64 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. 



Chap. III. 



Chinese pipes, and sauntered out, accompanied by 

 our polite host, into the garden where the real attrac- 

 tion lay. " What a fine tree this of yours is ! we 

 have never seen it in the countries near the sea 

 where we come from ; pray give us some of its 

 seeds. " " It is a fine tree," said the man, who was 

 evidently much pleased with our admiration of it, 

 and readily complied with our request. These seeds 

 were carefully treasured ; and as they got home 

 safely, and are now growing in England, we may 

 expect in a few years to see a new and striking fea- 

 ture produced upon our landscape by this lovely tree. 

 Afterwards, as we journeyed westward, it became 

 more common, and was frequently to be seen in 

 clumps on the sides of the hills. 



This tree has been named the Funereal Cypress. 

 Professor Lindley — to whom I sent one of the dried 

 specimens procured during this journey— pronounces 

 it " an acquisition of the highest interest and adds, 

 "We have received a specimen of it, which enables 

 us to say that it must be a plant of the greatest 

 beauty. It may be best described as a tree like the 

 weeping willow in growth, with the foliage of the 

 savin, but of a brighter green ; it is, however, not a 

 juniper, as the savin is, but a genuine cypress. It 

 has long been a subject of regret that the Italian 

 cypress cannot be made to endure our climate, and 

 to decorate our burial-places ; but we have now a 

 finer tree, still better adapted for the purpose."* 



Leaving the town of Shang-i-yuen, abreast of which 



* Gardener's Chronicle, 1849, p. 243. 



