224 



TEA DISTRICTS OF CHINA. Chap. XIII. 



" Of all the mountains of Fokien those of Woo-e are 

 the finest, and its water the best. They are awfully 

 high and rugged, surrounded by water, and seem as 

 if excavated by spirits ; nothing more wonderful can 

 be seen. From the dynasty of Csin and Han, down 

 to the present time, a succession of hermits and 

 priests, of the sects of Tao-cze and Fo, have here 

 risen up like the clouds of the air and the grass of 

 the field, too numerous to enumerate. Its chief 

 renown, however, is derived from its productions, and 

 of these tea is the most celebrated." 



I stood for some time on a point of rising ground 

 midway between Tsong-gan-hien and Woo-e-shan, 

 and surveyed the strange scene which lay before me. 

 I had expected to see a wonderful sight when I 

 reached this place, but I must confess the scene far 

 surpassed any ideas I had formed respecting it. There 

 had been no exaggeration in the description given by 

 the Jesuits, or in the writings of the Chinese, except- 

 ing as to the height of the hills. They are not 

 " awfully high indeed, they are lower than most of 

 the hills in this part of the country, and far below 

 the height of the mountain ranges which I had just 

 crossed. The men who were with me pointed to 

 the spot with great pride, and said, "Look, that is 

 Woo-e-shan ! have you anything in your country to 

 be compared with it ?" 



The day was fine, and the sun's rays being very 

 powerful I had taken up my position under the 

 spreading branches of a large camphor-tree which 

 grew by the roadside. Here I could willingly have 



