88 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. 



Chap. V. 



The rocks in this part of the country are chiefly 

 composed of Silurian slate, like that found in England, 

 and resting upon it is a red calcareous sandstone 

 similar to the new red sandstone of Europe. This 

 sandstone has the effect of giving a reddish tinge to 

 the barren hills, as it crumbles to pieces. I met 

 with no fossil organic remains in these rocks, but my 

 time and opportunities did not permit me to investi- 

 gate them very minutely. 



All these hills are very barren and wholly unsuited 

 to the cultivation of the tea-shrub, and hence their 

 geological formation can have little to do with the 

 success which has attended its management on the 

 plains. Their vegetable productions, however, de- 

 pending as they do in a great measure upon climate, 

 afford us some valuable information, and to these I 

 paid particular attention. 



The flora here has a northern character, that is, 

 the genera common in England or in the northern 

 parts of India are common, while those shrubs and 

 trees which are met with only in tropical countries 

 are entirely unknown. The only plant seen here 

 which has any resemblance to those of the tropics is 

 the species of palm which I have already noticed, but 

 it seems much more hardy than any other variety of 

 its race. A species of holly not unlike the English 

 is common ; and various species of the oak, the pine, 

 and the juniper are also found in great abundance. 

 The grasses, ferns, and other low- growing bushes and 

 herbaceous plants of northern countries are here re- 

 presented by various species of the same genera. 



