure in the city 

 — ■ Kan-du — A " chop " — A Chinese inn — 1 get no breakfast 

 and lose my dinner — Boat engaged for Hwuy-chow — Importance 

 of Hang-chow both for trading and " squeezing.'''' 



My object in coming thus far north was to obtain 

 seeds and plants of the tea shrub for the Hon. East 

 India Company's plantations in the north-west provinces 

 of India. It was a matter of great importance to pro- 

 cure them from those districts in China where the 

 best teas were produced, and I now set about accom- 

 plishing this object. There were various tea districts 

 near Ning-po where very fair green teas were prepared 

 for Chinese use ; but these teas were not very well 

 suited to the foreign market. It might be that the 

 plant was precisely the same variety from which the 

 finer sorts were made, and that the difference consisted 

 only in climate, in soil, or, more likely still, in a 

 different mode of manipulation. This might or might 

 not be the case ; no one, so far as I knew, had ever 

 visited the Hwuy-chow district and brought away 

 plants from the tea hills there. In these circum- 



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